The former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has hit out at their board and spoken about being 'very embarrassed' the club selling Scott McTominay to Napoli

Erik ten Hag claims Manchester United did not keep their promises before dispensing with him as their manager and branded his former club 'toxic' in an explosive new interview.

One of those promises was apparently that Scott McTominay would not be sold in the 2024 summer transfer window. Ten Hag wanted their academy graduate to stay, but he was ultimately sold to Napoli, with Manuel Ugarte being signed as his replacement.

McTominay has since become one of the best players in Serie A, winning the league with his new team. Ten Hag now recalls that the Scotland international's departure from Old Trafford two years ago made him feel "very embarrassed and disappointed".

Ten Hag has told The Athletic: "In Ibiza, we agreed. I said, 'No selling Scott McTominay'. We would go aligned in the transfer window.

"I make an argument, a reason: we don't have scoring abilities. Scott brings scoring abilities and great mentality. He has United in all his veins. So when they bring up the subject, 'No'. And in the end, they sold him. I got, of course, very embarrassed and disappointed."

McTominay scored ten times across all competitions in his last full season for United. Bruno Fernandes and Rasmus Hojlund were the only players with more goals, 16 each.

Ten Hag, who accused the club hierarchy of fueling a 'toxic culture', also addressed the contract extension he received two weeks after winning the FA Cup final against Manchester City. The manager had just 12 months remaining on his contract before United triggered a clause to extend it by an additional year.

"I wouldn't go on with only one year left," Ten Hag explains. "So I said, 'I need an extra year, and we have to do it together'.

"They promised me loyalty, they promised me backing, they promised communication, that we get aligned. We spoke about the issues. But the promises, they didn't keep. That's why I got disappointed."

Make sure you never miss the latest Manchester United news and opinion by making Manchester Evening News one of your Google preferred sources.

Reflecting on his sacking, Ten Hag said: "I think it was quite weird to separate ways in that moment. All the data was showing we are good. OK, two poor games to Liverpool and Spurs. We were starting the process. Let it progress; the gameplay is getting better."

"Maybe they (the players) can say differently, but I see on the pitch, and every game they fought. Also, my last game, that was probably one of our best games, we should have won against West Ham.

"But I'm sure the process was already ongoing; there were already people — maybe even in the team — who knew what would happen the day after."

The 56-year-old still considers himself a United fan and does not think Michael Carrick should be sacked despite their difficult start to the season. However, he doubled down on his criticism of the board later in the interview, saying they are 'continuing the toxic culture' that was sparked off by Cristiano Ronaldo, Casemiro and Raphael Varane, and are 'fueling it by giving power to players'

Ten Hag left United with two trophies to his name and is now serving as technical director at Dutch club FC Twente following a brief spell in charge of Bayer Leverkusen.