Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is “completely devastated” after the Red Devils decided to sack the Dutchman on Monday morning.

Manchester United made the decision to relieve Ten Hag of his duties after the Red Devils’ dismal start to the season, in which they won just three of their first nine Premier League games.

Their 2-1 defeat last weekend against West Ham, which spelled the end for Ten Hag, saw Man Utd drop to 14th in the Premier League standings.

Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim will replace Ten Hag as coach later this month and the Dutchman will receive around £14 million (€17 million) as payment from Man Utd.

Despite that, De Graafschap’s former teammate Hans Kraay Jr insists Ten Hag is “completely ruined” by losing his job at Old Trafford.

He told a Dutch media. FootballNews: “I understand that he receives 17 million euros and then people say: ‘he will do a cartwheel around Manchester.’

“No, it’s completely, completely devastated, it’s completely ruined. At the moment you don’t think about money. That will come later. I also don’t feel like I’ll have to call him tomorrow to ask: ‘Can you still make ends meet, can you still do the shopping?’ “It’s not that, but now he’s in trouble.”

Ruud van Nistelrooy, who beat Leicester City 5-2 in his first game as caretaker manager, revealed an emotional conversation with Ten Hag after Wednesday’s game.

Van Nistelrooy said: “I saw him here on Monday and I spoke to him yesterday before the game.

“He is obviously very disappointed and touched because he really cares about the club. I also said yesterday in the first conversation we had to return to the club with him. I really felt that he cared and loved the club and wanted to move it forward and that’s why we connected, and that’s why that hurts him too. He had to leave but also proud of his achievements here with the two cups and obviously of the history that he leaves with that.”

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Former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam insists the Red Devils got rid of Ten Hag “a little too quickly” after relying on his compatriot over the summer.

talking to BetMGMStam said: “If they wanted to remove Erik ten Hag as coach, they should have done it in the summer. When you look for other coaches and talk to other coaches, I don’t think it’s good for the current one.

“If you are not sure about them, the decision has to be made there, but if you accept a new deal and still want to move forward with Erik, then you should go ahead and support him in the long term.

“The way it was done at this time was a tough decision and, for me, a bit quick. “Only two months after signing a new contract seems too soon to me and I think he should have been given more time.”