Erik ten Hag 'Bayer Leverkusen sacking' rumor debunked

A claim doing the rounds on social media says Erik ten Hag was “sacked by Bayer Leverkusen.” That would be a big story—if it were true. It isn’t. There’s no club statement, no credible reporting in Germany or England, and no record that Ten Hag ever took a job at Leverkusen in the first place.

Here’s what checks out: Ten Hag was dismissed by Manchester United in October 2024 after a bleak run that featured back-to-back 3-0 defeats to Liverpool and Tottenham, and a 2-1 loss to West Ham that sealed the decision. That’s well documented. What isn’t documented anywhere is an appointment at Leverkusen, let alone a firing.

What the rumor claimed

The posts suggest a short, chaotic spell in Germany ended with Leverkusen removing Ten Hag. Some versions dress it up with fake graphics, others reference unnamed “reports.” None of them link to a verifiable source. There’s no announcement from Leverkusen, no quote from Ten Hag, no reporting from established outlets, and no traceable timeline of when he supposedly arrived or left.

This is a common blueprint for football misinformation: take a real event (Ten Hag’s exit from United), mix it with a high-profile club (Leverkusen, fresh off a title-winning season), then push it with official-looking visuals. It spreads fast because it sounds plausible at first glance.

What the record actually shows

Let’s look at the recent, verifiable timeline:

• October 2024: Multiple reputable outlets report Ten Hag’s dismissal by Manchester United after poor results, including 3-0 defeats to Liverpool and Tottenham. The final straw was a 2-1 loss to West Ham.
• There is no credible report of Ten Hag being appointed by Bayer Leverkusen before or after that dismissal.
• No club statement from Leverkusen announces Ten Hag’s arrival or departure.

Context also matters. Leverkusen, under Xabi Alonso, surged through 2023–24 and lifted the Bundesliga title. The team’s rise was one of the biggest stories in European football. Swapping managers in that period—or slipping in and out of an unannounced Ten Hag spell—would have triggered immediate coverage from German heavyweights like Kicker, Bild, or Sky Deutschland. It didn’t.

We checked what you’d expect to see if the claim were true and found nothing:

• No official club statement from Bayer Leverkusen.
• No news posts on the club’s channels that mention Ten Hag in a coaching role.
• No reports from established German or UK outlets confirming an appointment or a sacking at Leverkusen involving Ten Hag.

By contrast, the reporting around his Manchester United exit was open and consistent: match results, context, timing, and analysis lined up across major outlets. Those losses to Liverpool and Spurs weren’t rumors; they were on the record. The decision after the defeat to West Ham was widely covered and attributed to form and performance.

So why did the Leverkusen story catch fire? It has all the ingredients of a viral football hoax. A well-known manager. A hot club. A plausible hook. Add in the speed of reposts and the authority that comes with slick, unofficial graphics, and the claim looks real enough to fool a quick scroll. But it falls apart the moment you ask for a source that isn’t a recycled screenshot.

If you’re trying to separate fact from fiction when transfer or sacking rumors start to fly, a few simple checks help:

• Go straight to the club’s website or official social channels. Major changes get announced there first.
• Look for named reporters with a track record on that beat. In Germany, outlets like Kicker or Sky Deutschland are reliable. In England, established national and local reporters usually break or confirm managerial changes.
• Check for direct quotes. “Per sources” is fine, but real stories quickly include on-the-record lines from the club or manager.
• Watch the timeline. If there’s an appointment and a sacking within days, there will be multiple timestamps and follow-up coverage—not just a single graphic.

One more sanity check: does the claim align with the club’s current situation? Leverkusen’s recent stability and success under Xabi Alonso make a surprise, unannounced appointment—and then a sacking—of another manager highly unlikely. That doesn’t mean football can’t shock us. It does mean a story that big wouldn’t leave zero footprints.

Bottom line: the only documented sacking involving Ten Hag in that period was at Manchester United in October 2024. There’s no verified evidence he was hired by Bayer Leverkusen, and none that he was sacked by them.