Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar has said that he is "extremely happy in Amsterdam" but has refused to rule out a return to Manchester United at some stage in the future.
The 51-year-old spent six years at Man United at the end of his career, winning four Premier League titles and the Champions League during his time at the club.
The Dutchman has been Ajax's CEO since 2016, and his work at the club has led to suggestions that the 20-time English champions are keen to bring him back to Old Trafford.
Van der Sar has insisted that he is open to a "new challenge" in the future but does not have any immediate plans to leave the Eredivisie champions.
"Every job you do, you want to do it as well as possible. I think we had success on the pitch as a player, winning trophies, getting respect, for us it's important to do the same trick as a director in the position what we do now," he told The Athletic.
"To be linked or talked about is something that we enjoy, of course, that means we're doing but the feeling is that we're not ready here yet in Amsterdam.
"There's still room to improve, we had a contract talk with him last year [Erik ten Hag] and he saw a real improvement in the team and a possibility to perform at a higher level, that's the way he's doing that, the players developing, it's fantastic. Your name once in a while pops up, of course I've got a connection with Man United but I'm extremely happy in Amsterdam.
"There's always a next step, you want to have new experience, 'lets see if he can do the trick another time' probably in the end as a player you sort of feel the urge to take the next step, new challenge, you're on a dead track.
"For example, at Ajax I wanted a new challenge [and] went Juventus, at Juventus I was a dead track, ended up at Fulham — maybe stayed one or two years too long — in the end, I got the deal or the transfer that could finish my career at a high then playing six years.
"Probably at the end you want to go for the next challenge, but at the moment we're extremely fine here in Amsterdam."
Meanwhile, Ajax manager Ten Hag is allegedly being considered by Man United as a potential long-term replacement for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Matt Law
