New Minnesota United coach Eric Ramsay signs his contract, making it official

Minnesota United has hired its next head coach.

Manchester United assistant coach Eric Ramsay on Thursday signed a contract to replace Adrian Heath, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

Ramsay will still need to acquire his work visa before he starts coaching the team, which can take some time.

He is expected to leave Manchester United late next week after working for the Premier League team for nearly three seasons.

Ramsay becomes the youngest permanent head coach in MLS history at age 32 and is seven years younger than the next youngest current MLS coach, 39-year-old Nick Cushing from New York City FC. Ramsay also was the youngest to earn his coaching UEFA Pro License.

The Loons have not yet announced Ramsay’s hiring, which comes four months after they fired Heath, the only other head coach the club has ever had, with two regular-season games left last October.

Ramsay emerged in recent days as the leading candidate in a wide-ranging coaching search that included two finalists each from MLS and Europe. Former MLS coaches Robin Fraser and Gio Savarese were among those included in the search, completed primarily by new sporting director Khaled El-Ahmad.

Four current Loons players — including 35-year-old defender Michael Boxall and 33-year-old striker Teemu Pukki — are older than Ramsay. Ramsay speaks multiple languages, including Spanish, French and Welsh as well as English. The Loons have six players whose first language is Spanish.