Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag reportedly had shortlisted four high-profile players to sign, but saw his requests denied by the club’s hierarchy.
Erik ten Hag reportedly missed out on four key transfer targets during his time at Manchester United, with his demands labelled as ‘unrealistic’ by the club’s hierarchy.
The Dutchman was sacked on Monday after Man United lost 2-1 at West Ham United over the weekend, leaving the Red Devils down in 14th.
Only a win in the FA Cup final over rivals Manchester City saved Ten Hag’s job last season, as United finished down in eighth, but there was no chance for a reprieve this time around.
Ten Hag often came under fire during his tenure at Old Trafford for his transfer business, as the signing of players he had worked with before, such as Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt for high fees were questioned.
Spending big money on an ageing Casemiro, Mason Mount, and unproven attackers Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee also did not go down too well.
Ten Hag’s ‘unrealistic’ transfer targets
© Imago
Despite evidently having the funds to spend big in the market, it has emerged that Ten Hag was reportedly denied the opportunity to sign some high-profile names by the club themselves.
ESPN claim that Ten Hag was told his targets were ‘unrealistic’, as the former United boss had wanted to bring Federico Valverde, Alexis Mac Allister, Frenkie de Jong and England captain Harry Kane to the club across his tenure.
Ten Hag had worked with De Jong at Ajax, and a deal appeared likely at one stage but never materialised, while Mac Allister ended up at rivals Liverpool instead, joining for a very reasonable initial fee of £35m from Brighton & Hove Albion.
After Manchester City signed Erling Haaland, it appeared the only other Premier League club that could sign Kane was Man United, but again, that move did not happen, and the former Tottenham Hotspur man joined Bayern Munich instead.
A deal for Valverde did appear the most unlikely though, given the healthy wage he earns at Real Madrid, and the fact he is an important first-team player for a club who are very healthy financially.
Would those signings have saved Ten Hag?
© Imago
A lack of structure in the spine of the United team was often the stick used to beat Ten Hag, as Man United conceded an alarming number of chances across the whole of last season.
After a fine first season, Casemiro began to seriously struggle with the pace of English football, while Christian Eriksen‘s is also not as quick as he once was, so acquiring any of those midfield reinforcements could have had a huge impact.
Mac Allister slotted very nicely into Liverpool’s midfield and helped to take them relatively far in the title race last season, while de Jong also played an important role in Barcelona‘s La Liga title success in 2022-23.
In attack, Hojlund has put up some good numbers for a striker of his age, but after joining for £72m from Atalanta, slightly more was expected.
Zirkzee’s arrival this summer has also not set pulses racing just yet, but it was abundantly clear from his time at Bologna that goalscoring is not the main facet of his game, as Thiago Motta utilised him more for his link-up play with the Rossoblu.
Kane meanwhile, set records in the Bundesliga, having the greatest ever debut goalscoring season in the division, while also taking the European Golden Shoe, so a player of that calibre could have been crucial in avoiding a poor eighth-place finish for United in the Premier League last season.
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