ERIK TEN HAG IS ALREADY DOING SOMETHING RIGHT WITH MANCHESTER UNITED TRANSFER PLAN
Sometimes jumping the gun is beneficial. Erik ten Hag has shown he is a proactive manager who clearly loves the role he’s in.
He came out with a defiant message after Saturday’s FA Cup final defeat. "I have only one plan: that is to improve this club and to improve this team," he said. "I will fight for [it]. I have my ideas and I already told the club what we have to do for that.”
There is clear evidence that he has been in dialogue with recruitment staff and the board regarding summer activity already. Harry Maguire and Anthony Martial are due to be transfer listed while the club have signalled they will not make Wout Weghorst’s deal permanent.
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United have already learnt of Daniel Levy’s stubbornness over letting Harry Kane leave and so are exploring other targets under the presumption the England captain will not be sold.
The boss has held video calls with Rasmus Hojlund of Atalanta while personal terms with Mason Mount have been agreed as Ten Hag looks to wrap up his midfield recruit early.
This is a far cry from the elongated chases of several targets last summer, Frenkie de Jong being the case in point. It’s easy to forget that Lisandro Martinez’s arrival, though successful, wasn’t exactly rapid as Ten Hag gave up on his chase of Jurrien Timber.
Antony was a deadline day signing. In the end, £225million was spent as clubs charged premium prices for their assets.
Of course, this time around he has a season of United credentials behind him and has more time to plan ahead. But his rapid activity ahead of this summer’s transfer window nevertheless gives an insight into how Ten Hag likes to operate.
Although, perhaps we saw a glimpse of his proactive nature in the winter window when the loan signing of Marcel Sabiter was secured from Bayern Munich.
On the face of it, it was very much a reactive transfer with the move for the Austrian coming because of the long-term ankle injury to Christian Eriksen.
But Ten Hag and United had tracked the midfielder for some time and when they needed to do business, the switch was flicked. Getting the band together early ahead of an expected big showing next season will be vital, whether there is a title charge or not.
Like all United supporters, Luke Shaw is on tenterhooks too. “With the direction this manager is going under, I’m sure we’re going to make new signings, big signings this summer,” he said last month.
“So hopefully we can get them done as quickly as possible so they're in for pre-season. Our aim for next season has to be winning the Premier League and the Champions League. That’s how we have to think from now on.”
Ten Hag is making the right steps by trying to set out business early if the aim is to indeed compete for the big honours next season. The less ambiguity the better and separating the wheat from the chaff early on makes for a better harvest.
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2023-06-06T03:14:50Z dg43tfdfdgfd