Manchester United were willing to spend €40m to hand Erik ten Hag a striker who has scored even fewer goals than Rasmus Hojlund this campaign, according to a Dutch journalist.
Their frustrated pursuit of Ajax frontman Brian Brobbey during Ten Hag’s tenure at Old Trafford now appears to be a blessing in disguise, with the 23-year-old’s form at rock bottom.
Voetbal Primeur quote journalist Valentijn Driessen, who claims that Ten Hag “wanted to pay €40m for him”, but “now they are not even paying €10m”.
Brobbey impressed under Ten Hag during a loan spell at Ajax from RB Leipzig, but despite receiving phone calls from the tactician after he moved to Old Trafford, the striker made his loan to the Dutch giants permanent.
Football365 quote the 23-year-old as saying last year that “Erik ten Hag called me and said that at United, my agent would get millions of Euros and I could earn a multiple of my Ajax salary.
“But our decision was clear: we wanted to go to Ajax.”
So much the better, as Ten Hag’s influence over United’s transfer dealings is one of the most damaging legacies he left behind.
For example, he was desperate to be reunited with Antony, who he worked with at Ajax, and pushed the club to spend a huge £81m on the Brazilian winger whose best performances since that move have been on loan at Real Betis.
And it’s little wonder that Brobbey’s valuation has fallen off a cliff, as the Dutch striker has managed only seven goals in all competitions this season.
But people in glass houses should be careful throwing stones, as while the Red Devils missed out on Brobbey they did part with €70m to sign Hojlund the summer before in a gamble which isn’t really paying off.
The young Dane took a while to get up and running in his first season at the club but impressed in fits and bursts to end up with a respectable 16 goals in 43 games.
But he has summarily failed to kick on and his crucial equaliser at AFC Bournemouth at the weekend was only his ninth goal in all competitions this campaign.
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
