According to ESPN’s Rob Dawson, new Manchester United boss, Erik ten Hag, met Man Utd representatives in Amsterdam today to hold talks over the club’s recruitment plans.
The Dutchman’s current side, Ajax, secured the league title last night with a 5-0 win over Heerenveen and the 52-year-old will now start to make some progress ahead of his move to Manchester over the summer.
Erik ten Hag trying to get a head start with the Man United job. Dutch title clinched last night and today holding a recruitment meeting with United representatives in Amsterdam. Potential ins and outs being discussed.
— Rob Dawson (@RobDawsonESPN) May 12, 2022
As exclusively revealed in Fabrizio Romano’s CaughtOffside column, United will “100%” be signing a new central striker this summer, but the club are also said to be after a centre-midfielder and a winger during the upcoming window.
With that in mind, here are three players that Caught Offside thinks will be on Ten Hag’s agenda for the summer.
Centre-midfield – Frenkie De Jong
Reliable Barcelona insider, Gerard Romero, broke the news last night that Frenkie De Jong is set to join Manchester United this summer with a deal 95% likely to be completed by the end of the month.
Barcelona are selling the midfielder purely from an economic standpoint as the Catalan club looks to raise funds ahead of the summer window, which was also confirmed by Fabrizio Romano today.
The transfer journalist also stated that there has been contact with Manchester United but sources say there’s no full/close agreement with Barcelona, at present.
Frenkie de Jong situation. There has been contact with Manchester United, yes – but sources say there's no full/close agreement with Barcelona, as of today. ?? #MUFC
Barça financial situation could affect Frenkie's future – his priority is UCL football. Erik Ten Hag will push. pic.twitter.com/2eJHJ2XWGM
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 12, 2022
De Jong would be an incredible signing for Man United and would go a long way in helping United’s midfield issues, which have been present for a long time.
This should be a priority signing for Ten Hag if the 25-year-old is available as the Barca man has the ability to go on and be the best midfielder on the planet.
De Jong was given his first-team debut at Ajax by Ten Hag as a youngster during the 2017/18 season and went on to play 57 times in the Eredivisie up until his departure in 2019. The pair won a Dutch double during the 2018-19 season and went all the way to the semi-finals of the Champions League that year before narrowly losing to Tottenham.
Ten Hag’s role could be crucial in bringing the Dutchman to Manchester and his former player would certainly have been discussed today.
Winger – Antony
For the winger position, Erik Ten Hag doesn’t have to look too hard to find what he is after. Antony has been managed by the 52-year-old since arriving in Amsterdam back in 2020 and has developed incredibly under the Dutchman’s watchful eye.
The 22-year-old has scored 12 goals and assisted a further 10 this season across 33 games, whilst missing a large chunk of the season due to an ankle injury. This is an improvement on his 10 goals and 10 assists from the last campaign and the Brazilian would certainly develop further at a place like Manchester United.
Antony is a left-footed right-winger and is a very skilful player. The Brazilian is fast, a strong dribbler, has incredible crossing ability and likes to cut in a lot onto his left to shoot.
The Ajax man could play on the right for United with Jadon Sancho operating on the left of a front three and the man in the middle, Cristiano Ronaldo, would certainly benefit from the Brazilian’s crossing ability.
Antony has a contract with Ajax until 2025, and according to Manchester Evening News, has a price tag of €35million on his head.
This is easily achievable for United and the Ajax man should definitely be a player on the agenda of Ten Hag.
Striker – Darwin Nunez
If Manchester United are “100%” certain to sign a striker this summer according to Fabrizio Romano, they should look no further than Benfica’s Darwin Nunez, who is having an incredible season in Portugal.
The Uruguayan has scored 34 goals in 41 games this campaign and is on the radar of many clubs, which includes Man United reports the Daily Mail.
The 22-year-old would complement Ronaldo perfectly in a front two; thanks to his work rate, pace and ability to run behind defensive lines, which the Portuguese international can’t do at this stage in his career. The Uruguayan is a handful for defenders and at the very least, would take some of the attention away from the 37-year-old.
Benfica are believed to be holding out for at least £60million for the striker reports the Mail, which will most likely include add-ons. This would be a huge coup for Man United, should they lure the 22-year-old to Old Trafford, and Nunez is a player that should be up there with De Jong as a main priority for Erik ten Hag in the summer.
Man u must Sign qualities players, for us to return to our glory.