Stam urges Man Utd board to back Ten Hag as rebuild begins
Erik ten Hag’s transfer plans are already in chaos as he looks to make his mark at Manchester United, according to reports. The Red Devils are hoping to land a midfielder this summer. But, when it comes to landing Declan Rice, Kalvin Phillips and Jude Bellingham, they face issues along the way.
Manchester United need a new midfielder this summer, with Ten Hag determined to win a trophy at the first time of asking.
Nemanja Matic has confirmed he’ll be leaving Old Trafford after five years, while the likes of Paul Pogba, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard are set to leave as well.
That will leave United with just Fred, Scott McTominay, Donny van de Beek and Bruno Fernandes as established midfielder options.
And, now, the Daily Star say Ten Hag is set to miss out on four of his top targets.
Rice has been offered an eight-year contract by West Ham, who are determined to keep their prized asset at the London Stadium.
And, in any case, he’s hinted he’ll still be strutting his stuff with the Hammers next term.
Man Utd transfer news: Erik ten Hag's plans are already in chaos (Image: GETTY)
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Man Utd transfer news: Erik ten Hag is set to miss out on Kalvin Phillips and Declan Rice (Image: GETTY)
Now, Ten Hag will have to go back to the drawing board.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is another midfielder on United’s radar, having enjoyed a storming season for Lazio in Serie A.
Yet the Italian side have made it clear the Serbia international isn’t on the market, too.
Meanwhile, former Ajax star Joel Veltman has hailed Ten Hag ahead of his imminent move to the Premier League.
“Yeah [he made us better players], especially against big opponents,” the Dutchman told MUTV.
“I think we showed that in the Champions League run that we had, three years ago.
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Man Utd transfer news: Borussia Dortmund won't let Jude Bellingham leave the club (Image: GETTY)
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“He knew where the weaknesses were in the big opponents. Sometimes, you don’t need to be the better team but if you are a team, you can have great results.”
And he added: “I would say that when he came in at Ajax, everybody was like, ‘yeah, what can we expect?’ He did a great job at Utrecht, where he came from before Ajax.
“But Ajax like to play attractive football and he knew that, and [he just applied the] finishing touches that he was really focusing on, like the five seconds rule, that kind of thing.
“[He told us to] keep the ball a lot and if we lost it, to directly pressure opponents when they were not organised. That kind of thing he was putting in our team.
“He expects a lot on the training pitch, because he was always saying, ‘if you don’t perform on the training pitch, you will never show on the gameday’.
“So, he was really putting pressure on us at training.”