Erik ten Hag has already opened up on how Manchester United can get the best out of Frenkie de Jong.
The 52-year-old will join the Red Devils this summer after he was made the top choice ahead of Mauricio Pochettino and Julen Lopetegui to take over from interim coach Ralf Rangnick. Ten Hag won over Old Trafford chiefs with his style of football and ability to develop youngsters.
And there can be no arguing those points - particularly when looking at his history with Ajax. During his five years in Amsterdam, Ten Hag has helped get the best out of several elite talents.
One of them includes De Jong, who was part of the Ajax team that made it to the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019 - beating the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus along the way. It led to a £65million move to Barcelona that summer.
However, his time at the Nou Camp could be up and United are an interested party as they look to bolster their midfield. It is one of the priority positions to be strengthened this summer, especially with Paul Pogba increasingly looking likely to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season.
According to Diario Sport, Ten Hag has identified De Jong as an early target to lead his United revolution - a player he knows all about that can reinforce the squad. Rangnick has already admitted that there might need to be as many as 10 transfers this summer to make the Red Devils competitive again.
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And Ten Hag knows already how to get the best out of his compatriot after admitting that it would be restrictive to place the midfielder in a lone no. 6 role. He said back in 2019: "He leaves the middle of the pitch too often for that. And if you don’t give him the freedom to go forward, you won’t get the best out of his game."
With that in mind, it remains to be seen whether or not De Jong will be brought in for that particular role. Though there remains plenty of interest in other midfield targets such as Declan Rice from West Ham and Monaco star Aurelien Tchouameni.
But signing two has not been ruled out - especially considering the likely exit of Pogba. The Frenchman might have already played his last game for United after an injury picked up against Liverpool earlier this week which has sidelined him for a month.
Rangnick said: "As it seems right now he will not renew his contract and I don’t know, maybe the club or Erik [ten Hag] will not want to renew his contract, I don’t know. It’s most likely he won’t be here anymore next season."
