Although Manchester United have not got much to show from the first month of the transfer window, you cannot possibly knock their efforts in trying to cater to Erik ten Hag's demands.
So far, Tyrell Malacia, drafted in from Feyenoord for an initial fee of £12.9million, is their only new addition this summer, meaning Ten Hag's rebuild has not started as the fans would have hoped. They hoped that Ten Hag beginning work at Old Trafford less than 24 hours after the final whistle of a disastrous 2021/22 campaign had been blown meant that the club would be quick in trying to get the bulk of their transfer business done.
But that has not been the case, highlighted by the fact that Malacia was the only new addition that boarded the flight to Bangkok at Manchester Airport on Friday. United have come slowly out of the blocks and feelings of discontent and frustration have been made clear among the fans on social media.
READ MORE: Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag breaks silence on Tyrell Malacia transfer
The situation has not been helped by the likes of Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur all starting the window like a house on fire, bringing in big-name signings like Darwin Nunez, Erling Haaland and Yves Bissouma. They have all acted swiftly and got their top targets through the door before their pre-season tours kicked off.
United, on the flip side, have identified many of their top targets but have not yet made the breakthroughs that they would have hoped for. Lisandro Martinez, Frenkie de Jong, Christian Eriksen and Antony have all been locked in as top targets that Ten Hag wants, and Eriksen, should all go according to plan, will be United's next signing, unless we see a rapid turn of events elsewhere.
But despite the frustrations the fans are quite right to have expressed, you have to credit United for focusing on players that Ten Hag wants and who he believes will help bring success back to M16. The prospect of signing De Jong this summer without Ten Hag at the helm would have been a complete non-starter, with a lack of Champions League football making it impossible. But the attraction of working with his fellow countryman again is United's main selling point, even if Barcelona are continuing to dig their heels in, almost two months on from when the club first registered their interest.
Although the saga is threatening to drag on and, for many, become tiring and tedious, United's dedication to the prospect of getting a deal over the line shows that they are in full support of Ten Hag and what he is trying to achieve. They know the Dutchman can be successful if he has the right tools to work with.
Another example is the club's pursuit of Ajax centre-back Martinez. As revealed by the Manchester Evening News, the United hierarchy has chosen to back Ten Hag over his pursuit of him, despite the club's recruitment department favouring Villarreal's Pau Torres. Backing Ten Hag's thinking shows that United have complete faith in the Dutchman. It is also clear that they have studied how he brought success to the Johan Cruyff Arena with Ajax.
And Ten Hag's excellent work to put Ajax back on the map was praised by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in December 2020. The German hailed the 52-year-old, referencing how big a role he had played in ensuring Ajax had the correct leadership in place.
Klopp said: "Erik is rightly regarded as one of the most exciting coaching talents in world football at the moment because of the work he does with Ajax. Of course, it is a wonderful club – one of the stellar names of European football – but in this moment it is clear they have outstanding leadership of the organisation and Erik is a big part of that."
Although Ten Hag has only been in England less than two months, he has already made it clear that he wants to have a big say in the direction United head in under his stewardship. He soon made it clear that he did not want any input from Ralf Rangnick, ensuring he left Old Trafford before he had even started in his consultancy role, and has had a direct say on the signings he wants this summer. The addition of Malacia has proven exactly that.
Therefore, it is already abundantly clear that United have recognised how Ten Hag proved to be so successful at Ajax, allowing his voice to be heard and listened to. The lack of progress in the transfer market is disappointing so far, but United are definitely taking the right steps.
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