Ever since his arrival at Manchester United, Erik ten Hag had his sights set on signing Frenkie de Jong.
The 27-year-old Barcelona star was always at the top of Erik ten Hag‘s shopping list but he was never able to get a deal over the line.
Ten Hag was hired at Old Trafford to try and implement the style of play that fans adored at Ajax, but he viewed a ball-playing midfielder as a crucial part of his plans – and no one fits that role better than Frenkie de Jong, who had already thrived there under Ten Hag at Ajax.
De Jong was adored by Ten Hag, who strongly believed he was the best in the world at his role. United had a £72m bid accepted for De Jong in 2022 but the deal collapsed with the player keen to stay in Spain.
United approached De Jong again this summer as they eyed midfield reinforcements but they ended up with a £42m deal for Manuel Ugarte instead.
Man United filmed video package for Frenkie de Jong
It felt as though United prodded and poked Barcelona to check De Jong’s availability almost every transfer window that Ten Hag was in charge.
Sadly for the Dutchman, Ten Hag was sacked on Monday morning and will never know whether or not De Jong was the missing piece of his puzzle at Old Trafford.
But United pulled no punches in their pursuit to sign De Jong, with The Athletic revealing that the club even produced a video of the Barcelona star alongside United legends in an attempt to persuade him to join.
Amazingly, the report continues to state that De Jong never even saw the video.
Erik ten Hag was frustrated at four missed Man United signings
De Jong will forever be a “what if” for Ten Hag after his dismissal, and reports suggest that the Dutchman was frustrated that United missed out on three other targets too.
According to ESPN, Ten Hag “voiced his frustration” that the club had missed out on signing stars such as De Jong, Alexis Mac Allister, Federico Valverde and Harry Kane.
Ten Hag has been public about the fact he wanted to sign Kane at United, only to end up with a £64m deal for Rasmus Hojlund – who is full of potential but nowhere near the finished article that Kane is.
Interestingly, the other three targets are all midfielders – an area where Ten Hag failed to strike a balance over the past few months.
Ten Hag resorted to pairing Christian Eriksen with Casemiro in his final few weeks at United despite the duo being linked with a move away in the summer.
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