Manchester United are moving quickly in the transfer market ahead of their return for pre-season training today (July 8) and a week before their first pre-season game on July 15.
Red Devils have taken a decisive approach in the transfer market under the new Ineos leadership and the result is they are close to securing two targets already.
The final obstacle in Joshua Zirkzee deal has been resolved and the Dutch striker is set to sign for United, while Matthijs de Ligt’s signing is a matter of when, and not if.
A lot of praise is rightly being given to the new executive structure who has arguably changed the club’s way of operating quicker than anyone would have expected.
However, manager Erik ten Hag deserves some credit as well now that his role in securing the pair, with potentially Manuel Ugarte also arriving, has come to light.
Erik ten Hag’s role in double transfer swoop
Fabrizio Romano reports that Erik ten Hag has had a huge role to play in United getting close to securing their first two targets this window.
The manager has played an influential role, as he has been in direct contact with both Zirkzee and De Ligt as he tried to convince them of the move.
Both players have received the sign-off from him and he was tasked with presenting his club project to the pair, ultimately succeeding as AC Milan were beaten in Zirkzee race and De Ligt gave priority to only United.
While it must be general practice that a manager gets in touch with players before the move to convince them of his plans, this summer is not “general” at Old Trafford.
Reaffirms Ten Hag’s “veto”
Ineos have been open about putting together a structure over the manager that makes overarching decisions for the club which the man in the dugout must adhere to.
Ten Hag is getting a new staff and there were murmurs that his influence in the transfer market was also going to decrease with experts above him.
However, he has retained his veto in the market where no player is signed without him agreeing to it. It is the best-case scenario for United as their new-look team can expand the scope of scouting beyond players who have previously played under, or against Ten Hag.
That seemed to be the case until last season, causing a lot of exasperation among the fanbase as there seemed to be a lack of alternatives in planning targets.
The board presenting multiple options to the manager and then him signing off on one which catches the fancy of everyone is the ideal way of working which finally seems to have been implemented at the club after more nearly two decades. The place for hiding is quickly shrinking for players and the manager.
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