Erik ten Hag told he ‘totally misjudged’ signings during Man Utd tenure as early recruits lack ‘Premier League qualities’

Despite a promising first season at Old Trafford, Ten Hag's team have underwhelmed this term as they sit eighth in the Premier League and have crashed out of Europe after finishing bottom of their Champions League. According to an unnamed agent, the coach's signings have hindered his side's progress.

The anonymous agent told The Athletic: "Erik totally misjudged the qualities needed to play in the Premier League. I rate him as a coach but if he had an experienced sports director alongside him, like he had with Marc Overmars at Ajax, then he wouldn’t need to worry so much about the recruitment side of things. You have Pep [Guardiola] and Txiki [Begiristain] at [Manchester] City, at United you have Erik and ?”

United splashed out of the likes of Rasmus Hojlund, Andre Onana and Mason Mount in the summer, while Sofyan Amrabat joined on loan from Fiorentina. However, the new additions have not been able to lift the Red Devils to another level. Now that Sir Jim Ratcliffe's partial takeover has been agreed, United fans will hope that a more cohesive transfer strategy will be put in place and result in better signings in the January transfer window.

Ten Hag will be eager to bring in new faces to strengthen his team over the course of this month. Before any new deals will be confirmed, however, his Red Devils will take on Wigan in the FA Cup third round on Monday.