New managers wanting to bring people they trust to a new club is a tale as old as time, but Erik ten Hag has taken it to a whole new level at Manchester United. The Dutch tactician has a particular preference for players he has previously worked with, specifically at Ajax, where he had the most success of his career. Failing that, he seems to prefer players from his home country or who have at least some experience of playing in the Netherlands.
Two of his former charges, Lisandro Martinez and Antony, joined up with him in his first summer at United, while the club also spent plenty of energy trying, and ultimately failing, to sign Frenkie de Jong, the breakout star of his great Ajax side. They did sign Tyrell Malacia and Christian Eriksen, neither of whom had worked under Ten Hag but had previously played in the Eredivisie. And the following January, Netherlands striker Wout Weghorst joined on loan.
The next summer the arrival of former Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana and Mason Mount, who had spent one season at Vitesse, and came up against Ten Hag, turned his penchant for recruiting players with a Dutch flavour into something of a running joke. The joke is being reused in his third summer transfer window after the arrival of Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee and especially now following the twin signings from Bayern Munich of Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, both of whom also worked with Ten Hag at Ajax. Meanwhile, two Dutch coaches, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake, have joined his coaching staff this summer.
It is no longer a joke but fact that Ten Hag has players he trusts and wants. As he approaches his third season at Old Trafford in desperate need of getting the team back into the Champions League, he has no more excuses.