Erik ten Hag given opportunity to sign another of his former players for Man United in €60-70m deal | OneFootball

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag may reportedly have been handed a boost as Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong is now available for transfer.

The Red Devils have a long-standing interest in De Jong and it seems Ten Hag remains in with a chance of being reunited with his former Ajax player again, according to the latest from Spanish outlet Fichajes.

The report states that Barca could do with getting De Jong off their wage bill as he’s a high earner and they have financial problems, and this could seemingly open the door to Man Utd to snap him up for around €60-70million.

United have signed midfielders such as Casemiro, Sofyan Amrabat and Manuel Ugarte under Ten Hag, but so far none of them have really delivered.

Someone like De Jong, who Ten Hag knows well, could perhaps be a smart signing to finally fix that problem area for United.

Frenkie de Jong warms up for Barcelona (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Frenkie de Jong transfer: Would this really solve Man United’s problems?

Having said that, MUFC fans might be wary of seeing the club invest big money in another former Ten Hag player again, as it’s not a strategy that’s worked particularly well for them so far during the Dutch tactician’s reign.

Ten Hag brought in both Antony and Lisandro Martinez from Ajax in his first summer in charge, and he’s since also signed other former players of his in the form of Andre Onana and Matthijs de Ligt.

Basically all of these players have been quite disappointing for United, so there’s no guarantee De Jong would be able to escape that same fate.

The Netherlands international looks on paper like he’d surely be an upgrade on the current midfielders at Old Trafford, but he’s also 27, injury-prone, and has never played in the Premier League before.

All in all, this seems like a bit of a gamble that might not be worth it, especially as Ten Hag is most likely not particularly safe in his job right now either.