Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has seen several of his first-season transfer purchases enjoy a strong start at Old Trafford, as the Dutchman has overseen a dramatic turnaround in his opening year at the club. The Red Devils look on course for a top-four finish, having already won the Carabao Cup and have reached the latter stages of both the Europa League and FA Cup.
Casemiro and Christian Eriksen have transformed the United midfield in their first seasons at the club, while Lisandro Martinez shrugged off early criticism from the likes of Jamie Carragher to prove his worth as one of the better centre-halves in the Premier League. The Argentine was one of several players with connections to Holland to make the move with Ten Hag.
The head coach persisted with a transfer for Antony, having coached him at Ajax also while Tyrell Malacia made the move from the Eredivisie and has been an able back-up to Luke Shaw. Eriksen has Ajax connections having worn their colours for nearly five years while Wout Weghorst captured the hearts of Holland with his displays at the World Cup under Louis van Gaal before joining United.
Ten Hag has surrounded himself with players that are connected to his homeland despite criticism for the tactic, something Arsene Wenger had to endure at Arsenal also. The Frenchman’s first few signings in north London saw the likes of Nicolas Anelka, Gilles Grimandi and Emmanuel Petit join the club – similar to Ten Hag’s summer additions.
In 1996, Wenger was ridiculed for arriving in England and abandoning certain traditions. With a new outlook on the game he opted to look across the continent for recruits which eventually saw players such as Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira become stars at Highbury.
Seven French players became invincibles in 2004, the aforementioned trio were joined by compatriots Sylvain Wiltord, Gael Glichy, Pascal Cygan and Jeremie Aliadiere as Wenger was proven right to stick with his ideology of signing French players for Arsenal.
Ten Hag looks to continue with his process as a trio of Dutch stars are linked with summer moves to Old Trafford. Teamtalk have reported that as the club look to sign a new first-choice right-back ahead of next season, Jeremie Frimpong, Jurrien Timber and Denzel Dumfries are the three options for that spot.
Bayer Leverkusen defender Frimpong has had the strongest links, but reports had suggested that Ten Hag wanted to take Timber with him from Ajax to United last summer but having already lost Martinez and Antony, they were reluctant to let a third make the same move.
Dumfries has looked the most offensive option during his displays for the Netherlands, but the shortlist consisting solely of Dutchmen appears to show that Ten Hag is looking to continue in Wenger’s footsteps by preferring to sign compatriots
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