Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Erik ten Hag blasted for ‘bizarre’ summer signing and filling Man Utd with ‘second rate’ players

Marco van Basten has criticised Man Utd's transfer business under Erik ten Hag

Marco van Basten has criticised Man Utd's transfer business under Erik ten Hag

Erik ten Hag is under intense scrutiny at Manchester United and Dutch footballing icon Marco van Basten has strongly criticised his ‘bizarre’ signing of Manuel Ugarte.

The Uruguayan international joined from Paris Saint-Germain over the summer for a fee of £50m but his performances have left much to be desired so far.

Man Utd signed five players over the summer with Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui joining Ugarte in moving to Old Trafford.

Yoro was injured in pre-season, Mazraoui has put in some decent performances, while Zirkzee and De Ligt have both come under fire for lacklustre showings in their first few months in the Premier League.

Ugarte, on the other hand, has played just 103 minutes of Premier League football so far so it is difficult to gauge the impact he will have with the Red Devils

Man Utd’s revamped recruitment team, led by sporting director Dan Ashworth, played a big role in the additions but Ten Hag continues to take the brunt of the criticism.

There has been intense speculation in recent days that Ten Hag could be sacked. Sir Jim Ratcliffe is ready to axe the Dutchman, but isn’t in a rush and will wait to find the perfect replacement before he is relieved of his duties, as is expected.

Van Basten: Ugarte ‘not worth a quarter’ of his transfer fee

Former Dutch international Van Basten feels he has seen enough of Ugarte to determine that Man Utd have made a costly mistake by bringing him in.

“Now also that last one, Ugarte, who cost £50 million, you think, ‘how do you even think about paying so much money for that?’ That is really bizarre,” Van Basten said on Ziggo Sport’s ‘Rondo’ show.

When told he may be being premature with his judgement on Ugarte’s time with Man Utd, Van Basten replied:  “No, but I could already see in that match that he’s not even worth a quarter of that amount.”

“It’s true that the big clubs, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Arsenal, they get the better ones and he [Erik ten Hag] always comes with second-rate players. That team has not got better.

“He remains a good trainer but if you see the purchasing policy and those boys which were then bought for 700 million, I don’t see any return on that, they’re still poorly organised.

“There is no star walking around who organises it, who leads, none.

“A few years ago Marcus Rashford was a great player, he can’t do anything about this any more, it’s unbelievable. It’s strange for that a boy who was a world star years ago.”

Thomas Tuchel could replace Ten Hag at Man Utd – sources

As mentioned, Ratcliffe isn’t in a major rush to sack Ten Hag but is ready to do so if Man Utd can find a solid replacement.

We exclusively revealed on Tuesday that Thomas Tuchel is Man Utd’s number one choice to become their next manager and are planning to hold talks with him soon.

Tuchel spoke with the Red Devils hierarchy over the summer but turned down the opportunity to become their manager as he wanted to have a break from football after leaving Bayern Munich.

The former Bayern and Chelsea boss wants guarantees that he will be able to make some big signings in January and next summer, though, which will make negotiations less than straightforward.

Massimiliano Allegri is another name being considered by Man Utd. He, on the other hand, believes that Man Utd’s squad is already strong enough to compete at the top of the Premier League.

We understand that Tuchel, Allegri, Graham Potter, Gareth Southgate and Eddie Howe are the managers to watch out for should Ten Hag get the sack, while Ruud van Nistelrooy is likely to be put in temporary charge.

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