Man Utd sent three flashing red lights over proposed Brian Brobbey deal that Ten Hag should already be aware of

Manchester United are being strongly tipped to finally land Ajax striker Brian Brobbey but his potential addition to Erik ten Hag’s squad has come with three separate warnings.

It’s certainly not been unusual for Ten Hag to return to his old club to bolster United’s squad, as he did with both Lisandro Martinez and Antony – to differing levels of success it has to be said.

And now it looks like a third Ajax man could be Old Trafford bound, although it’s unlikely to be until the summer.

Brobbey made 32 appearances for Ajax before Ten Hag’s move to United and the striker has since left the club himself, only to return to Amsterdam from an ill-fated spell at RB Leipzig.

He previously revealed that he rejected an offer to join the Red Devils in 2022 but has remained on Ten Hag’s radar ever since.

Indeed, this is what the forward said to Der Telegraaf recently about United’s interest from 18 months ago: “Erik ten Hag called me and said that at United, my agent would get millions of euros and I could earn a multiple of my Ajax salary. But our decision was clear: we wanted to go to Ajax.

“Manchester United wanted to have me, but I insisted on returning to Ajax. To make that possible, my agent Jose Fortes Rodriguez even waived a hefty percentage of the sell-on clause.”

It’s no surprise that United are in the market for another No.9, given Rasmus Hojlund’s struggles domestically, although a January swoop was always going to be unlikely – given that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has not yet fully got his feet in the door.

There also remain doubts over Ten Hag’s future while United continue to struggle, and Brobbey’s arrival is expected to be tied to what happens to the Dutchman going forward.

United a dream move for Brobbey

Meanwhile, Brobbey has made it clear that he does not plan to remain in Amsterdam long. Indeed, within a couple of months of his second stint at Ajax, he called United his “dream club”.

The 21-year-old forward said: “I first have to really succeed here as a striker of Ajax. That’s also how the past six months felt, when I played here on a rental basis. I really had the feeling afterwards: I really have to go back. Believe me, in a few years I will provide a nice transfer fee for Ajax and then the club will have made a nice profit.”

But in terms of when United can start feeling the effects of INEOS’ investment that is not expected to take shape until Sir Dave Brailsford has completed his review of football operations at at Old Trafford.

A new chief executive is set to arrive at the club in the shape of former Manchester City Chief Football Operations Officer Omar Berrada.

And while Ten Hag remains a fan of Brobbey, he is hardly the prolific frontman that United need.

A return of 12 goals in 25 games this season is not bad on the face of it for an Ajax side that has only just picked up form after some early-season struggles. However, it’s considerably easier to score goals in Holland than it is in England.

He netted 14 goals in 44 games for Ajax last season and his short spell at RB Leipzig ended with Brobbey goalless from 14 appearances.

Brobbey not a clinical finisher

But there have always been concerns about his ability in front of goal, with Brobbey having an underwhelming goalscoring record overall.

After seeing Brobbey with the national team during the October international break, head coach Ronald Koeman said: “We were shooting and you saw that his first touch and the way he finished was not good.”

Former Ajax player Ronald de Boer, who coached Brobbey as a youngster at the club, added: “I had him as a youth, he was always like that. He never really had the finishing touch.

“He can get a little better, but if he couldn’t do it all these years, it’s not suddenly going to be great.”

Just for good measure, Dutch goalscoring legend Marco van Basten also raised the same concerns: “You can see that he is uncomfortable with finishing and heading. They must have seen that when he was eight, ten or twelve. That is a drama from Ajax.”

So the red warning lights are there for United, but it could end up coming down to Ten Hag’s judgment again – which, if Antony is anything to go by, will be concerning.

READ MORE: Man Utd backed to sell ‘average’ Antony and sign Tottenham forward who’ll revolutionise Ten Hag’s attack