Ronaldo and United, de Jong and Barcelona: Three Transfer Lessons

Of all the problems Manchester United faced last season, the form of Luke Shaw was some considerable way down the list. (It was nowhere near, for example, the one entitled: “How to play some version of modern soccer with a legendary striker who simply will not — not cannot, but will not — press.”) Nobody watched Manchester United flailing in the Premier League and said: Yes, the issue here is the in-form left back.

Nonetheless, the first signing of Manager Erik ten Hag’s tenure at Old Trafford was a left-back: Tyrell Malacia, to be exact, drafted in from the Dutch club Feyenoord. He will soon be joined, it seems, by Lisandro Martínez, an Argentine defender, and Christian Eriksen, a Danish midfielder, and Frenkie de Jong, currently with Barcelona, and possibly even the Brazilian forward Antony.

The link, of course, is that they all made their names in the same place. Martínez and Antony both currently play for Ajax, the team from which United plucked ten Hag. De Jong was the centerpiece of the Ajax side ten Hag took to within 30 seconds or so of the Champions League final. Eriksen emerged there, more than a decade ago. Ten Hag had considered signing Malacia when he still worked at Ajax.

There is no reason to believe that any of these players will be anything less than a success. Martínez is an Argentine international of some repute. De Jong is one of the finest midfielders in the world. Eriksen has a knack for improving every team that includes him, and has done so for more than a decade. They should all, instinctively, understand what ten Hag wants.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/sports/soccer/cristiano-ronaldo-manchester-united-frenkie-de-jong.html