Erik ten Hag dismisses suggestions he prefers players with Dutch experience
Eleven of the 20 signings made his since appointment in 2022 have a Dutch association.
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Your support makes all the difference.Erik ten Hag dismissed suggestions he prefers players with experience of Dutch football after Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui became the latest to join Manchester United this week.
The defenders completed moves from Bayern Munich to Old Trafford on Tuesday, linking back up with their former Ajax manager ahead of the Premier League opener against Fulham.
Andre Onana, Lisandro Martinez and Antony also played under Ten Hag in Amsterdam, while former loanee Sofyan Amrabat was managed by him at Utrecht.
Tyrell Malacia, Wout Weghorst and Joshua Zirkzee hail from the Netherlands, plus Christian Eriksen and Mason Mount played there, meaning 11 of the 20 signings made his since appointment in 2022 have a Dutch association.
Asked if that background was something he favoured or just a coincidence, Ten Hag said: “No, no, not for favourite. First of all, it’s club decisions. None of them is only my decision.
“It’s always backed or even brought up through the scouting, recruitment, the technical director, the sporting director.
“It’s a decision made by more than only one but, yeah, some you know, the players and personalities, and also it has to fit also in the finance.”
Mazraoui and De Ligt – who both hail from the Dutch town of Leiderdorp – joined United on Tuesday and go straight into the squad taking on Fulham in Friday’s Premier League opener.
The latter is a long-term target of the Old Trafford outfit and arrived from Bayern in a 45million euros (£38.5m) deal that could rise to 50m euros (£42.7m).
“He has fantastic potential,” Ten Hag said. “But Matthijs turned 25 this week and he has almost 375 games for Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich under the belt. That is incredible.
“Now he is turning into his best years. He has great skills as a footballer but also as a real character, a real personality. I am very pleased to have him here.”
De Ligt could quickly be involved given fellow centre-back acquisition Leny Yoro is injured, while right-back Mazraoui’s ability to play left-back will be important with Malacia and Luke Shaw out.
The latter suffered a calf complaint that will keep him out until after September’s internationals, frustrating fans given he has not played for United since mid-February but featured in three Euro games.
“First season when I was here he played many games so I am very confident we will get him back in this shape,” Ten Hag said.
“He is only 29 years old. Already he played many, many games for Manchester United and if I talk with Luke he is so committed, he is so United.
“I have strong belief he will return quickly and he will contribute to our levels.”
There could be three United debutants in Friday night’s Premier League opener as forward Zirkzee looks to make his first appearance since his 42.5m euros (£35.7m) move from Bologna.
“I think we have two young strikers who have the potential to grow into top-class strikers with (Rasmus) Hojlund and Zirkzee,” Ten Hag said.
“I think he is close (to starting) but that is one of the complications. We don’t have a pre-season with him, so we need games actually to bring him.
“If you see his background, in the last months he had an injury at Bologna, in the end he made the selection for the Netherlands, so that helped him out of our first few weeks of pre-season.
“So, no games and that is his problem in this moment.
“But now it’s his third week in training, you see him stepping up, his fitness levels are improving, and he needs more minutes and we can’t do it in a friendly. It has to go into the league.”