Erik ten Hag makes big Manchester United promise to Frenkie de Jong

(L-R) Frenkie de Jong of Ajax, coach Erik ten Hag of Ajax during the UEFA Champions League third round qualifying first leg match between Royal Standard de Liège and Ajax Amsterdam at Stade Maurice Dufrasne on August 07, 2018 in Liege, Belgium(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images)
(L-R) Frenkie de Jong of Ajax, coach Erik ten Hag of Ajax during the UEFA Champions League third round qualifying first leg match between Royal Standard de Liège and Ajax Amsterdam at Stade Maurice Dufrasne on August 07, 2018 in Liege, Belgium(Photo by VI Images via Getty Images) /
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Frenkie de Jong is a player who had been already linked with Manchester United for a while and those rumours have grown manifold since the appointment of Erik ten Hag as the club’s manager. The two have a history together from their time at Ajax and it remains to be seen if a reunion happens at Old Trafford or not.

De Jong had first burst onto the scene at Ajax under the management of Ten Hag and it had looked like he was destined to become one of the best midfielders in all of Europe.

Barcelona would end up signing him after the season where Ajax reached the semi-finals of the Champions League some years back in unexpected fashion. Since then though, De Jong’s career has not gone as expected and his development has stalled. Thus, it is not hard to see why a reunion with Ten Hag at Old Trafford could be beneficial for the player.

As reported by Marca, Ten Hag has spoken with De Jong to convince him to be his star at Manchester United. The manager has told him that the whole game will revolve around him.

What Ten Hag has told De Jong to try to convince him to join Manchester United

There is no question about the potential that De Jong has but he has never been able to realise it during his time at Barcelona.

Now at 25 years of age, this is an important point in his career, where he will need to take his game to the next level, if he does not want to be remembered as a ‘what could have been’ story in football.

A move to Manchester United makes sense for De Jong as he will once again get the chance to work with Ten Hag, who knows how to get the best out of him. At the same time though, the Red Devils do not have Champions League football to offer to him and have been wildly inconsistent since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. As a result, it is natural for him to have doubts over joining the club.