Erik ten Hag suffers his first Manchester United blow

Manchester United fans will be hoping that Erik ten Hag turns out to be the man to finally take the club back to the top of the English game. They have not been there since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. In fact, they have not even come close, with the likes of Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, David Moyes and Ralf Rangnick, all failing to deliver while on the Old Trafford hot seat.

Now, it is the turn of Ten Hag to show what he is capable of. While his record might have been incredible at Ajax, re-establishing Manchester United as a force in English and European football will be a whole different ball game for the Dutch manager.

If Ten Hag is to have any chance of succeeding at the Theatre of Dreams, Manchester United will need to back him in the summer transfer window and in this regard, he has already been handed his first major blow.

As reported by Daily Record, Ten Hag had identified Darwin Nunez as his preferred option for a rebuild at Manchester United. But now, the Uruguayan striker is headed to Liverpool instead.

Ten Hag handed his first blow as Manchester United manager

Having failed to qualify for this season’s Champions League group stage, it was always going to be difficult for Manchester United to attract top talent this summer.

Add that to the fact that they have been nowhere near one of England’s top teams for almost a decade now and it should not come as a major surprise that Nunez wanted to go to Liverpool instead.

This is expected to be a challenge for Ten Hag and the club the entire summer, convincing players to choose Manchester United over others. It remains to be seen how successful they are. At the moment, Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong seems to be in their sights.