Ten Hag eyeing £48m signing that’ll make him unpopular, as second source confirms senior Man Utd pair are for sale
Erik ten Hag is eyeing a third Ajax raid that’ll make him unpopular in Amsterdam, while a second outlet have echoed the claims a Man Utd pair signed for £138m are up for sale.
The Dutchman wasted little time raiding former club Ajax upon taking charge at Manchester United. Ten Hag plundered his old club for centre-half Lisandro Martinez before snatching Antony in the final moments of the summer window.
The double exit formed part of what was a truly devastating transfer window for Ajax.
Aside from losing two of their leading lights to United, they also lost household names Andre Onana, Noussair Mazraoui, Nicolás Tagliafico, Ryan Gravenberch and Sébastien Haller in the same window.
The end result has seen Ajax knocked off their customary top spot in the Eredivisie at present.
Feyenoord currently lead the way, while AZ Alkmaar and PSV Eindhoven are threatening to oust Ajax from the Dutch league’s final Champions League qualification place.
However, according to various reports, Ten Hag could heap more misery on his former club by prising yet another major name out of Ajax.
Man Utd and Ajax to do business again?
90min previously reported Man Utd have been extensively scouting 22-year-old frontman, Mohammed Kudus.
The Ghana international is ultra-versatile being capable of playing up front, as a No 10 or in a box-to-box midfield role. He’s bagged 17 goals and four assists in 34 matches across all competitions for Ajax this term.
Football Insider added their take, claiming United had initiated contact with Kudus’ camp. The frontman is valued around the £48m mark, per the report.
Now, talkSPORT have added weight to the speculation, claiming Ten Hag has put Kudus in his list of summer transfer targets.
The Dutch boss is said to be ‘eyeing another raid’ on Ajax, while United’s interest in Tottenham’s Harry Kane is also reaffirmed. The Telegraph previously labelled Kane and Napoli’s Victor Osimhen as United’s two primary striker targets for the summer.
However, both will be difficult to sign and the fact they’re each valued over the £100m mark makes deals incredibly difficult to make.
Kudus would represent a cheaper alternative, though talkSPORT don’t discount the idea Kudus could be signed as well as one of the higher profile targets, not just instead of.
READ MORE: Man Utd holds talks over signing midfielder whose price has doubled, but Liverpool, Chelsea labelled ‘ones to watch’
Two Red Devils on the chopping block
That scenario would require Man Utd to generate hefty fees through player sales to ensure they can balance the books. On that front, talkSPORT back up the Manchester Evening News’ previous claim two major names are on the chopping block.
Captain Harry Maguire and Anthony Martial are the duo in question, with Ten Hag ‘willing to cash in on’ the pair.
Maguire was an £80m signing from Leicester back in 2019, while Martial was signed from Monaco in a deal worth £36m (rising to £58m through add-ons).
Maguire has lost his place as a regular starter this term with Ten Hag favouring a Varane-Martinez partnership. Martial, meanwhile, simply cannot stay fit enough to be of use.
The Daily Mail previously claimed United are resigned to only recouping around half of what they paid for Maguire (approx. £40m). The going rate for Martial given his injury woes is far harder to predict.
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