Erik ten Hag wants €20m Hakim Ziyech, amid Manchester United failed deal with Timo Werner in the last hours approach.
Man United is still having a terrible summer transfer window as they haven’t added a player in nearly four weeks.
The Manchester United hierarchy is refusing to budge on Erik ten Hag’s desire to sign Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech.
Ziyech, 29, who Ten Hag coached at Ajax, has been identified as a left-footed alternative attacker to Antony, who has been priced out of a move by Ajax due to his €80 million valuation.
Ziyech, who has a contract with Chelsea through 2025, did not play in their opening-weekend victory at Everton.
With the exception of Ziyech, United has generally supported Ten Hag’s preference for targets that are familiar to him. Last week, the club was pleased to submit a $8 million bid for Marko Arnautovic, a 33-year-old forward for Bologna.
It has been revealed that United made an 11th-hour attempt to sign Timo Werner, another left-footed forward, from Chelsea before he returned to RB Leipzig for £25 million, in what is turning out to be an increasingly desperate transfer window.
Werner, 26, joined Chelsea for £45 million in 2020 and won the Champions League and Club World Cup despite only scoring 23 goals in 89 games.
The failure of United to sign Werner is yet another embarrassment this week. Three weeks after his agent met with United football director John Murtough, Benjamin Sesko finalized a move to Leipzig.
Josko Gvardial, Konrad Laimer, and Christopher Nkunku were players recommended for recruitment by former interim manager and recruitment consultant Ralf Rangnick. Instead, United pursued two players who ultimately transferred to Leipzig instead.
After backlash from fans, United abandoned its attempt to sign Arnautovic, but it is still in talks with Adrien Rabiot. United has agreed to pay a fee of £15 million that could rise to £20 million for the Juventus midfielder.
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic of Lazio is another midfielder who interests United as they risk further humiliation in their 93-day-old pursuit of Frenkie de Jong.
