The Eredivisie is a league filled with talent and we have seen players from the Dutch league come to bigger leagues and flourish. Similarly Feyernoord left back Tyrell Malacia is one such player who impressed current Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag during his time at Ajax Amsterdam.
Malacia is currently rumoured to join Manchester United for a transfer worth €15 million this summer, as according to reports on the Manchester Evening News both clubs have an agreement and the final process is underway.
However, that is far from the most interesting thing here. The young left back was hailed a few years ago by Erik ten Hag when he was in charge of Ajax. He noticed him in the Eredivisie and was highly impressed. Therefore when he joined Manchester United, he had a list of players that he wanted to join the club and Malacia was one of them and now that the deal is going through is credit to the Dutchman for spotting talent so early on.
He witnessed him in a game and was quick to identify the talent that the 22-year-old possesses. While Ajax was playing Feyernoord, Ten Hag shared a few words of applause about Malacia with his assistant as he sat in the dugout.
“That kid at left-back is amazing. Take note of him,” the then Ajax manager said to one of his assistants about Tyrell Malacia.
His assistant coach Michael Reiziger followed the instruction and glued his eyes on the 22-year-old left back as he was seen jotting down a few points on his notebook as he eventually agreed to Erik ten Hag’s assessment of Malacia.
However, that is not the only time he spoke about the 22-year-old talented left back. There were rumours of him joining Ajax during Ten Hag’s time and there he was quizzed whether he is someone that Ajax are looking for in the transfer market, there again he shared his admiration for Malacia but was tight lipped about anything related to the transfer.
“We do think he is a good player, yes. A transfer for Malacia to us is not an issue in the first place. Before we get all speculations again; it does not play at all,” Ten Hag said as the Ajax manager.
Apart from Malacia, Ten Hag is also looking at the possibility of signing Frenkie De Jong from Barcelona. De Jong is a player who shares the same ideology with the Dutch tactician and having worked under him for so many years, the midfielder knows what he will get if he joins United this summer.There are plenty of rumours but for now these two are likely to join Old Trafford.
