Man Utd player 'frustrated' under Erik ten Hag and likely to reject new four-and-a-half-year deal

One of Manchester United's biggest academy talents is 'frustrated' by a lack of first-team opportunities and has doubts over signing a new four-and-a half year deal at Old Trafford.

Norway under-21 international Isak Hansen-Aaroen, who joined United's youth ranks in 2020 after previously having trials at Liverpool and Everton, made an impression for Erik ten Hag's side in pre-season.

In fact, after featuring against Leeds in July, Ten Hag heaped praise on the Tromso-born attacking midfielder.

"He’s really comfortable on the ball. He has good vision and good scanning," the Dutch manager said. "Of course he’s a young player, he has some deficits he needs to work on, which we will show him and tell him about."

The 19-year-old went on to play 180 minutes in pre-season but Hansen-Aaroen has become discouraged by a lack of first-team minutes as he enters the last six months of his contract.

In fact, The Manchester Evening News claim United look 'increasingly set to lose' the Norwegian as a number of teams in Europe, including Ajax, Atletico Madrid, and Napoli, chase his signature.

The club, meanwhile, are 'eager' for Hansen-Aaroen to commit his long-term future to the club as they believe he is in the right environment to fulfil his huge potential.

Hansen-Aaroen is keen to make things work at the Premier League side but again, he has doubts over game-time.

Back in December, Scandinavian journalist Fredrik Filtvedt echoed the above reports. "Despite the fact that Erik ten Hag has had to deal with huge injury problems this season, the road to first-team action still seems long," he told United.no.

"So long that other clubs have created a dialogue about a permanent transfer away from Manchester United."

Image credit: Getty

Back in September, Hansen-Aaroen gave an honest assessment of his role at United.

Speaking to Norwegian outlet VG while on international duty, he admitted: "A route is right for some, which may be completely wrong for others. I think you just have to sit down and figure out what's right for you because there are different answers for everyone.

"There was talk of something different [in the summer], but I don't want to say too much about it. There was some stuff, but we didn't quite agree.

"There is a lot of interest. If we wanted it to be a loan, I know we could go. There were slightly different things that we didn't quite agree on."

Topics: Manchester United, Manchester United Transfer News & Rumours, Premier League, Erik Ten Hag

Jack Kenmare

Senior Journalist at SPORTbible with a passion for long-form journalism. Almost 10 years’ experience across online and print.

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