Erik Ten Hag Raids Ajax For Former Employee And Targets Academy Striker

Manchester United have been up against Ajax all summer since taking their manager, and now the battle has just heated up.

Manchester United have had extremely strong links to young striker Brian Brobbey emerge in recent days.

Brobbey, an Ajax academy graduate and current RB Leipzig striker, has worked under United's new boss previously.

In this report by The Times’ Duncan Castles, it is suggested that Ten Hag is now keen to link up with his former player at Old Trafford.

Despite his young age, Brobbey's goalscoring record in his career so far is promising and he has shown signs that he can be a top striker in future years.

The player has previously spoken about his interest in playing for Manchester United one day.

Brian Brobbey at Ajax. (Alamy)

However, Brobbey in that same interview stated that he would want to go back to Ajax first, and his old club are also keen to bring him back to Amsterdam.

With Ten Hag already looking to bring key Ajax players such as Lisandro Martínez and Antony to Old Trafford with him, Ajax will be particularly keen to secure Brobbey's signature in order to stop Ten Hag disrupting their future plans too much.

Castles' report states that it is “far from clear” that the Theatre of Dreams is the next destination on Brobbey's career path.

The report suggests Brobbey, like he said in the aforementioned interview, would like to go back to Ajax before making the step up to Manchester United.

With Cristiano Ronaldo looking to leave, a striker is a priority for Manchester United and for just 13 million Brobbey would be easily attainable and the signing wouldn't have too much impact on United's other transfer plans.

However, Ajax's pursuit of their former player may turn things hostile between two clubs that have historically had a good relationship.

In recent times, this relationship has been tested as along with Ten Hag, United have brought his assistant Mitchell van der Gaag.

They have also looked to bring in players such as the aforementioned three and Jurrien Timber, who opted to stay to maximise his world cup hopes.

To add to this, Castles reveals in his report that Ten Hag has also brought one of Ajax's performance analysts - Kevin Keij - to Manchester with him in a move that will only further his ex club's frustrations.

The move to bring in Keij will certainly be of benefit to United. 

Performance analysis is a key cog in any sporting vehicle now and it feels that United have been lacking in some of these areas in recent years.

Erik ten Hag in Manchester United training. (Man Utd)

Marginal gains are essential to success, not just in sport but in anything. Sir Alex Ferguson was the very best at finding and implementing these marginal gains, and it is positive to see Ten Hag doing the same early on.

The new boss has also implemented some strict new rulings for players as the squad go away on their pre-season tour.

These rules and standards are to be upheld by everybody - with no exceptions - at all times. This is key in setting a winning culture as United look to return to their glory days.