Brian Brobbey, an attacking player for Ajax, acknowledged Erik ten Hag wanted to sign him for Manchester United this summer and explained why he turned down their offers.
In July, Manchester United started to pursue Brobbey. Ten Hag wanted to reunite with the striker at Old Trafford because he knows him well from his time as manager of Ajax.
Given the uncertainty surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo’s future, the Red Devils have needed a striker pretty much all summer. And one of the players that United executives were considering was Brobbey.
Unfortunately for Ten Hag and Man Utd, Brobbey turned down their offer and signed a long-term contract with Ajax.
Transfermarkt estimates that Ajax spent about £14.7 million on the transaction.
Brobbey has confirmed Ten Hag called him earlier this summer to try to persuade him to join United despite his good form.
During an interview with Dutch outlet Voetbal International (via Goal), the player stated:
“I absolutely wanted to come back to Ajax.
“Erik also wanted to work with me again, he texted me once to see if I was open to it. But I thanked him nicely and told him I wanted to go back to Ajax.
“My friends are here, Ajax’s playing style… it just wasn’t finished yet.”
