Erik ten Hag cannot repeat mistake from his first Manchester United transfer window

The summer transfer window will be ending for Manchester United like it has done so many times before.

Heading towards deadline day, Erik ten Hag is still trying to finalise signings to strengthen his United side. To his credit, Ten Hag has managed to steady the ship on the pitch following concerning defeats to Brighton and Brentford.

Yet while other clubs had strengthened before the start of the season, United were once again playing catch-up. A major reason for this was the decision to pursue a transfer for Frenkie de Jong for so long. Having clearly defined targets is by no means a bad thing — in fact it has previously been a fault of United's — but there is always a time you must walkaway from a player and Ten Hag failed to do so quickly enough.

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Even after the defeat to Brighton, United were still holding out hope that De Jong would change his mind and that suddenly he would be open to a move to Manchester. The situation with De Jong's deferred wages has kept him in a stalemate with Barcelona all summer.

Only one party is to blame for that farce and it is not De Jong or United. But, once Ten Hag and his club realised what was happening, they should have moved on. This 'tunnel-vision' approach to the 25-year-old could have seriously hindered yet another campaign.

However, as luck would have it, Casemiro — the type of midfielder United have craved for so long — was more than happy to make the switch to Old Trafford after being fazed out at Real Madrid. Similarly the likes of Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez and the incoming Antony, have arrived with relatively minimal fuss. They all wanted the transfer.

Despite all the problems at the Theatre