Louis van Gaal has been proven wrong about Manchester United by Tyrell Malacia

When Manchester United were drawing up their list of transfer targets at the start of the summer, few would have anticipated that a left-back would be the first signing of the Erik ten Hag era.

However, United caught everyone by surprise when they moved to hijack Tyrell Malacia's expected move to French giants Lyon at the end of June. The Ligue 1 outfit had been in discussions with Feyenoord for several weeks over a deal to sign the Netherlands international and looked set to secure his signature.

But United were alerted to Malacia's qualities and potential by Ten Hag, who had experienced plenty of sightings of his fellow countryman during his time at Ajax. Exactly a week after their interest in the defender came to light, he put pen to paper on a four-year deal in M16, becoming the club's first signing of the summer.

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Such was the nature in which the transfer developed, it came across as being a last-ditch effort to get a player through the door to ease the pressure mounting from the fans who were desperate for new additions. Furthermore, it was a position that was already well-stocked; United had Luke Shaw, Alex Telles, Brandon Williams and youngster Alvaro Fernandez competing for the left-back berth.

There were very few suggestions that United were looking to recruit at left-back during the summer, but the possibility of hijacking Malacia's move to Lyon was one that Ten Hag was not prepared to let pass him by. United acted swiftly and got the deal done, even if it was greeted with a degree of confusion.

The Reds had earlier been looking to strengthen at right-back, pinpointing Jurrien Timber of Ajax as their top target. Ten Hag had worked