Man United will break golden transfer 'rule' for Denzel Dumfries as Dan Ashworth dilemma clear

It has become a running joke that all of Manchester United's transfer targets fit into a certain category. Under Erik ten Hag they have tended to be young, 24 or under on the whole, whilst often having a connection to the head coach.

Since his arrival in 2022, four players have been coached under Ten Hag at Ajax, whilst Joshua Zirkzee came through at Bayern Munich, where he used to work. Their push this summer has been for Matthijs de Ligt, part of the Dutchman's 2019 Champions League superteam, and Noussair Mazaroui is another from the Amsterdam academy structure that Ten Hag utilised and is after again.

Frenkie de Jong has long been a name admired by United too. When not in Ten Hag's past, the signings have still tended to be youthful. Casemiro and Christian Eriksen are the outliers but Rasmus Hojlund, Altay Bayindir, and now Zirkzee plus Yoro (with a focus on De Ligt and Jarrad Branthwaite as possible additions) all fit the mould.

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Mazraoui at 26 is slightly older than those who have gone before him. De Ligt is 24 but has a wealth of experience having become a regular in Holland as a teenager. None of these guys quite fits the profile of newly-linked Denzel Dumfries.

At 28, Dumfries would be the second oldest player United have paid money for since Cristiano Ronaldo if they complete a deal this summer. It has been suggested that he will hold off from penning a new contract at San Siro in favour of a move to Old Trafford should attention shift that way.

Behind only Casemiro, Dumfries still has the Dutch link to Ten Hag but no other crossing of paths. In this sense, he is