Manchester United begin talks with Ajax over defender Jurrien Timber

Manchester United are in contact with Ajax regarding Jurrien Timber, with Erik ten Hag wanting to make the defender one of his first signings.

Ten Hag is a firm admirer of Timber, having given him his Eredivisie debut in March 2020, and the 20-year-old defender was an integral part of Ajax’s title-winning side of the past two seasons under his management.

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Timber is primarily a central defender who can also operate at full-back. Centre-back is a particular weakness of Ten Hag’s squad owing to the uneven form of Harry Maguire, Raphaël Varane and Victor Lindelöf, the front-line players in the position. Their backups, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones, are injury-prone and could leave this summer.

Timber, who has six Netherlands caps, has two years left on his contract so Ajax