Manchester United have obvious hurdle to overcome to sign dream Erik ten Hag partnership

If you had a pound for every time Erik ten Hag was linked with a swoop for one of his Ajax stars past and present, you might have enough to snap up the lot and watch their golden generation don the famous Manchester United red rather than those red and white halves synonymous with Amsterdam.

Ten Hag boarded a plane to London seven days ago and, either side of his landing to watch the season finale with Crystal Palace, has been extensively tipped to cash in his airmiles on connecting flights for those men who put Ajax back on the European map during THAT memorable run to the Champions League semis in 2019.

Scratch that. Most of them were young bucks at the time.

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Led by colossal then-teenage captain Matthijs de Ligt - and firm United target for this summer Frenkie de Jong - an Eredivisie and KNVB Cup double under Ten Hag was so nearly followed up by a ticket to the marquee showpiece. In the end that dream was cruelly ended by Lucas Moura's heroics.

Still, while De Ligt and De Jong were unable to emulate 1995 winners including Frank de Boer and Ajax's wonderful former playmaker, Clarence Seedorf, they ultimately showcased an elite standing within the game and so it proved when Juventus and Barcelona came calling.

Fast forward three years and, you guessed it, those two have been backed to reunite with Ten Hag at United while they have even, previously, dropped a major hint over that proposition themselves.

As per the current stance outlined by Barcelona, central midfielder De Jong appears to be a more realistic, marquee signing for Ten Hag during the upcoming window. De Ligt, too, is a former target for United - but the situation at