Manchester United sent clear £111m message from Erik ten Hag transfer targets
Manchester United made a winning start to the new Premier League season on Friday night, but they were not the only club across Europe in action.
La Liga kicked off on Thursday, with two more matches taking place the following evening, while Paris Saint-Germain opened the Ligue 1 season away at Le Havre. The Bundesliga does not begin until next weekend, but the first round of the DFB-Pokal saw Bayern Munich travel to the 2. Bundesliga team SSV Ulm.
Much like at Old Trafford, where Joshua Zirkzee scored the winning goal and Noussair Mazraoui impressed after starting at right-back, multiple other summer signings shone under the floodlights in France and Germany. Two players, in particular, are pertinent to United.
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First up was former Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise, for who the Reds were reputedly trying to hijack Bayern's £51m deal with their Premier League rivals. Chelsea and Manchester City were also said to be interested in the France international, but ultimately, Olise ended up in Bavaria.
After representing his country during their home Olympic Games and winning a silver medal for reaching the tournament's final, where they lost to Spain, the winger did not play for his new club during pre-season. But his bow did come in the cup, replacing Serge Gnabry for the final quarter of an hour with Bayern leading 2-0.
After entering the game, Olise made an instant impact, running in behind and latching onto a switch from Harry Kane before driving into the penalty area and pulling the ball back for Kingsley Coman, who converted from close range. Mere