Erik ten Hag believes Manchester United stay a gorgeous prospect for high players – and already boast among the finest expertise on the earth.
The Old Trafford giants are within the midst of a rebuild within the wake of a wretched season that noticed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s interim substitute Ralf Rangnick flounder because the aspect stumbled dwelling sixth.
That depressing run continued within the first two matches of Ten Hag’s reign however the United boss has overseen a powerful turnaround since, with new signings make a promising begin to life within the north west.
The Red Devils are aiming for a fifth straight Premier League win on Sunday after they journey to rivals Manchester City, whose striker Erling Haaland has hit the bottom operating since arriving from Borussia Dortmund.
United have had a long-standing curiosity within the 22-year-old however the striker’s father Alf-Inge Haaland revealed in a current documentary that they weren’t on his seven-club checklist of potential locations in the summertime.
When that was put to Ten Hag and the United boss requested how the membership goes about attracting the perfect players on the earth, he retorted: “We have them already in.”
Pushed to broaden, the Dutchman stated: “Let’s say they have the potential, some have the potential to become (the best in the world) and some already are there.
“Because we have world champion players in our squad nowadays, so they are the best of the world. You can say that. We have a lot of players who already win the biggest titles in the world.
“I’m sure when I go back in the window, a lot of players you feel that Man United is a really attractive club for them so I’m not concerned about that point.”
Ten Hag’s solely concern proper now could be stopping City in his first Manchester derby, which suggests shackling the in-form Haaland.
The Norway worldwide has scored an eye-watering 14 targets in his first 10 appearances for his father’s former membership however the United boss harassed Sunday is about more than the striker.
“I like his attitude,” Ten Hag stated of Haaland. “How he is on the pitch. He’s direct, his life is about goals – he goes direct toward the opponent.
“He can also create goals but, once again, I respect him but for us Sunday we are not playing against Haaland. We are playing against Man City.
“And it is not about Man City, for us. We respect the opponent but it is about Man United.”
The derby may even see Ten Hag face Pep Guardiola, who he is aware of effectively having managed Bayern Munich’s second group when the City boss was in command of the perennial Bundesliga champions.
“Of course I know (him) but he will also know (me),” the Dutchman stated. “I think we know everything about each other.
“When we worked together it was already eight years ago and as a manager one of the things is you always have to develop.
“Hopefully we changed in the right way. I’m sure he did and I did as well.
“And if he’s the best manager – he’s definitely one of them and for me he is – but I think there are much more really good managers.
“We have some world-class (managers) in this moment in football. That’s quite clear.”
Guardiola has a surprisingly poor report towards United, having misplaced three out of his six Premier League video games towards them on the Etihad Stadium.
Luke Shaw wrapped up their final win there in March 2021 and boosted his probabilities of that includes within the derby by placing a poor begin to the season at membership stage behind him with a superb show for England towards Germany.
“No, not quite well – he did very well! We are really happy that I think almost all the players did well for their nations,” Ten Hag stated.
“We adopted that, it’s one of many facets of a global break. Diogo (Dalot) scored twice, Bruno (Fernandes) performed two robust video games, Casemiro performed rather well, Fred did his job.
“Luke Shaw positively, for me, performed actually robust towards Germany.
“We noticed loads and we’re pleased with the performances from our players. I feel it displays what we’re doing with Man United on this second.“
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