Tanvir Juneja
Tahith Chong: Scout Report
Teenage prodigy Tahith Chong has recently revealed interest in playing at Old Trafford and is on the verge of agreeing terms with Manchester United. Even the scouts of the Red Devils were impressed by the young dutch star at a youth tournament at their Carrington-based training ground last summer that prompted them to keep him on the top of the club’s radar.
The 16-year-old wonder kid is Manchester United’s transfer target since he has been invited by the club for training to take a closer look at him in a bid to try convincing him to join the club. Feyenoord’s midfielder Chong, who can also play as a striker, has represented Netherlands at Under-16 level and is touted to be one of the upcoming stars from the younger generation to emerge from Feyenoord’s famed and prolific youth academy system.
If he joins Manchester United under Dutch coach Louis van Gaal since the Red Devils have been in touch with him, he would also be teamed up with his compatriot Daley Blind who’d be keen to operate with him alongside.
Here’s a comprehensive scout report on young prodigy Tahith Chong from Feyenoord ahead of his potential move to Old Trafford:
Born in Willemstad, the capital city of the Caribbean island nation of Curaçao, Chong grew up in the Netherlands and has been a part of the Feyenoord youth set-up since the age of 10. He’s also a Dutch Under-17 international.
Excited to witness a young talent like Chong, the scouts opined as they delved inside the skin of the teenage prodigy’s young feet. They thought “Chong is a very talented midfield player, capable of operating in a variety of positions. The 16-year-old can play on both flanks and off a centre-forward; as you’d expect from a player who has been nurtured in Dutch football, he possesses excellent technique and a brilliant understanding of the game.” Surely he is capable of scoring indefinite goals by using his sharp thinking and vigilant attitude on the field.
Unarguably, it’s clear that he is set for big things by virtue of finding himself at the center of big footballing avenues. As a testament to that hypothesis, there’s a quote from Mark Lievisse Adriaanse, who writes the blog Leven met Feyenoord, about what to expect from the Manchester-bound youngster.
“His technique, oversight and pace are really great,” he said of Chong, who operates exclusively as a left-forward. “He thinks and acts very fast in a game and has little trouble dribbling past defenders, giving good crosses to teammates and scoring surprising goals – he already has 15 in 21 games this season.
“He is good with both feet and often plays as an inverted winger, while at the same time being able to give crosses with his left foot. The combination of pace, technique and oversight make him really special. He’s just 16 but is very well developed if you compare him with other players his age. His explosiveness is quite special I’d say.”
“For me, two things stand out [about Chong]: he scores really great goals from outside the box, and he quite easily adapts to a higher level.” – Lievisse Adriaanse concluded.
For a United fan, it is indeed encouraging to see the Red Devils hunt for some of the top prospects in European football so that future security and stability is restored at the club. Just how they have signed 16-year-old defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah from Ajax and are keen on getting Stromsgodset midfielder Martin Odegaard, 15, who has already been capped by Norway at full international level, Chong is only second to a top-flight transfer move to a say, Memphis Depay who left the Netherlands for Old Trafford in the summer as the most potent player in the Eredivisie.
After scoring 22 goals in 30 league games for PSV Eindhoven – attempting an enormous 148 take-ons with a completion rate of 54% – Depay’s individual dominance over Dutch defences was even compared to superiority achieved by Cristiano Ronaldo against Premier League teams during his final years in England.
Although, Memphis is physically much more developed than Chong presently, both of them still possess the same explosiveness – or, at least, Depay had this at PSV. They can turn a game around on their own.
As per reports, Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has been keen to stress that despite United’s £150million summer outlay on first team players they still intend to invest in youth. Not only does this accentuate the possibilities of creating future stars at the club but also digresses the widespread notion of spending big bucks expecting a big bang for a player who has just landed on English turf as a product of the big money, media frenzy and popular hype associated to a club like Manchester United.
To quote statements of the 16-year-old Dutch prodigy regarding the opportunity of representing the Red Devils in the Theatre Of Dreams, he thinks:
“Feyenoord is and remains my first choice and we are still negotiating.
It’s true that Manchester United are interested in me, but I want to just stay at Feyenoord.
There is absolutely no question that I’m going out to the club.
Feyenoord now is come up with a plan of how they see me in the coming years at the club.
I am hopeful that it will be all right and that I’m going to sign a contract with Feyenoord.”
– Tahith Chong ( Manchester United Youth Target Scouted)
