Surajit Das
The match that convinced Erik Ten Hag to buy Tyrell Malacia for Manchester United
While speaking in an interview with FR12.nl, former Feyenoord assistant manager Said Bakkati revealed that one game against his earlier team convinced the Manchester United manager to sign Tyrell Malacia.
Malacia joined Manchester United earlier this week in a €15 Million transfer from Feyenoord to become the club’s first summer signing under new manager Erik Ten Hag. It will be interesting to see if he can succeed in the Premier League given how difficult the transition from the Eredivisie to England’s top division has historically been for players.
Said Bakkati is a former Dutch full-back turned manager. He spent a brief spell at Feyenoord as an assistant manager during the 2019 season. He revealed in his recent interview how good Malacia is and how he has improved a lot in the last few years.
“A good, talented player. He has a good character and always gave one hundred percent in training. A real biter. The most important step he made then is that he became more mature. He performed more consistently; no longer a rated as 9/10 one game and 4/10 the next. That’s an important factor, especially for a defender.
The former Feyenoord assistant manager also believes the second league game between Ajax and Feyenoord was vital for Malacia to win the trust of Ten Hag.
“I think the second Klassieker of last season convinced Erik ten Hag. Someone who can make things so difficult for Antony and who can keep a close eye on him throughout the match, that’s a player who fits in with Manchester United.”
The signing of the 22-year-old appears to be one of the best moves the Mancunians have made recently. After all, they paid a really low sum to obtain a promising prospect who has already made an impression on the national team.
Malacia would resolve their left-back positional problems from the previous season. After all, Alex Telles once again failed to display his full potential under new management in Ralf Rangnick, while Luke Shaw struggled to retain his form from the 2020–21 season.
Although Brandon Williams and Alvaro Fernandez are also choices for that position, Malacia has covered more ground than either of them, making him somewhat of a need. On top of that, Fernandez is expected to leave on loan this summer, while Telles and Williams could also leave permanently.
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In any event, the supporters would like to see Malacia succeed going ahead and assist the team in returning to its heyday with the aid of ten Hag’s new endeavour. We can only hope that the full-back will realise all of his potential and emerge as a legend in the years to come.
