Manchester United board turned down Erik Ten Hag’s request for Hakim Ziyech
Manchester United’s transfer window was looking very bleak with the board not being able to attain the targets asked by new coach Erik Ten Hag.
The first two defeats in the league to Brighton and Brentford further called for a need for reinforcements and according to the Mirror, Ten Hag identified Chelsea’s Hakim Ziyech as an alternative to Ajax Amsterdam’s Antony.
Ziyech and Ten Hag worked together during their time at Ajax and the manager was confident of the playmaker’s abilities which reconciled with the fact that the player was looking to join his current club Chelsea.

Hakim Ziyech was asked about Erik Ten Hag when he made the switch to Manchester United and the attacker was full of praise for the coach.
“Erik has been super important to me. I am grateful to him and wish him all the best. I will always cheer for Erik after working so closely together.”
It clearly shows a level of respect for Ten Hag and therefore once the manager realised it is tough to attain his primary targets, he shifted his attention to Ziyech.

However, the Manchester United board were stern in their stance and vetoed the move for the Moroccan playmaker who was not deemed to be of the level that he could be a first-starter for a team which already consists of Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Elanga.
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Fair to say, the board for once were correct in their assessment with the club eventually signing Antony from Ajax, who is definitely a bigger upgrade than Ziyech.