Erik ten Hag slammed for ‘holding Manchester United back’ with bizarre transfer policy

Paolo Di Canio has slammed Erik ten Hag for holding Manchester United back with what he believes is a bizarre transfer policy.

Manchester United experienced their third defeat in the Premier League this season, losing 3-0 to Tottenham Hotspur.

The match opened with Spurs taking an early lead thanks to a goal from Brennan Johnson, and they continued to press André Onana’s goal throughout the first half.

Read More: Injury updates on Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount given after Manchester United loss

Just before half-time, Bruno Fernandes was sent off for a reckless challenge on James Maddison, significantly impacting United’s performance.

Tottenham capitalised on the man advantage by quickly doubling their lead in the second half. Despite United’s efforts to fight back, Spurs added a third goal through Dominic Solanke with 15 minutes remaining, sealing the match.

After the game, former West Ham midfielder Paolo Di Canio slammed Erik ten Hag for his current transfer policy of signing non-British players, which the former Italian international finds bizarre and is holding the club back.

“How can you sell McTominay for €30m to get Ugarte for €50m?” he said, as relayed by Il Napolista. Ugarte is used to Lisbon; he played for two excellent years at Sporting, but the Premier League is another thing.

“Today in Manchester, it was 10 degrees Celsius. It’s been raining for ten days; in Lisbon, it’s 25 degrees Celsius. Last year he was in Paris, he’s a composed player, who plays a lot of positional football,” he said.

“The truth is that Ten Hag doesn’t like British players; he doesn’t buy any British players.

“Last year he bought Højlund, this year Zirkzee who has a physicality that goes well in Italy. Tottenham instead bought Solanke, who is a good player, nothing transcendental, but he’s a good player.”

“I’m sorry to see Ten Hag in great difficulty, but he hasn’t learned anything from these two years. When they concede a goal, they don’t react, no one raises their head, no one talks to each other.”

Of course, this claim is not entirely correct. United brought in English midfielder Mason Mount during his first summer in charge and recruited Northern Irish defender Jonny Evans back to the club in 2023.

However, to Di Canio’s credit, all 13 other of Ten Hag’s signings are not British. At the same time, many have links to the Netherlands and bar the two British signings. None of these players had Premier League experience before joining United.

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