Having played under Erik ten Hag at Ajax, Frenkie de Jong is now being heavily linked with a move to Manchester United.
De Jong made 59 appearances in all competitions under Ten Hag, winning one Eredivisie title and the KNVB Cup before joining Barcelona in 2019.
The midfielder hasn’t been able to replicate his Ajax form at Camp Nou and could reportedly reunite with his former manager at Old Trafford.
We’ve looked at what the pair have said about each other over the last few years.
‘Top trainer’
“Hi trainer,” De Jong said to Ten Hag in a video message after the latter was named as United manager in 2022.
“It was a great time [at Ajax], in which you have shown results with attractive football. You have proven yourself as a top trainer and you’ve deserved this step. I want to wish you good luck and the best regards.”
‘Enjoyed working with him’
“I will not go into that,” De Jong told Algemeen Dagblad in 2022 when asked about the United rumours. “Not even about other names or clubs. I used to be naive and open-minded about it. I don’t do that anymore.
“I understand that that link is made. That sum is not that difficult, it is logical. I have enjoyed working with Ten Hag at Ajax – and I can’t look into the future, of course.”
‘We had amazing tactics’
“All of the technical staff [at Ajax] were really important,” De Jong told ESPN in August 2019. “You can have quality players, but you need good tactics as well. I think it’s one of the most important things today in football and for me, we had amazing tactics.
“Every game I had the feeling: ‘OK we’re going to beat them because we’re going to do this, this and this and we have the quality players.’ So I think a big part of the success was also the technical staff.
It’s not as simple as [saying]: ‘Go out and enjoy yourself!’ I think these days, in football, it’s really, really important that you have good tactics, that you know how an…
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