Man Utd to benefit from club’s failure to land Tottenham man – ‘it was a mistake’
Ajax’s failure to land Steven Bergwijn in January could see an important figure arrive at Manchester United this summer, according to one journalist.
Bergwijn impressed at PSV Eindhoven to earn a £27million switch to Tottenham in January 2020. However, he has never really made a significant impact while in England.
The winger’s record is seven goals in 76 matches for Tottenham so far.
Bergwijn had a tough first few months of the season, failing to impress Nuno Espirito Santo or his successor, Antonio Conte.
He enjoyed an impressive performance against Leicester City on January 19, hitting two late goals to give Tottenham a dramatic 3-2 victory.
Despite this display, clubs continued to look at the Netherlands international as a potential winter signing.
Ajax soon came in for his services. A transfer would have led to uproar among PSV fans, due to their rivalry, but Ajax did not mind.
They were open to a loan deal or permanent transfer for Bergwijn, only to hear little back from Spurs.
Steven Bergwijn failed to secure Spurs exit
The 24-year-old remains in north London and is hoping to improve his fortunes in the second half of the campaign.
He showed Ajax what they are missing out on by grabbing a brace in Holland’s recent 4-2 win against Denmark.
Dutch journalist Henk Spaan reckons Ajax’s failure to bring Bergwijn in could see Erik ten Hag move on.
The 52-year-old is a target for Manchester United as they look to replace Ralf Rangnick this summer. Fabrizio Romano recently confirmed suggestions ten Hag had met with officials from the Red Devils.
On Bergwijn, Spaan wrote in his column (via Sport Witness): “Was it [Marc] Overmars who gave up the fight with his financial director, or was it Susan Lenderink herself who stopped the negotiations with [Daniel] Levy of Spurs?
“It was a mistake for sure. It is not very unlikely that Ajax would have won with Bergwijn [against] Benfica, who had already recouped half of his transfer fee.
“A few figures from Bergwijn on Saturday night [vs Denmark]. He shot three times between the posts, of which he [scored] twice, won three duels, had two key passes and two successful dribbles.
“The fact that Ajax could not/would not bring him in will not encourage ten Hag to stay.”
READ MORE: Risky first signing named if Ten Hag becomes next Man Utd manager – ‘Salah doesn’t do this’
The post Man Utd to benefit from club’s failure to land Tottenham man – ‘it was a mistake’ appeared first on TEAMtalk.