Ten Hag's 'mosquito' tactic shows his De Jong admiration

Stuart Telford

• 24 Feb 2023 20:50 GMT
• 3 min read

Erik ten Hag is known to be a Frenkie de Jong admirer, and his tactics as Manchester United beat Barcelona in the Europa League on Thursday only serve to reinforce the point.

Ten Hag made his former Ajax midfielder De Jong his top transfer target on becoming United manager last summer, and the club spent most of that transfer window trying to persuade the Dutchman to leave Barcelona.

Ten Hag and De Jong won the Dutch domestic double together in 2019 before the midfielder's 2019 move to Camp Nou, and Barca were keen to sell as they wrestled with a debt which, at its height, stood at €1.35 billion.

READ: 'Who needs De Jong when you have Fred?': Man Utd fans troll Barcelona transfer target

The pair were reunited on Thursday as the Red Devils ran out 2-1 winners over Barca in the Europa League's knock-out round play-offs - the result giving them a 4-3 aggregate victory after last week's 2-2 draw in Barcelona.

Fred got the first of United's two goals, but his primary role was a defensive one.

"Fred? His role was to stop Frenkie de Jong, he was like a 'mosquito' all over him - he did it," explained a delighted Ten Hag after the game.

READ: Ten Hag drops fresh De Jong Man Utd transfer hint

United's support appreciated the job Fred did and chanted his name at full-time.

"It's very good to hear my name from the fans," added the Brazilian midfielder. "We played a good game today so we need to keep it going."

Frenkie and Fred next season?

Could Fred and De Jong team up at Old Trafford next season? Barca and Xavi in particular insist they want to keep their player, and De Jong described the Blaugrana as his "dream club" when he joined them.

But Barca have been told by La Liga to balance their books to the tune of €200 million in time for next season, and they is set to be another push from United to sign him. Frenkie also seemed pretty thrilled to be at Old Trafford on Thursday, per the Tweet above…