Ten Hag makes decision on permanent Weghorst Man Utd transfer

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 23 May 2023 08:37 CDT
• 3 min read

Erik ten Hag has reportedly had a change of heart about Wout Weghorst's Manchester United future.

Weghorst joined Man Utd on loan from Burnley, via Besiktas, in January, nominally signed as a replacement or Cristiano Ronaldo, who left in a big-money move to Al-Nassr following an explosive interview with Piers Morgan.

But he has failed to find the target in the Premier League since, his two strikes from 26 games in all competitions coming in the Europa League and EFL Cup - which United won.

READ: Merciless Man Utd tipped to sell 10 players

Ten Hag had previously talked up his compatriots qualities apart from goalscoring - "I think he's doing a lot of elements of football really well," - but the chances of Weghorst's loan deal being made permanent have now diminished.

Ten Hag 'growing frustrated'

"Man United manager Erik ten Hag won't be offering Wout Weghorst a permanent deal at Old Trafford after growing frustrated over his lack of goals since signing in January," report the Mirror.

"Ten Hag will be releasing the forward back to his parent club after deciding he is not the solution to United's lack of options up front. And leaves the future of the striker himself very much up in the air."

READ: Ten Hag responsible for Weghorst Man Utd failure

Reports from Turkey suggest that Weghorst and Besiktas are keen to be reunited, the Dutchman having scored eight goals on 16 Super Lig games for them in the first half of this season.

United are ready to spend north of €100 million on a new striker this summer, meanwhile, whether it is the Glazer family, Sir Jim Ratcliffe of Sheikh Jassim in charge of the club, with Ten Hag identifying a new No.9 as his priority.

Harry Kane is understood to be the club's top transfer target, Tottenham Hotspur's and England's record scorer keen to add silverware in his career as he approaches his 30th birthday. Napoli's Victor Osimhen appears to be the first alternative.