A Manchester United star under Erik ten Hag at Ajax revealed that five clubs wanted to sign him and two of those sides were Premier League teams.
Erik ten Hag made a real name for himself at Dutch side Ajax before he left the club in 2022 and arrived at Old Trafford as Manchester United manager.
The 55-year-old Dutchman lifted three Eredivisie titles and two Dutch Cups during his reign at Ajax and led the club to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019.
Former Ajax boss Ten Hag oversaw both the highs and lows during his time at United, including leading the Red Devils to the League Cup and the FA Cup.
Ten Hag inked a new deal with United last summer, but the former Red Devils boss’ reign at Old Trafford came to an end in the 2024-25 Premier League campaign.
United endured a disastrous start to the current Premier League season and Ten Hag was sacked by United last October and replaced by Ruben Amorim in 2024.
Ten Hag was reunited with several former Ajax players at United, including Antony, Lisandro Martinez, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Andre Onana.
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Photo by Graham Whitby Boot/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Photo by Graham Whitby Boot/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
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Erik ten Hag signing and Man Utd star Andre Onana breaks silence on transfer interest when he was at Ajax
Andre Onana came through the Ajax youth academy and the 28-year-old Cameroon international already broke into the first team before Erik ten Hag’s arrival.
The Manchester United shot-stopper impressed during his time at the Dutch side before he left Ajax in 2022 and signed for Serie A side Inter Milan.
Onana would reunite with former Ajax boss Ten Hag at Old Trafford in 2023 after United dropped a hefty £47.2m transfer fee to sign him from Inter Milan.
Speaking to Le Media Carre, the ex-Inter and Ajax star revealed that Premier League big hitters like Chelsea and Arsenal were interested in signing him at one point.
“I had Monaco, I had Nice, I had Atletico de Madrid, I had Chelsea, Arsenal,” he said.
Onana admitted that he came close to leaving Ajax and signing for Monaco, with the United star even holding “advanced” talks with the Ligue 1 club.
“Lyon. I spoke with the president, the technical director so it was advanced anyway,” he added.
“It was difficult for me to speak with the president because I decided to learn Italian.”
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Andre Onana’s ‘objective’ clear at Man Utd, despite former Ajax boss Erik ten Hag no longer being at Old Trafford
Onana has kept his place as Red Devils No 1 under United manager Ruben Amorim and he wants the Premier League club to return back to the top of English football.
“On a collective level, it’s one of the most beautiful challenges of my life,” he said.
“Everywhere I have been I have taken up challenges and this one is wonderful in difficulty, you must always find the positive side, it’s not going well today but it could do tomorrow, United have experienced difficult situations and that is the case at the moment but I am convinced that the situation will change sooner or later.
“Our objective is to put Manchester United back in place as the biggest club in the country.
“We must be realistic, we also have opponents around us who are well prepared, who do things well and it’s difficult to win.
“We have our neighbours [Manchester] City who are good, we have Liverpool right next door who do things well, too, and so the Premier League has an extremely high level and there are many factors.”
United are currently 13th in the Premier League table and the Red Devils have nine league matches remaining in the 2024-25 campaign.