Ajax striker Brian Brobbey has confirmed he rejected the chance to link up with Erik ten Hag at Manchester United this summer.
The 20-year-old left swapped Ajax for RB Leipzig on a free transfer last summer but has now returned to Amsterdam, where he previously made waves as a teenager, for a fee of around £15m.
It was under Ten Hag that Brobbey first broke through at Ajax during the 2020/21 campaign, and the young striker has now revealed that his former boss sent him a text to try and convince him to head to Manchester for a reunion this summer.
"I absolutely wanted to go to Ajax," he told Voetbal International. "Erik also wanted to work with me, texted once if I was open to it, but I thanked him nicely. I wanted to go back. My friends here, Ajax's playing style, it just wasn't finished yet.
"I first have to really succeed here as a striker of Ajax. That's also how the past six months felt, when I played here on a rental basis. I really had the feeling afterwards: I really have to go back. Believe me, in a few years I will provide a nice transfer fee for Ajax and then the club will have made a nice profit.
"There are more good players who play striker: Dusan Tadic, Steven Bergwijn, Davy Klaassen, Lorenzo Lucca. At the moment I am a basic player, but I just have to perform, with good play and goals. Then the trainer can't ignore me and I start in the team."
The 20-year-old left swapped Ajax for RB Leipzig on a free transfer last summer but has now returned to Amsterdam, where he previously made waves as a teenager, for a fee of around £15m.
It was under Ten Hag that Brobbey first broke through at Ajax during the 2020/21 campaign, and the young striker has now revealed that his former boss sent him a text to try and convince him to head to Manchester for a reunion this summer.
"I absolutely wanted to go to Ajax," he told Voetbal International. "Erik also wanted to work with me, texted once if I was open to it, but I thanked him nicely. I wanted to go back. My friends here, Ajax's playing style, it just wasn't finished yet.
"I first have to really succeed here as a striker of Ajax. That's also how the past six months felt, when I played here on a rental basis. I really had the feeling afterwards: I really have to go back. Believe me, in a few years I will provide a nice transfer fee for Ajax and then the club will have made a nice profit.
"There are more good players who play striker: Dusan Tadic, Steven Bergwijn, Davy Klaassen, Lorenzo Lucca. At the moment I am a basic player, but I just have to perform, with good play and goals. Then the trainer can't ignore me and I start in the team."