Why Jurrien Timber will reject Manchester United transfer

Karan Tejwani

2 Jun 2022 09:26 BST
3 min read

Jurrien Timber has been linked with a move to Manchester United in recent weeks with the 20-year-old one of the club’s big transfer targets for the summer.

Article continues under the video

Erik ten Hag left Ajax for the Red Devils and will oversee a major transfer window with the aim of building a competitive squad ahead of next season, and Timber has been high on the shortlist for potential transfers.

The defender got his debut and big break under Ten Hag at Ajax, and the possibility of reuniting with the coach at Old Trafford would be an appealing prospect.

However, it’s emerged that a move may not be as simple as United may think, as the player may have other considerations as he decides his future.

How Ajax are convincing Timber to stay

According to De Telegraaf in the Netherlands, there have been more positive signals in recent days that Timber may end up staying at Ajax for the upcoming campaign.

This is due to two major reasons: firstly, Ajax hope to convince him to stay due to the fact that the World Cup is in the winter and he is already a regular feature in the Dutch national team; secondly, they can offer more game time.

Timber made his debut with the national team in June 2021 in a match against Scotland and was part of the team that played at Euro 2020 and later qualified for the World Cup under Louis van Gaal – as of now, he seems likely to be on the plane to Qatar.

This is just an incredible goal that sums up everything you need to know about Jurrien Timber.

Great, aggressive defender and then calm, cool, and collected on the ball. Beautiful. pic.twitter.com/1ttz7y8ksw
— Marc Geschwind (@MarcGeschwind) September 18, 2021

Ajax hope to use that to their advantage in convincing him to stay, as they will tempt him with regular game time, which may not be guaranteed at Manchester United, where he will face competition from Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof.

The reigning Dutch champions have been keen on keeping one of their brightest prospects, having already lost Noussair Mazraoui and Andre Onana this summer, with Ryan Gravenberch close to departing as well.

There is interest in other Ajax players like Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Sebastien Haller from around Europe and keeping a balanced squad for new coach Alfred Schreuder is one of the goals.

Ajax are also hoping to sign Jurrien’s twin brother Quentin from Utrecht, in a move that may convince the defender to stay on in Amsterdam for at least another campaign.