Ten Hag’s Koch desire revealed as Man Utd fans fume

Robin Bairner

• 15 Jun 2023 06:33 BST
• 4 min read

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag’s search for a new centre-back has taken an unexpected twist, with the Red Devils boss monitoring Leeds United defender Robin Koch.

The Old Trafford side have made slow progress in the transfer window this summer, despite Ten Hag having previously indicated a desire to get as many of his new signings in as possible before pre-season training begins at the end of the month for the club’s non-international players.

United have yet to make a single signing and have even been slow clearing players out, although renovation in the heart of the defence is something that is widely expected, with Harry Maguire set to move on.

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Ten Hag is looking at several options in this area of the field, with Napoli’s Min-jae Kim top of his shortlist followed by Monaco’s Axel Disasi. Should these deals breakdown, though, Sky Deutschland have revealed that the Man Utd boss has held what are described as “loose talks” for Leeds’ Koch.

Koch is a player who boasts the type of versatility that Ten Hag appreciates, given he can feature as a right-back and a central midfielder on top of his regular role at centre-back, but Leeds’ poor defensive record last season has fans sceptical.

The Man Utd boss, though, may be drawn into such a deal because of the stalled takeover process.

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FootballTransfers has previously revealed that Ten Hag is becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress on this front, which means he is unsure of his transfer budget. Relatively low-cost signings such as Koch may, therefore, become a necessity.

Supporters, though, have been left unimpressed.

Koch has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €8.4 million, down from a peak of around €12m shortly after he signed for Leeds in 2020, while he has just a year left on his contract.