Revealed: Ten Hag wanted Arsenal star at Man Utd

Cameron Smith

• Updated: 10 May 2024 14:56 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has heaped praise on Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice and believes the England international would have fitted in perfectly at Old Trafford.

Rice, 25, was the subject of significant transfer interest from the Red Devils during his time at West Ham United, but he opted against joining Ten Hag’s side in favour of a €116.6 million switch to Arsenal last summer.

Chelsea and Manchester City were also interested in Rice, however the Englishman decided to link up with Mikel Arteta instead. Furthermore, he recently admitted that the long-term project at the Emirates Stadium was the reason he snubbed Pep Guardiola and Man City to join the Gunners.

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However, Ten Hag believes Rice was the perfect fit for Man Utd. The Old Trafford club were heavily linked with a move for the 25-year-old in 2022, but they were unable to agree a deal with West Ham and ended up signing Casemiro for €70.7m instead.

Last summer, Man Utd then opted to sign Mason Mount from Chelsea, with Rice heading to Arsenal.

Although he has stressed he’s happy with the addition of Mount - who has played just 17% of Man Utd’s total minutes this season due to injury - Ten Hag believes Rice would’ve been an excellent addition.

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What has Erik ten Hag said?

Ahead of Man Utd’s home clash against Arsenal on Sunday, Ten Hag told the media: “He [Rice] is a very good player and he would absolutely have fit in here.

“But it’s not that I’m not happy with Mason [Mount]. I am very happy with Mason and he is also a very robust player.

“You see in his profile: in his last four seasons - this is the fifth - in the last four seasons he only had only a small issue at the end of his Chelsea career. Before that, he played almost all the games, three seasons after each other, with three days turnaround, he always played.

“It is really bad luck what happened and he is a really good player. We really missed him, he could have had a contribution to our levels.”