Man Utd may regret selling special Carrington graduate

Erik ten Hag’s time at Manchester United ended in disaster. The Red Devils might have won two trophies under the Dutchman, but his below-par performances in the league eventually led to his dismissal in October.

United’s poor efforts under their former boss were not through a lack of backing in the transfer market. The Old Trafford club reportedly spent more than £600m under their former manager.

He looked to recruit players familiar to him and his system, signing plenty of his former Ajax players, and not all of them were hits. The best example of that is winger Antony.

On United’s 2024 summer additions, the jury is still out. One of their marquee additions has been Matthijs de Ligt.

De Ligt’s United career so far

The Red Devils signed Dutch international De Ligt from Bayern Munich in the summer for a fee of £42.7m including add-ons. He joined in a double deal alongside another former Ajax player, Noussair Mazraoui.

Despite the change of manager at Old Trafford this season, the experienced centre-back has been an important player for United. He has made 22 appearances in the Premier League, where he scored his only goal away to Southampton, and six in the Europa League.

Former United defender Wes Brown, a product of the club’s academy, backed the 25-year-old to succeed under new boss Ruben Amorim. He claimed back in December that he “can be an elite defender” and will “find his rhythm” under the Portuguese manager.

He has indeed been important under the tutelage of Amorim so far. De Ligt has featured in all but two of United’s games with Amorim at the helm so far, and it does not seem likely that he will become any less important in the coming months.

The Red Devils actually sold someone once compared to De Ligt, which could have meant they never signed the Dutchman. However, things did not quite work out for this player.

The defender who Man United sold

The player in question here is academy graduate Teden Mengi. The Manchester-born centre-back seemed like he had a big future at Old Trafford, but never managed to break into the first team.

He was a prominent player in the Red Devils academy, featuring for the under-18s, under-19s, and under-21s a combined total of 83 times. He was also the captain of various academy sides on multiple occasions.

Former United manager and club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer once described the centre-back as “something special”, and compared him to De Ligt. He explained that just as Ten Hag put his trust in De Ligt as a youngster at Ajax, there was potential for Mengi to experience the same thing at United. Like United’s number four, Solskjaer said Mengi was “ready” for the challenge.

“It’s different trusting defenders on the big stage, of course it is. You’ve got to make sure he’s ready for it, you see examples of Ajax, who play in a different league but Matthijs de Ligt, they made him captain when he was 18. You can see something special in them. Teden’s got something special in him. It’s about picking the right moment to give him a chance. Brandon Williams did exceptionally well last season, coming in as a defender.”

Sadly for the former England under-21 international, he never made it at United. He made just two first-team appearances for his boyhood club, both substitute appearances in European competitions.

After loan spells at Derby County and Birmingham City, the defender moved to Luton Town on a permanent deal in 2023, leaving United after years spent at the club and being ruthlessly sold by Ten Hag. He has since gone on to make 50 appearances for the Hatters and is valued at around £8.3m via Transfermarkt, up from £1.7m when he left the club..

Even though he has departed Old Trafford, Mengi has impressed at the highest level, thriving for Luton in the top flight last term. It was a difficult campaign for the team, who got relegated, but the defender impressed. As per Sofascore, he averaged 4.2 ball recoveries per game and won 58% of his aerial duels.

It is a shame that things did not work out for Mengi at Old Trafford, the club where he spent such a long time. However, he has certainly gone on to have a good start to his career away from United.

Had things gone differently, the Red Devils might never have needed to sign De Ligt and could have had another academy star thriving in his role.