When Manchester United were drawing up their list of transfer targets at the start of the summer, few would have anticipated that a left-back would be the first signing of the Erik ten Hag era.
However, United caught everyone by surprise when they moved to hijack Tyrell Malacia's expected move to French giants Lyon at the end of June. The Ligue 1 outfit had been in discussions with Feyenoord for several weeks over a deal to sign the Netherlands international and looked set to secure his signature.
But United were alerted to Malacia's qualities and potential by Ten Hag, who had experienced plenty of sightings of his fellow countryman during his time at Ajax. Exactly a week after their interest in the defender came to light, he put pen to paper on a four-year deal in M16, becoming the club's first signing of the summer.
