Erik ten Hag will see his dream midfield on the Nou Camp pitch tonight, but unfortunately for the Manchester United manager, one of the trio will still be wearing Barcelona colours.
Frenkie de Jong was the central figure in United's summer transfer window of 2022. In fact, so much time and focus went into his signing that it's remarkable that the club managed to still claim a successful window, despite failing to land Ten Hag's top target.
It was in the second week of May when United first made their play for De Jong and the drama was still playing out three months later in August. When the season began and Ten Hag's team imploded against Brighton and Brentford, attention was finally diverted away from a fruitless and frustrating pursuit.
