Despite the speculation of Louis Van Gaal leaving the club in the summer, the Dutch influence is seemingly continuing to grow at Manchester United as the club are on the verge of signing Feyenoord teenage striker Tahith Chong, according to reports.
Scouts impressed at Carrington
Tahith Chong had the chance to impress scouts at Manchester United, when the youngster was on show for Feyenoord’s Under 17 side at the Premier Cup which was held at Carrington Training Complex last summer.
Manchester United’s interest in the youngster has grown rapidly in the last few months according to reports in the Netherlands, with Manchester United representatives actively trying to sign the dubbed ‘wonderkid’.
As with many youngsters of his believed ability and potential, he has turned the heads of several other clubs, in this case the heads of Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea. However no deal has been struck between United and Feyenoord as of yet.
Tahith Chong admits Feyenoord is his wanted location for now
Despite this added interest and even reported contact with Manchester United, Manchester Evening News states that earlier in the season Tahith Chong said “Feyenoord is and remains my first choice and we are still negotiating. It's true that Manchester United are interested in me, but I want to just stay at Feyenoord. There is absolutely no question that I'm going out to the club.
Having said that, with several months now passed and still no deal concluded with the Dutch club, the chances of Manchester United being in contention to sign his signature increases ever more.
It was allegedly nearly a done deal between the two parties, back during David Moyes short tenure, but then new manager Louis Van Gaal vetoed the deal due to a lack of knowledge of the player.
Current use of youth players interests Chong
Earlier in the season Chong was adamant that Feyenoord was the better choice for him because it was the best place for him to develop as a footballer, however the current influx of youngsters in the Manchester United side being; Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Timothy Fosu-Mensah as well as of course Luke Shaw when he recovers from his horrific injury, Adnan Januzaj who was on the subs bench against Manchester City and summer signing Memphis Depay who was also on the bench.
It is this influx of younger players, whether home grown or brought in, has made Chong reconsider where is the best place for him to develop as a footballer.