Erik ten Hag has confirmed he unsuccessfully tried to land Harry Kane in the summer, stating that Manchester United’s inability to attract their top targets will delay their future title ambitions.
Kane was United’s top summer target, but they were forced to pivot to alternatives after getting their interest rebuffed by Tottenham prior to his exit to Bayern Munich. The club decided to target long-term investment and ended up sanctioning a £72m move for 21-year-old Atalanta striker Rasmus Hojlund.
United have spent more than £400m under Ten Hag across two summers, which left them with little to no wiggle room in the subsequent January transfer windows under Premier League spending limits.
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Ten Hag had revealed his annoyance with being unable to spend in the winter window of 2023 before losing out on first-choice transfer Kane in the summer. The Dutchman says he has had to accept being unable to land elite players during his reign.
"This club can only have outstanding players because the expectations are so high,” he told Sky Sports. "Everyone has an opinion about Manchester United and it can only be outstanding players.
“There's an expectation around every game from us so you can only fulfil that expectation when you have those outstanding players. But in the last decade and in this period, we couldn't always get the players we wanted.
“But then you have to build and you have to accept that you get talent in instead of players who already proved it in the past. We have had some choices made with talents like Rasmus Hojlund.
“I can see a striker who already proved it, who we want to sign and we couldn't get him. And then we went to Rasmus because he's a talent."
Ten Hag - fighting for his job under Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s new sporting and recruitment regime - underlined that he is not comparing Hojlund to all-time England record scorer Kane, and says he needs time to develop.
However, he warned that United’s climb back to the top will be prolonged due to the lack of transfer pull in the market over the last decade, including during his own tenure.
Confirming his former transfer interest in Kane, Ten Hag added: "Yes, and you know Harry Kane will get you 30 goals. I think Rasmus will get there, but he needs time. It's not fair to assess him the same as Harry Kane. I would never compare two players because they are very different.
"But with Hojlund, I think we had the biggest potential in the striker position last summer and we are very happy with him. But he also needs time to adapt and we are very pleased he showed his assets in scoring goals.
"He had a very good period where he scored many games after he showed it, but before and after, he had some physical issues, which is normal for a young player coming up. But it has a negative impact on the team result and that's what you have to accept.
"Then you go back to the fans and the opinion makers, and they don't understand or they don't want to understand this. It is how Man United gets judged, they only see the result, but we need time.
"You have to accept the process is going slower and you can't then expect to straight [away] compete for titles in the Champions League and Premier League."
