With Frenkie de Jong snubbing Erik ten Hag's reunion, Manchester United discover the true cost of failure.
Erik ten Hag wants to build his Manchester United team around Frenkie de Jong, and Barcelona is interested in selling the midfielder, but the Dutchman is concerned about a lack of Champions League football at Old Trafford.
Manchester United are now discovering the true cost of their failure to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Erik ten Hag, the club's new manager, has identified the players he believes can usher United into a new era and restore the world's most famous club to its former glory. But ten Hag's hopes of bringing in the players he wants have been dashed by United's refusal to offer them a place in Europe's top club competition.
The most obvious example is Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong. Ten Hag previously worked with the Dutch midfielder at Ajax and hopes to build his new-look United midfield around him. While Barcelona is eager to offload the £75 million-rated De Jong in order to alleviate their financial crisis, the player himself is less enthusiastic about the prospect of moving to Old Trafford.
What's the reason? No Champions League action. Despite only being able to offer Paul Pogba Europa League football, United may have been able to entice him back in 2016 for a club record £89 million fee. But that had as much to do with the pull of then-manager Jose Mourinho and the very real prospect of United challenging for the big prizes again, which never materialised.
United are now at an even lower ebb, with ten Hag facing a major overhaul that could mean missing out on the Champions League for another season or two while he plans his rebuild. Players like de Jong, based on his current reluctance to join United, appear to be unwilling to wait that long and grub around in the Europa League when they could be feasting at Europe's top table.
Another United target, Benfica's £85 million-rated Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez, is said to prefer a move to archrival Liverpool because they can offer Champions League football and he would be joining a team competing for the big prizes.
In light of this, United are finding it difficult to secure the targets they require to drive the ten Hag revolution, and are likely to revise their strategy and seek out less high-profile players eager to prove themselves at Old Trafford.
It's a harsh reality check for a club that had their pick of the world's best players during Sir Alex Ferguson's reign, when they dominated the Premier League and were a major force in the Champions League, reaching four finals and winning it twice.
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