Manchester United parted company with Erik ten Hag over 12 months ago but the Dutchman's legacy lives on, according to a new report.
Ten Hag's tenure saw Man United lift the Carabao Cup in 2023 and FA Cup in 2024, but too many costly defeats caused the Old Trafford hierarchy to part company with the head coach who occasionally clashed with journalists.
Erik ten Hag made costly £45m Manchester United error
The Portuguese coach has the Man United attack firing on all cylinders and was backed to the tune of £200 million over the summer which funded the arrivals of Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko.
Defensively, though, the team are still considered shaky from time-to-time.
As per Sun journalist Samuel Luckhurst, Man United made the decision to put former left-back Brandon Williams up for sale in the summer of 2023.
However, Ten Hag elected to field the homegrown defender during the team's pre-season tour, before subsequently sending Williams on loan to Ipswich Town.
Instead of Williams, Ten Hag could have fielded young left-back Alvaro Carreras, who had spent the previous season on loan at Preston North End and returned to Carrington with a budding reputation.
The Spaniard was overlooked, though, failing to make an appearance on the pre-season tour. He joined Granada on a season-long loan which was later cut short at Man United's request. This was in order to send Carreras on loan to Benfica for the remainder of the 2023/24 campaign, in a deal which included a reported €6m buy option.
That particular option became obligatory when Carreras played over 50 per cent of Benfica's remaining fixtures and a permanent deal was struck.
Fast forward to present day and Carreras is now the starting left-back for Real Madrid, while Williams is out-of-favour at Championship side Hull City having spent an extended period without a club following his 2024 Old Trafford release.
Had Carreras been given the opportunity to demonstrate his ability during Man United's 2023 pre-season tour instead of Williams, who played over two hours of football against Arsenal, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, he might've risen to prominence at Old Trafford and remained on the club's books.
The 22-year-old has been in inspired form for Real Madrid this season, having rejoined the club he represented between the ages of 14 and 17 over the summer.
Carreras is currently valued at €50m by Transfermarkt, and is understood to have been sold by Benfica back to the Spanish capital for a similar fee.
In FourFourTwo's opinion, it is all well and good looking back on things with hindsight, critiquing Ten Hag's decision to select Williams over Carreras.
That said, Carreras had excelled on loan at Deepdale and could hardly have done much more to impress the Old Trafford boss at the time, so perhaps was due a run in the team, particularly during non-competitive, friendly fixtures in which there was nothing at stake.
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