Manchester United report: Erik ten Hag could have trouble signing Chelsea forward

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is reportedly eager to bring Chelsea's Hakim Ziyech to Old Trafford – but it seems his own board may not back an approach for the Moroccan winger.

It's been an underwhelming transfer window for United, who fell to a 2-1 home loss to Brighton in their opening game of the new Premier League season last Sunday.

Christian Eriksen has signed, as has left-back Tyrell Malacia and centre-half Lisandro Martinez, but targets such as Frenkie de Jong have so far eluded the Red Devils.

The club had a £7.6m bid for Marko Arnautovic rejected earlier this week and subsequently dropped their interest in the Bologna striker, meaning their search for attacking additions goes on.

However, according to Manchester Evening News, the United hierarchy are resisting Ten Hag's desire to re-unite with Ziyech, who he coached at Ajax.

Ziyech – an unused substitute as Chelsea began their campaign with a 1-0 win at Everton – is said to have been earmarked by Ten Hag as an alternative to Ajax's Antony, who the Dutch giants are thought to value at a prohibitive €80m (£67.6m).

The report adds that the 13-time Premier League champions also tried and failed with a last-ditch effort to sign Timo Werner, who has ended his disappointing time at Chelsea by returning to RB Leipzig.

There might be some hope for United in their quest to strengthen at centre-forward following Edinson Cavani's departure, though: per Sky Sports, Sasa Kalajdzic is one of various options being considered, and the Stuttgart and Austria man-mountain is believed to be keen on a switch to Old Trafford.

That's despite former United interim boss – and current Austria boss – Ralf Rangnick appearing to suggest that Kalajdzic should forgo any move this summer for the sake of his development.