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Erik ten Hag explains what loan signing Marcel Sabitzer will bring to Manchester United.
Erik ten Hag is happy that Marcel Sabitzer has been signed by Manchester United at the last minute and believes the longtime fan of the midfielder will fit in well at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils were hit a serious injury setback at the beginning of the week when Christian Eriksen was declared out until at least the end of April, and Scott McTominay is also expected to miss some time.
In order to find a temporary substitute, United acted quickly and reached a deadline-day agreement with Bayern Munich to loan Sabitzer to them until the end of the current campaign.
With Sabitzer very driven to leave his imprint at Old Trafford, Ten Hag is happy with the deal and sure the 28-year-old can cover for the injured Eriksen.
Speaking after Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final second-leg win over Nottingham Forest, he said: ‘We are really happy with that transfer because we needed it after Donny van de Beek dropped out, now Christian Eriksen for a longer time.
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‘Also, I think for a shorter time, Scott McTominay is also not available.‘So that gave us a shortage of midfield players but then to bring a quality player in on deadline day, that’s difficult!’
‘Then we got this opportunity. I know the player already a long time from Salzburg and especially from Leipzig, he performed fantastic, so I expect that he will do the same here.
‘I think he has a great attitude, he is in the right age and I’m sure this opportunity will motivate him strongly and he will perform for us.’
United are also believed to have enquired about the availability of Ryan Gravenberch but Bayern wanted to keep the young Dutchman, who worked under Ten Hag at Ajax.
Unexpectedly, Sabitzer was deemed surplus to needs despite having played 23 matches in all competitions for Bayern this season, three times as many minutes as Gravenberch.