{"id":11452,"date":"2025-07-15T10:54:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T10:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/11452\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T10:54:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T10:54:03","slug":"midfielder-erik-ten-hag-once-wanted-at-man-utd-has-now-completed-dream-transfer-alongside-ole-gunnar-solskjaer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/11452\/","title":{"rendered":"Midfielder Erik ten Hag once wanted at Man Utd has now completed dream transfer alongside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Manchester United were prominent in the Dutch markets under Erik ten Hag, whether it was Dutch players or Eredivisie stars.<\/p>\n

Erik ten Hag was sacked by Manchester United<\/a> in October 2024 and certainly cannot claim to have not been backed properly.<\/p>\n

The Dutchman was handed a host of signings with connections to Dutch football in an attempt to build the squad he wanted.<\/p>\n

Andre Onana, Lisandro Martinez, Sofyan Amrabat and Antony all worked under Ten Hag in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Netherlands internationals Tyrell Malacia and Wout Weghorst also joined United in the Ten Hag era, with United dipping into the Dutch markets.<\/p>\n

\"OrkunPhoto by Beyza Comert\/Anadolu via Getty ImagesFormer Manchester United target Orkun Kokcu joins Ole Gunnar Solskjaer<\/p>\n

United also wanted Orkun Kokcu<\/a> from Feyenoord, with the Turkish midfielder emerging as one of the top Eredivisie performers during his time in Rotterdam.<\/p>\n

United wanted midfield additions in 2023, but ended up signing Mason Mount and Sofyan Amrabat rather than Kokcu.<\/p>\n

Kokcu was a star in the Netherlands, and Ten Hag appeared to fancy him for an Old Trafford switch before going in a different direction.<\/p>\n

Benfica pounced for Kokcu<\/a>, but the midfielder is on the move again just two years later, having completed a move to Besiktas.<\/p>\n

This means that Kokcu could have played for Ten Hag at United, but will instead play under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.<\/p>\n

Besiktas finished more than 30 points behind Super Lig champions Galatasaray last season, and Kokcu is a major statement signing as Solskjaer looks to take his side back to the top.<\/p>\n

Besiktas also want United target Milton Delgado<\/a>, but Kokcu will become their star man in midfield and the heartbeat of Solskjaer\u2019s side.<\/p>\n

Orkun Kokcu on Besiktas move<\/p>\n

Some may be a little puzzled by Kokcu\u2019s move.<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old was a brilliant midfielder for Feyenoord and looked destined for a huge future in the game.<\/p>\n

Benfica pounced in 2023, and he just excelled with 12 goals in all competitions this past season.<\/p>\n

Now heading to T\u00fcrkiye, Kokcu is a boyhood Besiktas fan and has now joined the club of his dreams.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the official Besiktas website<\/a>, Kokcu admitted feeling like \u2018the happiest person in the world\u2019 having completed his move.<\/p>\n

Kokcu wants to win trophies at Besiktas and urged fans to get behind the team, as he seeks success with the club of his childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dear family\u2026 I said I was excited when I got off the plane yesterday. Now, I\u2019m even more excited here,\u201d said Kokcu. \u201cThank you so much for your support. I want to thank our Chairman, our Board Members, and my family. They supported this transfer. We made it happen. <\/p>\n

\u201cBelieve me, I\u2019m the happiest person in the world right now. All I ask is this: Support my teammates, our coach, our instructors, and our President. Support me too, so we can win trophies. We can win championships,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The ship has almost certainly sailed on Kokcu\u2019s chances of joining United, but he will now look to create some magic alongside an Old Trafford hero in Solskjaer.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manchester United were prominent in the Dutch markets under Erik ten Hag, whether it was Dutch players or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[11389,11390,11391,403,99],"class_list":["post-11452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-erik-ten-hag","tag-ole-gunnar-solskjaer","tag-orkun-kokcu","tag-soccer","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}