Manchester United’s star player says Erik ten Hag is putting him in a position he’s never played before in his

Wout Weghorst says Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has him playing a role he has never played as a professional.

Weghorst has spoken to United’s official website about playing as a number ten in recent matches against Leeds United and Barcelona.

The towering Dutch striker says he has not played in that role since he was an amateur player as a teenager in the Netherlands.

But the fact that Ten Hag was aware of that, despite the fact that Weghorst is 30 now, shows his attention to detail and his knowledge of his players.

Wout Weghorst’s comments show Erik ten Hag’s attention to detail

“I think I was like 17 or 18 at the time, playing still as an amateur in the Netherlands but no, he mentioned it to me [at Leeds] at half-time that it could be an option to do some tactical switches,” said Weghorst of Ten Hag.

“It happened in the second half and it went well for me. It was actually new and the first time I’d played there but I quite liked it.

“The most important thing for me is to help the team. It helped us to win the match over there, doing also my defensive work.

“I took it on and, especially for the first time, I think I can be happy with it.”

Ten Hag has brought to Old Trafford meticulous attention to detail, and he clearly knows a lot about his players’ careers and backgrounds.

Weghorst was considered a stopgap signing in January, but Ten Hag brought in a player whose career he has knowledge of dating back 12 or 13 years.

That is extremely impressive and demonstrates that Ten Hag’s imprint is all over signings, even if they appear to be short-term and far from perfect.

That is how Ten Hag can put Weghorst in an unfamiliar role in the scorching heat of Camp Nou and get a performance like this, albeit one that should have resulted in a first-half goal.