Rio Ferdinand reveals view on Manchester United signing Wout Weghorst

Former Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand has backed Wout Weghorst to have a positive impact at Old Trafford in the second half of the 2022-23 campaign.

The Netherlands international has joined the Red Devils on loan from Burnley, terminating his loan agreement with Besiktas in order to make the move to Old Trafford.

The 30-year-old moved to Besiktas over the summer following Burnley's relegation to the Championship, and he scored nine goals and registered four assists in 18 matches for the Turkish outfit.

Weghorst only managed two goals and three assists for his parent club in the Premier League in the second half of last season, but Ferdinand is expecting the Dutchman to be an effective signing for Erik ten Hag's side.

© Reuters

"I think this is a Ten Hag signing, and it is actually just is going against what United were doing before. We were buying [Radamel] Falcao, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic]," Ferdinand told 90min.

"We were buying names maybe before going 'does this guy fit the way we want to play?'. This is very much not a fashionable signing, it's not one that rolls off the tongue.

"But I think if you look at Ten Hag's history, you look at Ajax, he took [Sebastien] Haller, who no one was taking in the Premier League, off of West Ham, and he becomes one of the most feared strikers in Holland.

"But also in Champions League football, he was up there with the top strikers in terms of goals in the couple of seasons he was there.

© Reuters

"That type of player, a Weghorst, suits the way that Erik ten Hag wants to play if you look at Haller as the one example, so you can see why he would bring him. He's got to have something about him.

"I don't think you can judge him by the Burnley cameo, and I just think it's about styles for Erik ten Hag, would he be able to fit into the way we play? In the way I want to play? Yes.

"Does he press, by the way? It's a big part of Ten Hag's football and this geezer does press. He's good at that. So you can see the reason why his name would come up – he's not the fashionable answer but it could be the effective answer."

Weghorst was in the stands for Saturday's Manchester derby, with the Red Devils coming from behind to record a 2-1 victory over Manchester City at Old Trafford.

The Dutchman trained with his new teammates for the first time on Sunday, meanwhile, and he is in contention to make his debut against Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Wednesday night.