WOUT WEGHORST needed just five seconds against Newcastle to show exactly why Manchester United signed him.
The Dutch striker was signed following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo on loan from Burnley in January.
Weghorst, 30, has started all 12 games he has been available for, including Sunday’s Carabao Cup Final win over Newcastle.
The towering 6ft 6in forward has only managed to find the net once for the Red Devils but the MEN claim that is not concerning boss Erik ten Hag as “he brought him in for a different reason”.
They state his “persistent running and hold-up play” is admired by his manager, which led to him being dropped into a No.10 role where he shone in the 2-2 Europa League play-off first leg draw in Barcelona.
Ten Hag tried to deploy the same tactic in the second leg, only this time it failed to work as he was replaced by Antony at half time, and the Brazilian went on to claim a 2-1 win over the LaLiga side.
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However, he is still able to perform his drop-off and play-forward duties from the No.9 role.
And he did that perfectly at Wembley against Newcastle – and he needed just four seconds to show exactly why Ten Hag favoured him in attack rather than Anthony Martial.
Weghorst received the ball and carried it for four seconds before threading a pass in to Marcus Rashford to race through and double the advantage after Casemiro’s opener.
And that is exactly the type of impact that Ten Hag signed him for.
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That took Weghorst’s tally to two assists for United – which is obviously double the amount of goals he has scored.
This report states that “whether he grabs the final set-up or not, it’s his link-up play for the on-bombing wide men that has proved appetising” to the coach.
And he has already proven with his displays in Barcelona and at Wembley that he is certainly a man for the big occasion.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
