20 August 2023 , 19:26
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HJK Helsinki forward Hassana Bande has spoken of his decision to reject joining Manchester United in 2018 – and his relationship with Erik ten Hag at Ajax.
The Burkina Faso international forward was in demand five years ago, when he was a goalscoring sensation with Belgian club Mechelen. Still a teenager, Bande scored nine goals in his first fifteen games for the club and was wanted by United and Arsenal, among others.
Bande instead joined Ajax, but disaster struck when he broke his calf bone and raptured his ankle ligament during the club’s preparation for the 2018–19 season in a friendly game against Anderlecht. That ruled him out of action for a year and he never played for the Dutch giant’s first team.
The forward’s career has yet to fulfil its immense early promise with spells on loan at Swiss club Thun and Istra of Croatia, before spending a season at Amiens at Ligue 1 and joining Finnish side HJK this summer.
He has now spoken of his decision to reject a move to Old Trafford five years ago, outlining in an interview with Voetbal International that it was motivated by lack of game-time at United: “I still had a lot to learn and knew that I would get more opportunities in Amsterdam than at a top club like United.”
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Bande then explained that a language barrier prevented him from striking up a strong relationship with boss Ten Hag – who ironically is now in charge at United – while he was at Ajax. Bande added: “His English wasn’t that good yet and neither was mine. That was a problem.
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Bande made just four appearances for Jong Ajax - but never featured for the first-team (Pim Waslander/Soccrates/Getty Images)“It was hard to accept (the injury). As a new player I wanted to prove myself. I hadn’t even played an official minute yet.”
Bande made just four appearances for Jong Ajax – the de facto Under-23 side of the Dutch giants – before being loaned out. He never made a first-team appearance for the Amsterdam club, with the injury taking a massive toll on his early career.
He joined the Dutch club at the same time they appointed Ten Hag from FC Utrecht. Ten Hag spent four full seasons in the Ajax dugout, winning six trophies during his time with the club including three Eredivisie titles and reaching the Champions League semi-finals in 2019.