CAN TAHITH CHONG PROVE HIS WORTH?
-By Hitanshu Samantaray
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| Tahith Chong loaned out to Werder-Bremen |
After signing a new contract just before the lockdown was imposed, Tahith Chong confirmed his stay till 2022, with the option to extend a further year. The young winger has struggled to break into the first team and hence, the U-21 Dutch international has left the club on a year-long loan to Bundesliga side, Werder Bremen in order to get more first-team football.
Early Life
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| Chong wins the PL2 Player of the Month for December 2019 |
Chong joined the youth ranks of Eredivise club Feyenoord aged 10 and was attracting a lot of attention from various Premier League Clubs by the age of 14. In 2016, the man from the Netherlands was on the verge of signing for Chelsea but chose Manchester United later and in April 2016, announced that he was to join Man Utd. His start to life at Greater Manchester wasn't easy as he suffered a cruciate ligament injury just a month after scoring in the 2016-17 FA Youth Cup, sidelining him for the remainder of the season. Although he made a great recovery, making his return 10 months later for the U-23s. Tahith Chong went on to be named the Jimmy Murphy Player of the Year in May 2018.
A Star is Born?
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| Chong gave a 25-minute cameo at LB and left everyone impressed [Image Courtesy to DiazHub.com] |
Tahith Chong came to Manchester United after showing immense promise and the hope of becoming something special. His ability to play on both the wings, his pace, agility, Chong has always had the attributes to become a great winger. In his first season at United, Chong joined the U-18s at the age of 16, accumulating 10 goal involvements in 14 games before 16/17 season ended for him through a ligament injury. Returning from his injury he made a step up to the U-23s almost immediately scoring thrice and assisting once in 8 games while netting 4 goals for the U-18s as well in 6 games. Chong finally got his senior debut in the 18/19 season under Ole Gunnar Solksjaer against Reading in the FA Cup coming off the bench for Juan Mata, followed by his PL debut replacing Rashford in injury time against S'oton. He played his first Champions League match on that Wonderful Night in Paris, making a substitute appearance. Fast-forward to 2020, it's safe to assume that he has certainly not lived up to the expectations we had for him. Yes, one can argue that he hasn't been given enough opportunities and there may even be a faction of Manchester United fans that say he's finished. Honestly, Chong hasn't shown much in the scarce opportunities he has been provided with so far as well, certainly not the mercurial levels he was touted for. In fact, according to TransferMarkt, Chong's valuation has dropped from €7.00m in Aug'19 to €6.30m in Apr'20.
But he's far from finished. You can't just write off a 20-year old youngster like that. Yes, he has shown glimpses but just as much. Yes, we do believe that the versatile winger can still reach the heights we have all expected him to reach and hit the levels he should be. With Manchester United trying to strengthen their squad to finally become that title-challenging side they should be, Tahith Chong could become an integral part of a very young, exciting squad if he keeps working hard, keeps his head up when things are not looking good. Bundesliga is a really good playground to nurture young talents and hopefully, Chong will take this opportunity with both arms open while plying his trade at Werder Bremen and show the world what he's really capable of. Chong could possibly have a brilliant season with Bremen, come back to United and become a key member of that squad that needs strengthening or he could fail to live up to expectations yet again and his Manchester United career is dwindling. Everything lies in his hands and it depends on him how strong is his desire is to play for us.
Herzlich willkommen in der grün-weißen Familie, Tahith!💚— SV Werder Bremen (@werderbremen) August 16, 2020
We wish Chong luck and hope that he performs well for Werder Bremen.Who knows what the future hold?Maybe he becomes an integral part of our squad come 2022.Leave your thoughts in the comments.
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