Manchester United fans are growing increasingly excited about Tahith Chong, but who is he?
The 18-year-old was signed from Feyenoord in 2016 and immediately caught the eye as part of Kieran McKenna’s U18 side.
Basic details
Name: Tahith Chong
Date of birth: December 4, 1999 (aged 18)
Height: 1.85m
Position: Winger
Club: Manchester United (0 apps / 0 goals)
National team: Netherlands Under-19s (7 apps / 0 goals
Who is Tahith Chong?
Chong is an 18-year-old forward who plays for Man United, having joined from Feyenoord in the summer of 2016. He immediately started representing United’s Under-18s but had his season cut short when he suffered a cruciate injury in January 2017.
He returned to the Under-18 set-up 10 months later, and made his Under-23 debut at the beginning of this year – scoring United’s goal in a 3-1 loss to Spurs with Jose Mourinho watching from the stands.
Playing for the Under-23s this season, Chong has so far scored two goals and created a further two in six starts, whilst also making an appearance in United’s UEFA Youth League campaign.
Chong was one of a group of United academy players taken on the club’s pre-season tour of the US, and he featured for 94 minutes – the most minutes of any academy played included in Mourinho’s travelling squad.
Style of play
A left-footed wide player, Chong started his United career as a proper throwback winger; he loved to show off his pace and trickery as he got up and down the flank, creating goals for others as well as scoring them himself. His explosive style of play makes him incredibly hard to deal with, and it is something of a shock to see a player so tall and skinny move so quickly across the ground.
Chong has primarily moved out onto the right flank for United’s Under-23s and he caught the eye in that position during the senior side’s pre-season tour of the US. While he still hugs the touchline in the manner of a classic winger, Chong also looks to cut inside and put the ball on his stronger left foot. In United’s pre-season clash against Club America he popped up in the number 10 position at times, and had his best joy against the opposition defence when moving infield.
Aside from his exceptional talent of running with the ball, Chong’s biggest strength is undeniably his ability to deliver the ball from wide. It is his crossing – both swinging crosses from deep and hard driven deliveries across the face of goal – that often stands out when Chong takes to the field.