COMMENT: Wout Weghorst. The Dutchman is no stop-gap. No afterthought. He is Erik ten Hag's signing. He wasn't offered to the Manchester United manager. It was Ten Hag who pursued his signing...

Weghorst will be the first to acknowledge, he isn't Harry Kane. Nor is he Erling Haaland. But what he is, is wanted. He is a Ten Hag signing. He wasn't chosen from a list of 'possibles' submitted by scouts or agents. Ten Hag pursued him. Friday's agreement to take Weghorst on-loan from Burnley had been in the works for over a month.

"His qualities will add an extra dimension to Manchester United," declared John Murtough, United's technical manager, as contracts were exchanged. "We were also drawn to his strong personality and committed approach to football. That fits perfectly in the spirit that Erik ten Hag is building in the squad."

This is all Ten Hag. A personal bet, if ever there was one. United's manager, after having his plans for Weghorst confirmed by his World Cup campaign, was on the phone barely hours after the centre-forward's very public bust-up with Leo Messi.

Ten Hag made it clear to Weghorst, as he was packing up to leave Holland's World Cup base, that he wanted him at Old Trafford. A summit that week was organised. The pair meeting face-to-face in the Dutch town of Haaksbergen. The conversation flowed freely. Ten Hag entering the meet-up knowing United were already talking to Burnley about taking over Weghorst's loan from Besiktas.

The tricky bit would be securing a release from the Turks. But Weghorst wasn't going to let this chance to slip. President Ahmet Nur Cebi was accommodating. Coach Senol Gunes, not so much. But the will of Weghorst forced Gunes to accept defeat. Withdrawing himself from training didn't go down well with Gunes, but Cebi had accepted, after Weghorst had sought him out the previous week, that the player was lost to them.

"There was nothing wrong with him," said a fed-up Gunes. "Maybe he was injured in the evening at home..."

Gunes felt railroaded, though the pair would eventually make up before Weghorst flew to Manchester on Thursday evening. The Dutchman seeking out Gunes that morning at the club's training HQ to explain his position and reasons for departing. For his part, Gunes explained his barb to the press, "I was stuck... I wish you had made things clear to us after the World Cup". But the conversation ended on good terms with the veteran coach wishing Weghorst "success".

The drive to get this deal done. The willingness to speak face-to-face with both Cebi and Gunes. It came as no surprise to Ten Hag. This is the character he seeks in a player. Indeed, management were kept up-to-speed on Weghorst's actions throughout last week. As Murtough put it: "He has shown a tremendous desire to come to Manchester United and be part of what we are pursuing to achieve this season."

And credit to Murtough. It cannot be underestimated how United managed to navigate such a complicate deal. Particularly as Cebi agreed to release Weghorst without a replacement lined up. At the time of writing, negotiations with free agent Vincent Abouabakar are yet to reach a positive conclusion. That Murtough and chief exec Richard Arnold still managed to convince Cebi to cut loose Weghorst early is a triumph.

So what are United getting? Well, they're getting a player in-form. Seven goals and two assists in 16 games for the Black Eagles this season. An impressive World Cup with the Oranje. Weghorst walks into United's dressing room in as good a touch as he has been in his career.

More importantly, however, Ten Hag gets his centre-forward. His attacking structure gets it's lynchpin. Marko Arnautovic, Sebastien Haller, Klaas Huntelaar, Lacina Traore. All Ten Hag successes. All centre-forwards in the Weghorst mould. Big. Brave. Athletic. As we say, they're not Harry Kane, but in Ten Hag's system at both Utrecht and Ajax, they enjoyed great success.

Ten Hag said himself on Saturday: "He's a goalscorer definitely but also a type who will work for the team... He's a box player who can also play counter-attack, you won't expect it always when you see his profile but he's a really good counter player."

And finally, but crucially..., "I never only look at a player and his technical skills, I look at the personality so the total human being and I think he will contribute extra to that winning attitude."

For United, for as well as they're playing, this is a watershed moment. A transformative signing. For the way he wants them to perform, Ten Hag's team has been stuck in third gear. Yes, the likes Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes have been flying in attack. But for the manager's system to reach it's full potential he needs that centre-forward target for his midfield to hit and his attacking speedsters to work around.

Now he has him. Weghorst is Ten Hag's signing. It was the manager who pursued him. It was he who convinced him. And if all goes to plan, Wout Weghorst will prove much, much more than a stop-gap addition.