Former Manchester United flop Wout Weghorst had a night to forget upon his return to English soil to face Chelsea with his current club Ajax on Wednesday evening.
The Netherlands international was an incongruous loan addition at Old Trafford in 2023 from Burnley when Erik ten Hag found himself in the grip of an attacking crisis following the shock departure of Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
Weghorst was far from able to fill the superstar’s boots at Old Trafford however, netting just two goals and three assists in his 31 appearances.
Despite failing to impress in front of goal, his attitude and work rate were appreciated by the Man United faithful nonetheless, although Ten Hag ultimately opted not to sign him on a permanent deal at the end of the season.
Weghorst has played at Ajax since the start of the 2024-25 campaign and enjoyed far greater goalscoring success, with 17 to his name across 41 appearances.
And Weghorst was right in the thick of the action at Stamford Bridge, not only claiming his side’s only goal in the 5-1 rout, but suffering a nasty head injury.
Former Man United flop Wout Weghorst was left with a nasty gash after tangling with Tosin Adarabioyo on Wednesday
The Ajax player had a full-throated first-half as he bled, scored, and argued before being taken off at half-time
Weghorst was able to get on the scoresheet following an error from Tosin Adarabioyo in the box, converting coolly from the spot to make it 2-1 in the 33rd minute.
Less than 10 minutes later however he was downed, and forced to sit on the turf after a stray boot from Tosin left him with a bleeding gash at his temple.
After a lengthy spell of treatment, Weghorst was back in action – only to concede a penalty himself in the 45th minute.
Enzo Fernandez stepped up to score and place Chelsea 3-1 up in west London.
As the first-half ticked into added time, Weghorst and a number of his team-mates got caught up in an on-pitch argument, minutes after a second penalty had been conceded leading to a goal for talented Brazilian teen Estevao.
Alas, for all of Weghorst’s complaints, he only received a yellow card, and lewd serenades from the Stamford Bridge faithful that he was ‘just a s*** Andy Carroll’ in reference to the similarly long-haired ex-Liverpool forward.
As Ajax collapsed, manager Johnny Heitinga opted to swap out the forward for Davvy Klaassen, calling time on his involvement in the clash.
Weghorst was forced to watch from the bench as Chelsea scored one final goal to cap a star-studded evening at home, with Tyrique George the third teenager to find the back of the next in a Champions League first.
