Erik ten Hag is desperate to trim the fat from his Manchester United squad this summer with a ruthless approach comparable to Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta’s approach.
Mason Mount has completed his move to Old Trafford with United paying an initial £55m plus up to £5m in add-ons for the England international. The club are also closing in on the signing of Inter goalkeeper Andre Onana and want to sign striker Rasmus Hojlund from Atalanta.
Outgoings from Old Trafford this summer have been minimal. Phil Jones and Axel Tuanzebe left at the end of their contracts while Zidane Iqbal and Ethan Laird both secured permanent exits. Yet there is no shortage of players in the squad whom Ten Hag wants to be moved on in order to refine his squad.
Alex Telles and Eric Bailly have both returned from loan spells at Sevilla and Marseille respectively, with neither features in Ten Hag’s plans. As outlined by the Independent, Harry Maguire, Fred, Scott McTominay and Jadon Sancho are other players Ten Hag wants to cash-in on: raising transfer funds and clearing the wage bill for new arrivals.
United are seeking to facilitate the permanent exit of Hannibal Mejbri, returning from a loan spell at Birmingham, with Borussia Dortmund interested. Brandon Williams and Donny van de Beek are two others who do not form a part of Ten Hag’s first-team.
Dean Henderson is likely to join Nottingham Forest in a deal worth up to £30million while David de Gea’s contract has expired and he is no longer a United player. Jack Butland has also been moved on, joining Scottish club Rangers.
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Ten Hag has evaluated his squad for a year and is not pulling any punches with his judgements on players that he inherited in 2022. The comparisons to Arsenal’s 2020/21 campaign – Arteta’s first full season in charge – are obvious.
That summer saw ten players depart the first-team squad as the Gunners slimmed down their wage bill and defined their targets. The north London side now have a stream-lined young and hungry squad, with Arteta making multiple ruthless decisions.
That year saw the in-demand duo of Emiliano Martinez and Matteo Guendouzi move on, while high-earners such as Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Mesut Ozil also departed. Squad players such as defensive quartet Konstantinos Mavropanos, Shkodran Mustafi, Sead Kolasinac and Sokratis Papastathopoulos all exited.
Lucas Torreira, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Joe Willock were others who were moved out on loan deals that essentially signalled the end of their careers at the Emirates.
Ten Hag recognises that his United ranks are carrying too much deadweight and, like most managers, prefers to work with a more manageable squad in terms of numbers and quality, giving him more scope to make additions this summer.
