Erik ten Hag is undecided over the long-term futures of eight Manchester United stars who are inside the final year of their contracts - including David de Gea.
De Gea has been a mainstay at Old Trafford for over a decade after being signed by Sir Alex Ferguson back in 2011 and was even crowned as the club's Player of the Year last term. But the Spaniard, and a host of other first-team stars, are facing uncertain futures.
Along with other established names such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford, De Gea has under 12 months remaining on his deal. And although United do have options to extend those agreements by one year, Ten Hag is planning to take his time in deciding who will be staying at the club for the long haul.
That is according to the Daily Telegraph, which claims the Dutchman intends to determine who has the credentials and the character to aid United in their quest to bring the glory days back to Old Trafford before committing to any long-term decisions - hinting that nobody is safe.
De Gea was one of Manchester United's standout performers prior to Ten Hag's arrival, but the 31-year-old did not look comfortable in the opening weeks of the season after he was tasked with playing out from the back.
That has led to serious doubts over his future, with Gary Neville predicting that the shot-stopper's time under Ten Hag could be "short-lived". The former England defender suspects the United boss will want to persevere with the expansive style of football that helped him win three Dutch titles in four years at Ajax.
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After touching on the pragmatic approach United have adopted in recent weeks following their disastrous start to the season, he said on the Gary Neville podcast : "I think we're seeing less success with that type of [counter-attacking] football.
"Other than Leicester City, can you think of a team that has not dominated possession most of the time that have won this league in the last 15-20 years? Not really now, you don't see it. You have to be a really proactive team, on the front foot, pressing, doing all the right things.
"I think [Ten Hag's] had to step back to go forward, I think he's had to regroup and that's no problem. But we all know where Erik ten Hag wants to get this United team to. He wants 75 per cent possession, he wants players that can handle the ball. Not just actually in the middle of midfield but defenders can handle the ball, the goalkeeper needs to be brilliant on the ball.
"And I suspect with David de Gea, his career at Manchester United is probably going to be short-lived under Erik ten Hag because he's absolutely going to be adamant that his philosophy of playing out from the back, playing through midfield, playing those little risky passes that we see [Manchester] City and Ederson do all the time that we no longer see as risky because they do it so well, is something that he's striving for and wants to get to."
