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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Daniel Murphy

Manchester United told 15 players they should try to sign and 14 they shouldn't in transfer window

It looks set to be a summer of change at Manchester United.

Not only does a new permanent manager need to be hired to take over the reins from Ralf Rangnick but the playing squad could see sweeping changes. United are almost guaranteed to lose at least five players with Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Lee Grant all set to leave on free transfers.

Others could follow them out of the door, too, with Anthony Martial, Cristiano Ronaldo, Dean Henderson, Donny van de Beek and even Marcus Rashford all having uncertain futures. As a result, it's very likely United will have to pull out their wallet and spend big in the transfer market once again.

ALSO READ: Manchester United's five-man manager shortlist including Ten Hag and Pochettino

A new defensive-midfielder is currently the priority, with West Ham stalwart Declan Rice the top target, but a new striker, centre-back and full-back may all be required as well. It's a summer that United certainly needs to get right or they face their five-year trophy drought stretching even further.

With the transfer window now just a few months away, the rumour mill is starting to crank into gear and United have been linked with a wide range of players. From established Premier League stars to up and coming European prospects, from some of the game's best players to some you may not have even heard of.

MEN Sport collated a list of 29 players that have been linked with a move to Old Trafford so far and asked supporters to vote on whether they would approve a purchase of each player or disapprove of it. If over 50 per cent of voters opted for approval, then they are labelled as players the club should sign. Below and they should be avoided.

Though obviously not every one of them could be signed, United fans did approve of the club going for 15 of the 29 players linked so far. The player to amass the most votes with an 80.6 per cent approval rating was midfield prodigy, Jude Bellingham. United tried to sign the teenager when he left Birmingham City but lost out to Borussia Dortmund. Just like Jadon Sancho, Bellingham has gotten even better in Germany and would now cost significantly more to sign but he would certainly solve their midfield problems.

In second place came Rice on 72.4 per cent, who would likely fetch an even more eye-watering price, followed by Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo, who is yet to sign a new contract with his current deal expiring in 2023, on 70 per cent. Wolves star Ruben Neves was the next midfielder to enter the list on 69.3 per cent and Antonio Rudiger, who looks likely to leave Chelsea on a free in the summer, earned a 68.7 per cent rating.

On 68.2 per cent came another highly-rated midfielder in Monaco's Aurelian Tchouameni and he was followed by Erling Haaland on 63.7 per cent. The rating for the Norwegian sensation may well have been higher if it wasn't already clear United have little hope of signing him.

The rest of the approved list was rounded off by Matthijs de Ligt, Youri Tielemans, Joshua Kimmich, Christopher Nkunku, Jules Kounde, Darwin Nunez, Raphina and Anthony.

Supporters told United to avoid the remaining 14 players with Dortmund defender Dan-Axel Zagadou coming at the bottom of the pile on just a 30 per cent approval rating, closely followed by West Ham winger Jarrod Bowen on 30.6 per cent. Barcelona wide man Ousmane Dembele was next with 31.4 per cent.

His namesake Moussa Dembele of Lyon, who United are actually interested in as they look for a striker, amassed just 31.8 per cent. Richarlison, Fabian Ruiz, Lautaro Martinez, Franck Kessie, Alexander Isak and Paulo Dybala all received less than 40 per cent as well.

Harry Kane just missed out on the approved list on 47.8 per cent with his future looking uncertain after making his desire to leave Tottenham clear last summer and the rest of the list contains Manuel Akanji, Robert Lewandowski and Victor Osimhen.

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