Rio Ferdinand believes top-level English midfielders like Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice would be more inclined to join Manchester United over Liverpool at this moment.
The red halves of Manchester and Merseyside meet at Anfield in a huge clash on Sunday, with United the team in the ascendancy for the first time in years. Jurgen Klopp's side have won three of their last four in the league but a concerning lack of consistency leaves them languishing in sixth, while Erik ten Hag brought silverware back to M16 last Sunday and remains in every competition available to him at the start of the season.
After years of Liverpool having the upper hand in respect to United, Ten Hag's arrival has turned the tables and United are among Europe's most upwardly mobile outfits. And with the likes of Bellingham and Rice potentially eyeing a big-money move this summer, Ferdinand believes Old Trafford is a desirable destination once again.
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"If you put the two teams on a graph, Manchester United are going in one direction and Liverpool have stagnated," Ferdinand told BBC Radio 5 Live's The Friday Football Social. "I wouldn't say Liverpool are in decline, but other teams are catching them up and maybe going beyond them.
"If I'm a player, say Jude Bellingham or Declan Rice - two of the most in-demand English midfielders that may get moves this summer - and someone says, 'Manchester United or Liverpool, where are you going?', forget my Manchester United ties, I have to go with United right now.
"The way the team looks, the way the squad is shaping up, the way the managers are navigating their teams' fortunes and who I see being more successful in the upcoming future - I really would be sitting on the side of United."
The catalyst for United's vast improvement has undoubtedly been Ten Hag, the Dutchman instilling a winning culture at Old Trafford again and establishing discipline in a squad that has lacked it for so long. Summer arrivals Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez have been a revelation this year, while the likes of Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw - previously stagnant - are enjoying the form of their lives.
"He has been tremendous in every department, whether it's tactically, in-game management, making substitutions to affect games, to the big decisions he has had to make around big superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford," Ferdinand added. "Ten Hag has gone into every one of these situations and come out looking much more positive - and the club is in a better place.
"He has set the benchmark from the get-go and it has been refreshing to see. I think he would've been astounded when he walked in to see how low the morale was and also standards-wise in all areas. He has stepped that up and got these little things right, like punctuality, discipline around the training ground, standards in training every day and the expectations everybody has of each other.
"He's very personable, but there's a real steeliness in his eyes. He's enjoying it, but there's loads to do."
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