Manchester United's squad is looking a little lighter following the official departures of Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata, Nemanja Matic, Edinson Cavani, Lee Grant and Paul Pogba.
A number of squad spots have now opened up and Erik ten Hag will be looking to fill them before the coming season as he looks to get United back on track in his debut campaign. But with a limited budget available to him, could the Dutchman benefit from making use of the free-agent market?
Let's have a look at who is available for free this summer:
READ MORE: Manchester United already moving onto other targets as they wait for first transfer
Christian Eriksen
The Manchester Evening News understands that Eriksen is one of Ten Hag's top targets this summer as he was impressed by the Danish midfielder when he trained at Ajax, and United have made an offer to the player's agent. He's also had an offer from Brentford, who he played for last season, and he will likely make a decision on whether he will be playing in Manchester or London in the near future.
Paulo Dybala
United currently have Cristiano Ronaldo as their only natural striker due to the departure of Cavani and though Dybala has mainly played as a second striker throughout his career, he could be deployed in a false nine role if he came to Old Trafford. The only issue is whether the Argentine would prefer to remain in Italy and his wage demands, which would likely be substantial.
Ousmane Dembele
Though Jadon Sancho was signed for £73m last summer, United have not solved their right-wing problem, but could Dembele be the solution. Though he has been consistently plagued by injury, when he is available the young Frenchman is an unstoppable creative force and was the top assister in La Liga last season - ahead of Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr with 13 - despite only playing 21 games.
Alessio Romagnoli
Though not the most inspiring choice on this list, if United need a left-footed centre-back who is comfortable in possession then Romagnoli could be a decent option. The 27-year-old played a small though not insignificant part in AC Milan's title win last season but saw himself phased out in favour of younger players like Fikayo Tomori and Pierre Kalulu.
Dries Mertens
United need a versatile forward who can play across a number of positions. Mertens can do that and the 35-year-old could act as a stopgap for the club until next season as Antony has likely been priced out of a move this summer.
Florian Grillitsch
United fans have been crying out for a defensive midfielder for years now, but it seems like the club will be looking at other options this summer. If they do want to get a number six replacement for Matic who can also play centre-back, then Grillitsch could be their man.
James Tarkowski
A local lad who knows what United means to the fanbase and the community. Though not a starting option, the rags to riches story of Tarkowski going from Oldham Athletic all the way to United would be a great narrative and he's also a pretty good centre-back.
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