New Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag will seemingly have to look elsewhere in his quest to strengthen his midfield, with Borussia Dortmund slamming shut any possibility of selling Jude Bellingham this summer.
The Dutchman has been officially confirmed as the new United boss on a three-year deal, which is subject to a international clearance. He will become the highest-earning Dutch manager in Premier League history, reportedly earning £160,000 a week.
And with that £8.32m a year salary, Ten Hag – and No 2 Mitchell van der Gaag – will be expected to get United upwardly mobile again.
Clearly he has a major rebuilding job to do. Tuesday night’s humiliating 4-0 defeat at Liverpool illustrates exactly how far behind they are to Jurgen Klopp’s side. And Roy Keane was quick to put the boot in to explain exactly how far they have fallen.
To kick things off, Ten Hag is expected to show the door to a number of first-team regulars. As per Thursday’s Transfer Gossip, the new United boss will wave off six stars at the end of their current contracts.
The list will be headed by Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata – three players who cost United £166.3m. Following them out the door will be Jesse Lingard, Lee Grant and Edinson Cavani.
However, the brutal culling will not stop there with Ten Hag reportedly set to axe up to six more stars. As per the Daily Mirror, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Alex Telles, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones and Anthony Martial will also be put up for sale.
And perhaps most surprisingly, Ten Hag also is also reportedly open to offers for Marcus Rashford. The England man has struggled badly this season and interim boss Ralf Rangnick has already left open the possibillity of his departure.
Those wholesale changes will not end there either. The paper claims the United boss will have a £200m warchest at his disposal as he looks to strengthen United’s side.
Midfield an area of Man Utd weakness
One area key to Ten Hag’s thinking is likely to be…
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