It’s fair to say that the last few months have been a turbulent time for Erik ten Hag and his Manchester United side.
From their disappointing 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth to their bottom-placed finish in their Champions League group, it’s certainly been difficult for the Red Devils.
Issues both on and off the pitch have continued to trouble the Red Devils – with the likes of Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane reportedly falling out with the coach.
It’s culminated in suggestions that a number of United’s first-team stars need to move on during the upcoming January transfer window.
So, here, Mail Sport takes a look at which United stars could potentially be on their way out of Old Trafford next month.
Manchester United’s early exit from Europe will have a knock-on effect on their finances
It could force Erik ten Hag’s side to cut their losses with multiple players in the January window
Before we delve into which players could be likely to leave United in the transfer window, it’s important to understand why the club will need to sell.
As Mail Sport reported on Wednesday, their European exit – after finishing fourth in their Champions League group – has left a £28m hole in their transfer budget.
That figure is based on United reaching the quarter-finals, as they always budget for.
Financial Fair Play [FFP] regulations restricted what United could spend last summer and precluded bids for £100m-plus players like Harry Kane and Declan Rice.
Next summer’s budget is also contingent on revenue earned from playing in Europe, so this is very bad news for Ten Hag or whoever is in charge by then.
United weren’t likely to be too active in the January window anyway with the budget squeezed by the signings of Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount and Andre Onana.
But there will now be more pressure to sell unwanted players in January in an effort to balance the books.
Perhaps the most obvious player who could be labelled as ‘unwanted’ within ten Hag’s squad is out-of-favour star Jadon Sancho.
The winger has been in exile from the first team since his public dispute with ten Hag in September.
The former Borussia Dortmund star, who joined the Red Devils for £73million in 2021, hit out at Ten Hag on social media after the manager claimed he was not working hard enough in training, and tensions have since reached boiling point following the winger’s refusal to apologise.
Old Trafford…