Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Man Utd risk destructive exit which could ruin Ten Hag progress as world-class star makes huge decision on future

Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes of Man Utd

Man Utd trio Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw and Bruno Fernandes

Manchester United are at serious risk of losing one of Erik ten Hag’s most important players after he made a big decision about potentially signing a new contract with the club.

Ten Hag is guiding Man Utd through a successful and exciting campaign. They have already won their first trophy since 2017 by beating Newcastle United at Wembley to lift the Carabao Cup. The Red Devils remain in the Europa League, where they will come up against Sevilla in the quarter-finals, while they are also due to play Brighton in the FA Cup semi-finals.

Making things even better for Man Utd is the fact they sit third in the Premier League table, a point ahead of fourth-placed Tottenham and possessing two games in hand on the north London side.

By returning to next season’s Champions League, as well as winning more trophies this term, Man Utd should be able to attract some huge names in the summer transfer window.

Ten Hag has instructed Man Utd to begin talks with Monaco over the signing of centre-half Axel Disasi. He could arrive at Old Trafford as Harry Maguire’s replacement, with the club captain wanted by Newcastle and West Ham.

Ten Hag is also eager to replace striker Wout Weghorst, ahead of the loanee returning to parent club Burnley in the summer. Victor Osimhen of Napoli is the priority for this position, although Man Utd are also casting admiring glances towards Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Eintracht Frankfurt ace Randal Kolo Muani.

READ MORE: Ten Hag crazy about sneaky €100m Man Utd transfer that’ll deliver dagger to Chelsea with No 7 shirt reserved for star

But Man Utd chiefs cannot focus solely on bringing in new players, as they also need to sort out some expiring contracts. David de Gea is the biggest name with a contract that expires at the end of this season.

Marcus Rashford, Luke Shaw, Fred, Diogo Dalot and Alejandro Garnacho are just some of the stars who will become free agents in June 2024, unless Man Utd act.

Major update on Marcus Rashford contract talks

And there has now been a big update on Rashford’s situation. According to The Sun, the in-form attacker is ‘stalling’ on a new contract until he finds out what happens with the club’s ownership situation.

The Glazer family are trying to sell Man Utd amid interest from a Qatari group led by Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani, and British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Under the Glazers, Man Utd have been trying to tie Rashford down to fresh terms since towards the start of the season. They have offered him a new five-year deal which would see his wages rise from £200,000 a week to £300,000 a week.

Man Utd chiefs are not willing to go any higher than this as they aim to introduce a salary cap at £300k per week. This is to improve harmony in the squad by having less players on astronomical wages. De Gea’s current deal is worth £375,000 a week, but he has been told he will have to accept reduced terms if he is to stay in Manchester.

Rashford’s camp feel he should be earning more than £300k a week following his exceptional campaign. He has netted 27 times already, making it his best ever season in front of goal.

The Englishman and his entourage are waiting to see which owners potentially buy Man Utd and what kind of money they put on the table. If it meets his demands, then he will pledge his long-term future to the Red Devils.

But if the offer is unsatisfactory, Rashford will run down his current contract before potentially leaving on the cheap. Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona are known to be admirers of his talent.

The report is interesting in that it focuses on Man Utd’s new wage cap but then suggests Rashford could be offered more than the £300k limit by one of the potential new owners. This would immediately disregard the salary cap and potentially anger other big names such as De Gea.

This is certainly a situation to keep an eye on. Rashford leaving Man Utd would have a devastating impact as he is arguably Ten Hag’s most important player, alongside central midfielder Casemiro.

Meanwhile, a Man Utd player has teased a summer exit by admitting he will ‘re-evaluate and see what’s best’ for his future if offers arrive from other teams.