Manchester United

Manchester United

Premier League • England

Ruthless Ten Hag to sell senior Man Utd pair, with Newcastle, West Ham among three clubs ready to pounce

Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag

Man Utd are ‘ready to cash in’ on two senior stars in the summer, with three Premier League clubs on high alert after seeing varying approaches for the pair knocked back this month, per a rpeort.

The Red Devils have caught a live one in Erik ten Hag who has already shown he’s the man to lead the revolution at Old Trafford.

The Dutchman has been unafraid to make the big decisions, notably turfing Cristiano Ronaldo out once his on-field displays stopped making up for his off-field drama.

Ten Hag is also behind the club’s sterner approach to player contracts and by and large, bought extremely well in his first window at the helm.

The end result is United being on course for Champions League qualification. Had Casemiro not been suspended on Sunday and the result against Arsenal different, United may well have been in a title race.

To take the next step, further investment on player recruitment will be required. However, as their Wout Weghorst loan showed, finances are tight around Old Trafford at present.

The club still owe £307m in unpaid transfer fees, according the Telegraph’s James Ducker. That prevented a higher profile striker signing this month and per Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, is playing havoc with their summer plans too.

United must sell well in the summer in order to free up vital funds for Ten Hag to spend. The only way they’ll be able to generate enough cash in that regard is through selling established first-team stars.

Man Utd to axe Maguire, McTominay?

On that front, talkSPORT report two such players could be moved on at season’s end – Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay.

Maguire is United’s club captain, while McTominay has been on the club’s books for over 20 years.

However, both have fallen down the pecking order in their respective positions under Ten Hag, and talkSPORT state United are ‘ready to cash in on both’ players.

Maguire is arguably fourth-choice at centre-half at best behind Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw. The fact Ten Hag continues to deploy Shaw out of position at centre-back is sparking vociferous calls for Maguire to leave.

McTominay is in a similar predicament in midfield. Casemiro and Christian Eriksen are Ten Hag’s preferred pairing. Fred also got the nod ahead of McTominay in the 2-1 derby victory over Man City.

Three EPL sides watching on

West Ham continue to be linked with Maguire this month with ESPN and the Mirror both detailing their interest. However, talkSPORT reckon Ten Hag won’t allow either player to leave this window.

United are hunting trophies this season and remain in contention on four fronts. As such, any major sales will be made to wait until the summer.

Hammers boss David Moyes has shown a willingness to sign tried and tested English players of late. He struck gold with veteran defender Craig Dawson who was colloquially labelled ‘Ballon d’Awson’ during his time in London.

The 32-year-old has since gone on to join Wolves in order to be closer to his family who still live up north.

When Moyes was in need of striker reinforcements this month, he turned to 30-year-old Danny Ings. A deal that could hit £15m crossed the line last Friday.

McTominay, meanwhile, has had ‘approaches’ from both Southampton and Newcastle, add talkSPORT.

Magpies boss Eddie Howe is understood to be wowed by two of the Scot’s traits. The Athletic hinted the 26-year-old may well walk straight into Newcastle’s starting eleven if signed in the summer.

Newcastle will become an even more attractive landing spot than they already are if they have Champions League football to offer next season.

If United are indeed forced into selling so they can buy, Maguire and McTominay are prime candidates to go. The pair should command sizeable fees and aren’t as important at Manchester United as they once were.

If they do depart, we may well see them remain in the Premier League.

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