Ten Hag draws up three-man shortlist to end Man Utd woes, with boss ‘pushing’ for one particular signing

A journalist has revealed which three players Erik ten Hag wants to solve the right-back conundrum at Manchester United.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka arrived at Old Trafford in summer 2019, after Man Utd agreed to pay fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace £50million for him. Wan-Bissaka has gone on to make 127 appearances in the famous red shirt, though he is yet to win a trophy with them.

The defender may end up leaving Man Utd in 2023 though. Ten Hag wants to replace him with a more adventurous right-back who can get forward and help winger Antony in attack.

As a result of this stance, Wan-Bissaka has been tipped to return to Palace. The only trouble is Palace may struggle to match his price tag, as Man Utd want to make back a fair bit of his original £50m fee.

Ten Hag has tended to use Diogo Dalot on the right side of defence this campaign. And the 23-year-old has done a good job, proving himself to be more of an attacking threat than Wan-Bissaka.

But if Man Utd truly want to be considered as Prem title challengers once again, then they should probably think about replacing Wan-Bissaka and Dalot with a top-class right-back. Not only would this help them in the attacking third, but it would also help to relieve some of the pressure on Harry Maguire, should he return to the starting eleven.

And German journalist Florian Plettenberg claims Ten Hag has three players in mind to end Man Utd’s right-back woes.

The first is Lyon star Malo Gusto. He is only 19 years old but is already Lyon’s first-choice right-back, having made 14 appearances this term.

Man Utd eye Lyon starlet

Lyon have a great academy which has produced the likes of Karim Benzema, Nabil Fekir and Houssem Aouar. Gusto is the latest off the production line and Man Utd are interested in giving him a big move.

He is apparently ‘highly rated’ by scouts at Man Utd. And club chiefs believe Lyon will sell him for between €30-40m (currently £25.7-34.3m).

The teenager is far from the only right-back under consideration, though. Man Utd are also looking into a deal for Bayer Leverkusen star Jeremie Frimpong.

Leverkusen director Simon Rolfes was recently asked about Frimpong leaving for Manchester. He replied: “We are very relaxed with Jeremie. It would be fatal if he didn’t draw attention to himself from big clubs with these performances.

“He is very conspicuous with his way of playing and is an enormously important player for us. I told him that he will still get his playing time with his quality within the tournament.

Bayer Leverkusen, Inter players also in Man Utd sights

“He can decide a game with a single action because he’s incredibly quick and good at dribbling. We’ll be happy when he’s back [after the World Cup] with us. Jeremie has a long-term contract at Leverkusen, so we’re very relaxed.”

And finally there is Inter Milan ace Denzel Dumfries. He seems to be the most likely to join Man Utd, as Ten Hag is ‘pushing’ for his arrival in particular.

Chelsea and Tottenham are also on the hunt for Dumfries, who impressed for the Netherlands at the World Cup. But Man Utd are eager to win the race for his services.

Out of those three players, Man Utd fans would probably most like to see Dumfries join their club. He is a few years older than the other options and therefore has lots more experience.

The only trouble for Man Utd will be agreeing a fee with Inter. They want to keep Dumfries in Italy and are also protected by his contract, which runs until 2025. As such, Man Utd would need to submit a major bid to get the Nerazzurri to sell.

Meanwhile, a report claims Man Utd, Liverpool and Real Madrid all hope to capture an integral Spurs man.