Ten Hag told to axe ‘limp’ £55m Man Utd star with 43-goal Dutch sensation seen as obvious upgrade

Erik ten Hag has been told he has a simple selection to make with Mason Mount once again failing to justify his big-money move to Manchester United and with the Red Devils boss urged to put his faith in a Dutchman instead.

The Red Devils have once again attacked the summer transfer window with vigour and real purpose, having pumped £140m into the squad on four new signings so far. Indeed, Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui have all signed on the dotted line to strengthen Manchester United across three key positions.

The club’s minority shareholder, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, though is not done yet and still wants to add a new midfielder to his mix with Manuel Ugarte still a top target and with the move to potentially be part-funded by the sale of Scott McTominay to Napoli.

All in all, Ratcliffe will be hoping Ten Hag can oversee a thoroughly-more consistent campaign, particularly after backing him to the tune of £550m in the transfer market since taking charge in summer 2022.

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Hopes their campaign will be a good one got off to a winning start on Friday evening as plucky Fulham were downed 1-0 at Old Trafford in their Premier League opener.

And while Yoro is injured and facing a period on the sidelines with a foot injury, all of Zirkzee, De Ligt and Mazraoui played their part in the win.

Of those three, only Mazraoui started the match with both De Ligt and Zirkzee stepping off the bench; the latter scoring the all-important winner with just three minutes remaining.

Man Utd told Mason Mount must be axed

Indeed, Ten Hag had opted to start summer 2023 signing Mount in a false number nine position against Marco Silva’s side, though the former Chelsea man once again failed to justify both the faith the United boss placed in him, having generally been a massive disappointment anyway since making the £55m move.

Now two pundits have explained why Ten Hag needs to axe the 36-times capped England international from his side to make room for Zirkzee and amid strong condemnation of Mount’s “limp” display.

“He scored the goal and he played OK coming on,” John Obi Mikel told beIN Sports. “For me, maybe yes [he starts against Brighton].

“I keep saying Mason Mount needs to have a really good season and he didn’t do it again on Friday. So you think of starting Joshua and bringing Bruno [Fernandes] a bit deeper… you want to see United playing with a striker.”

Former Liverpool man Jason McAteer agrees that Mount’s inclusion is now in grave danger and that it would come as no surprise if he is relegated to the bench in their next match at Brighton on Saturday lunchtime.

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“Mason Mount… you’ve got to give a little bit more, you’ve been given the opportunity,” he said.

“Your manager has said ‘I’m starting you the first game of the season, show me what you’ve got’.

“He just limped in and out of the game, there was no real energy about his performance, he didn’t get on the ball, he didn’t offer himself, he didn’t make things happen.

“If you’re taking someone out of the team to open it up for Zirkzee, it’s probably him.”

Since signing for United, Mount has managed just one goal and one assist from 22 appearances.

Zirkzee was overshadowed by two other stars – Berbatov

Despite only being on the field for 29 minutes or so, Zirkzee was handed the man of the match award, having scored the decisive goal.

However, former United striker Dimitar Berbatov questioned that decision to give the Dutchman the honour, naming two other players who were arguably more justified winners on the night.

“[Zirkzee was] asking for the ball, ‘give me the ball’… He showed confidence,” Berbatov told Premier League Productions.

“But it also shows how football works, you score one goal and you are man of the match. Obviously the goal is the most important but in this case I agree with Owen [Hargreaves], probably Casemiro or Bruno [Fernandes] deserve it more than him. But football is like this.”

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Berbatov reckons Zirkzee can become a big player for United, though has urged the club’s recently-appointed coach Ruud van Nistelrooy to spend a lot of time nurturing him and passing on his wisdom.

“There is a lot of work to be done with him,” Berbatov added when asked about Zirkzee.

“As we see in the interview he is still shy, finding his feet around the club. But he is in the box, asking for the ball, attacking the ball so it is a good start for him.

“Ruud will be buzzing as well, telling him what he did right or wrong so he will be ready for the next game.”