Man Utd: Eight more stars told it’s game over as ruthless Ten Hag aims to claw back £97m in sales

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag plans to cut a major swathe through his squad with a further eight players informed their careers at Old Trafford are on the scrapheap.

The Dutchman has operated with a no-nonsense policy – perhaps reminiscent of a certain Sir Alex Ferguson – since taking charge at Old Trafford just over a year ago. In that time, Ten Hag has faced many big calls; not least his handling of the Cristiano Ronaldo saga that ultimately saw the sulking star depart Old Trafford with his contract being terminated.

Ten Hag also illustrated his ruthless nature by replacing the long-serving David De Gea with Andre Onana. The game-changing capture of the Cameroonian keeper will give the Red Devils an added dimension in the years to come.

That ruthless streak, though, has served United well so far. In Ten Hag’s debut season, they finished third in the Premier League and reached two cup finals, winning the Carabao Cup.

Now the hope is that further improvements can close the gap on all-conquering Manchester City in 2023/24.

In order to do that, Ten Hag has set his sights on making four eyecatching additions to his squad. Two of those, in Mason Mount and Andre Onana, have already been done. And a third, in Rasmus Hojlund, has been agreed with confirmation expected to arrive in the next few days.

But Ten Hag still wants a fourth big-money signing with reports on Thursday suggesting United are looking to gazump Liverpool for a £50m-rated midfielder.

There is also a strong possibility that Jonny Evans, now back at Old Trafford after eight years away and spells at West Brom and Leicester, will also be handed a one-year deal as defensive cover.

His arrival looks set to hasten up exits for unwanted defender Harry Maguire.

EXCLUSIVE: Everton join Harry Maguire chase with Dyche to fund Man Utd raid by offloading unwanted duo

Ten Hag ready to sell eight more players at Man Utd

The England man has fallen down the pecking order under Ten Hag and is up for sale this summer. West Ham have seen one offer fail, but they are far from his only suitors.

United are hoping the sale of Maguire will net them as much as £30m – £35m this summer. And having already offloaded Anthony Elanga, Zidane Iqbal, Ethan Laird, Alex Telles, Nathan Bishop and Charlie Savage so far, United’s departures list looks set to grow in the coming weeks.

And if all goes to plan, Ten Hag could find himself netting a combined £100m in player sales.

After Maguire, Ten Hag is also actively looking to move on unwanted goalkeeper Dean Henderson. Talks over a £20m-plus move to Nottingham Forest continue.

United could also soon find a buyer for Donny van de Beek with talks over a move to Real Sociedad developing. A £10m fee is likely to be enough to convince United to sell the Dutchman.

Per the Manchester Evening News, the next man out the exit door is likely to be Fred. The Brazilian has already ‘said yes’ on a move to Turkish champions Galatasaray.

Sales to give Man Utd chance to sign two more after Hojlund

United also hope to raise an additional £7m with the exits of Eric Bailly and Brandon Williams, the latter of whom is wanted by Leeds.

And finally, it’s suggested Ten Hag is willing to listen to offers for Hannibal Mejbri and Scott McTominay, both of whom are likely to slip further down his pecking order this summer.

Per the MEN, the sales of all eight players should hopefully net United a combined £97m. That will simultaneously wipe out Ten Hag’s spending shortfall so far this summer and give him another £74m to spend before the window shuts.

Quite who he will sign remains to be seen but there is a feeling that two more signing, after Hojlund, could yet be done by United this summer if Ten Hag gets his way.

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