New Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has arrived in England as he prepares to start his reign at Old Trafford – and one of the first things he’ll be doing is waving goodbye to millions of pounds worth of talent.
Ten Hag, who recently announced that he was skipping the end of season celebrations at Ajax to prepare for next season at Man United, is set to lose six players whose contracts are expiring at the end of the month.
AFP
Ten Hag has arrived in England and will attend Man United’s season finale at Crystal Palace
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The Red Devils travel to Selhurst Park on the final day of the season to face Crystal Palace, with Ten Hag likely to be in the crowd.
There will be plenty of farewells from the United players, some leaving with fonder memories than others.
Lee Grant, Juan Mata, Edinson Cavani, Nemanja Matic, Jesse Lingard and, most notably, Paul Pogba, are all set to leave the Red Devils at the end of the season.
Whilst on the surface the departure of that group holds little importance, it actually highlights how poor United’s transfer business has been in recent years.
The club spent £176million on those six players, only for them to leave for absolutely nothing.
Matic is the only one to leave a farewell message as of yet, stating: “I just want to say thank you for the fantastic support.
“I know that we have had a couple of difficult seasons but I just want the fans to know that, at the training ground, we’re doing our best, and United will come back, for sure.
“It’s going to take some time but United will be back. Keep supporting the team. Stay together.”
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Other players the club spent big money on are set to leave on a free
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Wan-Bissaka is another player that will leave the club this summer
Aaron Wan-Bissaka could be another one of their big-money signings that leaves for much less than they paid for him this summer.
Sky Sports are reporting that the defender, who was signed for nearly £50million from Crystal Palace just two years, will be allowed to leave the club when the transfer window opens.
It’s said that the 24-year-old he won’t figure in Ten Hag’s plans, which potentially shows that the Dutchman is already wielding the axe when it comes to offloading players.
The club will likely take a loss on Wan-Bissaka, which may be the case for other players that could be sold this summer.
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Perhaps Ten Hag opt to give some academy players a chance rather than spend big this summer, just like he did at Ajax
Eric Bailly is another one who is said to be let go, according to Fabrizio Romano, and, after signing him for £35million in 2016, he has gone on to play just 70 league games.
Perhaps Ten Hag needs to bring some of the clever work that Ajax have consistently done in the transfer market down the years, signing players for pennies and selling them for millions.
And that might well happen, unless another 36-year-old superstar becomes available…
Cost and current value of Man United players who could leave
The cost Man United signed players for and current market value (in brackets), according to Transfermarkt
Lee Grant – £1.5m (£225k)
Dean Henderson – Academy (£16.2m)
Phil Jones – £16.5m (£3.6m)
Nemanja Matic – £40m (£5.4m)
Paul Pogba – £89.3m (£49.5m)
Juan Mata – £37.1m (£2.7m)
Jesse Lingard – Academy (£18m)
Anthony Martial – £36m (£25.2m)
Edinson Cavani – Free (£3.6m)
Aaron Wan-Bissaka – £50m (£27m)
Eric Bailly – £35m (£7.2m)
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