Manchester United fans have been waiting for contract news on a number of high profile players. A fresh report suggests the club is already working with Erik ten Hag on deciding which squad members deserve a place in his long-term plans as manager.
According to The Athletic, Manchester United have triggered a one-year contract contention for four players ahead of the New Year. They include Marcus Rashford, Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw and Fred.
In turn, this prevents overseas clubs from speaking to these players in January and potentially proposing pre-agreed contracts, which explains why United are acting now as the players return from the World Cup.
Rashford is showing signs of his best form again and Diogo Dalot has hit new heights under Ten Hag. Meanwhile, Luke Shaw is fighting off competition from Tyrell Malacia and has been a solid option at left-back.
However, Fred hasn’t had the best of seasons — managing just four Premier League appearances this season. His game time has been limited due to the arrivals of Casemiro and Christian Eriksen, plus I get the impression that Ten Hag prefers Scott McTominay.
It will be intriguing to see if he starts Wednesday’s Carabao Cup match against Burnley at Old Trafford. I know the Brazilian has only returned from the World Cup, but he only played 128 minutes in Qatar as a substitute and should be in Ten Hag’s ear about wanting to prove his worth to the team..
The Athletic add that United see it as a priority to agree a deal with Rashford over his long-term future, with Dalot and Shaw also in line for new contracts to commit their long-term future to the club.
Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi recently commented on Rashford as a player he would run to sign, so it makes sense that we rule out the possibility of that happening.
Time to show PSG and others (Real Madrid) that Rashford, like Manchester, is Red.
