Manchester United’s recruitment team will see a major reshuffle when Sir Jim Ratcliffe arrives as 25% stake minority shareholder. In turn, a lot of players will wonder what that means about their future at the club.
Ratcliffe will have his plans in place already. From who he wants leading the ship from Ineos (Sir Dave Brailsford) to which experts he wants brought in to drive their ideas.
United’s squad may undergo significant changes next year, too, with eight players running out of contract.
Erik ten Hag is facing challenges both in the Premier League and Champions League, after getting knocked out of the Carabao Cup, but hopefully backing from Ratcliffe in the January transfer market will make for a better second half of the season. I just wouldn’t hold my breathe just yet.
There’s also a strong possibility of player departures in the summer. Will Ten Hag finally get to get rid of the players he doesn’t want at the club, or will some stay like they did last summer? A number of players are reaching the end of their contracts, as per Transfermarkt, including: Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Anthony Martial, Hannibal Mejbri, Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton.
It also remains to be seen if Sofyan Amrabat can convince United to give him a permanent deal, but I don’t think the Moroccan has done anything of note to warrant a contract yet. Meanwhile, Sergio Reguilon could return to Tottenham in January.
Some of these players will be given one-year extensions from agreements they signed with their previous contract. However, it’s completely down to the club so I will be interested to see how Ratcliffe and co work on that front.
Lindelof was asked about his contract on international duty and said that he expects to sign a one-year extension at the club. That would keep his value – but how much will United end up making from him in the end? He had some interest from Italy during the summer, although Ten Hag did not want to lose the versatile Sweden international.
There are also suggestions that United want to change their approach to signing young players.
Change is on the menu.
Get the latest Manchester United news, opinion, interviews and exclusive features with the Stretty Newsletter – Ad Free! Kick off your afternoon with the Stretty News verdict on all matters Manchester United.
