Man Utd news: Six players unsure of Old Trafford future as Erik ten Hag sanctions £70m loss

Erik ten Hag’s future has been the main talking point in Manchester but the club have a number of players running down their contracts with Harry Maguire among them

Manchester United’s manager situation continues to dominate the headlines.

Erik ten Hag looks to have survived the international break despite a string of poor results, which was followed by a meeting of the club’s major decision makers in London. They look to have chosen to stick by the Dutchman, who is already feeling the heat after seven games.

The Manchester outfit sit in the bottom half of the Premier League having won just two of their games. Ten Hag has remain defiant amid the outside noise with the team’s next assignment against Brentford at home, where the pressure will be on to secure three points

Here’s the latest from Old Trafford.

Six facing uncertain futures

The club have six players unsure about their futures with their contracts all having less than 12 months to run – Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans being two of those with Ten Hag needing to settle on his defensive options.

Lindelof was available for sale in the summer and is likely to be let go as he continues to struggle with injury. Evans meanwhile was bought back to the club in the twilight years of his career and is now 36, yet is still being leaned on by Ten Hag amid backline issues.

Tom Heaton has long been a squad player, sitting third in the goalkeeping pecking order. Christian Eriksen meanwhile will soon seek clarity on his future. Harry Maguire and Amad are two of the more regular players to have entered the final years of their deals – but United have one-year extension options in both of their contracts. United plan to negotiate fresh terms with Amad, who has become a more integral squad member this season, reports the MEN.

Maguire up for sale

Maguire’s own future could yet be ironed out by January with Ten Hag happy for the club to move him on an recoup some sort of fee. The £80million defender was the statement signing early in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign, but has been inconsistent throughout his time at the club.

The Daily Star are now reporting that Ten Hag would be happy for United to sell the centre-half for as little as £10m – representing a huge loss on one of their most expensive ever assets.

Maguire has never been a regular under the Dutchman, often coming in and out of the team. He recently scored a late equaliser to spare the manager’s blushes in Porto – and was then bought back into the team for the Aston Villa draw – but is still deemed surplus to requirements.

Ferguson told to return

Paul Gascoigne has accused the club’s flops of “taking the p***” out of Erik ten Hag, scowling: “Give the man a bit of respect.” And the England legend says United should consider putting Sir Alex Ferguson back in charge to motivate an under-performing squad. Ten Hag survived a seven-hour board meeting last week after United’s worst start to a season in the Premier League era.

The manager’s future was discussed with the Red Devils a lowly 14th in the table and with just one win in their last 10 games in Europe. But Gazza, who famously snubbed United for Tottenham in 1988, expressed sympathy with Ten Hag, who was backed with a new contract in the summer after winning the FA Cup.

Speaking to SportsCasting UK, Gascoigne said: “I feel sorry for him a bit. I’d love [Sir Alex] Ferguson to take over for one season and just see what he could do with those players because I think some of them take the p*** out of him (Ten Hag).”

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