Manchester United are waving off six players today upon the expiry of their contracts.
June 30 is the date when players’ contracts reach a conclusion, with United moving on half a dozen players for pastures new.
While three of the players have largely featured in youth and academy teams, the other three have been, at one time, prominent in the first team set-up.
Ten Hag is eager not to stick in the past and in his bid to revolutionise the team has given his blessing to see Phil Jones, David de Gea and Axel Tuanzebe leave.
The Dutch boss has had little to do with Jones since he arrived, with the defender playing just five times in the last three-and-a-half years due to his chronic knee issues. He has been at United for 12 years.
Manchester United already confirmed Phil Jones is leaving Old Trafford today as deal expires
De Gea had an offer on the table to stay, albeit on significantly reduced terms from his £375,000-a-week deal which expires today, but United are said to have performed a u-turn and he has now left.
Ten Hag is keen to upgrade his options in goal and Inter Milan’s Andre Onana, who worked with Ten Hag at Ajax, is a top target.
Academy product Tuanzebe is another player leaving United today after falling further down the pecking order at centre back behind Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez.
Tuanzebe had hoped to cement his place in the United first XI after joining the team on their pre-season tour last summer. However, he left Australia with a ‘personal issue’ and struggled to work his way back into the squad.
Ethan Galbraith, Charlie Wellens and Di’Shon Bernard are the others leaving.
A lot of focus will be on De Gea and former United star Rio Ferdinand bemoaned the way the saga around the Spaniard’s future has been handled to this point.
Speaking on the FIVE YouTube channel, Ferdinand said: ‘It’s a funny situation. Whether you think David de Gea is good enough for Manchester United anymore is up for debate.
‘But he’s been an unreal servant to this football club. 12 years he’s been at this club, similar to what I was at this club. Player of the year, four or five times in that time been phenomenal.’
He added: ‘I’m just a little bit gutted with how the club have handled this. It comes down to communication. I think Manchester United need to learn from this. They have made mistakes before with big players leaving the club in the past.’
Source: dailyмail
