Man Utd must sell a star who’s fallen out with Ten Hag

Will he, won’t he? At long last, he will. Erik ten Hag is staying at Manchester United and has now been joined by Dan Ashworth.

United have a solid structure in place for the new INEOS era but whether or not they see greener shoots than before remains to be seen.

Ten Hag looked as though he was set to be given the boot but the Red Devils have arguably seen the sense in building a long-term project at Old Trafford.

They will back the Dutchman but they won’t make the same mistakes of the past, spending luscious sums on the likes of Antony and Casemiro, only for the transfers to come back and bite them in the backside.

Incomings will, of course, be a huge priority for Ashworth and Co but there is plenty of deadwood that United still need to clear out. There could also be one or two star men departing in the forthcoming weeks.

The players who could leave Man Utd

Well, Anthony Martial and Raphael Varane are confirmed departees from Manchester this summer but who will join them?

Scott McTominay continues to be linked away, with Fulham now thought to be in the driving seat to secure his signature after selling Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich.

Casemiro is attracting interest from the riches of Saudi Arabia, while Borussia Dortmund are keen on bringing back Jadon Sancho for a third spell in Germany.

No one would begrudge the new transfer team at United from ushering those three faces through the exit door but supporters, quite possibly, may begrudge the sale of Marcus Rashford.

The academy graduate’s future in the northwest has been uncertain for a while now and recent reports from The Sun suggest he could be heading for the departure lounge.

They report that the player has now fallen out with Ten Hag and as such, they are now ‘prepared to sell’.

United are set to ‘listen to offers’ for the Englishman, placing an £80m valuation on his head. However, they may well have to lower that asking price to around £60m after a dismal drop in form throughout 2023/24.

Why Man Utd should axe Rashford

The thought of an academy graduate departing, a well-liked one at that, is always rather unsettling news.

A different set of circumstances, yes, but you only need to look at the statement Leeds United put out after confirming Archie Gray’s £30m move to Tottenham. They revealed they were “heartbroken” at seeing the teenager exit.

Now, Ten Hag probably won’t feel those emotions but the fanbase at Old Trafford surely would do.

This is a player who has given his heart and soul to United as a young man. Now aged 26, Rashford has played a staggering 402 matches, scoring 131 goals and supplying 66 assists.

However, all good things must come to an end surely? This probably represents a good a time as any to cash in on their poster boy for the academy.

United have backed Ten Hag and if he doesn’t like Rashford, a parting of ways is surely natural.

There has been a grim toxicity about the Red Devils for a great period of time now and much like Mikel Arteta did at Arsenal, the Dutch boss must cull the club of all negative energy.

Rashford, unfortunately, very much fits into that boat. Let’s use that Arteta example again. He stripped Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the captaincy and in a few months had exiled him from the club. Why? A lack of punctuality. The Gabonese forward would regularly turn up late and his rebel attitude annoyed the Spaniard.

Well, that situation is happening here with Rashford. The reason for his fallout with Ten Hag? Similar to Aubameyang really.

Reports suggest that the two figures were barely on speaking terms by the end of the season after he was spotted partying until the early hours in Belfast despite being due to train at Carrington later that day. Already warned for his off-field conduct by the manager in October, this understandably did not sit right.

Branding the player’s behaviour as “unacceptable”, he was axed from the squad ahead of their FA Cup tie with Newport in January having been out until the early hours before training a few days prior, an event that forced him to ring in sick and miss the session.

So, you can see why there is some friction here. Despite a mega haul of 30 goals in the 2022/23 term, that has seemingly been all been forgotten about. His form fell catastrophically last season, only scoring eight goals in all competitions.

You sense, therefore, that a fresh start is needed elsewhere for Rashford. He has had a torrid time of it of late, even missing out on a place in England’s squad for Euro 2024.

There is something that doesn’t feel quite right about suggesting a player who scored 30 goals in one season should leave, yet that £80m could be put to better use elsewhere.

One reported target is Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon, who would just provide that same explosive nature as Rashford on the left-hand side – scoring 11 goals in the league last term – but he’s a damn hard worker too.

One of the biggest criticisms for United’s number 10 is his unwillingness to track back and help out in defence. For context, he ranks in the worst 7% of positionally similar players in Europe for tackles per 90 with 0.77. Gordon, on the other hand, ranks in the best 20%, making 1.76 per 90. Perhaps Ten Hag and Co should place their eggs in his basket instead? Only time will tell.