Manchester United will probably end up having a busy summer when it comes to signings coming in, but what about possible departures?
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could do with clearing out some deadwood in this Man Utd squad, but he might also ultimately decide that some of these divisive figures are worth keeping around as backup options.
We’ve picked out nine that might be giving Solskjaer a headache at the moment, along with our verdict on whether they should be kept, sold, or loaned out…
Anthony Martial
United fans have long loved Martial, but it’s fair to say that a growing number will be losing patience with him now after some hugely disappointing form last season.
The Frenchman was on fire alongside Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood towards the end of the 2019/20 campaign, but he just couldn’t keep that consistency going as he lost form the following term.
Our verdict for Martial? It’s surely time to SELL, or the Red Devils might find it hard to find as many buyers for him in the near future.
Phil Jones
An easy one here – Phil Jones is totally out of favour with United now and it has to be time to move on.
Even if Solskjaer wasn’t looking to bring in a new centre-back this summer, Jones is behind Harry Maguire, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof in the pecking order, and it would probably be worth promoting an academy player in ahead of him.
As long as someone will take him, Jones has to be a SELL.
Donny van de Beek
It was a difficult first season at Man Utd for Donny van de Beek, who looked such a class act during his time at Ajax, but who barely got off the Old Trafford bench.
The Netherlands international may well be tempted to move on in order to ensure he’s playing regularly, but we think it would be a mistake for United to let him go before really giving him a chance.
We think Van de Beek should be a KEEP – but it’s time to give him more time on the pitch!
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Andreas Pereira
Andreas Pereira has been loaned out a few times now, and it’s hard to imagine anyone at MUFC will have seen much persuading them to keep him on.
Unless another loan move is imminent, it’s hard to imagine the club won’t finally decide to SELL Pereira if the opportunity comes along this summer.
Daniel James
There’s clearly a decent player in there somewhere, but it’s not really happened for Daniel James at Man Utd yet.
The young Welshman made the big move up from playing in the Championship with Swansea City to joining one of the world’s biggest clubs in the summer of 2019, and it was perhaps a bit too much, too fast for him.
We think there’s got to be a case for allowing James a LOAN to another Premier League club for the season ahead, as it will give him a better chance of playing regularly and gaining confidence at this level.
Axel Tuanzebe
Once looked a decent young player, but Axel Tuanzebe probably doesn’t have a future at United.
As with Jones, it’s hard to see how Tuanzebe is anything other than an emergency option in defence for Solskjaer now, so we imagine they will SELL the 23-year-old before too long.
Jesse Lingard
A tricky decision for Solskjaer here, with Jesse Lingard enjoying a superb loan spell at West Ham in the second half of last season.
Few would have expected Lingard to impress the way he did, but now there may be a real case for giving him another chance in the United first-team.
Having said that, with Jadon Sancho coming in, that’s a pretty clear signal that Lingard is only going to find it even harder to get into Solskjaer’s side, so we expect it’s more likely they’ll decide to SELL in this case.
Brandon Williams
A decent young player who is quite obviously not ready to be a starter for Man Utd yet, Brandon Williams surely needs a temporary move away to gain experience in the Premier League.
It seems likely Williams will go out on LOAN rather than be let go permanently, and he’ll have to take the chance to impress if he is to have any long-term future at Old Trafford.
Diogo Dalot
After impressing on loan at AC Milan last season, Diogo Dalot is back at United this summer and it’s slightly surprising he hasn’t left yet.
It could be that, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka not the most attacking full-back in the world, there is still a role for Dalot in Solskjaer’s squad.
We might be wrong here, but if other moves don’t work out for United, we can imagine they opt to KEEP Dalot for this season.