It’s going to be interesting to see just how much clout Erik ten Hag is going to have behind the scenes at Man United this summer, but the squad needs a radical overhaul.
Years of poor decisions and giving new contracts to players who were mediocre at best mean it could still take a few years to sort this mess out, and a ruthless approach is going to be needed.
The Mail have reported that Brandon Williams impressed at Norwich last season despite being relegated, but it appears he didn’t do enough to impress the Dutch coach as his departure has now been sanctioned.
At this stage, he would probably be the third choice for both full-back spots so it does make sense, but you still get the impression that previous regimes may have kept him around just in case.
He’s not going to command a huge fee and £10m is touted as the magic number to let him go, but this is the kind of move that the club needs to start making – get what they can for players who are never going to be good enough and reinvest that in the squad.
Having a leaner squad packed with quality makes far more sense than hoarding average players, and it just remains to be seen if Williams can attract any offers.