Sir Jim Ratcliffe is set to oversee his first transfer window as an owner of Man United and the Ineos CEO has decided to keep Victor Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.
The duo have missed the majority of the season through injuries with the Sweden star playing 27 matches, while United’s World Cup winner has only featured in 11 games throughout the current campaign.
This has been a big problem for Ten Hag, who deployed his 27th different back four of the season on Sunday against Liverpool with Harry Maguire and Willy Kambwala starting at centre-back for the Manchester club.
The Red Devils have somewhat of an injury crisis in the position at present as Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane have joined Lindelof and Martinez on the sidelines.
However, despite their constant injury issues, Football Insider reports that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has already decided to keep Lindelof and Martinez.
Man United need to sign another centre-back
Although Lindelof and Martinez will stay at Old Trafford, Man United need to sign another centre-back this summer as they are short in the position. Ten Hag wanted a player for the role last summer but the Ducth coach never got one.
According to the Mirror, Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite tops Ratcliffe’s list of summer targets, who could cost the Manchester club around £75million.
The 21-year-old has been tremendous for the Merseyside club this season and would be a brilliant addition to Ten Hag’s squad. Whether United are prepared to match the Toffee’s asking price remains to be seen but they could get the defender for less if Everton are relegated from the Premier League.