are set to forge ahead with their summer transfer plans following the appointment of Erik ten Hag.
The 52-year-old was confirmed as Ralf Rangick’s permanent successor on Thursday and, although he is not due to officially start work at his new club until the summer, United are keen to press ahead of what promises to be a tumultuous summer.
A clutch of players, including the likes of , Jesse Lingard and Phil Jones, are out of contract and appear certain to depart, while there remain questions over the futures of , as well as Marcus Rashford.
Ten Hag spoke extensively over the composition of the current squad and demanded to be included in any decisions over potential signings during an extensive interview process.
United maintain long-standing interest in the likes of Harry Kane, Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, but Ten Hag has also identified several players from his current club, Ajax, as key targets.
Brazilian winger Anthony has been earmarked as an ideal signing as well as defender Lisandro Martinez, while United are also said to be monitoring Arsenal target, PSV Eindhoven forward, Cody Gakpo.
According to the , however, United chiefs are wary about signing players from Holland given the struggles endured by the likes of Memphis Depay and Donny van de Beek in recent years.
Depay has since rebuilt his career at Lyon and Barcelona but suffered a miserable time of it at Old Trafford after arriving in a blaze of triumphalism claiming he had what it took to fill Cristiano Ronaldo’s boost.
Van de Beek, meanwhile, was effectively deemed surplus to requirements by both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick and is currently on loan at Everton.
The former Ajax midfielder is expected to be handed the chance to kickstart his Premier League career under his former manager Ten Hag, who had previously condemned United’s misuse of the Netherlands international.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s must-win game against Arsenal, meanwhile, Rangnick, whose own future is now uncertain having previously been slated to fill a consultancy role, backed United’s decision to appoint Ten Hag.
‘We don’t know each other in person, we haven’t met in person yet,’ Rangnick told reporters. ‘But, from what I have seen him doing, both at Bayern Munich when he was the Under-23 coach and at Ajax now, I like his football.
‘I’m pretty positive with a full pre-season, with having the chance to build and mould his own staff, also a new team, which is obvious, we will have a new team, with a full pre-season, I am pretty sure that we will see a different team and improvement on the pitch.’
‘I knew that Erik was one of the candidates the board spoke to,’ he added. ‘And obviously I told them, from what I had seen and known from people who had worked with Erik, that I think he would be a good choice.
‘I still believe that he is a very good choice and, all the other things, we so far haven’t had time to speak about,” the German concluded, referring to his role at the club beyond this season.’
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