In an excerpt of an interview with Manchester United’s in house media, set to be published in full on Tuesday, manager Erik ten Hag confirmed club options will be exercised on four players.
The quartet of players: forward Marcus Rashford, left back Luke Shaw, right back Diogo Dalot and midfielder Fred, are all out of contract at the end of this season. By exercising the club option, however, it means the foursome will all stick around for at least more season beyond this one.
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“Yes, I can confirm it,” the Dutchman said.
“We are happy because the squad is going in the right direction and those players [have] a massive contribution in that direction. We want to develop, we want to support those players and we want them to keep in our process.
“So, that’s why we came to those decisions, I’m sure they are the right decisions. We want to construct a team for the future, so for longer years, and those players have to be part of it.”
Regarding Rashford, about a month ago, reports emerged that United are very interested in locking him up long term.
A fifth player, goalkeeper David de Gea, is also in the final year of his contract (with an option for an additional year), but his future is still uncertain. There have widespread reports (possibly more speculative in nature) that he will be exiting in the summer.
With Ten Hag taking over the team, a squad overhaul has already started, and it should ramp up even in more in upcoming transfer windows.
United, who advanced to the League Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday, resume their Premier League season on Tuesday. (Preview material links above)
They currently sit fifth in the table, about one third of the way through the season.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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