Erik ten Hag may be ready for his Manchester United challenge, but he’ll inherit a squad that needs a major revamp following their worst Premier League season in their history.
The Red Devils finished sixth in the standings with 58 points, but what’s worse is that there was at least a 34-point gulf between them and their main rivals in Liverpool and Manchester City.
Former manager Ralf Rangnick mentioned before that the club needs an “open heart surgery” to fix their problems and improve their Premier League 2022 odds. So, the almighty task of building a winner must start now for ten Hag, although fans at Old Trafford have to understand that it will take some time.
Continue to read below as SBOTOP lists down their top transfer needs.
Central midfielder
This may sound like a broken record, but Manchester United are one world-class midfielder away from being a top contender here in the Premier League. Fred and Scott McTominay were their regular starters in the middle last season, but that won’t cut it against the best out there.
Erik ten Hag knows this so when he arrived in England, he quickly turned his focus to Frenkie de Jong, who was his former player back in Ajax.
The Dutch midfielder provides a much-needed physical presence in the middle, and he’s versatile enough to either provide cover for the centre-backs or score once in a while.
He is currently with Barcelona and the two clubs are in talks for his possible sale. United first offered €60-M, but the Blaugrana turned it down. In addition, de Jong publicly stated that he wanted to stay in Catalonia for now.
But the Red Devils are determined in their pursuit of de Jong as Erik ten Hag plans to reunite him with Donny van de Beek, who was out on loan for Everton last season. Frenkie de Jong and van de Beek were key figures in Ajax’s Cinderella run to the 2019 Champions League semi-finals.
Should United fail to acquire Frenkie de Jong, they could try and get either Ruben Neves from Wolves or Youri Tielemans from Leicester City.
Centre-back
Manchester United’s defencive frailties were one of the reasons why they’ve had a subpar campaign.
Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof have been their regular starters at centre-half these past few seasons but they’re clearly not good enough so they added Raphael Varane last summer. However, the former Real Madrid defender was often sidelined due to injuries.
And with Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe expected to leave, United certainly need capable bodies at the back and Erik ten Hag already has a shortlist for that.
Jurrien Timber, Lisandro Martinez, and Pau Torres are reportedly his targets and those three would be great fits given how ten Hag wants his teams to play.
Timber and Martinez have played under ten Hag at Ajax while Torres is coming off a fine season with Villarreal. All of them are big and mobile defenders and they are progressive passers too.
Full-back
The Red Devils don’t have a strong cast of full-backs either, making this another need to upgrade this summer.
Not only is Jurrien Timber a centre-back, but he can also play right-back so United are going to hit two birds in one stone if they swoop him up from Ajax.
Another target is Denzel Dumfries from Inter Milan. He is one of the most versatile full-backs today, and according to the Daily Mail, United can get him for €30-M.
One more intriguing prospect is Tyrell Malacia, who is currently valued at around €15-M to €20-M. The 22-year-old was one of the main cogs for Feyenoord, who reached to as far as the Europa Conference League final few months ago against AS Roma.
Manchester United are reportedly open to offers for Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka since both full-backs aren’t necessarily in Erik ten Hag’s long-term plans.
Forward
Manchester United can no longer solely rely on Cristiano Ronaldo to provide more Premier League 2022 highlights. Despite leading the club last term with 24 goals and three assists across all competitions, CR7 is not getting any younger.
With Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial struggling to find their form, Edinson Cavani leaving, Mason Greenwood in jail, and Jadon Sancho inconsistent at times, it is a must that the Red Devils must reload up front.
Erik ten Hag is currently working on bringing over Antony from Ajax, while his teammates Brian Brobbey and Sebastien Haller can be options too.
If United prefer cheaper alternatives, they could go for either Taiwo Awoniyi or Gianluca Scamacca as both could be available for less than €50-M.
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