Although Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been in charge at Man United for six months now, it’s only ahead of the summer transfer window that the new era at the club can start to begin in earnest.
Whether that includes manager, Erik ten Hag, is an unknown at this point, although the longer it goes on without an announcement, the more chance the Dutchman arguably has of being kept on for at least another season.
By the time the new campaign rolls around, either he or his replacement are likely to be overseeing a much-changed first-team squad to the one which ended the 2023/24 season.
Seven leaving Man United
For a start, according to FourFourTwo, Anthony Martial, Raphael Varane and Brandon Williams have all left the club.
Though not unexpected, and in some respects all three exits were needed, the players still need to be replaced.
Any manager worth their salt will want input on who those replacements will be, again pointing to a ten Hag reprieve.
It’s believed that prior to the end of last season he had been discussing a way forward with the powers that be, and any new incumbent certainly isn’t going to be seduced by walking through the door and finding the club have already decided who will replace those leaving the Red Devils.
The trio aren’t the only members of staff that have headed out the exit door either.
FourFourTwo also detail that academy stars, Marcus Lawrence, Charlie McNeil and Kie Plumley, as well as U21 player/coach, Tom Huddlestone, have gone.
With less than a month until the transfer window opens for business and a few weeks more until players are back for pre-season, it will be interesting to see just how many more incoming and outgoing movements there are.
What’s almost certain is that Sir Jim and his board won’t stand still in their pursuit of excellence.
