Manchester United Transfer News RECAP Harry Kane Latest And Erik Ten Hag Manager News – Manchester Evening News

Erik ten Hag ‘makes contact with Robin van Persie’ over United role

Erik ten Hag has made contact with Robin van Persie about potentially joining him at United, according to a report.

The Mirror say Ten Hag has already made contact with the former United forward about potentially working under him should a move to the Premier League materialise.

Thank you for joining us

That is all for the Manchester United transfer blog today.

Come back tomorrow for more from Old Trafford at the start of a new week.

Ex-Manchester United goalkeeper pokes fun at Steven Gerrard as he sends cheeky message

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster sent a cheeky message to Steven Gerrard after his Watford side lost to Liverpool in the Premier League.

Before the international break, an irate Gerrard, who is now the manager of Aston Villa, cut an interview with BT Sport’s Des Kelly short after the West Midlands club were beaten by Arsenal. Before ending the chat, Gerrard explained: “I’m emotional, I don’t like getting beat and I actually thought your questions would be a little bit better, in all honesty.”

But, having been interviewed by Kelly after his team lost to Gerrard’s old side, keeping them well in danger at the wrong end of the table, Foster looked down the camera to send a message to the Villa boss. He joked: “They were good questions them, alright Stevie G?

Read more from Foster here.

Landmark goal for Fred yesterday

Rio Ferdinand blasts Manchester United for their handling of Paul Pogba contract situation

Rio Ferdinand has slammed Manchester United for their handling of Paul Pogba’s contract, as the midfielder looks set to leave the club for a second time.

Pogba’s contract at Old Trafford is set to expire at the end of the season, with no indication that he will extend his stay at United. It means they face losing the 29-year-old once again, having already seen him depart on a free earlier in his career.

There has been plenty of speculation over where the France international could end up in the summer. A return to Juventus has been touted, while the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid have also been tipped as possible destinations.

Read more from Ferdinand here.

Andy Cole warns Manchester United to avoid West Ham’s £150m Declan Rice for transfer alternative

Andy Cole thinks Manchester United should attempt to sign Jude Bellingham instead of Declan Rice this summer.

The Manchester Evening News understands signing a defensive midfielder to address the lack of balance in the centre of the pitch is United’s priority in the coming months. United have needed a specialist holding midfielder for quite some time now.

Rice has admirers at Old Trafford, but West Ham continue to insist they won’t sell their prized asset for anything less than a sizeable transfer fee, with David Moyes remaining consistent with his £100m valuation of the player, which he recently suggested could actually rise to around £150m. Rice is contracted at West Ham until 2024 and the London club are reluctant to sell him.

Read more from Cole here.

Donny van de Beek injury update

Frank Lampard has provided the following update on the fitness of Donny van de Beek.

Donny had a muscle injury, his quad. We don’t know the size of it, hopefully it’s a small one, but not enough to start a game – maybe having to then shuffle around after five or ten minutes.

Manchester United loanee Donny van de Beek suffers injury prior to Everton game with West Ham

Manchester United loanee Donny van de Beek has suffered an injury just moments before taking to the field for Everton against West Ham.

Van de Beek had been picked to start in the important clash for the Toffees at the London Stadium but was pulled out of the line-up at the last minute. In a tweet, Everton confirmed: “A late change to the XI.

“Mason Holgate replaces Donny van de Beek who picked up an injury in the warm-up.” The news will have come as a hammer blow for Everton boss Frank Lampard just moments before the match.

Read more here.

Full story on Chong injury for Birmingham

United loanee Tahith Chong was forced off with an injury for Birmingham City during the Championship game against West Brom this afternoon.

Chong started the West Midlands derby at St Andrew’s Stadium and the United youngster looked to help his side claim the three points and bragging rights. However, with the scores tied at 0-0, his afternoon was unfortuntely cut short.

Birmingham went on to win 1-0 after Chong had been withdrawn.

Read the full story here >>>

Betting odds – Harry Kane next club

Speaking about Kane, there are several would-be suitors for the England captain.

Here are the clubs bookmakers SkyBet are currently tipping to make a move for him;

Manchester United – 9/2

Manchester City – 5/1

Chelsea – 12/1

Paris Saint-Germain – 14/1

Real Madrid – 14/1

Newcastle United – 20/1

To stay at Tottenham – n/a

*Betting odds were correct at 15:15 on April 3. Subject to change.

Real Madrid enter race for Kane

Harry Kane was subject to THE transfer saga last summer and speculation over his future will continue to rumble on amid links with United and those this famous footballing city.

City were effectively priced out of a move for Kane either side of his Euro 2020 exploits.

According to Fichajes, there is clear interest from abroad, though, as Spanish giants Real Madrid set sights on signing Kane to bolster their attacking options.

Real already seem well-placed to win the race for Kylian Mbappe on a free…

Chong goes off injured for Birmingham

An unfortunate injury set-back for the Academy graduate.

Updates and reaction from Birmingham to come on that one.

Betting odds – next United manager

As you would expect, there is regular change in the betting market for this one.

Here are the latest front-runners according to odds supplied by bookmakers SkyBet;

Erik ten Hag – 1/2

Mauricio Pochettino – 5/2

Ralf Rangnick – 16/1

Thomas Tuchel – 16/1

Luis Enrique – 18/1

Antonio Conte – 20/1

Brendan Rodgers – 20/1

*Betting odds were correct at 15:15 on April 3. Subject to change.

United preparing to submit Araujo offer – reports

United are preparing to submit an offer for Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo – according to reports.

Speculation over the Uruguyan remains at fever pitch as the 23-year-old has yet to sign a new contract.

His current deal ends in 2023 and Barcelona are braced for widespread interest this summer.

According to Sport, the Old Trafford giants are open to laying down a signifcant figure for his services.

Ferdinand blasts United over Pogba contract

Rio Ferdinand has slammed Manchester United for their handling of Paul Pogba’s contract.

Speaking on his FIVE YouTube channel, the former defender bemoaned the situation United find themselves in with Pogba, with the midfielder looking set to leave for a second time this summer.

Business has been done poorly at the club. We shouldn’t be allowing players to get down to this stage in their contracts. I don’t think it should happen.

Economically, to let someone you’ve spent £80million, £90million on, plus wages, leave on a free transfer is absolutely criminal. Twice, it’s like they’ve pulled our pants down twice.

United ‘held talks’ with Haaland

Manchester United are reported to have held talks with Erling Haaland earlier in the season, but now look to be out of the race.

The Borussia Dortmund star looks likely to be on the move this summer, and was linked to a host of Europe’s top clubs.

United were among those and, according to Sport (via the Express), the Reds and Chelsea both held talks with the striker earlier in the season.

Manchester City and Real Madrid though now look to be in pole position to land the Norwegian, with United having to look elsewhere for a new striker.

Liverpool hero slams Shaw on social media

Liverpool fan favourite Jose Enrique has claimed Manchester United’s Luke Shaw ‘looks overweight’.

United drew 1-1 against Leicester on Saturday evening and Shaw started in the match. The left-back played the first half but was forced to be substituted for Alex Telles at the interval after sustaining an ankle knock just before half-time.

Although Shaw tried to continue and run off the knock, Telles was eventually needed to replace him. Enrique was watching the game and he took to social media to take a swipe at Shaw, claiming that the England international didn’t look fit.

Read the full article here.

United expect ‘no problem’ in Pochettino talks

Ji-sung Park and Valencia have catch-up

The pair were at the World Cup draw on Friday afternoon.

Rangnick has spoken ‘very highly’ of Ten Hag

Fernandes blames ‘media’ for booing of Maguire

Fernandes thinks ‘the media’ have to take some responsibility for the booing of Maguire.

“It’s tough that your own country boos you in a game for the national team,” Fernandes said.

“It’s maybe a little bit because of the media. It wasn’t because of his performance – he played really well in that game. Sometimes the media should think a little bit more when they do some things.”

OPINION: United fans made brilliant Maguire gesture

It has been a difficult week for Manchester United’s Harry Maguire. The centre-back was booed by England fans at Wembley earlier this week and that dominated headlines leading up to United’s match against Leicester at Old Trafford on Saturday.

It promised to be the ultimate challenge for Maguire. He’s not always appeared to handle criticism well and his every action was set to be under the microscope against his former club.

Maguire failed to rise to that challenge in the reverse fixture at the King Power Stadium. It was his return from injury in that match in October, but he was the worst player on the pitch in United’s 4-2 defeat.

Read the full article here.

‘Might be this week’ – Gary Neville makes United manager prediction after Leicester draw

Gary Neville thinks United might make an announcement on their new manager in the coming days.

Ajax striker sends Ten Hag warning amid United interest

Ajax striker Sebastien Haller has sent Erik ten Hag a warning about potentially becoming the new manager at Manchester United.

When discussing Ten Hag’s potential move to England, Haller offered up a warning to his manager. He told CNN : “He’s clever, he knows his strengths but also his weaknesses. I think he’s trying to become better every day, so of course, he’s trying to be there for the players, trying to keep everyone involved in the team.

“But I want to say that every dressing room is different, every team is different, so you need to act a bit differently. It depends on the dressing room you have so maybe his quality today can be a weakness somewhere else.

“So let’s see how he does.” The former West Ham man then added: “I think we all understand. It’s the choice from the coach to choose what he wants. We are just his players.

“I am just grateful for what he did for me and I just hope that he will take the best decision for himself. I have nothing to say because I don’t even know everything inside Manchester United and the way they really want him.

“I can just say that he needs to follow his heart, his brain, and take the right decision.”

Harry Maguire set for position change following Leicester experiment

Ralf Rangnick has explained why he decided to change Harry Maguire’s position for Manchester United’s draw with Leicester on Saturday evening. United were held to a 1-1 draw by the Foxes at Old Trafford as their top-four hopes took another major blow.

You can read it all here.

Gary Neville slams Marcus Rashford decision vs Leicester

Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville was baffled by interim manager Ralf Rangnick’s decision to leave Marcus Rashford out of the starting line-up for Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Leicester City at Old Trafford.

Neville told Sky Sports: “This is going to be a long two months for these Manchester United players and Manchester United fans if they are going to continue to play like that. It was really poor out there today and I did not have a clear idea of what they were trying to do.

“I was struggling with it a little bit before the game without a centre-forward. That has killed Marcus Rashford today, that, not playing in that team.

“I know he has been in poor form and lacked confidence, but for Cristiano Ronaldo to pull out this morning and then for Paul Pogba to go in and change the system of play and the way that the game has been approached, and not just put Rashford in as a straight swap when he has trained for the last ten days… I just think there are too many things at this club at this moment in time that are uncertain.”

Two players criticised by Ralf Rangnick after Leicester draw

Ralf Rangnick criticised the decision-making of Manchester United forwards Jadon Sancho and Anthony Elanga after their 1-1 draw with Leicester.

Sancho snatched at a chance in stoppage-time when Leicester centre-back Wesley Fofana slipped while Elanga was carelessly flagged offside when Marcus Rashford was approaching the six-yard box and shaping to shoot at Kasper Schmeichel.

“I think we had a difficult, bumpy start into the game,” Rangnick said. “The first-half was difficult to find the rhythm, a lot of unforced errors, passes played in a sloppy way, the speed of our build-up was not high enough and that’s why we had problems in first-half to find our rhythm.

“Overall, the second-half was better, but the goal we conceded in a moment where we had the chance to be on the counter-attack ourselves, being tackled away twice, losing the ball within six seconds when all the defensive players had closed up. Brilliant cross but we could have defended the cross on the wing and inside better, that goal didn’t make life easy for us.

“The reaction to the goal was good, we came back from a goal from Fred and in the last 15 minutes we tried everything, not always taking the right decisions but we had two or three good opportunities.

“Jadon should have taken two touches on the far post when Fofana slipped and had Anthony Elanga stayed away from that ball when Marcus Rashford would have been completely free and either probably scored or it would have been a penalty.

“We tried, so I cannot fault the team for not trying and the effort in the last 20 minutes, but obviously, it was not a result we were trying to get.”

Bruno Fernandes disagrees with Gary Neville on Ralf Rangnick’s tactics

Bruno Fernandes has claimed Ralf Rangnick’s tactics ‘worked really well’ in the first half of Manchester United’s match against Leicester.

Gary Neville was on commentary for Sky Sports at Old Trafford and he criticised Rangnick’s tactics throughout the game.

Fernandes was asked about Rangnick’s tactics after the full-time whistle and he admitted he thought they ‘worked’ in the first half.

“It’s something we’ve done already against City and it worked really well in the first half,” Fernandes said.

“Today I thought it was working – we had chances and were compact. Leicester didn’t have many chances in the first half. It’s something that sometimes you have to use. It’s something that has to suit the team.

“It’s not about one player or two. We have to be there for the team.”

United issue injury update on Luke Shaw

Ralf Rangnick has issued an update on Luke Shaw after the left-back was withdrawn at half-time against Leicester.

The 26-year-old received treatment towards the end of the first half of the 1-1 draw only to solider on until half-time. Shaw did not reappear for the second half. Alex Telles was called upon to see out the game.

Ralf Rangnick, speaking to MUTV has moved to clarify Shaw’s situation. He said: “He had some problems last week, when he was with the England team, with his old injury when he had an operation on a broken leg.

“This showed up again today. That’s the reason why we had to substitute him at half-time,” he added.

Erik ten Hag’s chances of becoming United manager boosted by ‘cheap’ release clause

A move for Erik ten Hag this summer is boosted by the fact that he has a cheap release clause at Ajax, according to The Telegraph.

They suggest a move for the 52-year-old would cost United less than £2 million in compensation.