Ten Hag's Dream Man Utd XI

Stuart Telford

• Updated: 15 Dec 2022 11:50 GMT
• 5 min read

The Glazer family have made Manchester United available for sale, and manager Erik ten Hag is excited about what that could mean for his transfer budget. What is the Dutchman's dream XI?

The Glazers reportedly want a world record fee for the club, something in the range of €5-7 billion, with tech giant Apple, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and private bids from the Middle East among those speculated.

Whomever owns the Red Devils next, Ten Hag is excited. "We spoke about the culture, objectives and goals we want, and he confirmed it won't change," he said of a recent conversation with chief executive Richard Arnold.

READ: Man Utd sale in jeopardy as Glazers get greedy

"It'll be even better because more money will become available for this project.

"I think it's also about strategy, not just money. It's clear that when you don't have the right players and quality players, you will not be successful and achieve the targets you set. The competition is really tough, so you need the right players."

Just who are those right players for Ten Hag? The former Ajax man was given a transfer war chest in last summer, and duly brought Antony and Lisandro Martinez to Old Trafford with him to the tune of €150 million.

Ten Hag dream Man Utd XI?

He also raided his native Netherlands for Feyenoord left-back Tyrell Malacia, while Brazil midfielder Casemiro arrived from Real Madrid for €80.

Of the incumbent players, Bruno Fernandes and Raphael Varane appear to be the safest, the former trusted at No.10 and expected to be more productive without the now-departed Cristiano Ronaldo, the latter clearly ahead of Harry Maguire as Martinez's central defensive partner.

But what about elsewhere?

A pair of Dutch World Cup players are already closing on moves to Old Trafford in Cody Gakpo and Jeremie Frimpong. The former nearly joined in the summer but his move fell through with United focusing their attentions on Antony, who joined on deadline day.

READ: Man Utd told to pay record fee to PSV for Gakpo transfer

Gakpo's asking price was already climbing after 13 goals and 17 assists for PSV this season, but they have now slapped a €50m plus price tag on him after three goals in three group stage games in Qatar.

Frimpong went relatively under the radar with Denzel Dumfries preferred at right-back, but that suits United, who won’t have to overpay for the Bayer Leverkusen man whilst worrying about Diogo Dalot's future.

Antony emerged as Ten Hag's primary target last summer, but for much of the window it had been his former Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong, since of Barcelona. Barca were keen to offload the Dutchman, but he dug his heels in to stay at his "dream club" - who owed him €17m - while United were playing outside of the Champions League.

But if money is no issue for United, De Jong is the midfielder Ten Hag wants. Casemiro is one of the best defensive midfield destroyers in the world, but if he wants somebody to take the ball of the toe of his centre-backs and drive forward, with a pass or a press-defying dribble, De Jong has few equals.

United need a new striker, meanwhile. Ronaldo was phased out for Marcus Rashford before his explosive Piers Morgan interview, but Rashford would rather drift in from the left, and the Gakpo arrival doesn't help this conundrum.

Victor Osimhen's would. The Napoli man is a handful to mark, has nine goals and three assists from just 11 games in Serie A this season, and is United's first-choice to lead the line at Old Trafford going forward. Napoli reportedly want more than €100m for the Nigerian, who is under contract until 2025.

Last but not least is Diogo Costa. The Portuguese had a decent World Cup interspersed with some high-profile mistakes, but he would be a ball-playing upgrade on David de Gea, who despite his recent rejuvenation seems to be on the way out at Utd.