Ten Hag's FOUR-man shortlist as Mount's Man Utd transfer stalls

Tom Weber

• 24 Jun 2023 16:05 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has alternatives at the ready should he fail to land Mason Mount, according to reports.

The Red Devils have now bid three times for the Chelsea midfielder, but the Blues have only budged slightly from their valuation of Mount. On Friday, it was revealed that Manchester United would officially pull out of the deal should Chelsea reject their third offer.

Although this has transpired, Chelsea have offered a compromise to keep United at the negotiating table. According to Fabrizio Romano, they would be willing to sell if the Red Devils added another £3 million upfront and £7m in add-ons to their bid of £55m, taking the overall fee up to the Blues' valuation of £65m.

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It remains to be seen whether or not United are willing to go back in for Mount this window. The internal deadline by which the 24-year-old ought to be a Red Devils player is July 1 as they have no intention of chasing the player all summer, knowing full well that they could get him for free next year.

If they do end up failing to land him now, Erik ten Hag has some alternatives lined up.

A four-man shortlist

According to the Manchester Evening News, missing out on Mount won't be the end of the world. The report claims that head coach Ten Hag has four potential alternatives on his shortlist, and he has already held video calls with the players he wants to bring in, but no names were mentioned.

The report states that the Dutchman would be content with signing any of those four alternatives as they would all be 'acceptable,' but Mount is Ten Hag's clear priority.

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United are said to be quite upset about the way Chelsea have handled themselves in the negotiations. Not only do they feel that the Blues are overvaluing Mount but director of football John Murtough is allegedly unhappy about the fact that Chelsea leaked United's bids to their media correspondents in London, claims MEN.