Man Utd squad brutally slammed as Ratcliffe told to sell ELEVEN players

Cameron Smith

• 28 Dec 2023 09:18 GMT
• 4 min read

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been told to offload 11 Manchester United stars when he arrives at Old Trafford as the new 25% minority owner prepares to take over footballing operations.

A deal for Ratcliffe to acquire a 25% stake at Old Trafford has been agreed and he will take charge of all on-field related issues, including the process of selling and signing players.

Dan Ashworth and Paul Mitchell have both been identified as potential new sporting directors as Ratcliffe prepares to overhaul the existing Red Devils squad.

Now, he has been told to axe a large percentage of Erik ten Hag’s side by former Liverpool, Aston Villa and Wales striker Dean Saunders.

Despite their comeback win over Villa, which included an Alejandro Garnacho brace and Rasmus Hojlund’s first Premier League goal, Saunders believes the Man Utd squad isn’t fit for purpose.

Ratcliffe told to sell 11 Manchester United players

Saunders appeared on TalkSPORT and discussed the players he believes should be sold in 2024.

“For a start I would’ve got rid of [David] De Gea because he’d been there five years and he just sat behind the back four, didn’t open his mouth. Peter Schmeichel would’ve had them all by the throat.

“He’s not even got a club, that tells you how much he loves football, the candle has gone out for me. He’s not even got a club right now. How can he not have a club for six months if he loves football?”

Saunders continued: “Luke Shaw has been there too long. [Diogo] Dalot is not good enough. [Raphael] Varane, he’s a good player but it’s not happened for him, he’s tried to get rid of Varane. Jonny Evans is not good enough. So there’s the back four.

“[Aaron] Wan-Bissaka, he’s tried to get rid of him. He’s got rid of Fred. [Scott] McTominay, he’s shown he doesn’t think he’s good enough.”

"They’ve got enough money to get the best players. [Marcus] Rashford has been there too long. [Anthony] Martial, drive him to the airport. Who else?

“He got rid of [Anthony] Elanga. Antony, drive him to the airport. [Rasmus] Hojlund, I think Hojlund is going to be good.

“I’ve got Hojlund in there. [Bruno] Fernandes could sit down and have an argument with me, ‘look at my stats’. If you had a look at Fernandes’ assists and goals he’s got an argument.

“[Jadon] Sancho, sitting on his Playstation earning 350 grand a week, drive him to the airport. I mean I don’t know how you are going to get out of that because there’s that much money involved, they are going to lose a fortune.

“[Harry] Maguire, get rid of Maguire. He’s tried to get rid of Maguire four times. He knows, Maguire, he plays Luke Shaw at centre-half.”