Erik ten Hag is taking a ruthless approach to Manchester United transfers with three players
It's already been a summer of departures at Manchester United but the exit door is set to keep on swinging over the next three weeks as the clock ticks down to the end of the transfer window.
United have sold seven players so far, including youngsters Zidane Iqbal, Ethan Laird, Bjorn Hardley and Charlie Savage, with Alex Telles, Anthony Elanga and Nathan Bishop also departing permanently. Expect that total to be in double figures in the next few weeks.
The chances of more incomings are dependant on sales and, in particular, the identity of those players to depart, but crucially this has been a major clearout from Erik ten Hag, after selling five players in his first transfer window in charge at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman inherited a bloated squad when he took the reins and in little over a year he has trimmed the fat from it impressively. Of players considered to be first-team members under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Ralf Rangnick, Ten Hag has sanctioned exits for Andreas Pereira, Cristiano Ronaldo, Axel Tuanzebe, Phil Jones, David de Gea, Telles and Elanga.
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When it comes to arrivals, the focus has been on quality rather than quantity. Rasmus Hojlund is the eighth permanent signing of the Ten Hag era and this squad is now smaller than it was when he arrived. Almost every manager working at the highest level prefers to operate with a tighter group of players who are close enough to the first team to remain motivated and in the picture. That wasn't the case a year ago.
Ten Hag's approach to academy graduates has been particularly sharp, selling players when it had reached a point where there was no pathway for them and they hadn't shown they can make the grade. Laird, Garner,
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