Sir Jim Ratcliffe told to axe 10 Man Utd players including Rashford and Shaw
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been told to begin his rule over Manchester United's football department by ruthlessly culling 10 players.
England duo Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw have both been named by former Premier League striker Dean Saunders on his list of "passengers" who should be flogged. Chairman of petrochemicals conglomerate INEOS and boyhood United fan Ratcliffe last week agreed a £1.3billion deal with the Glazer family which will give him a 25 per cent stake in the club and allow him to take charge of the Red Devils' football operations.
United have been in free fall this season, losing 13 of their 27 games in all competitions, with manager Erik ten Hag relieving some of the pressure on his position after his side produced a dramatic 3-2 comeback win at home to Aston Villa on Boxing Day. Still, there's set to be a massive overhaul on and off the pitch under Ratcliffe, who's been advised by Saunders on which players to axe.
The ex-Villa, Liverpool and Derby County striker started off with three misfiring forwards and claimed on talkSPORT : "Rashford has been there too long. [Anthony] Martial, I'll drive him to the airport. Antony, drive him to the airport.
"Luke Shaw has been there too long. [Diogo] Dalot's not good enough. [Raphael] Varane, he's a good player obviously but it's not worked for him. Ten Hag's tried to get rid of Varane.
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" Jonny Evans is not good enough now, 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, the manager has obviously shown he doesn't think he's good enough, but he gets goals.
"He's not good enough to play for Man United, in my opinion. If you play for Man United in midfield, you've got to be one of the best players in the world in midfield. You're not playing for Crystal Palace!"
Get involved! How many of the 10 players should Manchester United sell? Let us know in the comments section.
Marcus Rashford has only scored one goal this season (Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Luke Shaw remains prone to injuries (James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images)Saunders then named Red Devils outcast Jadon Sancho as his 10th player to join the exodus, with the £72million signing last featuring in August before a fall-out with Ten Hag.
"I'm just thinking off the top of my head... Sancho, Antony, Martial, you're looking at what, £200m or something like that just for them?" the 75-capped Wales international added. "Passengers. Absolute passengers."
Obviously, those 10 players won't be sold in the January transfer window but could depart at a later date. Wan-Bissaka, Varane and Martial are all out of contract at the end of this season and will become free agents unless United intervene. As part of the deal, which is yet to be ratified by the Premier League, Ratcliffe must be consulted on all contract and transfer decisions next month.
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