Man Utd duo fail to return to training as Ten Hag eyes quickfire exits

16 July 2023 , 16:09

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Man Utd duo fail to return to training as Ten Hag eyes quickfire exits

Eric Bailly and Alex Telles did not report for their first day of pre-season training on Saturday as Manchester United's other international stars returned.

The Red Devils are ready to sell both Bailly and Telles this summer and do not expect them to be included in the squad for their tour of the United States next week. United face Lyon in Edinburgh on Wednesday, before jetting west for friendlies against Arsenal, Wrexham, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

Both players are out of contract next summer and United hope to offload them to free up some space in the squad and on the wage bill for new players. Ten Hag currently has more than 30 senior professionals at his disposal and is set to trim that down ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

Bailly spent last season on loan at Marseille and the French side were obliged to sign him for around £5.4m if they qualified for the Champions League and he played a certain number of games. Although Marseille finished third and booked their place in Europe's elite club competition, the Ivorian played just 23 matches - which was not enough for the clause to be automatically activated.

Telles, meanwhile, was on loan at Sevilla and started their Europa League final win over Roma in May. The Brazilian scored three times and provided six assists in 38 matches in total for Sevilla as they finished 12th in La Liga but will compete in the Champions League after winning Europe's second tier tournament.

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Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire are all ahead of Bailly in the pecking order right now, while Luke Shaw has also been preferred in central defence. Axel Disasi and David Alaba have also been linked with a move to United as Ten Hag tries to further strengthen his defensive options.

Ten Hag has Shaw and Tyrell Malacia as his two senior left-backs in the squad, while Alvaro Fernandez is set to be handed a chance to impress in pre-season following his impressive loan spell at Preston. Martinez can also drop into the left side of defence when needed.

Bailly and Telles were the only two players on international duty in June who were not present for Saturday's session. Maguire, Shaw, Lindelof, Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot, Anthony Elanga, Casemiro, Christian Eriksen, Scott McTominay, Alejandro Garnacho, Tyrell Malacia and Facundo Pellistri were all on-site at Carrington ahead of their pre-season outing against Lyon.

As for United's incoming transfer business, the Red Devils have made just one signing so far this summer in the form of Mason Mount as he joined for £60million from Chelsea. Ten Hag's men are, however, closing in their second recruit with Andre Onana set to sign from Inter Milan after David de Gea's departure.

Kieran King