Man Utd transfer news

PAUL SCHOLES says Erik Ten Hag has got it right in ditching playing the ball out from the back and axing club captain Harry Maguire.Manchester United had a nightmare start to the season with defeats at home to Brighton by 2-1 and that 4-1 humiliation at Brentford.
Erik ten Hag has received glowing praise from Paul ScholesCredit: Reuters
Club captain Harry Maguire has been dropped to the bench over recent weeksCredit: Alamy
The Red Devils would play themselves into trouble and lose possession by trying to start moves with short passes from goalkeeper David De Gea.
While teams like Manchester City and others in Europe have the players to do it United simply don’t.
United legend Scholes said: “The crowd get nervous when the goalkeeper tries to play a ten-yard pass, that’s not a Manchester United philosophy, that’s Barcelona or Ajax.
“With Erik ten Hag, he’s stumbled across it. After the Brentford game, he realised he didn’t have the players to play that way, he knew he had to go more direct.
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“Raphael Varane, great a player as he’s been, is not a great footballer.
David De Gea is not a great footballer. So, play to your strengths, which for United is the attacking players, and you have to admire the new manager for playing that way.”
Scholes says he has been impressed by Ten Hag so far, not least in him chasing results with a more direct style now, rather than sticking with that possession game like his fellow Dutchman Louis Van Gaal did while at United.
He said: “Louis Van Gaal joined Manchester United and wanted to play possession-based football, but United are not that. It was always about substance over style, scoring goals and making chances rather than a pretty end product.
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“I’ve been encouraged with what I’ve seen so far by Erik ten Hag. He’s changed a lot since the Brentford game. The simple thing was, don’t play out from the back.
“Get the ball forward to your best players. Get Christian Eriksen into centre midfield, a player who can play balls to the forward players.”
The new boss had to make a big call on the club captain after those opening two games and he did that by axing Maguire.
Scholes said: “He had to leave Harry Maguire out. It was a brave decision. He’s a brave manager.”
Since making those big calls on the style of play and personnel United have gone on a four-match Premier League winning run.
They go into Sunday’s Manchester derby at The Etihad just five points behind Champions City but with a game in hand.
Paul Scholes was speaking to Gary Neville on ‘The Overlap’, in partnership with Sky Bet.
Paul Scholes has hailed the ‘brave’ Man United managerCredit: Getty More

DONNY VAN DE BEEK was mentally crushed by Paul Pogba playing ahead of him at Manchester United despite the French star’s bad attitude.Former Ajax star Van de Beek was one of Europe’s hottest properties when he moved to United in the summer of 2020 for £40million.
Van de Beek has made just three Prem sub appearances so far this seasonCredit: AFP
But the midfielder’s career has nosedived and he even endured a failed spell on loan at Everton last season from January.
Now back at United, Van de Beek has still featured little despite Dutch boss Erik ten Hag taking over.
VDB’s former agent Guido Albers told Voetbal Primeur: “I saw the disappointment about the way he was treated by Manchester United,and he saw up close what I did to turn the situation around.
“In the Netherlands, Donny got all the appreciation, performed well and was super popular with the fans.
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“At Manchester United he then never played. The relationship between him and the club really cooled down badly.
“He had to compete against Paul Pogba, who reported late to the training camp, said sorry and was allowed to play again.
“In the place of a boy who was training 10 hours a day for eight weeks to show he was good enough.
“I then had that disappointment thrown at me. I underestimated what not playing anymore did to him mentally.
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“I should have looked earlier at how can I could help him.”
VDB, who has 19 caps, is now in danger of missing out on Holland’s World Cup squad. The flop has played for just 19 minutes all season. More

PAUL POGBA has hailed Juventus fans as better than Manchester United’s and revealed he stayed in contact with Massimiliano Allegri while he was at Old Trafford.The Frenchman, 29, rejoined Juve in the summer on a free transfer after a six-year spell at United.
Pogba says Juve fans always showed him love, something he didn’t experience in ManchesterCredit: AFP
Pogba ended his unsuccessful spell at United in the summer, leaving at the end of his contractCredit: Reuters
And Pogba says he’s happy to be back in Turin where he “felt the love” from fans as a young footballer in the four years he spent at Juve between 2012-16.
Such love, he says, wasn’t shown by Man Utd fans.
Speaking to GQ, Pogba said: “When I left they were very grateful for the years together.
“I was young and they really always pushed me to the stadium, they were always behind me, I always felt the love of these fans, this is the truth.
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“I’ve never heard such a great one, not even in Manchester.”
The decision to move back to Juve was made with his “heart”, but Pogba also revealed he was in contact with boss Allegri even while he was playing for United.
Pogba hailed his special relationship with the Italian, who always pushed him to be a better player.
He added: “I have always had a very strong relationship with the coach. Handsome, honest.
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“He knows me and always pushed me when we were here together.
“Even when I was in Manchester we kept in touch and talked a lot.”
Pogba’s £94.5million return to Old Trafford was plagued with injuries, missing 100 games as a result.
And his injury problems have followed him back to Italy.
Pogba is yet to play for Juve competitively, missing the start of the season after having to undergo knee surgery.
Nonetheless, Pogba wants to get back to fitness and help Juve recapture the Serie A, having missed out to Inter and AC Milan in the last two seasons.
Juve are currently sat eighth after seven games played, and trail league leaders Napoli by seven points.
Pogba said: “I like to think and say that it is my heart that made the choice. It was also perhaps the right time to come back here.
“The last three years in Manchester, also affected by injuries, they did not go as I wanted, it is no mystery.
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“I thought that if we added to this the fact that Juve have also arrived for two years in which they did not win the Scudetto, it was a great challenge for both of us.
“Maybe it was the right time to meet again and try to take back the place that belongs to us, to me and to Juve. And above all to win again. ” More

MANCHESTER UNITED legend Paul Scholes has blasted the club’s scattergun recruitment, claiming Casemiro may not even be the “manager’s signing”.The former Old Trafford and England midfielder says no one takes “responsibility” and that someone above boss Erik ten Hag may be pulling the strings.
Scholes, one of United’s greatest players, is not impressed by their transfer dealingsCredit: Getty
Three deals in particular – Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane and Casemiro – were questioned by Scholes. But only Brazil star Casemiro was signed by Ten Hag.
Scholes said: “Sancho was a young player who Manchester United spent a lot of money on, who was unproven in the league.
“And why would a club like Real Madrid let Varane go? If you looked at him last season, he didn’t look right. I didn’t think it was a great transfer window.
“Nobody at the club is taking responsibility for it. This year, Casemiro was done over two days.
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“I wonder if it was the manager’s signing. A lot of money, long contract. I think they need to put someone in charge of recruitment. Eventually, the manager will get blamed for it.”
But Scholes claims Ten Hag is doing the right thing by abandoning his disastrous early philosophy of playing out from the back, to adopt a more direct style.
He also praised Ten Hag’s bold decision to drop skipper Harry Maguire.
Scholes told The Overlap, in partnership with Sky Bet: “He had to leave Harry Maguire out. It was a brave decision. He’s a brave manager.
“Louis van Gaal joined Manchester United and wanted to play possession-based football, but United are not that.
“It was always about substance over style, scoring goals and making chances rather than a pretty end product.
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“The crowd get nervous when the goalkeeper tries to play a ten-yard pass, that’s not a Manchester United philosophy, that’s Barcelona or Ajax.
“After the Brentford game, he realised he didn’t have the players to play that way, he knew he had to go more direct.
“Varane, great a player as he’s been, is not a great footballer. David De Gea is not a great footballer.
“So, play to your strengths, which for United is the attacking players, and you have to admire the new manager for playing that way.
“I’ve been encouraged with what I’ve seen so far by Ten Hag. He’s changed a lot since the Brentford game.
“The simple thing was, don’t play out from the back. Get the ball forward to your best players. Get Christian Eriksen into centre midfield, a player who can get balls to the forward players.” More

MANCHESTER UNITED’s pursuit of ex-West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic ended because the player REJECTED the move, it has been revealed. Erik ten Hag was keen on reuniting with Arnautovic, 33, a player he knows from the Austrian’s time playing in Holland.
Arnautovic rejected a move to Man UtdCredit: Rex
Bologna ace Arnautovic would’ve provided cover for the then potential departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as for injured star Anthony Martial.
United fans were far from pleased with being linked with a move for Arnautovic, and a deal was stopped dead in its tracks, which many believe was to do with pressure from the Old Trafford faithful.
However, according to Bologna’s director of football, Marco Di Vaio, Arnautovic in fact REJECTED a return to the Premier League.
The striker turned United down as he “understood that he is at the centre” of Bologna’s project.
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Arnautovic was also hailed as a “true champion” by Di Vaio.
In an interview with Corriere dello Sport, Di Vaio said: “No, no.
“Manchester United did not back down because of those fans, but only because Arnautovic has understood that he is at the centre of our project now and in the coming years.
“Marko behaved like a true champion, realising what he represents for Bologna as a team and a city.”
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And Arnautovic has bought into Bologna’s project of being the main man.
He has netted six times in seven Serie A games this term.
His current strike rate has him above regular top goal scorer Ciro Immobile at the top of the charts.
Napoli wizzkid Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who tore Liverpool apart in the Champions League, and Prem veteran Olivier Giroud are not far behind on four goals each. More