Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has confirmed that Donny van de Beek and Brandon Williams could leave the club before the transfer window closes.
The Red Devils suffered a disappointing 2-0 Premier League defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
They made the better start at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and should have had a penalty. However, Spurs finished the opening half in a more convincing fashion.
After the break, the London outfit were by far the better team and got their reward in the end. Pape Matar Sarr opened the scoring before a Lisandro Martinez own goal.
Speaking after the loss, Ten Hag was presented with several questions, and one of those was on the absence of Van de Beek, Williams and Harry Maguire from the squad.
While Maguire was ruled out of the game with a minor injury, the manager acknowledged that Van de Beek and Williams are looking for new challenges away from the club.
He said (via Manchester Evening News): “Yesterday, the final training, ‘H’ fell out with a small issue and after September 1 everything can change, but we need players who are totally with their heads in our team.”
“And, I wouldn’t say the players you just mentioned, they are not, but it’s also obvious in this moment they are looking for something else [on Van de Beek and Williams].”
Van de Beek had a good pre-season campaign with the Red Devils. He scored the winner against Lyon while registering two assists in the 3-2 defeat to Borussia Dortmund.
Despite this, he does not feature in the manager’s starting plans. Bruno Fernandes is an undisputed starter in the attacking midfield role, and Van de Beek is unlikely to displace him.
Meanwhile, Ten Hag now has Mason Mount and Christian Eriksen for the number eight position, and the former Ajax star has a very slim chance of playing ahead of the duo.
We are not surprised that he is looking for a potential move elsewhere. Real Sociedad were recently interested in signing him before opting to land Arsen Zakharyan instead.
The Netherlands international will be hoping for more proposals in the coming days. Williams, on the other hand, will be aiming to restart his career away from Old Trafford.
He played as a back-up to Luke Shaw in pre-season with Tyrell Malacia injured. The Dutchman has yet to recover, but United have opened the door for his summer departure.
Diogo Dalot is more than capable of playing at left-back and this could be a reason. United will be aiming to recoup funds from the duo in order to invest on another new signing.
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