United should let Rashford, Fred, Dalot, Shaw, and Ronaldo all go this summer

[justsomebloke]

And replace them with whom ?

I think in the real world that the process needs to be more gradual.

Shaw is playing the best I have ever seen from him in the last 2 games. I might not be selling him.

Of those mentioned, Rashford would be first on my list and I think we would get decent money for him as well. Double win.

What, are you serious? I didn't see the second Omonnia game, but against Newcastle Martinez kept having to bail him out defensively because he was so badly positioned, and he had pretty much no impact offensively. He was way, way better than that through the 20/21 season.

 

[justsomebloke]

As per this Guardian Article I think United should just get rid of all of them and start the serious rebuilding now. Yes it would take a season or two to get the type of hungry players that want to play for a team like United, but there is no point in giving new contracts to Fred, Shaw, Dalot, or Ronaldo. DeGea is the only one that I would keep. You could make an argument for Rashford, but that is more sentimental than anything. He has been awful since missing the penalty in the Euros final.

Get rid of the lot and start over again. Get players in with something to prove.

Those decisions will be crucial to whether this team can develop into a contender. I only hope they make decisions on that basis, and with sufficient single-minded ruthlessness, rather than do it based on the vagaries of general contract policy.

De Gea might be the most difficult one. Important team player, but is he up to the role EtH expects his GK to play? And will he keep the level for several years ahead? It seems smart to me hold off on that decision yet. He's not played himself out of contention, but also he hasn't delivered a conclusive positive answer to obvious questions. Unless EtH feels confident he can thrive in his system, the club should cut ties this summer. If they re-sign him, it'll be at a cost that will make him impossible to move if he doesn't succeed.

Fred: Tough call too. If he had two years left, I'd see no particular reason to move him out - he's a useful squad player, at the very least. But he is also a player who hasn't really played enough this season to clarify how he fits into this system, so again wise to hold off on a decision. Age also argues against a longer-term commitment, but again it depends on how useful he proves to be to EtH.

Shaw: It's crunch time for him. Is he going to be the player he was in 20/21, or is he going to be the player he's been for most of the rest of his united career? If you think it's the former, then by all means sign him up through what should be his peak years. If you think the latter, then he's simply not a viable starter on a top team. As it stands now I don't think Malacia will be that either, so in that case we really need to upgrade.

Rashford: This is the easy one, I think. To the extent there was ever a world in which United chose to move on from him, that has passed with his recent uptake in form. I'd be very surprised if they do anything other than re-sign him.

 

[ayushreddevil9]

Imagine trusting this board to sign the right players as their replacements.

 

[tenpoless]

Sell Dalot who gets paid by peanuts and keep AWB who gets paid lambos and the only thing he can do is pass the ball backwards?

 

[RyRy11]

Rashford will get a new contract, would be atrocious from the board if we don't get some money from him, we'd be buying a similar caliber player from a smaller club for upwards of £80m.

 

[sullydnl]

I'm not sure why people would be overly keen to sell Rashford at the moment.

Last season was dire but this season he so far has 5 goals and 3 assists in 11 games, 9 of which were starts. That's valuable output. With our attack being light as is and with Ronaldo certainly being someone who should leave, I don't see why we'd be looking to remove anyone from up front this summer rather than just add to what we have. Selling if we recieved a ludicrous offer I'd understand but actively looking to sell would be strange.

Selling Dalot similarly makes little sense to me. If you need to remove one of your current RBs so you can bring in a new first choice RB, why would you choose to lose the best of your current RBs? AWB is there waiting to be sold, ditch him and keep the one who is currently first choice at the club.

 

[JeffFromHK]

OP's decision to keep De Gea is ludicrous. De Gea is now just an average goalkeeper with insane wage holding us back. Why shall we keep him?

Dalot is a decent backup RB. We should keep him and sign a new RB to replace Awb

 

[Red the Bear]

If we had the resources and the capability to replace all of the adequately, yeah why not.

Disagree about dalot though, recently he's made me think there's a good RB in there somewhere.

 

[The Corinthian]

DdG and Ronaldo should be let go of.

Rashford has an optional year - exercise this and we have the potential to get some cash in for him.

Shaw, Dalot, Fred - if they earn their contract then fair fecks to them. For what it’s worth I think it’s worth keeping Shaw and Dalot.

 

[sullydnl]

Opting to keep De Gea ahead of all those players would also seem an odd decision.

He's a clear weakness in our starting eleven and not liable to change that as the reasons for him being a weakness are more to do with his fundamental skillset as a goalkeeper than form.

With his contract running out now seems a natural time to move him on as gracefully as possible.

 

[lysglimt]

So we should let Rashford go - who has generally been one of our best players ? Yeah that makes sense - and before we have a replacement for Shaw and Dalot - we should let them go as well ?

 

[eselfor]

In that list, only Fred and Ronaldo should be let go next summer in addition to Jones, Tuanzebe, Bailly, Williams, AWB, and Telles. There won't be enough money to replace Rashford, Shaw, Dalot and DDG after fixing the existing holes in the squad.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

So we should let Rashford go - who has generally been one of our best players ? Yeah that makes sense - and before we have a replacement for Shaw and Dalot - we should let them go as well ?

I think the point of the OP is that, at some point, something's gotta give. People who genuinely believe that Rashford will accept a renewal on his current wages live in La-La Land. Or that De Gea will be fine with a reduced offer. This isn't how high-paying jobs work. You pay for someone's commitment according to the tone you have already set. If we believe that Rashford is the way forward, he will receive an offer close to the money Sancho is getting. Because that's how much we value our starting winger. Similarly, DDG didn't win the lottery. He's the best paid keeper in the world because the club believes he's the best keeper in the world. Shaw already earns more than the likes of TAA, Robertson, Trippier, and about the same as Cancelo and James. An improved offer will probably make him the best-paid Fullback in the country.

So, OK, we want to keep them because it's too big a job to overhaul the whole squad. This isn't a problem in itself. It becomes one when you want long-term commitment from your players. The infamous "United Tax" is something we're willing to pay because we believe we have found a solution to a certain problem. Leicester didn't "take us to the cleaners" for Maguire. They were clear from day one that he's not for sale. But we actually thought that we had found the leader of our defence for the foreseeable in Harry Maguire. And when you think like that and you want to acquire his services for the next 5-6 years, you have to pay high wages.

Maguire is an easy example because his stock is at an all-time low at the moment. The same applies to the likes of Martial, Rashford and Shaw. When did we put the former two on a combined half a million p/w salary? 2019? Has it paid off, can we say that it was money well-spent? The fact that we're praying to the gods of rain for Martial to stay fit underlines our poor choices more than anything else. Martial was, is, and probably will remain one of the most inconsistent and injury-prone high-earners in football. Shaw has been here since what feels like forever. He's had, what, 1 1/2 good seasons? Sure, make him one of the best-paid FBs in the world. Just keep him "motivated". Judging by what we've witnessed from him in the past, what could possibly go wrong?

In the end, ETH may prove to be our guy for the next decade or so. Maybe he'll transform the side in ways we can't even imagine and achieve wonders with these players, I sincerely hope so because, to tell you the truth, i'm tired. Not of not winning trophies, but of watching us move from one dead-end to another in terms of style and purpose. But if we're doing things wrong and the wage structure needs to be fixed, we'll be forced to make these calls.

And if that's the case, we should do it at the beginning of a manager's tenure and give him some rope. Not when everybody will be fed up with him and will start siding with the (same) players, who will be moaning... again.

 

[SAFMUTD]

Letting go so many players would cripple the team, for a start Dalot has proven to be a very useful player.

I would definitely keep Dalot. Also Rashford and Shaw and depending on next summer budget De Gea but with all of the 3 on decreased wages.

Fred and Ronaldo shouldn't be offered a new contract.

 

[Kaos]

Fred and Ronaldo are the ones I'd let go. The rest have a role to play in the squad.

 

[RedSky]

Fred and Ronaldo are the ones I'd let go. The rest have a role to play in the squad.

Agreed. Ball playing CM, goal scoring CF, backup RB and a ball playing GK should be our shopping list. RB might not be an issue if we give Laird a go.

 

[Idxomer]

I'm not sure about the names mentioned here apart from Ronaldo and Fred. I honestly don't trust most of those players' performances before the World Cup, we're gonna get a clearer picture of their level after that.

We should also get rid of some players who could be sold for a decent fee to improve the squad. Henderson and McTominay are our best bet here.

 

[mctrials23]

I'm 100% behind getting rid of any players who EtH doesn't think are good enough for whatever reason. Be it desire, fitness issues, wrong sort of player, attitude or simply clash of personality.

At the level we want to be, you can't carry players unless they are in the top few in the world. We don't have any of those at the moment and we have plenty of passengers on silly wages.

 

[Van Piorsing]

If Glazers won't cut spending then why not.

On top of that I'd scrap the current English core, maybe except Sancho and try build there something new, but with actual cojones for attacking football.

 

[Red Royal]

From the list of players in the title I would be happy to let Ronaldo go and give his minutes to Garnacho. One of the best players the world has ever seen but is making our team worse.

The rest all have some part to play in the squad.

 

[BoltonWanderer]

Fred and Shaw are both fine. Shaw especially just feels like the sort of player who'd move to Newcastle or whoever, and start playing well enough that everyone accepts it was crazy for United to let him go.

 

[Abraxas]

Filip Kostic, Mario Rui, Aihen Munoz, Federico Di Marco, Kieran Tierney, Adum Marusic, Juan Bernat, Vincenzo Grifo, David Raum, Jose Gaya etc.

What are you basing this on? A bunch of random names most of which don't even play PL football.

You can guarantee if we signed some of these players and they were assessed as a Man Utd footballer rather than as some random at Sociedad, there would be more than a touch of Darmian about a few of them. It's very easy to be over the top in criticism of our own players as we've had some frustrating seasons.

 

[Judas]

Bit bemused at Rashford still being lumped into the "get em out of my club!!!" group. He's one of our few dangerous players so far this season in an attack short of goals and creativity.

 

[TMDaines]

Bit bemused at Rashford still being lumped into the "get em out of my club!!!" group. He's one of our few dangerous players so far this season in an attack short of goals and creativity.

Waiting for the thread titled "United should just burn down Old Trafford this summer".

 

[Stig]

I was agreeing with your sentiment and adding to it. You didn't create the thread, nor post any fantasy nonsense, no need to be so sensitive and go looking for things to take offense with.

You are correct on all accounts. Apologies.

 

[Utd heap]

Fantasy football / pub talk nonsense.

 

[Lecland07]

Even if we extend Rashford's contract this summer, which we will, Manchester United have no power in negotiations. If we decide to sell him, we will raise about £20m as every club will know they can just secure him for free in January 2024. No club will pay a lot knowing that.

You would be selling a quality, young winger for a measly sum and would have to shell out upwards of £80m to find a replacement. That will be a significant amount of the transfer budget gone, and it is not guaranteed they will be better than Rashford. Are Antony and Sancho showing they are better than him? I wouldn't say so, but both have cost huge fees.

All the while, one of our rivals could be snatching Rashford for practically nothing.

Ronaldo definitely needs to be let go, though. £500k a week is too much for a player who is finished at this level.

 

[El Jefe]

Gut the team. We need to get rid of Ole's players once and for all. Those players all peaked in the 2020 or 2021 in Shaw's case.

Dalot is shite but won't be as bad if we have him as a permanent second choice RB. If Martial could actually keep fit not mad at him still being a key piece in the squad.

Varane and Sancho are the only players pre EtH that I'd be strongly against leaving. The rest I wouldn't lose a second of sleep if they were sold.

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Jesus that’s just asking for us to get bent over a barrel in the market then

 

[Red00012]

I’ve been browsing this forum for ten years.

Its an amazing source for information, Man Utd or not, football or not, for me one of the most informative places on the internet.

I had to send a password reset to my email based on that comment. Shaw capable of being one of the best left backs in the world? Incredible.

We must be watching a different game. There’s average left midfielders that could play the role better.

It’s a sad indictment of where Man Utd are that some fans are happy with Luke Shaw in the squad.

I’m guessing your new password is agenda.

 

[nojcarter]

Can't see how you can let Rashford go and Ronaldo with knowing that Martial isn't realistically going to stay fit. You'd be looking at two forwards which would likely take the whole budget up. Can see Rashford being extended then into next year a decision is made on him. I'd be more concerned about offloading the players on the fringes Jones, Tuanzebe, Williams, AWB and Bailly.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Several of the players on that list are serviceable as squad players, and we certainly don't need to let them go.

What we absolutely need to let go is the Woodward principle of offering (vastly) improved contracts to anyone on our books.

Rashford, for instance: As I've said before, it makes no sense whatsoever to offer him a new and improved long-term contract. Offer him a short extension for now. If he doesn't fancy that, fine - let him go. But he isn't "deadwood" in any meaningful sense - he isn't a player we absolutely need off our books.

 

[RedDevil@84]

While keeping Maguire, AWB, Martial and VdB?

 

[fergiewherearethou]

Dalot and Rashford absolutely no, I still have hope Rashford can become better under ETH and Dalot is still young and learning.
Shaw can still be good, but he is hit or miss
Ronaldo will surely go
Fred is mediocre and he should go also

 

[Valencia Shin Crosses]

Bit bemused at Rashford still being lumped into the "get em out of my club!!!" group. He's one of our few dangerous players so far this season in an attack short of goals and creativity.

Yeah it would be different if we were getting 100m offers for him (I think you take those and run) but given his contract situation it's not feasible right now.

As for the OP, the biggest issue is under current management we've been pretty terrible at selling players over the years. Part of that is due to some of the absurd wages we've given out (although I think we've been a bit better about this comparatively recently), and the other part is just general terrible transfer strategy. So even if I might agree that a full flipping of the squad on its head would be a shrewd move, the reality is we could never execute well enough to be better off afterwards. We'd probably ship most off at cut rate prices, then struggle through negotiations for replacements that would take too long and cost too much.

I advocated for potentially selling Bruno at a huge valuation last year as a smart move, and when the PSG Rashford rumors popped up I thought we would have been sharp to try and rinse them as well. We don't have an Mbappe/Haaland/De Bruyne type "unsellable" player really on the squad, and it's not like we'd be breaking up some super successful close knit group like the recent Liverpool teams. But most of our supporters are far too romantic over our most popular players, especially academy players, so we end up just hoping they "kick on" or "find form" again when in reality they are probably not the players to take us to the next level in the first place.

 

[Ludens the Red]

Bit bemused at Rashford still being lumped into the "get em out of my club!!!" group. He's one of our few dangerous players so far this season in an attack short of goals and creativity.

His efforts this season are greatly over rated. He’s scored in two league games this season despite having the most minutes out of any of our forwards.

 

[Judas]

His efforts this season are greatly over rated. He’s scored in two league games this season despite having the most minutes out of any of our forwards.

No ones overrating him? If anything it seems most still want him gone. So again, how is he being overrated?

 

[UnofficialDevil]

They forgot Bruno.

 

[Ludens the Red]

No ones overrating him? If anything it seems most still want him gone. So again, how is he being overrated?

I mean you literally said he’s been one of our few dangerous forwards. He’s been no better than Sancho nor Anthony since he came. And I can’t be bothered to find quotes or publish pundits opinions but the notion is very much that Rashford is somehow “returning”.

 

[noodlehair]

As per this Guardian Article I think United should just get rid of all of them and start the serious rebuilding now. Yes it would take a season or two to get the type of hungry players that want to play for a team like United, but there is no point in giving new contracts to Fred, Shaw, Dalot, or Ronaldo. DeGea is the only one that I would keep. You could make an argument for Rashford, but that is more sentimental than anything. He has been awful since missing the penalty in the Euros final.

Get rid of the lot and start over again. Get players in with something to prove.

Ronaldo is the only one of those who should go and even then only because he wants to leave and is nearly 40. We'd still then desperately need to replace him.

The rest are either part of our first team or feature regularly in it. You don't just "get rid" of players who are among your best contributors without getting adequate replacements first. Especially not 5 of them in one go. That's the sort of thing you do if you want to finish about 13th next season.