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Manchester United have done some quality business this summer transfer window. They've offloaded quite a few players who had been deemed surplus to requirements and have made some top quality signings as well.
They've signed Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia and Christian Eriksen and are being heavily linked with Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong. The Red Devils also let go of players like Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Edinson Cavani, Andreas Pereira, Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata.
Even though that's a pretty healthy number of outgoings, we don't believe Manchester United are close to being done. In fact, they have more players they should sell before this summer's transfer window closes.
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Without further ado, let's take a look at the five players Manchester United still need to get rid of this summer.
#5 Phil Jones
A good question to ask at this point would be this: What is Phil Jones still doing at Manchester United? Jones' contract with the club expires next year and it seems he is no longer needed at the club.
United have a very healthy list of centre-backs and Jones hardly featured last season despite being fit for a fair amount of time. He started two Premier League games for Manchester United in the 2021-22 season.
As per the Daily Star (via The Express), Wayne Rooney, who has now been appointed as the manager of Major League Soccer outfit DC United, wants to sign Jones. It remains to be seen whether or not the United legend will get his wish but it doesn't make any sense for the Red Devils to be holding onto Jones.
#4 Eric Bailly
Eric Bailly is an athletically gifted centre-back who is a bit of a maverick. He is excellent at times but also has a reputation for being outright reckless on occasion. The Ivory Coast international has also become a liability of sorts to Manchester United due to his niggling injury issues.
Bailly has missed 57 matches for the Red Devils through injuries over the past three seasons. Now that they have signed Lisandro Martinez, United could do without Bailly. In addition to Martinez, United have Raphael Varane, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Axel Tuanzebe and Teden Mengi at centre-back.
According to Gianluca Di Marzio (via RomaPress), AS Roma have initiated talks with Manchester United for Bailly. The English giants should let Bailly leave this summer as he is unlikely to feature much for them this term.
#3 Alex Telles
Alex Telles failed to impress despite being heavily involved in the first-team setup in the 2021-22 season. Although his set-piece delivery is quite good and he has a decent cross in him, he is not very reliable in a defensive sense.
Manchester United have a fair amount of depth in the left-back position. They now have Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia and Brandon Williams in that position. It is also worth noting that Erik ten Hag has used Telles at centre-back in pre-season so far.
The writing is on the wall and it would be ideal for United to cash in on Telles before this summer transfer window draws to a close.
#2 Donny van de Beek
Much was made of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's unwillingness to use Donny van de Beek on a regular basis during his managerial reign at Manchester United. But during the Dutchman's loan spell at Everton in the second half of last season, it definitely looked like he might not a great fit for the Premier League.
Van de Beek has since returned to United and has reunited with his former boss Erik ten Hag. The expectation is that Ten Hag will be able to get the best out of Van de Beek once again.
However, the early signs have not been promising. The 25-year-old started for United in a double pivot in their recent pre-season friendly against Aston Villa and turned in a lackluster performance.
With the exceptional Christian Eriksen now a part of the squad, Van de Beek is going to struggle even more for game time. Manchester United ought to look to offload him this summer and try to recoup a chunk of that €39 million they shelled out to sign him in the summer of 2020.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo
Yes, you read that right. The winner of the 'Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year' Award for the 2021-22 season seems to have now fallen out of favor with the Old Trafford faithful. That's owing to his actions this summer where he tried to engineer moves to clubs like Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, as per reports.
Although Cristiano Ronaldo was Manchester United's top goalscorer last term, there is no denying the fact that he disrupted Solskjaer's attacking setup. Ronaldo's arrival caused the fluid Manchester United attack to become rigid due to his lack of positional flexibility up top.
The Red Devils have looked great in attack during pre-season in Ronaldo's absence. The likes of Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bruno Fernandes have all interchanged positions and done brilliantly in the attacking third.
Losing Ronaldo won't be a big blow for Manchester United and it's time for the club to start afresh under Ten Hag.
