Manchester United should be looking to shift at least four contracted players this summer as they prepare for the Champions League.<\/p>\n
The Red Devils\u2019 place in the next season\u2019s Champions League is all-but assured after a 2-1 win over Brentford on Monday night.<\/p>\n
The first decision United have to make is around their manager. Should Michael Carrick get the permanent job? They are, after all, the Premier League\u2019s best since he took over<\/a>. Or are they looking to hire a different big-name coach?<\/p>\n Either way, the United squad needs some attention this summer. Not an overhaul, but there are issues that must be addressed.<\/p>\n Their priority: a midfield replacement for Casemiro<\/a>. Whoever manages United next season needs a new deep-lying midfielder to break up and build up. And probably another midfielder besides.<\/p>\n United have played the fewest number of games possible this season and next term, their workload is certain to increase by 25 per cent. A successful campaign will see that schedule swell by close to 50 per cent, so United\u2019s squad must be built to cope with that.<\/p>\n So there can be no clear-out, even if United wanted one. But some players still need to be shifted.<\/p>\n Here, not including those out of contract this summer, or those currently out on loan with no future, is who we reckon should be kept and who ought to be on their way\u2026<\/p>\n Senne Lammens \u2013 KEEP<\/p>\n Finally, a competent goalkeeper. Actually, Lammens is better than that, and many feel he could be one of the very best. But for now, not being an awful drama queen is enough to represent an upgrade on the last fella. A very encouraging first season that has vindicated the decision to go with the unproven Belgian rather than Emi Martinez.<\/p>\n Altay Bayindir \u2013 SELL<\/p>\n The back-up keeper has a year left on his contract and if United can make any money by selling him, they probably should. He\u2019s often looked shaky, rarely reliable, which really is all you want in a back-up keeper. It would leave United short of cover, though, with Radek V\u00edtek understandably not keen on coming back from Bristol City to sit on a bench.<\/p>\n Harry Maguire \u2013 KEEP<\/p>\n The centre-back has signed a new contract so that\u2019s that. His redemption arc will be studied<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lisandro Martinez \u2013 KEEP<\/p>\n The Argentina star\u2019s fitness concerns make this a bigger debate than it ought to be. Stick for now, unless someone comes in with silly money for a player with a year plus one left on his contract.<\/p>\n Matthijs De Ligt \u2013 KEEP<\/p>\n Even if United wanted to sell, who would buy a player who\u2019s missed five months of the season with an injury that seems far from straightforward? If De Ligt is fit, he starts. But this injury is a concern.<\/p>\n Leny Yoro \u2013 KEEP<\/p>\n If the two above weren\u2019t so fragile, maybe United might be tempted to see what market there might be for Yoro. He\u2019s still young \u2013 only 20 \u2013 and elegant but too easily bullied. Perhaps he\u2019d go to Real Madrid and become the next Franz Beckenbauer, but it\u2019s a different gig at United and in the Premier League. That said, he\u2019s 20. Patience might yet pay.<\/p>\n Ayden Heaven \u2013 KEEP<\/p>\n Younger than Yoro but right now, perhaps the one you would pick out of the pair.<\/p>\n Luke Shaw \u2013 KEEP<\/p>\n Paul Scholes reckons United ought to sell Shaw<\/a> because he doesn\u2019t play enough. Which would have been a fair assessment prior to a season in which he\u2019s been the Red Devils\u2019 only ever-present. Selling one of the best defenders on the books just as he got healthy is a very Woodward era thing to do, even if he\u2019s entering the last year of his contract.<\/p>\n Diogo Dalot \u2013 KEEP<\/p>\n Just. Dalot is maybe fortunate there are other more urgent areas United need to upgrade this summer.<\/p>\n Noussair Mazraoui \u2013 KEEP<\/p>\n Can cover in both full-back positions where United aren\u2019t blessed with much depth. Mazraoui will almost certainly see more action next season amid a busier schedule, but if he can\u2019t oust Dalot, then United need to to be planning for a top-class right-back in the not-too-distant future.<\/p>\n Patrick Dorgu \u2013 KEEP<\/p>\n Bought as a wing-back, which United no longer use \u2013 not that he was much good there \u2013 but Dorgu was starting to highlight his usefulness as a left winger prior to his injury. The Dane offers a more direct option to Matheus Cunha, and United aren\u2019t flush with wingers. Let\u2019s see what he can do with some regular minutes on the flank.<\/p>\n Manuel Ugarte \u2013 SELL<\/p>\n Just get whatever you can for him, Jim<\/a>. Buttons will do.<\/p>\n