Erik ten Hag's first summer at Manchester United is already shaping up to be a whirlwind of departures and additions.
While the ten new signings suggested by Ralf Rangnick are more likely to be three high-quality purchases, with up to £150 million available to spend, a long-overdue purge of the deadwood appears inevitable.
For starters, when the transfer window opens, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic, Edinson Cavani, and Juan Mata are all expected to leave Old Trafford on free transfers.
However, reports suggest that United will consider offers for five players who appear to be surplus to requirements in the Ten Hag rebuild.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Alex Telles, who have been playing regularly for United, could be surprise inclusions.
However, central defenders Eric Bailly and Phil Jones are unlikely to reclaim their places, and forward Anthony Martial has already been loaned out to Sevilla.
Each has become a victim of United's decade of drift, decay, and dysfunction since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.
All appeared to have a place and a purpose at one point or another, but were stymied by injuries, squad competition, poor performances, or simply falling out of favor amid a manager churn.
We look at what went wrong and what might happen next.
Alex Telles
Left-back, signed from Porto in October 2020 for £15.4 million.
Telles' inclusion on the transfer list may come as a surprise to many because he is currently playing regularly for United, with Luke Shaw set to miss the rest of the season due to injury.
Despite his great promise and potential, his time with United has been disappointing, and perhaps Ten Hag simply does not see the Brazil international fitting the bill as the type of flying wing-back he prefers.
Telles, who arrived in October 2020, was an Ole Gunnar Solskjaer signing, brought in to put pressure on Shaw to improve his performances at left-back.
The problem was that Shaw responded by having his best season in a United jersey in 2020-21, and Telles found himself warming the bench in almost every Premier League game.
Though he appeared frequently during United's run to the Europa League final, he was never able to displace Shaw as first choice, and only injuries to the England international have allowed him to play so frequently this season.
Unfortunately, Telles hasn't been performing well, and Saturday's loss at Arsenal, which featured some questionable positioning and the awarding of a penalty, didn't help his chances of staying in the team.
Ten Hag prefers three defenders and wing-backs, who may contribute more offensively than defensively.
Shaw appears to be the first player to get a chance to impress the new manager, assuming he regains full fitness over the summer.
If Telles departs, it is possible that youngster Brandon Williams, who has been on loan at Norwich, will return as Shaw's understudy next season.
Wan-Bissaka Aaron Wan-Bissaka
Right-back, signed in 2019 for £50 million from Crystal Palace.
Wan-Bissaka, one of the most exciting young players in the Premier League when he joined from Crystal Palace for £50 million in 2019, did not come cheap.
After three seasons, it's fair to conclude that the right-back hasn't progressed or improved in the way that both he and United would have hoped.
After 126 games for the club, Wan-Bissaka continues to frustrate more than he delights, and there must be serious doubts about his ability to perform as an attacking wing-back for the new manager.
While his tackling is excellent, his positioning, marking, and attacking abilities must be evaluated. Ten Hag, who wants his wing-backs to push on to the byline, will be irritated by his insistence on checking back before crossing.
Only 10 assists in 126 appearances for United is a disappointing return, especially given that the side was geared up to counter attack with speed and width under Solskjaer.
Rangnick has begun to play Diogo Dalot in his position more frequently, which, given that the Portuguese was so unpopular last season that he was loaned out, is a pretty damning indictment.
Wan-Bissaka will no doubt find another Premier League club, and the fresh start will be beneficial to him, but United will have to cut their losses.
Bailly, Eric
Central defender signed in 2016 for £30 million from Villarreal.
It's not surprising to see Bailly on the market, even if his Instagram post last week revealed that he believes he should start ahead of Harry Maguire at the heart of United's defense.
Even when Rangnick rested Maguire at Arsenal on Saturday, he preferred Victor Lindelof over Bailly, demonstrating how far the Ivorian's stock has fallen.
He's only played seven games and 487 minutes of football this season, so it's understandable that United would want to get rid of him, even though Bailly has a contract until 2024.
That new contract in April was just another example of scattergun thinking in the United hierarchy, given that his game time was already declining, he was injury prone, and his performances were hardly illustrious.
The fact that he isn't preferred over the equally untrustworthy Maguire says it all. It's a long way from when Jose Mourinho approved his £30 million purchase in his first summer as manager.
In Bailly's defense, he has been plagued by injuries in recent seasons, but he is 28 years old and should be well into his prime.
Only at a different club could that happen now, especially if Ten Hag moves for his tried and trusted Ajax defender Jurrien Timber and possibly Pau Torres - a Villarreal defender like Bailly - in the summer.
In fact, you can imagine Ten Hag shuddering as he watches the videos of Maguire, Bailly, and Lindelof.
Phil Jones
Central defender signed for £16.5 million from Blackburn Rovers in 2011.
It wasn't supposed to be this way for Jones, who Ferguson signed from Blackburn in 2011 as one of the most promising English defenders in years.
Jones is one of only three players in the current squad who remember what it's like to win the league with United, and he's seen a lot of dross in the meantime.
Jones' horrific knee injury, which cost him 20 months of football during what should have been the peak of his career, elicits a lot of sympathy.
But now is the time to leave United and begin again somewhere where more regular football can be obtained.
Despite being fit since the beginning of the season, Rangnick has only used Jones in three games, and he's fifth or sixth in the central defensive pecking order, with little chance of moving up.
United will undoubtedly wish him well when Ten Hag arrives and finds him the best club for the next chapter of his stalled career.
Anthony Martial's e-mail address
In 2015, he was signed from Monaco for £36 million.
He was so unpopular at United that he was loaned out to Sevilla in January after barely appearing for the club in the first half of the season.
That loan spell hasn't been particularly inspiring, with only one goal and one assist in 11 appearances.
So it's not like Martial is in such good form in Spain that United can't wait to bring him back next season. An exit appears to be highly likely, and they will have to take a financial hit as a result.
The French striker originally cost them £36 million in 2015, with add-ons pushing that figure closer to £60 million. Martial has only shown glimpses of his enormous potential in this regard.
On paper, 79 goals in 269 games for United doesn't appear to be a bad return, but he's only really had two good seasons - his first under Solskjaer in 2015-16 and the 23-goal return in 2019-20.
He has then failed to back that up with the kind of goal-scoring consistency that one would expect from someone of his caliber.
With United almost certain to sign another forward or two this summer, the time has come to cut the cord. However, there may not be a line around the block for him.
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