Erik ten Hag tells the press how difficult it is to change his mind to sell Scott McTominay and reiterates his great value of him.

Erik ten Hag restates his admiration for Scott McTominay in an article by Alex Browne. August 02, 2024

Erik ten Hag restated the importance of Scott McTominay to Manchester United this season during his pre-game press conference prior to the team’s final match of the US tour against Liverpool.

The Scot scored 10 goals in all competitions last season, carving out a name for himself as an impact goalscorer. He had a very good campaign.

Additionally, he played for Scotland in the 2024 European Cup, scoring the team’s goal in a 1-1 draw with Switzerland.

However, United must sell in order to acquire because, like other teams, they are constrained by tight PSR regulations. This is seen with the additions of Leny Yoro and Joshua Zirkzee.

The midfield needs work, and since the team is having trouble offloading Casemiro, it seems like the best way to get some money would be to trade the Scottish player.

Ten Hag declared, “I’m so pleased with the performance from Scott McTominay and so pleased to have him in my squad, for the type of person he is,” in reference to the midfield player’s potential stay at the team. His performance and sense of teamwork have a huge influence on this squad.

Considering the player’s ideal position on the squad, he made the following statement: “Obviously, we play him in a more advanced position now, which suits him much better.” He is crucial to our team’s goal-setting, and I’m happy to work with and have him on the team.

Ten Hag has previously stated that he wants the 27-year-old to remain at Old Trafford, and these statements seem to indicate that he is more than pleased for the Scotland international to stay.

However, the truth of the matter is that a number of teams, including Galatasaray and Fulham, have placed multiple bids for the player, and things appear to be heading in the direction of a trade.

The Scottish player is ready to depart as well, as it was reported that he would be content to relocate to Galatasaray if a deal could be reached with United.

The midfield player is apparently happy to accept a transfer fee of £25 million from the Red Devils, and a deal appears extremely likely given Fulham’s recent bid of not too far away.

Being an academy product, this would bring in a significant amount of pure profit for United. With that money, they could use it to reinforce their defence with Matthijs de Ligt or Jarrad Branthwaite to cover for Yoro’s extended absence, or they might use it to make a stronger offer for Manuel Ugarte of Paris Saint-Germain.

Ten Hag acknowledged that “every club has those limitations” with regard to new players. Every club’s FFP rules are available there. We also need to follow those guidelines and control this. To assemble the greatest team possible, we must manage it as well as we can.

Ten Hag may therefore be merely attempting to preserve the player’s value as United looks to extract as much additional money as possible from the agreement in order to maximise their own purchasing power in August.