Players who could move to Manchester United after the World Cup

After losing their first two games of the season, Manchester United were the focus of all the wrong kind of attention under new coach Erik ten Hag. The team were variously described as being cowardly, overpaid, and the worst United team in decades. Since then, four games in a row have been won and the club finds itself above Chelsea, Liverpool and the excessively wealthy Newcastle United, so it may be time for the panic to stop for a while. With that said, it’s clear that the current side is not the finished article. ten Hag would likely agree with that assertion, as nothing lasting can be built in just a few weeks.

It is therefore likely that there will be further action in the transfer market by Manchester United this winter, and that there may be some value in looking at the teams playing in Qatar to get an idea for who might be in their plans. None of these players is guaranteed to move to Old Trafford, of course, but these are areas in which the team looks notably thin, and players who could make a positive difference for a United side hoping to build on some cautious optimism.

Juan Foyth

Nicknamed “25%” (try pronouncing his name with a comedy New York accent), Foyth has played in the Premier League before, at Tottenham from 2017 to 2021. It didn’t quite work out for him in London, but since moving to Villarreal he’s come into his own as one of the best all-round fullbacks in Europe. A mainstay in the team’s surprise run to the Champions League semi-finals, Foyth is exactly the kind of right-back who would complete a solid, ten Hag-friendly back four. He’d also be playing alongside compatriot Lisandro Martinez, which would help with settling in mid-season.

Frenkie de Jong

It’s no secret that United pursued de Jong in the summer, and he seemed lukewarm on the idea of joining. You can hardly blame him for that, as they looked on the brink of implosion at the time. If the solid league form can be continued, though, ten Hag’s fellow Dutchman would be among the favourites at in2bet to join after the World Cup. Barcelona still really need to send players and, although Casemiro has been added to the Red Devils’ midfield, de Jong is a younger player and more of an all-rounder than the possession-friendly Brazilian, so it doesn’t need to be an either/or situation.

Kamaldeen Sulemana

If you’re looking for a dark horse team for this winter’s World Cup, you could do a lot worse than Ghana, who have perhaps their best all-round side since 2010 and a particularly interesting attack. One player who will attract a lot of attention at the tournament is Rennes winger Sulemana, who has all the attributes to become a world-class attacking player. He’s already been on the radar of top clubs such as Ajax, but his pace and dribbling ability would make him ideal for a ten Hag side. He’d be an ideal replacement for Ronaldo, who is unlikely to be at the club beyond next summer, and at 20 could well develop into a player who can play across the front line, strengthening the attacking options available to United.