Arsenal’s former set-piece coach Andreas Georgson has become the latest appointment to Ten Hag’s backroom team
: Getty Images/Ian MacNicol
Erik ten Hag has admitted Manchester United’s squad needs greater strength in depth and has challenged the club’s hierarchy to deliver those signings after warning next season will be a “survival of the fittest”.
United have already signed France Under-21 centre-back Leny Yoro and Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee for a combined £95.3 million but remain in the market for another central defender and forward, a holding midfielder and full-backs.
Ten Hag’s squad was decimated by an injury crisis last season that widened an internal review by United’s new head of sports medicine Gary O’Driscoll, who took over last September.
And the manager wants to ensure he has a beefed up squad to cope with what he expects to be an even more demanding schedule given the additional games United will face in the reformatted Europa League.
“We already had two very good buys,” Ten Hag said. “So when everyone is fit we have a team who can beat everyone. But the squad depth we have to catch up because we had injuries, we are vulnerable and we have to avoid this first by getting less injuries and second our squad has to be that good in the depth.
“The quality we have in terms of depth we have to catch up but even more because this season will be the survival of the fittest.”
United hope to add one of Jarrad Branthwaite, the Everton and England defender, or Matthijs de Ligt, the Bayern Munich and Netherlands centre-back, and are in talks with Paris St Germain over the Uruguay midfielder Manuel Ugarte.
There is interest in Brentford and England striker Ivan Toney and United will look to bring in another right back, with Bayern’s Noussair Mazraoui and Denzel Dumfries, of Inter Milan, of interest if they can offload Aaron Wan-Bissaka. West Ham had agreed a fee with Bayern for Mazraoui but talks have broken down.
United are also in the market for a left back with long-term injury victim Tyrell Malacia still sidelined and Luke Shaw’s long-standing fitness issues raising concerns around his reliability.
“We are looking in all of the positions to reinforce but we need a plan in our squad to reassure ourselves that we are always occupied in the positions,” Ten Hag said ahead of United’s friendly against Arsenal at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in the early hours on Sunday.
“I think we are occupied in the centre half position but we work continually and the good thing is we already signed two players but it belongs to a club like Manchester United that you are lookingif the opportunity is therefor better and we still have time, until the transfer window closes on August 30.”
: Getty Images/Ash Donelon
United physios Robin Sadler, Richard Merron and John Davin have all left the club over the past six months as part of the changes being driven by O’Driscoll, who brought in a new head physio Jordan Reece from Arsenal.
Ten Hag said United had conducted a detailed medical review but also reiterated the importance of players living their lives properly after warning that injuries “will happen” again.
“It will happenI just mentioned it, it’s survival of the fittest,” the United manager said. “One of the important things in your structures is you cover that fitness part with medical and performanceyou have to do things rightbut the players also have to work in the right way because when the standards are so high it is only possible to fulfil them when you have the highest standards. It’s not only on game day, it’s every day.
“Across the Premier League there were many teams with a lot of injuries. We were not even the worst, what we hadour bad luckwas we had them all at the end of the season in the back four and it cost us a lot of points.
“The load and the pressure on players is so immense and this season it’s getting even more because of the new model, the new format in Europe.”
Join the conversation
More stories
More from Football
More from The Telegraph
More from betting
Free bets
Bet of the day
Premier League odds
Euro 2024 odds
Football tips and offers
Best betting sites © Telegraph Media Group Limited 2024
