Erik ten Hag had inherited a bloated and imbalanced squad when he took over as Manchester United manager. From getting rid of deadwood to buying quality players, a lot needed to be done.
The summer transfer window proved to be a success with the club getting five permanent recruits an one loan signing through the doors at Carrington.
But there is still a lot of work left to be done and it will take at least a few more transfer windows to get the house in order considering the massive rebuilding job the Dutchman was tasked with.
Dalot has turned it around at United
Apart from incomings and outgoings, there is also the small matter of contract renewals. As reported previously on The Peoples Person, as many as ten first-team stars are set to be out of contract in 2023.
The former Ajax boss has indicated that the club is in the process of triggering the one-year extension option in all their contracts in a bid to not lose them for free.
One player’s whose fortunes at the club has completely transformed since the Dutch boss took over is Diogo Dalot and his contract is also set to end in 2023.
🚨 Manchester United will trigger the option to extend the contracts of Marcus Rashford and Diogo Dalot until 2024.
🏴 🇵🇹 🟥 #MUFC #ManUTD pic.twitter.com/c4tXcQ6AyF— Ekrem KONUR (@Ekremkonur) December 12, 2022
The Portuguese is the club’s undisputed No 1 right-back and has started in all but one match so far this campaign and is deemed irreplaceable by the manager.
The 23-year-old even managed to usurp Joao Cancelo as Portugal’s starting right-back at the World Cup and was among the side’s better performers despite a quarterfinal exit.
The club are actively trying to get the Portuguese full-back to sign a long-term deal and with so many foreign clubs interested, the one-year option will ensure the player cannot leave on a free in the summer of next year.
Dalot could emulate CR7
Despite his newfound status as an undroppable under Ten Hag, AS (via Sport Witness) have reported that “Barcelona could have a chance to get the full-back thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s dramatic exit from the Red Devils.”
Dalot was close to the Portuguese striker and without his compatriot, the defender ‘could welcome a change of scenery’, especially if Barcelona come calling.
Barcelona are aware that a January deal is off the cards given the news of the contract extension is the “most likely solution” which will hand United the time to then sort out a ‘broader renewal’ or ‘consider a transfer’.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out next summer. United should definitely try and hold on considering this importance to Ten Hag’s plans.
