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Manchester United have confirmed that both Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer will not be staying on next season.
The pair are due to return to Burnley and Bayern Munich respectively, as per the club’s official website.
Weghorst’s departure will likely surprise no one, with the Dutchman enduring a difficult time at Old Trafford after signing on loan in January.
Despite earning praise for his initial enthusiasm and work rate, his lack of quality quickly became apparent, and was reflected in his paltry return of two goals in 28 appearances.
The towering centre forward was always considered a stop gap option, and Erik ten Hag found himself forced to select him with alarming regularity due to a lack of options up front.
Unwanted by Vincent Kompany at Burnley, Weghorst may end up finding himself back in Turkey, where he was on loan at Besiktas before Man United came calling last winter.
As for Sabitzer, he too did little to convince, although a good first half against Sevilla in the Europa League may have had some fans considering the prospect of keeping him.
The Austrian’s season was ended halfway through May, at which point his overall contribution – while at times encouraging – had somewhat underwhelmed.
Man United’s kit release last week suggested that Sabitzer may have been staying on after all however, with the player – along with his squad number ’15’ – listed on the club’s official website for orders.
Fellow loanee Weghorst was absent from said list, prompting speculation that United would permanently sign the midfielder and not the striker.
Signing neither seems the more sensible option, and it the one the club have taken. The Red Devils have already agreed to sign Mason Mount from Chelsea, filling the midfield void Sabitzer temporarily papered over more convincingly.
Whoever comes in to replace Weghorst will hopefully represent an even more marked jump in quality.
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