Erik Ten Hag's Manchester United Team Rapid Age Transformation

 

Two seasons ago, exactly on the day Erik ten Hag's Manchester United reign was threatened with derailment before it even pulled out of the station, almost half of the team he had picked was 29 or over. That was in sweltering west London heat on the day they were beaten 4-0 by Brentford, which didn't help some of the more experienced players.

The team look like this, David de Gea (31), Harry Maguire (29), Fred (29), Christian Eriksen (30) and Cristiano Ronaldo (37) all started at Brentford back in August 2022. Another 29-year-old, Raphael Varane, came off the bench. Two years on only two of those six players are still at the club and if Maguire and Eriksen survive the summer cull, they won't be starters next season.

It was a feature of Ten Hag's first season that the squad had plenty of experience. That team selected at Brentford was before the arrival of 30-year-old Casemiro. January bought the temporary additions of 28-year-old Marcel Sabitzer and 30-year-old Wout Weghorst.

This was a team with an ageing profile and it was one of the considerations given as to whether to sign Harry Kane that summer. Kane would have been a guarantee of goals but he would also have been another 30-year-old to add to the ranks. It would have created a spine with only a few years left at the top.

You only need to see the drop-off in Casemiro's game last season to appreciate how quickly that can happen. Two years into a four-year contract, United are willing to let the Brazilian midfielder leave this summer.

Gradually, Ten Hag has reduced the average age of this squad and, in particular, the age of his regular starters. Last summer he spent significant fees on a 20-year-old Rasmus Hojlund, 24-year-old Mason Mount and 27-year-old Andre Onana. All should have their best days ahead of them.

It's a similar story in this window. The two centre-backs United have pursued are Jarrad Branthwaite, 21, and Matthijs de Ligt, 24, while they want to sign Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee, 23. There have also been credited with an interest in Paris St-Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte, who is also 23.

That raises the possibility of Ten Hag fielding an XI of players all under 30 on the first day of this season, which would mark an impressive transformation of this squad. That is likely to be dependent on Casemiro leaving and a younger replacement coming in and being ready to play.

But the rest of the side on August 16 could look like: Onana (28), Diogo Dalot (25), De Ligt (24), Lisandro Martinez (26), Luke Shaw (29), Kobbie Mainoo (19), Bruno Fernandes (29), Alejandro Garnacho (20), Marcus Rashdord (26) and Hojlund (21).

Squad players are shutting down the average as well. Back-up goalkeeper Altay Bayindir is 26, Tyrell Malacia turns 25 on the first weekend of the season, Mount is still only 25, Antony only 24. Throw in the potential for Ugarte and Zirkzee to be in the squad and there is suddenly a youthful flavour to this squad.

That has been the ambition of Ineos but in truth, the groundwork has been laid over the previous 12 months, with this summer window a continuation of that.