Erik ten Hag says Manchester United ‘working very hard’ to add to squad

Erik ten Hag says Manchester United are working hard to build on their successful summer transfer window before next Friday’s deadline.

Ambitious Ineos have been active during their first transfer window in control, with the acquisitions of Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro followed last week by the arrival of Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt.

United are not done in transfer market and looking to bring in Paris St Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte, although that deal will have to be right as they balance tight profit and sustainability rules.

Asked about the potential for new faces before the August 30 deadline, manager Ten Hag said: “Just be patient, just sit, wait.

“We’re working of course very hard, and we will always try to make the best squad possible.

“We have a couple of days. The approach will always be improve, so as long as we have the opportunity we will look for it. But, nah, in this moment I, of course, can’t tell any news.”

Ten Hag said “when we have news we will bring it” when pushed on a deal for Uruguay international Ugarte but was more forthcoming about their business so far this summer.

“I’m very pleased,” the United boss said. “They’re showing we’re going in the right direction. We know as a club we have to catch up, but I think it shows our ambition, the way we want to go.

“So, I think we have done good business, really very good players, quality players who will add, contribute to our squad, to our quality of the squad.”

United are preparing for Saturday lunchtime’s trip to Brighton having opened the season with a 1-0 win over Fulham courtesy of debutant Zirkzee’s late strike off the bench.

Jadon Sancho was conspicuous by his absence from the squad for that victory, with Ten Hag saying afterwards he preferred other options at the end of a week that saw the winger deal with an ear infection.

The 24-year-old only returned to the first-team squad in the summer having been banished for his angry public reaction to his manager’s explanation for his omission at Arsenal last September.

Sancho started 2024 on loan to former club Borussia Dortmund but has been brought back into the fold, coming off the bench and missing a spot-kick in the Community Shield shoot-out loss to Manchester City.

“We will see (if he is involved at Brighton),” Ten Hag said. “We have a squad and I hope we will have a squad with double positioning when we go into the season after the first of September.

“That means also you can’t select all the players for a game, but we need all the players throughout the season because this will be a season that’s survival of the fittest.

“Of course we have to manage it, but also the attitude of the players is very important.

“Sometimes they will be disappointed, but they have to deal with it because you don’t win with XI, you win as a squad.

“The prizes are decided next May so until then we need all the players in the squad, and all the players highly motivated to contribute.

“That is also not an expectation. That is a demand from the club and from me as manager for the squad – the team is always more important than every individual.”

Rasmus Hojlund, Yoro, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia remain out, while Victor Lindelof will be absent against Brighton with a toe complaint.