• Ratcliffe prioritising progression of team this season
• Club eager to establish foundation for ongoing success

Erik ten Hag is not under pressure to guide Manchester United to a top-four finish next season, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe prioritising considerable progression of the team as the man in charge of football operations at United aims to establish sustained excellence there.

While Ten Hag’s ambition is to lead United to as high a position as possible and Ratcliffe’s Ineos-led football department want the same, there is a recognition there are no guarantees next season as the club rebuilds and that establishing a firm foundation will allow ongoing success. In concert with the sporting director, Dan Ashworth, Ten Hag’s remit is to significantly improve on-field performance and off-field standards. After United finishing eighth last year, their lowest of the Premier League era, there is a recognition that all areas of football policy require repurposing.

• Ten Hag believes Moroccan can boost form of Antony
• Paris Saint-Germain interested in Jadon Sancho

Erik ten Hag is targeting Bayern Munich’s Noussair Mazraoui with the Manchester United manager believing the right back can aid Antony’s form, though Aaron Wan-Bissaka would have to be sold to finance a transfer that would cost in the region of £21m.

Mazraoui is one of several right-back options being considered by Ten Hag who coached the 26-year-old Moroccan at Ajax from 2018 up until his departure to Old Trafford four years later. Mazraoui supported Antony on Ajax’s right flank during their title-winning seasons of 2020-21 and 2021-2022 and they impressed as a pairing.

• Sporting director says commercial success is not enough
• ‘Focus is on getting back to being the best on the pitch’

Manchester United’s new leadership will not rest until the club are among the most successful in Europe again, the sporting director, Dan Ashworth, has said.

Ashworth, who took up his role at the start of this month, says it is not good enough for United to be only a commercial powerhouse and that they must achieve sustained sporting success.

With new players and staff – both executive and coaching – in place Erik ten Hag will be looking for improvement

Call it the warmest of rapprochements. A work in progress. An uneasy truce or standoff of convenience. However you boil it down, there is no escaping how dubious Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos-led football department was of Erik ten Hag’s candidacy to continue as Manchester United manager. After the Dutchman survived despite the sounding out of a plethora of potential replacements, can he and Dan Ashworth, the club’s new sporting director, strike up a strong professional relationship and work in concert to drive the team forward? There is a desire from Ten Hag and Ineos to do so – of course there is – but the test of any cracks in the Dutchman’s status may come if United lose three on the bounce or eke a couple of draws while stinking the pitch out.

• Young centre-back can become a regular, Ten Hag says
• Ten Hag also hopeful Amad Diallo can seize opportunity

Erik ten Hag praised Leny Yoro’s “mature performance” in his Manchester United debut against Rangers at Murrayfield and believes the 18-year-old can be a regular starter as one of the first-choice centre-back group.

After joining on Thursday Yoro, who left Lille for £52.2m, impressed at in United’s 2-0 victory in their second pre-season game, playing the first half before Ten Hag changed all 10 outfield players at the break.

The 18-year-old’s display against Rangers suggests Ten Hag’s rebuild, and Jadon Sancho plan, is well under way

Leny Yoro, 18, a £52.2m signing on Thursday. Jadon Sancho, 24, a £73m signing in 2021 returning from exile. This second Manchester United pre-season warm-up offered an intriguing juxtaposition. It featured Yoro, whose CV shows 46 games for Lille, playing alongside Sancho, whose previous action was for Borussia Dortmund when losing June’s Champions League final to Real Madrid.

Yoro is the latest recruit to the United story, a 6ft 3in defender on whom the club splurged approximately double Real’s reported valuation to win his signature. Wisdom or folly? This was a chance to see, as he debuted alongside Sancho, whose United tale became checkered after he called Erik ten Hag a liar last September.

Manager’s apparent frustration with coaches and medical team strikes a negative tone with the club rebuilding

Feisty, strategic, scattergun, unwitting – Erik ten Hag was definitely disenchanted after Manchester United’s 1-0 loss to Rosenborg on Monday. The manager seemed to take aim at Marcus Rashford, Casemiro, Jonny Evans, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Mason Mount who all played the first half of the pre-season friendly in Trondheim, the 15 academy outfield players deployed throughout, his coaching staff, his medical department plus, inadvertently and clumsily, himself.

“We play pre-season but at Man United the standard is you win games and definitely don’t lose,” the Dutchman told MUTV. “The performance is more important and the performance was below standards. We can make good on everything that was bad, but I am not that guy. As an individual you must make sure you are fit. I know you cannot be match fit, so we need these games. They [young players] are looking to listen and want to transfer that – it didn’t work.”

• Dutchman opens up on frank discussions with hierarchy
• Ten Hag says heated talks were ‘as it should be at the top’

Erik ten Hag had “confrontational conversations” with Manchester United’s executive last month in regards to the direction of the team, with the Dutchman stating “we should part ways” if an agreement could not be reached.

Ten Hag met with club officials in Ibiza in talks to decide his future as manager after the Sir Jim Ratcliffe-led football department had considered numerous other candidates as potential replacements. The 54-year-old was ultimately retained and signed an extension to his existing contract until June 2026.

• Frenchman signs a five-year deal with option to extend
• Teenager says joining United ‘an incredible honour’

Manchester United have announced the signing of the French defender Leny Yoro from Lille. The 18-year-old has signed a five-year deal with the club with the option to extend for a further year.

The fee is understood to be €62m (£52.2m) plus €8m of add-ons and Yoro becomes their second signing of the summer, after last week’s arrival of Joshua Zirkzee.

• 22-year-old scored 10 goals and assisted six for Getafe
• Marseille ‘delighted’ with £26.7m signing

Mason Greenwood has completed his transfer to Marseille from Manchester United. The clubs agreed a €31.6m (£26.7m) deal earlier this month, with the Premier League club set to receive a sizeable share of any sell-on for the forward.

Greenwood, who spent last season on loan at Spanish side Getafe, has signed a five-year contract with Marseille.

• Lille defender due in England after deal agreed
• Player had indicated preference to join Madrid

Manchester United’s push to beat Real Madrid to Leny Yoro’s signature received a significant boost on Wednesday with the defender set to have a medical and finalise personal terms for a proposed €62m (£52m) transfer from Lille.

The 18-year-old defender was expected to fly to Manchester in a firm sign Yoro may choose United over Madrid, despite previously having been minded to join the European champions.

• Teenager also attracting interest from Real Madrid
• United targeting centre-backs Branthwaite and De Ligt

Manchester United have had a €62m (£52m) offer for Leny Yoro accepted by Lille and the defender must decide whether to accept the move, with Real Madrid also interested. United are negotiating personal terms with his representatives.

United’s deal is for an initial €50m plus €12m of add-ons. Madrid are thought to value the 18-year-old lower and may be minded to wait until next summer when he is due to be a free agent, so the Ligue 1 club’s preference is for Yoro to join United.

• United beaten 1-0 in Norway in first pre-season friendly
• Manager says ‘this is not the standard for top football’

Erik ten Hag admits there is plenty of hard work to do after Manchester United opened their pre-season preparations with a 1-0 defeat away to Rosenborg.

The majority of the first-team squad were not involved in Trondheim, and Jadon Sancho – who has returned to training after resolving his differences with Ten Hag – was also not part of a travelling group mostly made up of youth players. Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount, Casemiro and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, though, were in the starting lineup, along with the veteran defender Jonny Evans.

• Defender rejected offer of new contract
• Club have buy-back option for three years

Willy Kambwala has left Manchester United for Villarreal in a €11.5m (£9.6m) deal. United decided to sell the 19-year-old defender after he rejected the offer of a new contract.

United have retained a buy-back option for three years on Kambwala, who had a year remaining on his current deal, as well as a considerable share of any sell-on price.

• Netherlands international signs five-year deal
• Forward becomes first signing of Ineos era

Manchester United have made the Netherlands international Joshua Zirkzee their first signing of the summer – and the Ineos era – for a fee of €42.5m (£35.8m) from Bologna. The striker has agreed a five-year deal at Old Trafford, with the option of a ­further season.

Zirkzee, who represented his country at the Euros, started his professional career at Bayern Munich before moving to Italy permanently in 2022 after loan spells with Parma and Anderlecht. Last season he won Serie A’s under-23 player of the ­season award, finishing as Bologna’s top scorer as they qualified for the ­Champions League.

Emboldened or the fall guy? United kept faith with the Dutchman but this season could once again be a bumpy ride

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s man for the long term or his patsy if next season nosedives? There are two schools of thought about why Manchester United did not sack Erik ten Hag at the end of last season.

The first suggests that the Dutchman’s slick FA Cup final tactical dismantling of Manchester City impressed Ratcliffe, the trophy claimed despite an injury-riven season. And that after clocking on as United’s sporting director on 1 July, Dan Ashworth wants time to assess the manager.

• The winger expected to participate fully in pre-season
• Club also announce contract extension for Jonny Evans

Jadon Sancho and Erik ten Hag resolved their differences during a meeting at Manchester United’s training ground and the forward has resumed training with the first team after a 10-month absence.

Sancho has reflected on the public outburst that led to his exile and is focusing on full participation in pre-season. Whether he apologised to Ten Hag is unclear, this having previously been a stipulation for him to train with the squad and be considered for selection. Sancho was excluded after falling out with Ten Hag in early September.

• Forward set to become first signing of Jim Ratcliffe era
• Ruud van Nistelrooy joins as assistant manager

Manchester United have agreed a fee of about €42m (£35.3m) for Bologna’s Joshua Zirkzee, with the forward set to become the first signing of the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era. The player’s terms and his agent’s fee are agreed so the 23-year-old’s arrival may be confirmed soon.

The price is more than the Dutchman’s €40m release clause but whereas the release clause had to be paid in a single sum, United can pay the €42m over three years, allowing the club more flexibility in the market.