Hargreaves slams ‘mad’ Man Utd transfer decision in ‘huge blow’ after Southampton win

Former Man Utd midfielder Owen Hargreaves thinks the Red Devils could be making a big mistake by allowing Marcus Rashford to leave in January.

The Red Devils are reportedly close to the edge of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules and will need to sell to spend in the January transfer window.

Reports have claimed that Alejandro Garnacho has been the subject of a bid from Napoli, while another academy product Kobbie Mainoo has been interesting Premier League rivals Chelsea.

One player who is extremely likely to leave before the winter window shuts is Rashford with the Man Utd forward revealing in an interview with Henry Winter that he is ready for a “new challenge” away from Old Trafford.

But Hargreaves has urged Man Utd – who beat Southampton 3-1 on Thursday night – to keep Rashford – who has been linked with a number of loan moves this month – and has described their decision to allow him to leave as “madness”.

Hargreaves told Premier League Productions: “I don’t know if anybody wants to play counter-attacking style, especially not Manchester United, you’re meant to play on the front foot, you’re meant to dominate the ball.

“That’s why Erik ten Hag got the job because he played this Ajax way, they dominated the ball, that’s why they got rid of David de Gea to get [Andre] Onana, to get a ball-playing goalkeeper.

“But that didn’t materialise, United were best on the counter attack. Ten Hag’s best performance were on the counter-attack, like under Ole Gunnar [Solskjaer].

“If you look at United under Amorim against Liverpool, Arsenal, City, where are they good – counter-attack. I think when you play with two central midfield players, they ended up with [Toby] Collyer and Bruno Fernandes, you’re not going to dominate the ball, and that’s against a team who are 20th in the Premier League.

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“I do think it is a work in progress on many levels, goalkeeper is set, defensively they’re not bad but they need work in the middle of the pitch and they need to sort the striker position out.

“But obviously losing Marcus Rashford could be a huge blow, talk about Garnacho potentially leaving, that’s a worry.”

When asked what he would do if he was the Man Utd manager, Hargreaves added: “Nobody’s leaving… Rashford’s not leaving, Mainoo’s not leaving, Garnacho… nobody is leaving.

“They’re your best players, we’re going to help integrate these and build around them, you’re not going to get better than them.

“To let these guys go on loan and pay half their wages is madness. Impossible, I wouldn’t let it happen.

“I know maybe Marcus wants to go play somewhere, knuckle down and sort it out. Look at where Harry Maguire was a couple of years ago and now he’s got a new contract.

“Football changes real quick and you want to keep your most talented players here. I think Garnacho, Mainoo and Marcus certainly are a part of that group and I think they could have a bright future if they just sort it out.”