Man Utd hijack Liverpool ‘transfer mission’ as they want PL star as ‘one of Ratcliffe’s first signings’

The Red Devils are having a rotten second season under Erik ten Hag after he led them to an FA Cup final, League Cup silverware and a top-four Premier League finish in his first campaign.

But it has been a different story this season with Man Utd out of the Champions League and League Cup, while they are drifting in the Premier League with their latest loss to Nottingham Forest seeing them drop down to eighth in the standings.

And there are reports that Ten Hag now wants as many as three signings in January to get Man Utd back on track ahead of Ratcliffe’s official arrival.

It was announced on Christmas Eve by Man Utd that the British billionaire had agreed a long-awaited deal to buy 25 per cent of the Premier League club.

From that date it was expected to take between four and six weeks to receive regulatory approval from the Premier League with Ratcliffe and INEOS set to take charge of football operations at Old Trafford.

READ MORE: Man Utd ‘determined’ on £15.2m striker but missing out on two centre-backs

A report on Tuesday claimed that Ten Hag has demanded that he can still veto transfers – which was apparently written into his original contract – when Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford take a hands-on role at Man Utd.

And Ten Hag is set to get some support in the summer – if he remains in position – as Man Utd ‘are interested in making’ Crystal Palace winger Olise ‘one of the first signings of the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era at Old Trafford’.

A move for Olise ‘has been ruled out in January but United have identified the 22-year-old as a transfer target ahead of a planned overhaul of their squad at the end of the season’.

Olise’s ‘unknown’ release clause will come into effect in the summer transfer window after he signed a new four-year deal in August but ‘is likely to be significantly more than the £35million release clause in his previous Palace contract’.

Ratcliffe and Brailsford see Olise ‘as a player who could help revitalise United’s woeful attack’ with the Red Devils only scoring 22 Premier League goals this term.

Football Insider reported earlier this week that Liverpool are also interested in the Palace winger with the Reds on a recent ‘transfer mission’ and have sent scouts ‘to regularly watch the 22-year-old’.

They insist Liverpool are ‘closely monitoring’ the situation ahead of a potential move in the summer and are ‘assessing the Frenchman as a potential attacking target’.