At least four players are sure to leave Manchester United once the current season concludes due to their contracts being up in the summer.
Christian Eriksen, Jonny Evans, Victor Lindelof and Tom Heaton are the quartet in question and INEOS will save a lot on their wages.
The Dane does not have the legs to operate in Ruben Amorim’s high-intensity system and has been resigned to the fact that he will have to leave for a while now.
The Northern Irishman returned for a second spell and impressed last season under Erik ten Hag but injury troubles have meant he has barely featured under the new boss.
Four to leave as free agents
The same applies for the reserve goalkeeper and Carrington graduates — Evans and Heaton could be absorbed into the coaching staff even though they have offers to join other clubs.
As for the other centre-back, the Swede could be heading back to Benfica with his former teammate offering him plenty of chances due to injuries at the back.
It must be remembered that this season, after the Premier League season concludes, the Red Devils are set to embark on a tour of Asia where they will face two friendlies as INEOS look to net around £10 million.
And as per The Sun, the management are currently mulling over whether to take the aforementioned quartet with them even though they have no futures at the club.
“United are currently weighing up whether to take the four players whose contracts expire this summer on their controversial end-of-season tour to the Far East.
“Jonny Evans, Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof and Tom Heaton will all be saying their goodbyes to Old Trafford on the final day of the season when Aston Villa are the visitors.
Will they be part of the Asia trip?
“Yet all those travelling to Hong Kong and Malaysia will be quickly herded off to Manchester airport to take part in the two match trip, which is expected to net the club around £10m.
“Given all four players are unlikely to ever pull on a United shirt again for a competitive game, it seems slightly pointless.”
Sponsorship reasons have meant even the big-name players will have to travel, even if they have international commitments soon after.
The ludicrous air miles and extra games could take a toll on the fitness of the United stars and it will be interesting to see how Amorim and INEOS handle this.
Maybe these four get more minutes instead of the important players, and it will also serve as a nice send-off in front of the passionate Asian fanbase.
Feature image Matt McNulty via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
