MAN UNITED CONFIDENTIAL: Why Ten Hag's job is still in danger despite club backing, why Casemiro wasn't sold to Saudi Arabia and the new academy star who could solve the striker crisis

The public backing for Erik ten Hag by new Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth is consistent with the support given to the manager since Ineos extended his contract this summer. But it may come at a price.

United have signed £200million-worth of new players – two of whom, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, worked under Ten Hag at Ajax – and tailored his backroom staff by bringing in Dutch assistants Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake, as well as goalkeeper coach Jelle ten Rouwelaar.

One of the main reasons Ten Hag kept his job was because Ineos recognised that it was unfair to judge the 54-year-old when the infrastructure around him was deemed to be flawed.

Dan Ashworth replaced John Murtough as director of football and Darren Fletcher moved onto the coaching staff to allow Jason Wilcox to take over as technical director. The medical department continues to evolve under Gary O’Driscoll, who was appointed as head of sports medicine a year ago.

The flipside for Ten Hag now is there are no excuses if he cannot produce a winning team. The structure above him and below him has been upgraded, and so has the squad. If the team doesn’t get results – and it has been a challenging start to the season – then there is only one change left to make.

No-one at United is panicking yet. The view is that they haven’t kept Ten Hag and built a new system around him just to wield the axe at the first sign of trouble. Equally, however, there is an acceptance that poor results will not be allowed to continue indefinitely. 

Fall-guy Casemiro a hard sell 

Casemiro carried the can for United’s painful defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, raising questions over the club keeping the veteran midfielder this summer.

The truth is that United have been trying to offload Casemiro for some time but his £375,000-a-week a wages have proved to be an insurmountable obstacle.

Only the big clubs in Saudi Arabia would have taken on that kind of salary for a player who turns 33 in February and is starting to look his age. John Murtough went out to the Middle East in December to try and gauge interest in Casemiro but Confidential understands there were no concrete offers before the Saudi transfer window closed on Monday night.

With Manuel Ugarte signed too late to be available to face Liverpool on Sunday, Casemiro started the game and was hooked at half-time after losing possession for Luis Diaz’s first two goals. It will be interesting to see how long he keeps his place in the line-up once the younger Ugarte is up to full speed.

Sir Jim keeps TV control 

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's decision to keep a fly-on-the-wall view of the new era at United in-house is looking like a wise move, given the team’s spluttering start to the new season.

Ratcliffe has been keeping a video diary since he invested £1.3billion to acquire a 27.7 per cent stake in the club and assume control of football operations at Old Trafford. He has also hired former Times chief sports writer Matt Dickinson to chronicle events in a book. Dickinson was at Old Trafford on Sunday chatting to some of his old colleagues covering the Liverpool game.

United could also turn it into a TV documentary but have decided not to go the same route as Premier League rivals like Manchester City, Tottenham, Arsenal and a number of other clubs by selling the rights to streaming giants Amazon or Netflix.

United’s own cameras are capturing behind-closed-doors footage which may prove to be a smart commercial move for the club – and crucially means Ratcliffe won’t be hostage to circumstance if the season goes from bad to worse and United end up sacking Erik ten Hag, as Spurs did with Jose Mourinho.

Kone bedding in 

It has gone under the radar just how much off-field care is being put into 18-year-old summer signing Sekou Kone.

Confidential understands that a plan is in place to help the highly-rated Mali youth international, who joined from Guidars FC in his homeland, to bed into life in England.

In the past week a dinner was arranged with some academy players to help him form a friendship group, while it has also been arranged for him to live with house parents to ensure the youngster doesn’t find himself isolated in a new country.

Kone was at Carrington to watch the Under-18s beat Liverpool over the weekend and insiders noted how Marcus Rashford, who also came to watch with the match scheduled before a first-team training session, was quick to introduce himself to Kone as the pair chatted on the sidelines.

It was also noticeable how the approach to his signing differed from others, with Kone’s move greeted with caution and significantly less fanfare.

United were eager to take additional care over the coverage of his signing, just using quotes on a web article with no video interview or further media responsibilities.

There is a feeling that Kone, who was pursued by a number of clubs this summer, will be fast-tracked up the ranks once he is bedded into life in England, such is his talent, but for now he will bounce between academy sides.

Recruitment of top-level academy players has been a primary focus this summer under the new football leadership team and while Kone’s move has been ratified, United are still awaiting ratification from the Premier League and Football Association for Chido Obi-Martin, Samuel Lusale and Australian starlet James Overy.

Sancho keeps it short and sweet 

It wasn’t lost on fans just how quickly Jadon Sancho wanted to forget his time at Manchester United.

The winger, who has joined Chelsea on loan with an obligation to buy, posted a meagre 18-word statement confirming his United exit, concluding a thoroughly miserable spell.

By contrast he posted a gushing 151-word statement after his recent six-month Borussia Dortmund loan, where he played a role in guiding them to the Champions League final.

An Instagram post about as impactful as his time in a United shirt, then.

Music a turn-off for fans 

United tried something different before kick-off against Liverpool – but it didn't go down well with all parts of Old Trafford.

The Red Army (TRA) group had called on the club to turn off the music pre-match to allow supporters to generate their own atmosphere before players emerged from the tunnel.

United typically come out to the Stone Roses hit This Is The One, but the club instead played John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads, which fans have their own version of.

TRA said in a post on X that the decision ‘had f***-all to do with us’ adding: ‘If we had our way the music would remain off permanently.’

Hojlund putting in the hard yards 

Gary Neville and Roy Keane are in agreement that it’s ‘hard to play without a centre-forward’ and Rasmus Hojlund’s pre-season injury for United came as a crushing blow.

But Confidential understands the Dane has been working round the clock to get himself back ready for selection.

Hojlund has remained in high spirits and has been working away from the main group with conditioning coach Mike Clegg and first team physiotherapist David Binningsley.

Clegg, who returned to United as their strength and conditioning coach in 2019, is a popular figure with players and Hojlund is being pushed by the duo to make the earliest possible return to the pitch.

‘Little by little getting ready to be supersonic again,’ Hojlund wrote on social media.

After the struggles of Joshua Zirkzee against Liverpool, Ten Hag will hope he can call on his £72million man for the visit to Southampton after the international break.

Clubs eye Eriksen in January sales 

Christian Eriksen stayed at Manchester United despite interest from other clubs late into the transfer window, but his agent is already expecting more calls in January.

Real Betis made a last-minute bid to sign Eriksen and his United teammate Antony, and the Denmark star’s representative Martin Schoots revealed that Anderlecht, Ajax and another unnamed Dutch club have made contact about the 32-year-old playmaker in recent months.

Schoots added: ‘There were options in the Arab world, Turkey and the MLS, but those were ruled out in advance because Chris and his family want to stay in Western Europe. In addition, he is confident that he will get enough playing minutes. Manchester United will play every three days in the coming months, so Eriksen will still be important for United.’

Still, given that Eriksen made 14 starts last season and his only appearance in three games this term came as an 86th-minute substitute against Liverpool, it’s not surprising Schoots is braced for more transfer activity around his client in the January window.

‘We can put an end to these speculations – at least until the end of the calendar year, then they will flare up again,’ he said.

See you soon, Shola 

The scriptwriters sure had their fun when it came to Manchester United's Europa League draw.

But while a reunion with former boss Jose Mourinho – now at Fenerbahce – grabbed the headlines with United heading to Istanbul in the coming months, it is the homecoming of a former academy star that has flown under the radar.

Shola Shoretire will return to Old Trafford with Greek side PAOK having left United after 11 years earlier this summer.

The 20-year-old, who had been in talks over a new deal this summer, joined United’s academy at the age of nine and was constantly turning heads as he played above his age level.

Shoretire won plenty of headlines when he became the youngest ever player to appear in the UEFA Youth League at the age of 14 years and 314 days, and four days after making his first team debut versus Newcastle, he became United's youngest player to feature in Europe when he came on in a 0–0 home draw against Real Sociedad in the UEFA Europa League at the age of 17 years and 23 days, beating the record set by Norman Whiteside 38 years earlier by 108 days.

But few stages are set quite like PAOK’s visit to Old Trafford to really show United what they are missing.

Biancheri is on fire

There is always plenty of excitement at Carrington about the stars of the future, but the name on everyone’s lips right now is a certain Gabriele Biancheri.

The attacker, who turns 18 in the next fortnight, has started the season in electric form as he looks to follow in the footsteps of Ethan Wheatley, who broke through into Erik ten Hag's first team last season.

United have been eager to ensure almost all the players in their Under-18 and Under-21 groups experience first-team training sessions, and Biancheri is among those to benefit from being exposed to the level.

It has clearly rubbed off on him and he’s started the season with a goal versus Manchester City in the U18 league opener, a brace in the U18 Premier League Cup against Leicester City, including a 97th-minute winner, scoring with his first touch in the U21s clash at Blackburn Rovers, and most recently he opened the scoring in the U18s 2-0 win over Liverpool.

Jason Wilcox is among those to have kept a close eye on Biancheri; the United executive was in attendance to see Biancheri score twice in the U18s final league game of last season.

The Welshman scored 17 times for the U18s last season, adding two more for the 21s and that left him just one short of Wheatley’s season total of 22.

It’s early in the season but Biancheri has coaches and scouts salivating at his potential.

Celin signs in for women 

Celin Bizet has travelled to Marbella with Manchester United’s women’s team after completing a move from Tottenham.

United triggered a £60,000 release clause in Bizet’s contract and the forward passed her medical on Sunday. Bizet will join up with Grace Clinton, who became a firm friend during the latter’s loan spell with Spurs last season.

It had been thought Tottenham could move to sign Clinton, who is yet to make her debut for United, permanently, but the club were consistent in their stance that she was not for sale.

Bizet’s arrival will no doubt have come as welcome news to Clinton, who recently spoke about how much she would miss the Norwegian after returning to United.