ESPN pundit names two players Manchester United could sign to spark new life under potential new manager

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The future at Manchester United is as unclear as ever, after a week of speculation over Erik ten Hag just drifted off into nothing.

Erik ten Hag is still the Manchester United manager, yet there has not really been much public backing for him either from Ineos.

By saying nothing, they are letting the situation play out, and more poor results will weaken Erik ten Hag”s case to stay.

The door is still open for debate on Ten Hag’s future amid the lack of clarity from Ineos, even if nobody quite knows the answer.

Manchester United need hard working players

While there are potential replacement options for Erik ten Hag, whoever comes in as manager will face the same issue if he cannot get buy-in from the players.

United players are still fighting, but is it enough? Christian Eriksen’s comments that FC Twente wanted to win their recent match more, brought widespread derision, including a blast from Roy Keane. And they were quite eye-opening.

Speaking to ESPN FC, former Premier League midfielder Don Hutchison has called on Manchester United’s manager, whoever it may be, to target players who do have the determination to set the right tone.

Hutchison named Brighton winger Kaoru Mitoma and Brentford forward Bryan Mbuemo as two players who would add to Manchester United’s squad.

He explained: “Hard work. The players are not working hard enough for the manager, so he’s got no chance Erik ten Hag.

“You need a manager that’s going to demand hard work, make them organised, buy players that are hungry, that are going to run that Manchester United fans are going to get on board with, and say ‘yeah Mitoma runs, and Mbeumo runs’, and one or two might just follow him.

“That’s what they need. At the moment they are just a ship that’s going backwards and its just too big to turn around and stop. Who stops it? I have no idea.”

Manchester United face Mbuemo next

Bryan Mbuemo is enjoying an excellent season for Brentford, scoring six goals in seven games.

Brentford and manager Thomas Frank face Manchester United up next, and they won’t be an easy opponent.

The Bees came close to winning at Old Trafford last season, before a stunning late brace from Scott McTominay bailed United out.

McTominay is the kind of hard working player United could do with right now – instead he is impressing at Napoli.