Manchester United could now shelve Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s contract talks until the New Year with the defender expected to have his 12-month extension clause triggered by the Premier League giants instead.
For weeks – nay, months – we’ve been hearing that an agreement between Manchester United and Aaron Wan-Bissaka was imminent.
Few would have imagined, then, that we would be hurtling towards November with this particular saga still dragging on. Manchester United don’t half tend to make things hard for themselves these days, and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding one of their star performers over the last 11 months is another distraction Erik ten Hag could have done without.
Manchester United in Aaron Wan-Bissaka limbo
The Daily Mail believed that talks appeared to be ‘heading for a positive conclusion’ following the close of the summer transfer window.
So what’s changed? Does Ten Hag have reservations about Wan-Bissaka has the technical qualities to be a big part of United’s future? Are there disagreements behind the scenes over the terms of the deal? As things stand, we cannot answer any of these questions with any degree of certainty, the Mail adding that talks are likely to be revisited in 2024 while United instead take the short-term option of triggering the one-year extension clause in the defender’s existing deal.
Wan-Bissaka, as things stand, will be a free-agent next summer. The contract he signed when joining in a £50 million deal from Crystal Palace running out fast.
‘He has improved a lot’
“He has improved a lot,” Ten Hag told the Man United website in May, Wan-Bissaka going from persona non grata to guaranteed starter in the second half of last term.
“That’s one of the jobs for a manager and the coaching staff, to get that done (improve players) and we are really happy with it, that players are developing.
“Always the team spirit is the base and if players understand that, if they can set their egos aside, then you will see that the team develops and progresses.
“And then within the team’s progress, individuals make a lot of progress and Aaron is definitely one of them.”
In more positive news, Wan-Bissaka recently returned to full training after six weeks out injured.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
