A brutal snub from Erik ten Hag is what prompted a Manchester United star to reject a new contract and seek a quick exit, and a transfer is now fully agreed and a medical has been passed.
The Red Devils are among the busiest clubs in the transfer window at present, with a plethora of signings and sales being actively worked on as we speak.
Joshua Zirkzee was the first major name to arrive, though it may not be long before he’s joined by Matthijs De Ligt.
Man Utd hope to add a second centre-back to their ranks and two targets are being chased – Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton) and Leny Yoro (Lille). The latest on those deals can be found here.
A central midfielder (most likely Manuel Ugarte) is also wanted as United seek to sign a younger and hungrier upgrade on Casemiro. The Brazilian is in talks over a move to Saudi Arabia and fellow midfielder Christian Eriksen has also been transfer-listed.
But today’s update regards the centre-half position, with United hoping the arrivals of De Ligt and one other will revamp a defence that was sub-standard last season.
To make room, Raphael Varane has already left via free agency and Victor Lindelof is up for sale.
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Furthermore, back-up option Willy Kambwala – who made 10 appearances during times of injury crisis last season – is also leaving.
Villarreal have agreed a package worth €10m (add-ons included) to sign the 19-year-old. Personal terms are agreed and Kambwala passed a medical on Sunday.
Kambwala’s exit will be extra lucrative for Man Utd given the proceeds from the sales of homegrown stars represent pure profit on the books.
But according to the Manchester Evening News, Kambwala did not actually want to leave the club.
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Ten Hag’s ruthless Kambwala conversation
It was only after a frank conversation with his manager that the young defender determined he must leave for the benefit of his career.
The MEN stated Ten Hag made it crystal clear to Kambwala that he would be low down in his centre-back pecking order in the 2024/25 season. That’s despite the fact United are yet to actually sign a new player in the position.
Furthermore, the MEN claim Ten Hag privately told a close confidant that the idea of featuring Kambwala as much as he did last season would’ve been unthinkable were it not for United’s injury crisis.
The report stated: ‘Ten Hag said to a confidant that if he was told during pre-season that Kambwala would play under him he would have called them “crazy”.’
The end result saw Kambwala reject the offer of a new contract once it was made clear he would not have a part to play in the first-team plans.
Once Villarreal thundered in with a competitive offer, Man Utd quickly accepted. United have covered their backs in the event Kambwala proves Ten Hag wrong by inserting both a buy-back and sell-0n clause into the Villarreal deal.
Man Utd and Villarreal subsequently announced Kambwala had completed his move on Monday.
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