Erik ten Hag claimed he has no desire to offload Scott McTominay amid fresh speculation about the Scotland midfielder’s Manchester United future.
The 27-year-old, who was the subject of a failed bid from West Ham last summer, has been linked with Galatasaray, Tottenham and Fulham in recent days.
United academy graduate McTominay started 27 matches for the Red Devils last term and was their joint-third highest scorer with 10 goals after moving into a more advanced role. He also notched seven goals in Scotland’s successful Euro 2024 qualifying campaign last year.
Ten Hag is adamant he views the versatile midfielder – under contract until next summer – as a key member of his squad for the season ahead.
“We have very good players so there will always be an interest from other clubs,” said the manager, when asked about McTominay’s future.
“When you score 10 goals in a season and also perform very good for Scotland, then there will be an interest.
“But we want to keep him because he is a very important player for our squad.
“What he can contribute, as we saw last season once we had our sixes available, he could play in a more advanced role and he is a highly interesting player for our team.”
Ten Hag has already bolstered his squad this summer with the additions of 18-year-old French defender Leny Yoro and Dutch international striker Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna.
Yoro enjoyed his first outing in a red shirt when he played the first half of Saturday’s friendly against Rangers in Edinburgh, with goals from Amad Diallo and Joe Hugill securing a 2-0 victory for an experimental United side which also featured Jadon Sancho for the first time since his fallout with Ten Hag last term.
The manager is excited about the potential of Yoro, who reportedly cost more than £50 million.
“For the first time, with only one training session, it was a very mature performance,” he said of the teenager’s display at Murrayfield.
“That’s the way we saw him when we scouted him. It’s great to have him and he’s very young for a centre-back.
“There is a lot to come but you can see already that he has great potential. He is here and we think he can play but there are so many games to come and he will be in a group of four or five (centre-backs).”
Ten Hag is encouraged by the way his club have gone about their business this summer.
“We want to have a strong squad, as strong as possible and I think at this moment the football leadership is on the front foot,” he said.
“That’s what clubs like Man United should do and so we are very pleased that we have done business.
“We have Yoro in, we have Zirkzee in, we have two highly big assets with big potential for the future. But when I say future, the future starts today.”
Ten Hag’s own future was in doubt following an eighth-place finish in the Premier League last season before he was handed a one-year contract extension until 2026 earlier this month.
The manager – who has won a trophy in each of his two seasons at the club – is upbeat about United’s prospects for the season ahead if they can add greater consistency of results.
“This club didn’t win trophies, before I came, for six years,” he pointed out. “In two years, after Guardiola (at Manchester City), we won the most trophies in English football, so we are in a strong position.”