Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham have been given a stern warning about joining Manchester United by Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher.
Both Rice and Bellingham are both thought to be on the Red Devils' shopping list for the upcoming summer transfer window. United are keen to boost their options in midfield, having seen that area of their squad exposed as being lightweight over the course of this season.
The requirement for a new central midfielder has been a clear requirement for some time and is even more true after this year's dreadful campaign. United have started the rebuilding process by finally confirming Erik ten Hag as their new manager from the end of the current season.
Another plank of the rebuild will be a total overhaul of the squad in the summer window, with the current group of players having badly underperformed. Rice and Bellingham will both be targets having impressed at West Ham and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
But Carragher believes that the duo should shun a move to Old Trafford given the current chaos that grips the club. He believes that the shocking downturn in the performances of the United squad should scare the duo away from joining the club.
"Ten Hag’s immediate challenge is to assess why such massive investment in the team has not produced the necessary results. I understand the fans’ fury about the Glazers and why they want them out," Carragher wrote in a column for the Daily Telegraph.
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"That is no excuse for the players' massive underperformance considering this is one of the most expensively assembled squads in world football and a lot of those players are earning in excess of £250k a week. It is hard to to think of any United purchase of the last nine years who has improved since arriving at Old Trafford.
"Even those who made an encouraging start have gone backwards. When Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jadon Sancho joined United, there was a sense the club was going in the right direction with young English talent. Now they look terrified to play at Old Trafford.
"If I was Declan Rice or Jude Bellingham observing their England team-mates’ troubles - unless my motivation was a big payday - I would run a mile if United called. United’s players have been the big financial winners off the pitch in the post-Ferguson era while the team has delivered sub-standard displays on it.
"Do you really think those players receiving those massive cheques sit in the dressing room discussing how bad the Glazers are for the club? Nonsense. But for all the negatives, Ten Hag has plenty in his favour, too. None of his immediate predecessors have taken over with the club at such a low ebb. The only way is up."
Carragher does though believes that Ten Hag will be able to sign players at the top end of the transfer market, even if Rice and Bellingham shun a move. He called for the Red Devils to follow the example of Liverpool as they embark on their squad rebuild.
"Liverpool needed the kind of cultural reset which Ten Hag must oversee. At clubs of United’s stature, if you make the right appointment - and you sign the right players to strengthen the spine of your team - the mood changes quickly," he added.
"Top managers will turn it around within two years. That’s what Klopp did. Klopp did not do that by engaging in transfer auctions for the Champions League ’s most expensive players. Ten Hag has the advantage of being able to compete at the top end of the transfer market if he wants to."
