Jamie Carragher has told Erik ten Hag to get rid of Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba once he steps into the Old Trafford hot seat.
Ten Hag is set to be named as Manchester United 's new permanent manager, with the club finalising his appointment after Red Devils chiefs held multiple meetings with the acclaimed Ajax boss. But despite not yet being officially confirmed, supporters and pundits alike are giving their take on how Ten Hag should navigate his first summer transfer window, including Carragher.
The Liverpool legend, who appeared to back former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino for the job, told CBS Sports : "I think it's a brave choice because I do think Manchester United now need to start making brave decisions, and some of them about the players as well, in terms of Pogba and Ronaldo need to go."
While Carragher's verdict on Pogba looks like a forgone conclusion, due to the Frenchman being out of contract at the end of the season, Ronaldo's future remains uncertain. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner, who the ex-Anfield stalwart has been critical of this campaign, has another term left on his deal but will wait to see who United appoint before deciding his next move.
Given the 52-year-old's progressive style of play, Ronaldo may well be disappointed with Ten Hag's impending arrival, a coach also unproven with superstars such as himself. Pochettino, however, has worked with Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe at Paris Saint-Germain - albeit to mixed results - helping make him Carragher's pick.
"The easy choice would have been Pochettino because he's been in the Premier League before, so they've gone for a manager who's not been in the Premier League," the former England defender explained. "They've always gone with the established name if you like in terms of Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal. They went with Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer], who was the easy choice.
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"The brave choice would have been not to go with Ole because he had such a good time to start with as a caretaker. So what I mean by this is he's not managed at a big club and he is seen as this up-and-coming coach, 'he's new, he's fresh' and Pochettino's not, he's actually older than Pochettino, which some people don't seem to actually know.
"I don't think he's getting picked for the fact of just what he's done for Ajax in terms of being successful because you expect that at Ajax. But what they've done in the Champions League in terms of getting to the semi-final, how they play their football, their performance in the group stage this season. They'll be disappointed to go out to Benfica [at the round-of-16] but I think it's a brave choice."
