Amad is in talks over a new Man Utd contract. (Image: Getty)
Manchester United shouldn’t feel under pressure to renew any of the six contracts currently due to expire at the end of the season, according to the club’s former striker, Michael Owen. Amad is among a handful of first-team stars nearing the end of their deals at Old Trafford, but Owen believes even the in-form Ivorian wouldn’t be a huge loss.
Tom Heaton, Jonny Evans, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Christian Eriksen are also on the chopping block, and at least some are expected to depart as free agents.
United have the option to extend Maguire and Amad’s contracts by 12 months, but talks are ongoing to hand the latter fresh terms to reward his performances and potential.
But Owen is convinced it wouldn’t be the end of the world if any of the six players with uncertain futures departed next summer.
“I think it’s a good time to be able to almost have a reset,” Owen told Express Sport with Ace Odds.
“And none of those players that you’ve just mentioned… whilst they are all valuable players to some extent, if you lost them tomorrow, you wouldn’t be losing a huge amount of sleep.
“They’re all replaceable. It might be a good time to almost have a bit of a reset, a bit of a hard bargaining.
Michael Owen has backed Man Utd to be strict. (Image: Getty)
“Do you want to be on this exciting new journey or not? You’re at a huge club. You’ve not pulled up any trees just yet.”
Owen added that he would like to see a few of the sextuple remain at United beyond this season as part of Ruben Amorim’s rebuild.
But the ex-Ballon d’Or winner wants to see the Red Devils maintain a firm stance on their players’ futures while they are in need of a shake-up.
He added: “I think Manchester United can afford to be quite strong in their position at the moment.
“Because it’s possibly an exciting time to come to Manchester United with a new manager and all that’s happening.
“I would probably extend a lot of their contracts, but I wouldn’t be moving heaven and earth, and I wouldn’t be bursting the bank to do it, but I’d want them on board.”
United will likely require player sales to offer Amorim as much financial backing in the transfer market as Erik ten Hag received in his two-and-a-half years at the helm.
But offloading star names from the wage bill as they did with Raphael Varane and Anthony Martial last summer will also go a long way.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1988810/Man-Utd-news-Amad-EXCLUSIVE