Erik ten Hag lays down transfer demands after Manchester United’s FA Cup win

Erik ten Hag has criticized the depth of his Manchester United squad as he made his case for summer additions if he remains in charge at Old Trafford.

The Dutchman featured three of his most expensive signings on the bench against Manchester City at Wembley, the final member of that quartet also initially among the substitutes before withdrawing through injury.

This could have been Casemiro’s last act as a United player, but the Ten Hag will need to get more from Mason Mount, Antony and Rasmus Hojlund if they are to avoid the sack this summer. His future remains uncertain despite winning two trophies in two seasons with the FA Cup triumph.

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Teenagers Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo scored the goals that secured a shock win for United and Ten Hag said he had planned from the first day of pre-season for both to play a prominent role this season, before saying the depth his team was “far from good enough”.

“Sometimes it’s luck that you develop a young player, but it was a plan. We planned last summer to bring Garnacho into the team and also Kobbie Mainoo,” he said.

“He (Mainoo) suffered a very serious injury in the second pre-season game against Real Madrid after a minute. That was the first setback and a huge setback for him and the team, but in the end we are both happy that we have seen each other, I as a manager with my coaching staff.

“I’m very happy because they have the potential to meet the standards you need for top-flight football and we need more of these players because the depth in the squad is nowhere near good enough.”

Ten Hag also pointed to the injury crisis as a reason to strengthen his squad in the summer transfer window, suggesting he needs players who are more “robust” than some of those who have struggled to keep up in form this season.

“We strengthen the squad through our training and preparation but we need transfer windows to bring in better players and also players who are always available or often valuable because when players are not robust enough you cannot win trophies “, he said.

Ten Hag praised the quality of his side’s performance to beat Manchester City on United’s best day of the campaign, with the win also securing a place in next season’s Europa League.

“I really enjoyed this final, first place lifting the trophy but especially the way we played and then you see all the work we put in together, staff, players, together to develop and progress this team and if you will play at this level against the best team in the world I’m very pleased,” he said.