Wayne Rooney names three ‘good young players’ next Man Utd manager should build around

Manchester United hero Wayne Rooney has picked out three players who the club’s next manager – be it Erik ten Hag, Mauricio Pochettino or someone else – should build around next season. United are hunting for a new long-term boss to take over from Ralf Rangnick in the summer with Ten Hag and Pochettino viewed as their two main choices.

The Red Devils’ all-time top goalscorer Rooney, speaking on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, insists he would rather see former Tottenham boss Pochettino handed the reins at Old Trafford. But whoever it is appointed, he has named Jadon Sancho, the out-of-form Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay as three players the next manager in charge should build his team around.

The ex-United and England captain: “They’ve got good young players. Sancho will be better next year, Marcus will be better next year. I think Jesse Lingard should be playing for them, he brings energy, he brings quality. Scott McTominay has done well.

“They’ve got some good young players. They’ve just got to get them confident and get them believing that they’re good players and can perform at a better level. Whoever the new manager is I’m sure he’ll bring his own players in and try and rebuild that group.”

Rooney believes there should be sweeping changes to the United squad this summer. He added: “I think there’s a few players they need to let go of. There hasn’t been a settled manager probably since Alex Ferguson. Whoever comes in, they need to give him time to build up relationships with players.

“They were going through a transition period with Solskjaer and it didn’t work. That’s obvious it didn’t work with Ole. I don’t think it’s working with the manager now.

“I think Pochettino in my opinion is a top manager and knows how to work with top-class players and young players. They need to get that blend right because they can’t afford to fail again.”

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