MAN UNITED CONFIDENTIAL: Jaap Stam’s club talks after his Erik ten Hag ‘has to go’ comments, there’s still hope for £50m Jarrad Branthwaite transfer – and how Alejandro Garnacho is putting extra work in

Much was made of former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam’s comments about Erik ten Hag on the eve of the league opener against Fulham.

The 1999 Treble winner dominated headlines after he was a guest on the ‘Up Front with Simon Jordan’ podcast, where it appeared he called for the sacking of his fellow Dutchman.

‘For Ten Hag, it’s his third season at United – I think he needs to go,’ Stam said.

‘He needs to look at himself and how last season panned out, I don’t always agree with him in terms of him saying they played good football.’

In attendance on Friday night for the Fulham game, Stam was seen by Confidential in multiple long conversations with club figures, including United’s communication team and Ten Hag’s assistant Rene Hake, where no doubt his comments about the boss were a talking point.

Stam feels his comments have been misinterpreted and the ‘has to go’ sound-bite was instead a reference to going out and making progress in Ten Hag’s third season.

With Hake all smiles and plenty of back-slapping between the two on the touchline at the final whistle on Friday, it suggests that, while the comments were incredibly clumsy, it is all water under the bridge.

Onana on the move

Andre Onana is ready to move out of Alexis Sanchez’s house and buy a place of his own.

Since signing from Inter Milan 13 months ago, the Cameroon goalkeeper has been renting from Sanchez who left Old Trafford for Inter in 2019 after a disappointing spell at United before joining Udinese this summer. 

But Onana is going to complete on a property in the same affluent suburb so his wife Melanie and their four children can move in over the next couple of months. 

Confidential understands that the family also looked at Paul Pogba’s old house but decided it wasn’t for them. 

Onana overcame a shaky start at United after rejoining his old Ajax boss Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford, but the 28-year-old has been a key performer since then. 

Branthwaite still in United’s sights

Manchester United have not given up hope of signing Jarrad Branthwaite despite spending more than £100million on centre-backs – but there is an acceptance it’s unlikely to happen in this transfer window.

United had an improved offer of £50m for Branthwaite rejected by Everton before spending £58.9m on Lille’s Leny Yoro and £42.8m on Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich.

However, Branthwaite remains on United’s radar and they could revisit the deal over the next 12 months if the 22-year-old doesn’t leave Everton for another club.

Manchester City are known to be admirers, and some interesting betting patterns over the weekend had Branthwaite at 2/1 to make a surprise switch to Liverpool, who could be in the market for a new centre-back before the summer transfer deadline.

Virgil van Dijk has entered the final year of his contract at Anfield and Joe Gomez could be on his way out after being excluded from the squad for Liverpool’s opening game at Ipswich, where Ibrahima Konate replaced Jarell Quansah at half-time.

United are well stocked for centre-backs, despite losing Yoro for three months with a broken metatarsal. De Ligt has joined a squad that includes Lisandro Martinez, Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof.

The club have been open to selling Lindelof this summer amid interest from Fenerbahce, but the Swede is on crutches after he was hurt against Liverpool on United’s pre-season tour.

Garnacho puts in extra work after open goal blunder

Confidential detailed last week how Alejandro Garnacho had requested to come back early in order to hit the ground running ahead of the Community Shield.

Well, the young Argentine is clearly a man on a mission this season as he continues to grind away from the pitch, putting in extra work in Manchester city centre after the 1-0 win over Fulham.

United made a winning start to the Premier League season with Garnacho coming off the bench to grab the crucial assist for Joshua Zirkzee’s debut winner.

But after missing an open goal late in the match, Garnacho clearly wanted to sweat his frustration out as he headed to the NAS Elite Sports Performance Centre, a favourite for Premier League stars.

The facility has previously been used by Aston Villa’s Ian Maatsen, United team-mate Kobbie Mainoo and the recently departed Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Clients, which have also included Sofyan Amrabat and Chelsea defender Tosin Adarabioyo, have access to physiotherapy, osteopathy, strength and conditioning, nutritional support and wellness essentials including phlebotomy service, IV Drip Therapy, and vitamin shots.

Burnley show interest in Red Devils wantaway

Hannibal Mejbri has emerged as a potential target for Burnley if Sander Berge’s move from Turf Moor to Fulham goes through.

Burnley have accepted a £25m bid after Fulham gave up on signing Scott McTominay and switched their sights to Berge instead.

The Norwegian had also been linked to United as a possible replacement for McTominay, although Manuel Ugarte of Paris Saint-Germain remains the top midfield target this summer.

Burnley are considering a move for Mejbri after the United midfielder returned to Old Trafford this summer in the wake of half a season on loan at Sevilla, having spent the previous campaign at Birmingham.

United are keen to sell Mejbri, who has one year left on his contract, and the 21-year-old Tunisia midfielder wants to leave.

Napoli are interested in McTominay if they can sign the Scotland international on loan with an obligation to buy. United would prefer to sell him for £30m this summer to help finance a move for Ugarte.

Avram Glazer pops in

Avram Glazer is far from a regular at Old Trafford and so it was noteworthy to see him take his seat in the director’s box for the Fulham game, in tow with Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox and Sir Dave Brailsford.

It was noticeable how Rasmus Hojlund, Leny Yoro and Tom Heaton – the three first team stars who watched from the same box – warmly embraced the majority owner, who was met by chants of ‘we want Glazers out’ midway through the first half.

In what was his first appearance at Old Trafford since the 2022-23 season, he paid a visit to the first team dressing room after the match to congratulate Ten Hag and his players on the opening weekend win.

Protests against the Glazer ownership have quietened somewhat since the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team, but he will have left Old Trafford under no illusion that while players were cordial and warm in their greeting, United’s fan-base certainly was not.

Berrada draws the line under fan request

Omar Berrada has rejected a request from a Man United supporters’ group to have an ‘atmosphere and fan culture’ representative on the club’s Fans Forum.

The Red Army had called for the position to be created within the forum after what they said were ‘growing concerns’ about the atmosphere inside Old Trafford.

The group, which runs the atmosphere section at the club and had been at loggerheads with United over its future, wrote to Berrada directly.

But United’s CEO turned down the proposal as he said he ‘does not think should fall on one person to solely advise or champion this’.

While TRA may have been left disappointed with the refusal, they will have been encouraged by Berrada’s willingness to respond and engage given years of silence from those in power at Old Trafford.

Scanlon stars in the Netherlands

We want to keep shining a light on the club’s next generation, and after picking out ‘Kid Messi’ JJ Gabriel last week following his exploits with the U15s in Hong Kong, this week it’s 17-year-old James Scanlon taking the plaudits.

The teenager, who has already been capped by Gibraltar’s senior national team, was crowned striker of the tournament after impressing at the Otten Innovation Cup.

United sent an U19 side to the Netherlands to take on some of Europe’s premier academies in Paris Saint-Germain, PSV Eindhoven and Benfica.

United reached the quarter-finals of the tournament before they were knocked out 1-0 by eventual winners and hosts PSV.

It is particularly interesting to see Scanlon highlighted for his attacking when he was used in a wholly different role by Ten Hag on this summer’s pre-season tour of the United States.

With a lack of full-back options during the summer, Scanlon, who played a key role for United’s U18s last season en route to winning three trophies, had to fill in at right back.

Last season, Scanlon scored eight goals and added three assists in 12 league games and he will be looking to better that this campaign as he aims to become more involved in first team training and eventually squads.

United buck trend of going abroad

While there are likely to be few female players at the PFA awards on Tuesday night due to Women’s Super League clubs’ on-going preparations for the new season, United are set to be well represented.

Grace Clinton and Maya Le Tissier, who have both been nominated for young player of the year, are set to be in attendance at the event in Manchester this evening.

Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal are all away on pre-season tours, meaning their nominated stars are unable to be present. That United are not part of a pre-season tour abroad is perhaps a missed opportunity.

Chelsea and Arsenal are both in the United States while City flew to Australia today, where they will be joined by West Ham and Leicester.

The trips present clubs with the chance to grow their fan-base abroad, while there are also obvious marketing benefits.

United will spend a week at the Marbella Football Centre in September, but they will not play any fixtures there.

Marc Skinner’s side are set to play four more pre-season friendlies, having faced Durham last week. They will all be played behind closed doors, with games against Liverpool, Newcastle and Leicester taking place at Carrington while a fixture with Tottenham will be played at a neutral venue.