Erik ten Hag might have already identified his Manchester United centre back transfer

By the end of this weekend Manchester United will have six senior central defenders on the payroll but will still face the prospect of needing to sign another.

It sums up the extent to which the door at Carrington will be revolving this summer and the identity of options at the back for Erik ten Hag could look a little different come the start of next season.

There are three central defenders at the club whose futures are secure, for now. Raphael Varane is safest of all, even if injuries have blighted his first season at Old Trafford.

Victor Lindelof remains a reliable backup option, but Harry Maguire's season has been a disaster. One of Ten Hag's first calls will be whether to take the captaincy away from the defender, but if his performances continue to stagnate then just keeping his place in the side will become a priority.

Maguire is fortunate that the options beyond him haven't filled Rangnick with any confidence this season. Phil Jones is probably next in line at the moment, having overtaken Eric Bailly.

The decision to hand Bailly a new three-year contract last April looks more ill-advised by the week and he is a certainty to depart this summer, closely followed by Jones, who has let nobody down when he's got on the pitch this season and deserves the chance to rebuild his career with more regular football elsewhere.

The sixth centre-back is Axel Tuanzebe. The academy graduate was part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's squad in 2019/20 and 2020/21 but the 24-year-old now looks further away than ever and this summer could mark the end of the road.

His loan spells at Aston Villa and Napoli this season have been hugely disappointing and he hasn't staked a claim to be in a squad featuring four centre-backs.

If only Varane,