Manchester United must keep giving Erik ten Hag what he wants after unexpected departure

Zidane Iqbal's sudden exit from Manchester United may have come as an initial surprise but it soon began to make sense.

While a promising local youngster's departure is always tinged with sadness, the brutal reality is that at present Iqbal was highly unlikely to break into the United starting XI on a regular basis. He was named in a match-day squad 17 times last season but never managed to make an appearance for Erik ten Hag.

It's not that the manager is afraid of giving youth a chance. Alejandro Garnacho became an integral member of the squad and Kobbie Mainoo made three appearances.

The 18-year-old's rapid development has seen him overtake Iqbal in the midfield pecking order and with Ten Hag wanting to make further additions to the position in the transfer market, spots are at a premium. That's what has seen Iqbal leave Old Trafford after 11 years and head for Utrecht.

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It's the sort of cut-throat decision Ten Hag has wanted United to begin making. But now they must do the same for players further up the ladder.

A decade of poor transfer planning, squad building and contract mismanagement has left United with a hulking squad that struggles to ever take off under the strain of its own weight. There are still - for now at least - players who were signed under Sir Alex Ferguson and every manager (other than David Moyes) since his departure from the club.

Not only does that show how much of a ramshackle, hodge-podge squad United have, an ugly blanket sewn together using mismatched materials, but it betrays the stagnancy that befell United. Players who have underperformed for years have repeatedly avoided the chopping block and been given