Ronaldo, Maguire, structure: Ten Hag’s key issues at Manchester United

Thebig and loaded question: can the manager actually wield enough influence over the beast that is Manchester United to do it his way? This is a chicken-egg conundrum because winning games and trophies convinces players and the executive but conviction is required from players and the executive for the manager to have his decisions backed and to be a winning No 1. Then there is the club’s particular byzantine brew of politics and peccadilloes. At United Richard Arnold is the chief executive but the real finger on the button is across the Atlantic. And there are six: one for each of the Glazer siblings who own United and reside in Florida. Joel Glazer may be the day-to-day, hands-on chief of the owners but any major decision has to be okayed, too, by Avram, Darcie, Kevin, Bryan and Edward, who are also directors. This vote-by-committee via a five-hour, stateside time lag is hardly slick and streamlined, particularly when the depth of the owners’ collective football knowledge is unclear. Then there is Erik ten Hag’s main point of contact: John Murtough, the football director, who is a year into his role. Can Murtough be the Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City’s seriously astute sporting director) to the Dutchman’s (hopeful) Pep Guardiola?

At 37 years old there is no way the Portuguese can remain an automatic choice if Ten Hag is going to build an actual team. The question is whether Ronaldo can be let go – not whether he should. A £490,000-a-week salary means there may be zero takers but if a loan can be struck – Paris Saint-Germain, if Kylian Mbappé goes to Real Madrid, maybe? – the Ronaldo problem may be solved. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s major error was to agree to the forward’s signing: the money siphoned off for a two-year