Three lessons Manchester United and Erik ten Hag can take from Xavi's Barcelona rebuild

MEN Sport understands Erik ten Hag is the favourite for the top job at Manchester United, but if he is appointed his task will not be an easy one. The club is not in a good state and years of mismanagement and poor planning has left it a shadow of the giant it was under Sir Alex Ferguson.

United's decline is not dissimilar to Barcelona's. The Spanish club's fall happened in a shorter period due to financial mismanagement but was still punctuated by big fees on underperforming marquee signings, a failure to develop their top talents and several managers who failed to understand the ideals of the club.

However, upon the appointment of Xavi, it seems like everything has corrected itself. That is because, while Barcelona on the surface was falling apart, underneath they still had all the groundwork for the right man to come and take the reins to get them back on track.

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United don't have the groundwork in place - that could be seen as both a blessing a curse. At the moment it may seem bad as the club has no direction, but it means they can take the rebuild under Ten Hag in any direction they want, however, there are some lessons they can take from Barcelona under Xavi.

Let the manager sell whoever he wants

Ten Hag has a very particular way of playing. Some fringe players will likely be set to leave, but there are other more popular players who could potentially face an exit if they can not adapt to the Dutchman's way of playing.

When Xavi was appointed at Barcelona, all the deadwood was cleared out. It didn't matter if the players were sold at a loss or just loaned out, they were taken out of the picture completely. This helped Xavi improve