Manchester United’s Premier League campaign has come to an end and the summer transfer window will start to become a bigger focus in the coming weeks.
United ended the season on the South Coast, beating Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 at the Amex Stadium.
Diogo Dalot and Rasmus Hojlund were on the scoresheet, handing Erik ten Hag a second victory in a matter of days.
The attention will now turn to the FA Cup final with United taking on Manchester City at Wembley next weekend.
Ten Hag could yet bring silverware to Old Trafford and will be seeking revenge having lost the same fixture last season.
The Dutchman is still fighting for his future at United with Ineos expecting to ring the changes over the summer.
Ross Barkley waiting on Manchester United offer
Ten Hag may well keep his job but fans are expecting to see major reinforcements arrive in the transfer market.
United certainly need new faces in a number of positions and midfield remains an area of concern.
Mason Mount suffered an injury-hit debut season, Sofyan Amrabat is unlikely to stay after his loan stay and Casemiro could move on.
United need to have midfield targets in mind but few United fans would have picked out Ross Barkley for a move to Old Trafford.
Reports in February suggested that Sir Jim Ratcliffe would like to bring Barkley to United this summer.
Ratcliffe and Ineos lured Barkley to OGC Nice in 2022, so there is certainly some level of admiration there.
Barkley left Nice last summer and secured a move to Luton Town, where he has bagged five goals and four assists in 32 Premier League games.
The Sun’s Alan Nixon now reports that Barkley is ‘holding on’ to see whether United firm up that early interest with a concrete offer.
Luton have suffered relegation back to the Championship and Barkley is now receiving interest.
Aston Villa are understood to have approached Barkley about a return to Villa Park, but that lingering chance of a move to United means the midfielder isn’t committing to a deal just yet.
Barkley would seemingly prefer a move to United, or at least wants to hear what Ratcliffe and Ineos have to say about a potential move before giving a ‘yes’ answer to Villa.
It’s added that Barkley is a real ‘favourite’ of Ratcliffe as the Ineos chief pushes to secure the midfielder’s signature for a second time.
Barkley contract confusion
This latest report makes it sound like Barkley is out of contract this summer and is fielding offers as a free agent.
That could appeal to United, adding a homegrown player on a free transfer whilst adding depth in midfield.
Barkley’s contract has been shrouded in mystery all season though with Luton refusing to publish his contract length.
Boss Rob Edwards vowed to not ‘give too much away’ when being asked about the length of Barkley’s contract in January, refusing to confirm whether he would be out of contract this summer.
There should be confirmation on that front soon enough but Villa allegedly meeting with Barkley suggests that he is free to walk away.
Hailed as ‘unbelievable’ by teammate Andros Townsend, 30-year-old Barkley has really got his career back on track at Luton and showed that he belongs in the Premier League again.
Barkley may not be a signing to get pulses racing at United but Ratcliffe and Ineos may be convinced that he can make an impact at Old Trafford; they will just have to beat Villa to his signature first.