Gary Lineker criticises Erik ten Hag as Man Utd prepare to 'pay a fortune' to land defender

Manchester United are now gearing up for a Premier League clash with Chelsea on Wednesday night. The Red Devils have had another turbulent week, battling reports off the pitch of dressing room unrest following another setback, losing to Newcastle United over the weekend.

Erik ten Hag denies losing the dressing room at this point, but he cannot deny that pressure is building amid a disappointing start to the season. As United look to put things right against Chelsea, we have rounded up all the latest news and transfer rumours surrounding Old Trafford.

Lineker slams Ten Hag

Gary Lineker has slammed Ten Hag over his calling out of players publically, something that led to him losing Jadon Sancho from his squad. Lineker said on the Rest is Football podcast: "It’s hard to tell with these player power things but it felt like they down tooled a little bit at the weekend against Newcastle, that’s for sure," he explained. "They didn’t exactly put too much effort in.

"I mean sometimes that can be confused with a lack of confidence and when you are losing your way on the pitch. But generally it is the manager that suffers under these circumstances. But talking about player power, certainly in the modern age, managing has changed. You have to have the players on board, you can’t just go around b******ing players, in fact it was always a no go when you go public with players.

"I think that is the one area that I would criticise Ten Hag a little bit - I don’t think he’s handled situations brilliantly with various players. He’s had a lot to deal with, but he’s repeatedly been critical openly and publicly and that is the one thing, even when I played, that was unacceptable. You could take any type of b******ing in the dressing room, but anything a manager does to put you down publicly, is a no no."

Todibo links

Nice star Jean-Clair Todibo continues to be linked with a move to United, with Ten Hag keen to add a centre-back to his squad during the winter window. Amid interest from Spain, Sport claim United are 'willing to pay a fortune' to land Todibo this winter.

Nice are likely to ask for a big fee, but the Red Devils will hope to get some sort of discount based on the likelihood of Jim Ratcliffe, who also owns Nice, arriving as a part-owner. Still, Todibo is likely to cost more than £40million.