Man Utd news: Arrival confirmed and infamous ‘spit’ addressed

Manchester United have enjoyed some well earned pride over the weekend after both of their first team centre-backs in Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane both featured in the World Cup final - in what has been dubbed one of the best football matches in history. It was the former that lifted the trophy in Qatar but he was quick to console his club teammate following Gonzalo Montiel’s winning penalty.

While the duo will be missing, the Red Devils will now turn their attentions to tomorrow’s Carabao Cup clash with Burnley as they return to competitive action for the first time since their win over Fulham last month. Erik ten Hag’s side will then follow it up with a Premier League tie with Nottingham Forest on 27 December before the highly anticipated January transfer window opens days later.

Despite the lack of club football over the last month or so, there continues to be plenty of news and transfer rumours circling Old Trafford. Here are the latest headlines at United.

Erik ten Hag adds to his backroom staff

Erik ten Hag has taken the World Cup break as an opportunity to add to his backroom staff with the Dutchman bringing in multiple sports psychologists to help players with their mental health, according to the Daily Mail. The new staff members come from Dutch company Talent Academy Group, who Ten Hag has been working with closely since his arrival at Old Trafford in the summer.

The psychologists will meet the players at least twice a week to serve as mind coaches and provide counselling to those who want it. The new hires have already been presented at the club’s training camp in Spain and their arrival comes shortly after Ten Hag revealed that Jadon Sancho wasn’t in attendance due to his mental health.

Ander Herrera addresses Man City spit incident

Former Red Devils midfielder Ander Herrera has opened up on his controversial ‘spit incident’ four years ago. The Spaniard was filmed appearing to spit on the giant Manchester City badge in the tunnel at Etihad Stadium following their dramatic 3-2 win in April 2018.

United found themselves 2-0 down after five minutes in the derby clash, however second-half goals from Paul Pogba (two) and Chris Smalling meant that City’s title celebrations were put on hold - while Herrera’s name made the headlines for other reasons. The midfielder received plenty of criticism over his alleged spit and he has since come forward to deny the claims.

When asked if he had spit on the badge on purpose on the UTD Podcast, Herrera said: “No, I didn’t. Honestly I didn’t do it. I wanted to beat them, to destroy them, the same as Liverpool, but I respected the badge, the same way that I want my badge to be respected. I do the same for the others so I didn’t do it on purpose. I said that after the game, even though I created [a reaction] from some fans, that I didn’t do it on purpose.

“I was so angry that we were losing 2-0 and I was thinking about how we can fix that. I didn’t do it on purpose and after that we won 3-2, if I’m not wrong. They couldn’t celebrate winning the league in front of us. I loved it because they had [victory] T-shirts prepared at half-time and they couldn’t [celebrate].”

Herrera went on to join Paris Saint-Germain the following year after five years in the Premier League. The 33-year-old is currently on loan with Athletic Bilbao but has only made three starts so far this season.