‘Unhappy’ Man Utd trio are preventing Ralf Rangnick from making first signing

Ralf Rangnick is a long-term admirer of Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria as the Manchester United interim boss looks to add reinforcements in January

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Manchester United 1-0 Aston Villa: Rangnick reaction

The uncertain futures of Paul Pogba, Donny van de Beek and Jesse Lingard are preventing Ralf Rangnick from making a move for Denis Zakaria.

The Old Trafford interim boss is a long-term admirer of the Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder as he looks to add reinforcements in January.

Zakaria has six months left on his current deal and has indicated to the German club that he will not sign an extension.

The Swiss international is set to leave as a free agent in the summer which has alerted several clubs including United and Liverpool.

But the Red Devils would be willing to look into a potential transfer this month with ‘good’ initial talks held between the player and his agent over a January deal, according to Sport1.

Gladbach would be willing to listen to offers in the region of £5million-£6million so they recoup some funds for their asset before he leaves for nothing in the summer.

The report claims United are hesitant to make an official bid, however, due to the uncertainty of various players including Pogba, Van de Beek and Lingard.

Pogba and Lingard are both out of contract in the summer, while Van De Beek has expressed his desire to leave Old Trafford.

And that seems to be the general consensus among the disgruntled squad at Man United.

Mirror Football reported that ten players have made it clear they want to leave Manchester within the coming months, with claims a further six looking for a move elsewhere.

12 of the 16 individuals have been named with Anthony Martial, Edinson Cavani, Juan Mata, Dean Henderson, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, Nemanja Matic, Fred and Diogo Dalot – as well as Pogba, Lingard and Van de Beek – all unsettled at the club.

Axel Tuanzebe was also in the same boat but he has joined Napoli on loan until the end of the season.

Alan Shearer warned United’s misfiring stars that their attitude needs to improve before their 1-0 win over Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round.

He said on BBC before kick-off: “This set of players has to have a better attitude going forward because as of late it hasn’t been anywhere near good enough from a lot of the players. That has to start tonight.

“The system that the manager has played up until now hasn’t really worked so we expect a little bit of a change to that tonight in terms of the system and individuals. It’s got to start tonight, it has to start somewhere for him and this squad.

“Having said all about that, you still need a better attitude from the players we know if you give a player an inch they’ll take a mile that’s just the way footballer are but they still need to show a better attitude on the pitch when your manager is asking you to do something.

“I watched them at Newcastle, they were dreadful Newcastle should have beat them easily I watched them against Wolves they were awful, I know they won against Burnley but they weren’t that great on that night either. But I still think you can give more in a shirt even if the formation doesn’t suit.

“It’s alright having that belief in how to play, but it’s also having the player to play that way and in that current system what he would like to play, no I don’t think they have the players.”