Ten Man Utd players, including Jadon Sancho, must be cut from the team, Erik ten Hag was instructed

Erik ten Hag has been told he must axe ten Manchester United first-team stars if they are to close the gap on Manchester City and Arsenal.

Despite losing his opening two Premier League matches, including a 4-0 humbling at the hands of Brentford, the Dutch boss has overseen a meteoric turnaround at Old Trafford, banishing the club’s long-awaited trophy hex with victory in the League Cup final.

United are also still involved deep into the FA Cup and Europa League, though a first Premier League title since the final year of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign looks a long way off with 19 points to make up on league leaders Arsenal.

Yet, ex-Man Utd star Paul Parker has a plan for his former side to cut the gap on the Gunners in 2023/24, even if it means sacrificing almost a dozen of the club’s big hitters.

“I would say that 10 players from the current squad need to leave Man United this season, Parker told bettors. “Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Scott McTominay, Donny van de Beek, Anthony Elanga, Wout Weghorst, Anthony Martial, Jadon Sancho and Antony all have to leave the club.”

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Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof, Scott McTominay and Jadon Sancho have all been deemed surplus to requirements by Paul Parker (Image: Manchester United via Getty Images)

Erik ten Hag faces a huge summer rebuild at Man Utd (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Parker added: “And then we can always talk about players like Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and so on who don’t have a future at the club but they are quite obvious. A lot of the names that I mentioned are obvious because they are not playing and they want to play regularly.”

Flattering to impress during his loan spell from Championship runaways Burnley, Weghorst is expected to be replaced by Tottenham Hotspur and England star Harry Kane when the transfer window opens in early June.

Paul Parker believes his former side need to cull 10 first-team stars to challenge for the Premier League title (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)

Man Utd will soon enter discussions for Harry Kane (Image: Getty Images)

Kane, 29, has made United his no.1 choice, despite interest from Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Barcelona, and the Old Trafford hierarchy will enter discussions regarding an £80m switch “within weeks”.

Elsewhere, Newcastle United are monitoring Scott McTominay’s situation ahead of a potential summer move while captain Maguire is still unable to fight his way back into starting contention.