Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, is ready to start a mass purge at Old Trafford as the summer transfer window draws near. The Dutchman wants to get rid of the “deadwood” at the team before the upcoming season.

The 53-year-old former head coach of Ajax is apparently trying to purge the present club of the remains of the past managerial eras by mercilessly evicting a number of first-team stars.

It would seem that some of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s recent acquisitions may already be on the scrap heap. The club captain Harry Maguire is apparently up for grabs, while the Red Devils may also be open to bids for Aaron Wan-Bissaka, another 2019 signing.

Another of Solskjaer’s acquisitions, Alex Telles, who is presently on loan at Sevilla, might very likely follow those two in departing this summer. The Brazilian international has shown to be a fairly ineffective addition since his £15.4 million arrival from Porto back in October 2020.

What is Telles currently worth?

Along with Facundo Pellistri, Edinson Cavani, and Amad Diallo, Telles was one of a group of late-summer signings made on the final day of the transfer window, and his acquisition at the time seemed like something of a coup given the low price. Telles had played 195 games for his former team, scoring 26 goals and dishing out 57 assists.

The truth is, though, that the only real benefit from the left-back’s move to Manchester seemed to be the encouragement it gave to Luke Shaw, who finished that season as the club’s Players’ Player of the Year and acknowledged that the increased “competition” had helped his own game.

After making just nine Premier League appearances in his first season, Telles went on to play a much larger role the following year after making 21 appearances in the top level, most notably scoring the club’s lone goal in the Champions League comeback victory over Villarreal.

Despite getting more playing time, the 5 foot 11 ineffective failed to make an impression from his full-back position; at the end of previous season, writer Casey Evans called him “genuinely awful.”

Telles-Man-United-Premier-League-Ten-Hag-Solskjaer
The 11-cap menace’s chances of improving under Ten Hag appeared to be over last summer when United signed Tyrell Malacia from Feyenoord, and Telles had also been used just as a temporary center-back option during preseason.

With little over a year left on his current contract back at the Theatre of Dreams, the 30-year-old was sent to Spain on a season-long loan when it became evident that he was surplus to requirements under the new manager.

As previously mentioned, the top-four contenders do appear prepared to make a move for the former Inter Milan player this summer, however it is unlikely that they will be able to recoup a sizable sum given that the player is now estimated to be worth as little as £5m by CIES Football Observatory.

That is roughly £10 million less than what Solskjaer and company paid for the defender just under three years ago, and it is clear that the decision now appears to have been a major oversight on the parts of the Norwegian and the United board.

Even so, that low price tag shouldn’t prevent Ten Hag and company from making a profit at the end of the campaign, with the expectation that Telles won’t give the La Liga team an early “gift” by leading them past the Red Devils in the Europa League quarterfinals.