Saha claims two Man Utd-linked Chelsea stars are ‘not good enough’ for Ten Hag’s XI
Louis Saha doubts Chelsea duo Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic are good enough to start for Man Utd amid reports linking them with a move to Old Trafford,
Man Utd have improved a lot this season under Erik ten Hag with the Dutchman leading to Carabao Cup glory and third in the Premier League.
They still have a chance to win the Europa League and FA Cup this season too, while Ten Hag is already looking ahead to the potential business he can do in the summer transfer market.
Both Mount and Kovacic have been linked with moves to Man Utd in the summer transfer window with both players potentially available for transfer.
The Chelsea duo are out of contract in the summer of 2024 and owner Todd Boehly is keen to avoid repeating the mistakes of the previous Chelsea regime, which oversaw valuable players such as Antonio Rudiger leave on a free transfer.
Mount has so far turned down new contract offers from Chelsea as he wants parity with the highest-paid earners at the club, while Kovacic reportedly wants to leave Stamford Bridge in the summer.
And former Man Utd striker Saha doesn’t believe Mount is currently good enough to get into Ten Hag’s starting line-up.
Saha told Betfred: “He’s certainly good enough to play for Manchester United, there’s no debate about that, but is he good enough to guarantee a place in their starting eleven? No, I don’t believe so.
“I don’t believe Mason has performed in the way he would have wanted to with Chelsea over the last six months or so and for me, he doesn’t score enough goals or assist enough for a player that has the potential he has.
“The guy can do everything, he’s very active, he’s very clever and there’s still room for improvement. Bruno Fernandes scores more goals and provides more assists than Mason and they occupy the same position.
“There’s no guarantee that Mason could go to Manchester United and make that number ten position his own. He’s good enough to eventually do that but he would have to work very hard.”
And Saha holds a similar opinion of Kovacic, he added: “I believe he’s done great for Chelsea but to be perfectly honest, I don’t see how he would make a massive difference at Manchester United. I appreciate the charisma he’s got and how good he is with the ball at his feet but in terms of end product, I’m not so impressed.
“He should score and assist more as he’s a terrific player. Manchester United don’t have a lot of room for players to sit on the bench as you can’t bring in a player to then leave frustrated at a lack of gametime.
“You need to carefully find players that are capable of making a massive impact and I’m not entirely sure that Mateo is capable of providing that.
“You see players like Fred who is starting to score and assist more when he comes in and [Marcel] Sabitzer is showing good momentum currently, so there’s already a lot of competition in Manchester United’s midfield.”
READ MORE: Man Utd and Chelsea on list of shortest managerial sacking statements ever
