(Reuters) – Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag wants his players to focus on their performances and not be distracted by contract talks, including Cristiano Ronaldo, David de Gea and Marcus Rashford in the last year of their contracts.
The trio, who all played in United’s 0-0 draw with Newcastle on Sunday, have the option to extend their contract by a year.
“At this moment we’re only thinking about performances, we still have a lot of games ahead of us, so I don’t want to be bothered by conversations,” Ten Hag told reporters.
“We have to focus on football, on performances and not on negotiations, so that’s what we’re going to do now.”
Asked if the contract expiry could give players an extra incentive to perform, Ten Hag said: “Some players are motivated by playing for a contract, if that’s what you mean, but it’s not.
“We’re working on our style of play, we’re working on the culture and of course we need highly motivated players. We’re looking for players like that and luckily we have them in the squad…”
United, fifth in the Premier League, host Tottenham Hotspur later on Wednesday.