United have so far signed Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martínez and Tyrell Malacia, with the club hoping to add Juventus’ Adrien Rabiot. They also retain a long-term interest in Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong and Ajax’s Anthony. A bid to sign Marko Arnautovic from Bologna was abandoned on Tuesday after an £8m bid was rejected and United fans reacted strongly to news of the club’s interest in the former West Ham striker. Moves for Rabiot as a possible alternative to De Jong, and 33-year-old Arnautovic as a different option to Antony, have prompted scrutiny of United’s market acumen. Ten Haag, whose first Premier League game as United manager ended in defeat at Brighton on Sunday, was asked if he was feeling panic within the club. “When Manchester United don’t perform, they don’t win, that’s normal,” the Dutchman said ahead of Saturday’s visit to Brentford. “I would have been more panicked when there was no panic because we have to win. This is the requirement. However, I would say panic is not the right word. It’s more like, “Come on, we have to act.” We have to think carefully and do the right things.” Ten Haag was appointed United’s new manager almost four months ago. The 52-year-old was asked if “disaster” is a fair description of the club’s failure to sign the midfielder and striker they want this term. “No,” Ten Haag insisted. “Of course it would be my preference because we could start the process earlier [making these signings]that’s clear, but the season is long and you have to get the right players.” Start your evenings with the Guardian’s view of the world of football Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Ten Haag was pressed because this did not happen. “That’s a hard answer,” he replied. “When you have an hour then [I can]. It’s really complicated, but we’re really happy with what we’ve done so far. That was the bright spot from last week and before. Tyrell Malacia did very well, Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martínez did very well in the Brighton game. We are very happy with it. “Of course there are developments in the transfer market [that may cause compromises] but still we have to put in players who can contribute and not players who can’t do what we want with the squad we have and then improve the squad. We work well together [he and the executive] and it is to my satisfaction. [But] it was better to get the players earlier because now in the midfield department and [attack] you have seen when we have an injury then we have a problem. That much is clear.” Anthony Martial’s hamstring problem rules him out of the trip to Brentford. Cristiano Ronaldo is fit to start, however, after a truncated pre-season. Ten Haag was asked how he handles a player who wants to leave the club. “That’s your business [that Ronaldo wishes to depart],” he said. “That’s not what he’s telling me. So I’m dealing with the players we’ve got and we’re planning with him for this season and we’ve got to fit him into the team, so he’s got to get to the right fitness levels so he can it does the job we expect it to do.” Marcus Rashford was wanted by Paris Saint-Germain but the French club withdrew their interest. Asked if he had spoken to the forward about the situation, Ten Haag said: “Not yet, but he knows I love him, he knows I want him here, so I’ll tell him again.”
