Man United make decision on forgotten man Axel Tuanzebe landing surprise £62,000-a-week deal – sources
Man United have decided not to trigger the option on Axel Tuanzebe’s contract – and denied him a £20,000-a-week pay rise in the process, sources have told Football Insider.
The 25-year-old, who has spent the season on loan at Stoke City, is on a United contract that expires next month.
It is understood that United have decided to bring to an end Tuanzebe’s 17-year association with the club and he will be let go in the coming weeks.
Like with many of their senior players, United had protected the value of Tuanzebe by including a 12-month option in his contract to avoid him leaving on a summer free.
Intriguingly, were this to have been triggered, the defender’s salary would automatically rise to £62,000-a-week, a huge club of £20,000-a-week.
That would have surprised United fans, given the forgotten player has made just 37 first-team appearances since graduating from their youth set-up.
He has failed to convince a series of United managers and has fared little better during multiple loan moves.
It is understood that the Premier League giants were paying a significant chunk of Tuanzebe’s £42,000-a-week wages during his spell at Stoke this season, which has now ended as they are not involved in the Championship play-offs.
Tuanzebe made just five appearances for Stoke in all competitions – spread across 330 minutes of action – since joining them at the end of the January window.
It has been a similar story for the versatile defender over the last few seasons.
Last term, Tuanzebe had two spells on loan, at Aston Villa in the first half of the campaign and then a wretched spell at Napoli where he made only two appearances.
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