Erik ten Hag to attend Manchester United's final game of season against Crystal Palace

Erik ten Hag is expected to attend Manchester United’s final game of the season against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday.

United’s incoming manager flew to London by private jet on Wednesday afternoon in the company of his assistant Mitchell van der Gaag and the pair were due to meet staff at the club’s Mayfair offices in London on Thursday.

Ten Hag and Van der Gaag - whose formal appointment as assistant manager is expected to be announced by United in due course - are expected to run the rule over the squad in person for the first time against Palace, which will also mark Ralf Rangnick’s final match in interim charge. It will be a watching brief only, though, with Ten Hag having no involvement in team selection or other preparations for the game.

Ten Hag and Van der Gaag will likely to head up to Manchester next week with Monday representing his official start date as the former Ajax coach wastes no time in his bid to hit the ground running at Old Trafford ahead of a huge summer for the club.

Victory over Palace would guarantee United qualification for the Europa League next season but a failure to win the game would result in the club dropping into the Europa Conference League, Europe’s third tier competition, if West Ham won their final game at Brighton.

West Ham trail United by two points in seventh but have a vastly superior goal difference to Rangnick’s side. Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho are all back in training after injury and illness and could be involved at Selhurst Park.

Current Premier League standings (top eight only)

Rangnick is keen to present his findings on the squad to Ten Hag following his six month spell in temporary charge.

The German - who was brought in after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in November but fell well short of delivering Champions League football - has been uncompromising in his assessment of the changes that need to be made at the club and went as far as claiming the squad requires the equivalent of “open heart” surgery.

Rangnick is due to take on a consultancy role which - as things stand - will involve six days work a month in conjunction with his forthcoming role as the new head coach of the Austria national team although it remains to be seen how that looks and works in reality.

Ten Hag called a strategy meeting for his new inner circle at United on Thursday last week when Van der Gaag and former England manager Steve McClaren, previously Sir Alex Ferguson’s No. 2 at Old Trafford, joined United’s football director John Murtough in Amsterdam for talks.

More meetings are planned for the coming days and in Manchester next week as United look to push ahead with their summer transfer plans. Van der Gaag’s role will be announced once he has been granted a Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) by the Football Association, which will be his pathway towards receiving a work permit from the Home Office.

United are chasing midfielders, versatile forwards, a centre half and potentially even a right back. Ten Hag would like to add Frenkie De Jong to his squad but the Netherlands midfielder is thought to be keen to stay at Barcelona and, even if he does move, he would prefer a club that can offer Champions League football.

De Jong cost Barcelona a projected £75m from Ajax in 2019 and the Catalan club hope to recoup a large portion of that fee if they decide to sell the Dutchman but that is thought to be noticeably more than United are willing to cough up at this stage.

Ten Hag could have as much as £120m to spend but, with several positions needing filling this summer, United will have to use the money they have wisely.

Their transfer kitty could be boosted by sales but several high profile players, including Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani, are free agents next month and will not fetch fees, even if their impending exits will free up considerable space on the wage bill.

However, the high wages earned by others who could leave, such as Anthony Martial, present obstacles to extracting substantial fees from suitors.

Juventus met with Pogba’s representatives on Monday and are hoping to beat Paris Saint-Germain to the France midfielder.

Ajax and Argentina centre-back Lisandro Martinez has been added to the list of potential United targets. United have also been heavily linked with Martinez’s Ajax team-mate and defensive partner, Jurrien Timber.

Ajax’s Brazil winger, Antony, is expected to leave the Dutch club this summer and United and Liverpool are among the clubs monitoring his situation.