Mark Goldbridge: 100 per cent against Old Trafford move, Rasmus Hojlund is Manchester United’s most important player for the future, Jadon Sancho would shine for Tottenham and Jesse Lingard’s big mistake

In an exclusive column for talkSPORT.com, Mark Goldbridge delivers his verdict on a potential move away from Old Trafford, Jadon Sancho’s future and why Rasmus Hojlund is key for the future.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe apparently has some big plans for a new Manchester United stadium - I am not here for them, but it’s not his fault.

When you look at what Barcelona are doing with the Nou Camp, what Real Madrid are doing with the Bernabeu and what Liverpool are doing with Anfield - these are institutions. For those fans, it’s a cathedral, it’s a place of worship, it’s a massive, massive part of those football clubs, and Old Trafford, obviously being biased, is more than that for Manchester United fans.

When you think of Old Trafford you think of the Busby Babes, you think about Sir Matt Busby, you think about the many greats who have played at that great football club and any time you sit that ground before a game you think about it too, because it’s that hallowed turf.

I cannot get on board with moving out of Old Trafford, I don’t care if it’s a mile away or 100 metres away, it’s not Old Trafford. The fact they’re looking to do that…

From a business point of view I understand it and I actually sympathise with Sir Jim Ratcliffe on this. You’ve clearly got an option of rebuilding Old Trafford which is going to cost a lot of money and take a long time, or you can build something brand new which is going to be quicker and cheaper. You can also play at Old Trafford while you’re building it, whereas if you’re rebuilding Old Trafford, where do you play?

Financially Man United are up to their neck anyway, so the financial decision is to build a new stadium - but I’m 100 per cent against it.

Why are we having to move when Liverpool aren’t moving from Anfield? It's because Liverpool have looked after their stadium and kept renovating it. The Glazers have left that stadium for 20 years. Had we kept improving one side and then another over the last 20 years, then we’d be absolutely fine, we’d never need to leave.

For me, no, I don’t want to leave Old Trafford, and if we have to leave Old Trafford, it’s on the Glazers, and that’s the sickening thing. Some things are more important than stadium naming rights or having a beer that comes up from the bottom of your glass like you get at Spurs - I want Old Trafford.

I like what Spurs have done and a lot of Spurs fans like it, but I don’t think a lot of Arsenal fans absolutely love the Emirates compared to Highbury, and I’m sad that Everton are leaving Goodison Park - and the sad thing is that once you’ve gone you can’t go back.

Some people have said to keep Old Trafford as a museum, but it’s still going to need renovating. They’re going to knock it down, that’s what they’re going to do, and it’s a horrific thought. I don’t really blame INEOS or Sir Jim, I think it’s a decision that’s been forced on them by 20 years of neglect.

It would be devastating if Manchester United leave Old Trafford… and I’d say the same if Liverpool ever left Anfield, it’s just the fabric of the football club.

Hojlund the key to bright future

It’s a really exciting time for any football club when you’ve got three young players coming through, and in Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Kobbie Mainoo there are three exciting players who have their heads screwed on and want to be better every game.

They have been a real positive in what has been a negative season, and Rasmus is a very impressive young man for somebody who has only just turned 21.

We’ve all met people in life, sometimes you can meet an 18-year-old who comes across like they’re in their 60s, and you can meet a 40-year-old who acts like a child. But he’s got a grounded head on his shoulders, he’s focused. You listened to Erling Haaland after Man City won the treble and he’s asking Thierry Henry how he can be better - that’s what United need. We need players who are dedicated to the job. 

At the end of the day professional footballers are professional athletes. People training for the London Marathon in April will not be doing things like going out for a curry and staying up until 2am, and professional footballers should be the same.

When you hear that Rasmus is going for a meal with his other half or staying at home playing FIFA and getting an early night, that’s a dedication to your sport, and that’s what Man United fans or any fan wants to see. I think more footballers should be doing it. You get paid a lot of money, it's a privilege, it’s the dream of most of us, and it’s a shame when players get led astray and get distracted by that.

Rasmus is still very young, but I don't detect any deterrents out there that are going to make him not be focused on trying to be one of the best strikers in the world.

I think Hojlund has had to deal with quite a lot in his first season at the club - a lack of service, disruptive unbalanced teams. He’s top scorer in the Champions League and he’s started scoring goals in the Premier League now, in a debut season at such a young age, leading the line is not easy, so that’s been very impressive.

Garnacho has been ridiculously impressive when you think that at the start of the season he’s the young winger that might get a few games with Sancho, Antony and Rashford all ahead of him, but he’s now the senior winger and probably the best we’ve got on the right and the left.

And then Mainoo in such a short period of time, the goal against Wolves but also some of the mature performances he’s put in - I find it really hard to differentiate.

If I could only pick one of them, I suppose I would say it would have to be Rasmus, simply because we don't have another striker, whereas you could put someone in instead of the other two, we do have options in those positions, but up front we don't actually have anybody else.

Sancho would shine for Spurs

The future for Jadon Sancho is quite depressing from a Man United fan point of view.

Borussia Dortmund have put him in the shop window, they don’t have the money to do it, and therefore you’re looking at clubs that might want to pay £40m or £50m for him, obviously we hope he’s going to have a really good end to the season at Dortmund to put himself in that shop window, but in the modern game with FFP kicking in I think we’re going to see a reduction in these massive transfers and therefore it’s going to be a big loss for Man United, which we can’t really take.

I think if he wanted to go to Saudi Arabia that we could get that sort of money, but would a player still in his early 20s want to do that?

Can Man United bring him back under Erik ten Hag? There is a scenario where that happens and maybe some fans would like it, but the trust has gone and it’s probably gone from both sides, let’s be honest - why would Sancho want to play for Ten Hag?

They’ve got to find a solution, I just wonder whether it might be another long-term loan again, because I can’t think of anybody who would look to spend that sort of money on him at the moment.

Say if Jadon Sancho went to Spurs, would I expect him to flop the same way he did at Man United? No, I wouldn’t be surprised if he suddenly started playing really well. Then you’d get the headlines saying it’s Ten Hag and Man United’s fault, but it happens all over the world - you get sacked from a job and it gives you the kick up the backside to prove people wrong.

I actually think Sancho could do a job at Spurs and maybe a manager like Ange Postecoglou could get the best out of him, but of course there might still be problems with him being late for training and whatever, but I do think there is a good player there.

I can’t lie, when United bought him I was very excited, like most fans were, I just think it’s the end of the road for him at the club.

Now it’s just whether another club is willing to take that gamble on him, and hopefully if they do he does use it as the inspiration as he hits his mid-20s to say, ‘That’s in the past now, I’m focused on football’. If Sancho can find that, then he’s a very talented player.

Lingard’s made a big mistake

I think Jesse Lingard is an interesting player. He pops up on my Instagram a lot and he’s training all over the place, he’s got the lines like, ‘We move’, and all this but where are you moving to? FC Seoul?

It makes no sense to me, because when he was at United we should have sold him after the West Ham loan, but we kept him for a year and he never really played, then he snubbed West Ham again and went to Nottingham Forest for the money, I think, he didn’t do well there and then for the last six months can’t get a move.

Whatever you think about Lingard, and some people have strong opinions both ways, he’s still a player who went to West Ham and did really well.

He also keeps himself very fit… so there’s got to be another reason why clubs won’t go anywhere near him. Is it because he’s demanding silly money? Are there issues around him we’re not aware of?

I absolutely think there are teams in the bottom-half of the Premier League that would benefit from a player like that, I don’t really understand why he’s had to go to South Korea, I would have thought there would be other offers. 

His big mistake was not going back to West Ham.