Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag has THREE-man transfer wishlist to replace Cristiano Ronaldo in January

MANCHESTER UNITED manager Erik ten Hag has targeted Jonathan David, Patrik Schick and Moussa Dembele to replace Cristiano Ronaldo.

According to The Mirror, ten Hag is preparing for life after Ronaldo, who appears to have fallen out of favour at Old Trafford after being dropped by the United boss.

The axe fell when the five-time Ballon d’Or winner refused to come on against Tottenham on Wednesday and left the tunnel in injury time.

As a result, the Dutch manager dropped the star striker from the squad for Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea and ordered him to train alone at Carrington.

And it seems Ten Hag is preparing for life after the Portuguese international, who could leave in January.

Atletico Madrid ace Joao Felix was initially considered a possible successor to Ronaldo.

However, Ten Hag seems to prefer a traditional, more goal-hungry striker rather than one who can be used in a variety of attacking roles.

That is why the former Ajax coach is keeping a close eye on Lille’s David, Bayer Leverkusen’s Schick and Lyon’s Dembele.

All three strikers have shown great quality in recent years.

David has nine goals and three assists in 12 Ligue 1 games.

Dembele, meanwhile, has had a slower start, with two goals in his first nine league games.

Schick has also scored just three goals in 15 games in all competitions due to an adductor problem.