Manchester United have triggered contract extensions for at least four of their first-team stars.
They are Marcus Rashford, Fred, Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw.
The players have all had one-year extensions on their current deals activated by the Premier League club.
The quartet would have been free to open pre-contract talks with foreign clubs from January 1, if the clauses were not activated before January 1.
United have moved to protect their market value by triggering the option for a further 12 months on each deal.
For Rashford, for instance, it was important to tie down his future to the club, after Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, went public with their interest in the forward.
United are also understood to have also opened talks with representatives of goalkeeper David De Gea, whose current £375,000-a-week deal is set to expire in the summer.
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