With Manchester United still focusing on exits across the final few days of the summer transfer window, one move to Turkey looks to have collapsed at the last moment.
Manchester United were able to offload a number of their first-team players this summer as Rúben Amorim looked to clear the squad of those he felt were surplus to requirements.
A few big names were sold, with Alejandro Garnacho joining Chelsea for £40 million, while Antony secured a loan to Real Betis for £21.7 million with United retaining the rights to 50% of the fee from any future sale.
At the same time, Rasmus Højlund, Marcus Rashford, and André Onana have all headed out on loan and are expected to be sold next summer. The former two’s respective contracts with Napoli and Barcelona contain options to buy the player next summer.
A number of Academy players have also left on loan to secure playing time elsewhere. Harry Amass is now at Sheffield Wednesday, Toby Collyer signed for West Brom, and Radek Vitek is at Bristol City, with many others also securing loan moves away across the English football pyramid.
Mather’s loan move to Turkey collapses
One United Academy player who looked close to securing a permanent move away from Old Trafford this summer is Sam Mather, who was closing in on a move to Turkish side Kayserispor, with the player said to be ‘hungry’ to secure his move away.
It was reported earlier this week that Mather had interest from Germany and Sweden earlier in the summer, but with the European window closed for many sides, it was Turkish teams who made the push.
While Kayserispor were close, Steven Railston from the Manchester Evening News has confirmed that Mather’s transfer to the Turkish Pro League side had collapsed late on Friday evening, just as the window closed.
With Mather having no real path toward Amorim’s first team, it’s expected that the 21-year-old will now spend four further months in the Academy, where he has been “fantastic“, and attempt to move out of United again in January.
United could have a busy January window
While United have often waited until the summer transfer window to sign players, it has become an increasingly common theme for the club to utilise the January transfer window when needed, especially to cover injured areas.
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United’s best signing in the last decade, Bruno Fernandes, joined in January 2020, and with Amorim lacking in quality midfielders, the United head coach could head into the market at the turn of the new year.
Currently, United only have Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, Casemiro, and Manuel Ugarte as midfield options, and with Casemiro almost certain to leave when his contract expires and Ugarte’s future in question, the club could need to sign up to three new midfielders.
With other areas also needing addressing, United could choose to accelerate signing one of those new midfielders in the coming months, and secure reinforcements in January rather than the summer.
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