Manchester United have struggled in front of goal this season massively, which leads to the impression that some serious transfer business in the forward department is needed this summer.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe told Gary Neville in an exclusive interview with The Overlap that Manchester United would have been broke by Christmas if he didn’t step in, solidifying the fact that United are in an unprivileged position financially and may need to sell to buy in the next transfer window.
But with questionable board decisions on contracts, United are in a regrettable position where they have unreliable players on lengthy contracts and have had to rely on loan exits to grant players playing time.
The fallout involved with the situation is evident and chains to the thought that these temporary transfers are just a stepping stone to leaving United entirely.
Laurie Whitwell, United journalist from The Athletic spoke about the selling speculation saga on The Overlap Breakdown.
He said: “If we can sell these players that are on the periphery of our squad, they’re not even in the squad. Rashford was out for a long time, Sancho has been exiled for a long time and Antony has just not ever done it for United so if they can get any sort of value from selling them then that absolutely is a big bonus.”
Whitwell explains Rashford latest
Marcus Rashford particularly endured a torrent time during the inaugural months of Ruben Amorim’s reign the forward was side-lined due to training efforts in the build-up to the Manchester derby and didn’t feature again.
Whitwell said: “I can’t see how that relationship gets repaired, Amorim has been so strong publicly and privately about it, he literally dropped him as soon as he was unhappy with his performances in training, and he didn’t get a look in after that.”
The reported lack of attitude and effort has led fans to quickly accept life without the Wythenshawe academy graduate, who has registered a total of 138 goals for the club. But with some recently found form at Villa, Rashford may attract some suitors, but how much could United gain from the transfer?
Whitwell added: “£40 million. I think people might look at that and go is that less than you’d expect for a player who is 27 with that kind of pedigree that he’s got, but I think you have to look at the picture that he was totally out of the team at United, Amorim had made his call and the club had made their call.”
There was speculation throughout January for United’s number 10 from various claims, however Whitwell stated the genuine suitors. “Aston Villa ultimately were the ones that could afford him but there was genuine talks (with) AC Milan, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, but wages were the issue,” he continued.
Whitwell explains Sancho latest
Jadon Sancho’s transfer from Borussia Dortmund in July 2021, for a reported £73 million appeared to be a masterstroke from then manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær, four managers later and the English winger hasn’t showed an ounce of fight for any of them.
In the summer, Sancho signed for Chelsea with an obligation to buy at the end of the season, but unsurprisingly the winger has flopped in West London also.
This has led to a summer tug of war between the two clubs who don’t seem to want him, with reports claiming that Chelsea can pay a fine to get out of their contract agreement with the Reds.
Whitwell said: “They’ve done this obligation with Chelsea, if it comes to the end of the season and he can’t agree personal terms with Chelsea then it’s a £5 million fee (for Chelsea) and then he’s back at United, and United still have the opportunity to sell him.”
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.