Manchester United have so far taken some very drastic action in the transfer window, with Rúben Amorim clearly indicating who he wants sold.
Manchester United are in the midst of a major squad revamp this summer following a disappointing campaign and their failure to qualify for European competition.
Rúben Amorim has already completed the signings of Matheus Cunha and Diego Leon, while a third bid has been submitted for Bryan Mbeumo. Further additions are expected to depend on funds raised through player departures.
The club are actively looking to move on several players, including Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Jadon Sancho, though finding buyers has proven difficult.
Rashford, Garnacho and Sancho, along with Tyrell Malacia and Antony, have all been instructed not to report for pre-season training with the first-team squad and instead to arrive at Carrington after 5pm, once the rest of the group has left.
United insiders fear transfer plan may backfire
When it was announced that Amorim had banned the above five from training with the first team next season, this came as quite a shock to those around the club.
With United hoping to sell these players for upwards of £180 million this summer, The Athletic have reported that some within the club fear their respective exiles will lower their values in the transfer market.
It is reported that not all within the club agree with the decision to limit the players’ access to Carrington to evening hours, given the strong relationships some players have with those at United’s training base.
Furthermore, some at United reportedly believe this decision will lead to high-value players, such as Garnacho, deliberately slowing any transfer interest until later in the window to force United to reduce their asking price and accept a lower fee.
Interest in Garnacho is heating up
The fears within United are also shared by many of the Old Trafford faithful. For one reason or another, many have deemed the decision to exile the five players as excessive.
However, amid concerns that players may delay their exits to secure lower transfer fees from their new clubs, Aston Villa have emerged as contenders for Garnacho.
Emery is known to be a fan of the 21-year-old winger, and according to Paul Hirst from The Times, the Birmingham outfit are interested in signing Garnacho.
This hands United an interesting angle this summer. The club are known to be fans of Villa’s Ollie Watkins amid their need for a striker and have reportedly been in talks with the Premier League outfit over goalkeeper Emi Martínez.
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If Villa are serious in their interest in Garnacho, United may look to use the young winger as leverage to alleviate their financial issues while securing one of Martínez or Watkins heading the other way, with the latter a concrete target for the Reds.
The two clubs could agree on a difference in valuation between Garnacho and Watkins, and from there agree on two separate transfer fees that would allow Villa to pocket a talented young winger while United secure his sale and record the cash received as pure profit.
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