Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has bluntly announced the club must sell players before welcoming in new additions.
The 39-year-old is still operating with a squad largely assembled by his predecessor Erik ten Hag, which has certainly hampered his mission. Therefore, the Red Devils are widely expected to recruit new players capable of interpreting the Portuguese’s style of play.
Nevertheless, Amorim himself admitted that in order to sign new stars, they must raise funds by offloading some of their current squad members.
“You know the rules of fair play, we have a problem there at the moment but that cannot influence the way I coach the team and prepare for the next game. So my focus is on that and not the other things,” said the Man Utd manager in his press conference ahead of Spurs’ clash on Sunday (via Manchester Evening News).
“Here [it] is simple: to do something we need to sell players. So my focus is to prepare for the game. We cannot do now – the window is closed – we have to focus on the next games we have, especially the next one, then in the summer we will see.
“You know the rules better than me. So our focus now is to win these games and then we have time to focus on that. I’m really, really focused on winning the next game.”
The club is expected to permanently part ways with Marcus Rashford and Antony who are already out on loan. But these departures might not be enough on their own, especially with INEOS keen to impose a financially sustainable project.
Moreover, several veterans will be shown the door once their contracts expire, the likes of Johny Evans, Christian Eriksen and Victor Lindelof. But while these departures will free up some space on the wage bill, they won’t generate transfer fees.
Five starters Man United might have to sacrifice this summer
Hence, Man United might have to make some tough decisions and consider selling highly-touted players who would yield significant figures.
The main suspects could be Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho who have been attracting interest in recent weeks amidst the uncertainty surrounding their futures at the club. Moreover, Andre Onana could be offloaded in favour of a new goalkeeper, while Rasmus Hojlund might have to make way for a more proficient bomber.
Finally, Matthijs de Ligt could represent a potential sacrificial lamb due to his substantial transfer value, but it remains to be seen if Amorim would sanction his departure.
Garnacho and Mainoo must not be sacrificed or it goes against everything the club is known for and definitely to another Premier League club strengthening our rivals
Exactly. Why would we sell these two – or any other young talent – to buy inferior players in an attempt to make work a formation that clearly doesn’t work. OK, Amorim was parachuted in at a stupid time, but since then every training day we’ve had the players have been trying to adapt to Amorim’s formation. They haven’t managed it yet, doesn’t seem like they ever will. So we could flog the best of our talent, or keep it, add all the brilliant youngsters coming through, and have no need to raise millions. Just go back to the formation the players are used to, and they understand.