Erik ten Hag will consider selling four first-team Manchester United stars this summer after he was warned that he must raise significant cash through player sales in order to fund moves for the likes of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham.
Erik ten Hag must raise funds this summer through player sales (Photo by Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images)
United spent £220m last summer, which was £100m more than the club had allocated to the Dutchman when he was appointed in April.
Part of that was down to the fact that United started their season disastrously but the board also accepted there would need to be a higher-than-usual turnover of players following the exits of Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic, Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Lee Grant.
But, with Uefa’s new Financial Sustainability rules set to kick in next season – which limit clubs to spending a certain percentage of their revenue – United have little headroom to make big signings.
Qualifying for the Champions League would ensure bigger revenues over the next 18 months, meaning United could spend more.
But Ten Hag is targeting the likes of Tottenham star Kane and Dortmund superstar Bellingham, which would cost the club around £250m.
Maguire is out of favour (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Fred has 18 months left on his deal (Photo by David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
That would be far too high an outlay, even with new owners taking over from the Glazers.
The Telegraph therefore claims that Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Fred and Donny van de Beek could all be sold in order to raise funds.
That quartet could fetch around £100m on the open market, which would offset Ten Hag’s desire to sign a top centre forward and a new midfielder.
Maguire has fallen out of favour this term, while Wan-Bissaka is behind Diogo Dalot in the pecking order.
Van de Beek is set for a long spell on the sidelines with a knee injury but has failed to make an impression since his move to the club, while Fred is fourth choice midfielder.
Though United are within four points off champions Manchester City, the club’s primary goal this season is to finish in the top four.
This would prevent Adidas from reducing their sponsorship deal with the club by 30%, which is a clause they have written into their contract with United.
Man United set surprise Weghorst debut date
Manchester United are planning on handing incoming new signing Wout Weghorst a debut against Man City in the derby.
According to Manchester Evening News, the striker is due at the club’s Carrington training base on Thursday to wrap up a loan move for the remainder of the season.
Weghorst’s determination to make the move has reportedly helped negotiations between United, Besiktas and parent club Burnley.
The 30-year-old will complete a medical and finalise the terms of his temporary move, which are all expected to be a formality. United have agreed to pay £2.5million to terminate the player’s Besiktas loan agreement.
Weghorst will need to be registered before midday on Friday to be eligible to face the Premier League champions on Saturday lunchtime, with United confident of confirming the deal in time.
Anthony Martial is expected to start up front against City, with Marcus Rashford, Antony and Bruno Fernandes in support and Weghorst hopeful of having his first minutes off the bench.
SOURCE: metro.co.uk, standard.co.uk
