Manchester United are looking to overhaul their squad this summer but without the Champions League next season the club are facing a massive black hole in their finances
Manchester United will listen to offers for EVERY player in the wake of their disastrous Europe League final defeat. No player will be immune from being sold – including captain Bruno Fernandes – as United face up to a catastrophic financial black hole.
The crushing 1-0 loss to Tottenham in Bilbao saw United blow a place in next season’s Champions League – and with it £100million in revenue. Defeat to Spurs means United will not play in Europe at all next season, for only the second time in 35 years and means further cutbacks at the club that has already seen mass redundancies
United’s failure in Bilbao means they also face missing out on signing their top summer targets, including Liam Delap, Matheus Cunha and Victor Osimhen.
Without the additional revenue from European games, United will have no choice but to sell players to raise funds for Ruben Amorim to strengthen his squad – which has cost £845million to put together in recent transfer windows – provided he survives the sack after a shambolic season.
High-profile stars including Casemiro, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Andre Onana, Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund, Kobbie Mainoo and Fernandes are all available to the highest bidders.
Fernandes would be the most controversial exit, after a season where he was head and shoulders the club’s best player. However, there have been links over a potential move to Saudi Arabia, with Al-Hilal said to be considering a move.
United are also desperate to off-load Marcus Rashford, Antony and Jadon Sancho, all of whom are currently out on loan elsewhere. Rashford is desperate to leave United after the breakdown of his relationship with Amorim and the club and is holding out for a move to Barcelona.
Garnacho, furious at being left out of United’s starting line-up to face Tottenham, having played a key role in getting them to the final, is attracting interest from Napoli and Chelsea.
England winger Sancho, on loan at Chelsea, will return to United this summer, but will be off-loaded as one of the club’s highest-paid stars, along with Rashford.
United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chief executive Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox will oversee the major squad overhaul this summer.
The Red Devils are going on a two-game post-season tour of Malaysia and Hong Kong straight after Sunday’s final game of the season against Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
But when they return to Manchester, the United hierarchy will begin the process of reshaping the squad and raising funds to cope with no European football next term. (The Mirror)