Manchester United have confirmed the arrival at Dan Ashworth at Old Trafford and he is aiming to have a busy summer as he attempts to generate much-needed funds for the Red Devils’ own signings
With sporting director Dan Ashworth having already started in his new role, Manchester United can start to reshape their squad ahead of the new season.
United were already working on targets before a compensation package was agreed with Newcastle for Ashworth. But with Ashworth working with immediate effect, United can step up their planned squad overhaul, with Erik ten Hag and his players back in for pre-season training next week.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe‘s admission that it will take “two or three summer windows” for United to see major improvement shows the scale of the task facing the new regime in charge at Old Trafford. This summer is the first transfer window tackled by Ratcliffe and his newly-assembled football operations team, comprising Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and new CEO Omar Berrada, who will start work at United next week.
A measure of realism, as outlined by Ratcliffe, is required for this summer’s window, with United – like all clubs – constrained in terms of their spending by the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR). In past summer windows, United have been able to spend hundreds of millions, but against the backdrop of PSR, that figure has been dramatically reduced, with the current budget around £50m.
United must therefore use the revenue generated from player sales to supplement their initial budget, which is why Ashworth and his team are as much focused on outgoings as incomings, hoping to secure as many as possible before the squad flies to the US on July 24 for a three-game summer tour.
Three players have already left this summer, in Raphael Varane, Anthony Martial and Brandon Williams, with no revenue made from their collective departures, as they left when their contracts expired. United are therefore looking to move on several more players to raise funds for upgrades, with three positions – centre-back, midfielder and striker – viewed as priorities in this window.
In terms of outgoings, United will, in effect, listen to offers for most of their squad, with the exception of Andre Onana, Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Amad Diallo. United will even consider a sizable offer for skipper Bruno Fernandes, although he is expected to stay and sign a new deal.
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Seven players United want to offload are Casemiro, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Christian Eriksen, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood, with the dream scenario for United being able to sell all of them to raise in the region of £200m, giving them a transfer spend of £250m, including the original £50m budget.
Whether United manage to offload all of those players remains to be seen, although what is certain is they will have to take a major financial hit on several of them, in particular Antony, who cost £85m, and Sancho, who cost £73m.
In terms of signings, United have made an initial bid of £35m plus £8m in add-ons for Everton and England centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite. With Everton demanding £70m, United are looking elsewhere and are exploring a £55m move for Bayern Munich defender Matthijs De Ligt.
In midfield, United are looking for a new partner for Mainoo and have scouted Brazil international Joao Gomes of Wolves, as well as Benfica’s 19-year-old rising star Joao Neves. United are also pushing to sign Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte and securing any of those would be a major coup.
United want to ease the goalscoring burden on Rasmus Hojlund and have focused their search on Bologna’s Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee, who has yet to feature for Holland at Euro 2024, but who has the potential to take his career to the next level by moving to the Premier League.
All of the targets identified by United are young players with potential for the future and resale value, rather than repeating the mistakes of the past at United by paying huge sums for big names or inflated prices for unproven players.
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