Man United news: Pundit moots Cristiano Ronaldo exit in January after £384m reveal
Alan Hutton has claimed Erik ten Hag will be looking to “trim off” the Man United squad in the January transfer window.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, the ex-Tottenham defender said United will have to make a decision on Cristiano Ronaldo’s future after their wages hit a Premier League record high.
As reported in the Guardian (23 September), the Red Devils’ wages reached £384.2 million for the 2021-22 season, the highest the English top flight has ever seen.
Cliff Baty, chief financial officer at the Manchester club, said the increases were “in line with expectations”.
The club also made a net loss of £115.5million for the 2021-22 season, £23m higher than the previous 12 months.
When asked if United will need to sell players in January in light of the increase, Hutton told Football Insider: “I think the manager will have looked through his whole squad before even taking the job.
“Now that he’s worked for a few months he’ll know who he can rely on, who he wants to keep moving forward and who he wants to trim off the squad which obviously helps with the wage bill.
“You’ve obviously got [Paul] Pogba that’s off that as well, which was probably a lot of money. Ronaldo probably takes up a large chunk of that as well, so what are they going to do with him moving forward?
“There’s obviously question marks over a few people but it’s like any top team. They’ve got swollen squads and there comes a time where you have to trim it. So that’s probably Ten Hag’s next thing, before you bring in more players you have to get rid of a few.“
In other news, a pundit has backed Casemiro to start against Man City amid ‘massive’ Man United claim.