Man United put ‘£80m’ January transfer ‘on ice’ after deal agreed
Man United cannot be spending up to £100million in the transfer market without a permanent manager in place.
That is according to ex-Everton, Aston Villa, and Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who doesn’t foresee Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba joining Man United in January.
Man United are searching for a new midfielder to join the squad, with Baleba one of the club’s top targets.
Ruben Amorim has been sacked as Man United manager, with Michael Carrick agreeing a deal to be interim boss until the end of the season.
‘No discussions ongoing’ between Brighton and Man United
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – thinks Man United need to appoint a permanent successor to Amorim before spending big in the transfer market.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness believes the Red Devils will be quiet in January unless they pick up injuries.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Well, Paul Barber was very clear the other day saying that he’d had no contact from United and that there was no discussions ongoing.
“Now Brighton are very good at negotiating. They have done it very well with Chelsea. He’s probably got, I think, great prices for the players that they’ve sold. But I think if you’re United as well, you’re looking at, you haven’t got a manager right now. You’re going to be spending a hundred million on a player based on the sporting directors.
“I just don’t see that being correct at the moment. I think you’ve got to have a manager in place to make that sort of scale of a decision, and you’ve got to be able to have somebody there because you don’t know how it’s going to end up, as we just discussed with Bruno Fernandes. Baleba in midfield is going to have to be working in there as well.
“Do they need to sell Bruno Fernandes now to get that money to be able to strengthen the squad again? I think Baleba was being talked about to be happening in January, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be put on ice now until the summer.
“It would be a mistake for United to go and spend £100 million or even if they got it to £80m, whatever the number was, it’d be a mistake to do it right now without a permanent manager in place. I think they’ve got to work it through with the squad they’ve got. Unless there’s some severe injury that happens, then I don’t expect them to be that active in the market in January.”
Man United set for revenue drop
Man United’s revenue is expected to drop this season, with their 2-1 defeat to Brighton in the FA Cup knocking them out of the only cup competition they remained in this season.
The Red Devils have had no European football, and were humiliated by Grimsby Town at the first hurdle of the Carabao Cup earlier in the campaign.
A mid-season friendly may be organised to try and earn some extra revenue, with Man United potentially earning up to £5m from a game in the Middle East.