Sources: Man United listen to offers for six ‘mega-earning’ first-team stars
Man United will listen to offers for six mega-earning stars next month as they look to raise funds to reinvest in their flagging squad, sources have told Football Insider.
United are willing to sell Raphael Varane, Casemiro, Anthony Martial and Christian Eriksen as well as frozen-out duo Jadon Sancho and Donny van de Beek.
All six are on huge salaries that put a major dent in the club’s wage bill and selling them would free up cash for new signings as well as help the club meet Premier League financial rules.
One stark issue for United is finding buying clubs for players on vast salaries that are out of reach of most European clubs, while many Saudi Pro League sides are at the maximum allowable limits for foreign signings.
Varane and Martial will both be free to talk to foreign clubs from 1 January as their contracts are due to expire at the end of the season.
United are expected to be busier in terms of outgoings rather than incomings in the January window, especially with the first stage of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s investment yet to be completed.
Erik ten Hag and the club’s current recruitment team have drawn up a shortlist of targets for the key positions, but they will need to sell before they can buy and getting players on huge salaries off the books will be a protracted process.
The Ineos founder had hoped his £1.3billion purchase of a 25 per cent stake in United from the Glazers would have been confirmed by now and in the Premier League vetting process.
But with delays meaning the news is unlikely to be announced until next week at the earliest and possibly beyond then, and the ratification process expected to take between four and eight weeks, the chances of Ratcliffe being able to have a big impact on the January window are becoming increasingly remote.
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