A new report has picked out eight Manchester United stars ‘set to be axed’ with a pair brought in for around £130m tipped for cut-price exits.
Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is in the process of reducing costs at Old Trafford and he’s swiftly become a hugely unpopular figure after sanctioning several brutal cuts.
United’s dire performances on the pitch in recent seasons have worsened their situation as they do not have the benefit of Champions league prize money.
New head coach Ruben Amorim could not make wholesale changes to his squad in January as he was working with a limited budget, and this is also expected to be the case in the summer.
The Red Devils need to offload unwanted talents to raise funds for a major rebuild and their embarrassing position in the bottom half of the Premier League table leaves most of their squad at risk of being offloaded before next season.
It has been widely reported in recent months that they have few indispensable players left and The Daily Mail has named eight players ‘set’ to be ‘axed’, with Mason Mount and Casemiro backed for moves at a significantly reduced price.
‘Antony is prospering on loan at Real Betis who are likely to start the bidding at around £25m if they decide to sign the Brazil winger on a permanent basis – well short of the £86m United paid Ajax in the summer of 2022.
The Old Trafford hierarchy are keen to get Casemiro’s £375,000-a-week wages off the books and would accept a drastic reduction on the £70m it cost to sign him from Real Madrid in 2022.
‘Hojlund, meanwhile, is struggling for form and confidence amid a marathon barren run stretching back 20 games without a goal. If United decide to cut their losses, they will get substantially less than the £72m paid to Atalanta last year.’
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‘Even taking into account the amortisation (book value, to the rest of us) on their contracts, the club face making a substantial loss.
‘United would listen to offers for practically all their players with £60m Mason Mount another player who would sell for a lot less than he cost. Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton are set to leave as free agents.’
Earlier this week, Ratcliffe boldly opted to name five “not good enough” or “overpaid” Man Utd players.
“If you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didn’t buy, we’re buying Antony, we’re buying Casemiro, we’re buying Onana, we’re buying Hojlund, we’re buying Sancho,” Ratcliffe said.
“These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we’ve inherited those things and have to sort that out.
“For Sancho, who now plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we’re paying £17m to buy him in the summer.”
He added: “Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time.
“We’ve got this period of transformation where we move from the past to the future.
“There are some great players in the squad as we know, the captain is a fabulous footballer. We definitely need Bruno, he’s a fantastic footballer.”
