Rohan Sengupta
According to Manchester Evening News, United boss Jose Mourinho could massively boost his spending power this summer by offloading the fringe players from his squad.
Manchester United have signed Diogo Dalot, Fred and Lee Grant this summer but Mourinho reportedly wants to add a couple of players to complete his squad ahead of the new Premier League campaign. And to help Mourinho enhance his spending prowess in the transfer market, United are keen to clear out talent worth £150m.
Anthony Martial offers United the best opportunity to get a substantial amount of funds and our manager is also willing to let go of the Frenchman, whose career at Old Trafford has stalled in the last couple of seasons.
But as per Manchester Evening News, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward doesn’t want to offload Martial as he believes the Frenchman has bags of potential. Woodward wants Martial to stay at the club and intends to activate a one-year option on the player’s contract.
The report claims Ander Herrera and Juan Mata could also get the axe this summer as the duo has just a year remaining on their contracts. If the Spaniards are sold, we could hope to get more than £50m in this transfer window.
However, Mourinho has other areas to boost his budget, having already sold Daley Blind to Ajax earlier this month. Matteo Darmian is considered surplus to requirements and will be sold if our club finds a suitable buyer.
There remains a chance Darmian could be used as a makeweight for Inter Milan star Ivan Perisic, who has interested our gaffer again, claims Manchester Evening News.
Meanwhile, Mourinho wants to add another central defender to our squad, with Leicester City’s Harry Maguire reportedly emerging as a leading target. But it is unlikely to see our Portuguese manager buy a defender without selling one this summer.
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In that case, Marcos Rojo appears to be highly likely to make his way out of Old Trafford, with our club expected to command more than the £16m they paid for him in 2014.
