On the 19th July Italian reporter Fabrizio Romano confirmed Marcus Rashford’s move to Barcelona on loan with a €30m Option to Buy clause in the deal. This deal is the first official “sale” for Manchester United but not the preferred method of sale the fans were looking for. Even though Marcus Rashford’s 300k wages are being completely covered by Barcelona, the sale of Marcus Rashford for the club’s valuation of £40m would have been much more beneficial than a loan move with potential permanent sale at the end of the loan. This bit of business somewhat sums up Man Utd’s struggles with generating income from sales of players the club deems surplus to requirement.
Since the February 20, 2024 INEOS took full control of all football operations in regards to Man Utd after acquiring 25% stakes of the club and have implemented a project under Ruben Amorim to build a young new long-term team that sees itself winning the Premier League by 2028. As part of the project, a good amount of Man Utd’s first team players need to be off their books, especially some of the highest earners in order for the club to not only fix their wage structure but also to not get into any more financial trouble by violating any PSR and FFP rules. As of 2025, Manchester United’s total debt is estimated to be between £680 million and £731 million so going into this transfer window, it is absolutely crucial for Man Utd to get some sales going if they want to get some serious business done this summer. Luckily for them their financial constraints were not too steep that Man Utd were unable to do any kind of business, Man Utd were able to sign Mattheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo and managed to negotiate the deals in such a way that Man Utd technically did not spend “big” this summer but made signings that would need to be paid off in the future through yearly installments.
The major problem is the fact Man Utd have been struggling to sell players for quite some time now, in this current window Man Utd have 5 players up for sales in the form of: Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Antony, Alejandro Garnacho and Tyrell Malacia. Marcus Rashford already has his move to Barcelona while the rest of the other players have yet to find moves away from the club and have been left of Man Utd’s Pre-Season tour in the USA so they can focus on finding solutions. It is honestly quite surprising that Man Utd are struggling to sell their players and even more so struggling to sell their players at their preferred valuation. For some players like Jadon Sancho it has been well documented that his high wages have been a major issue in him moving on from Man Utd after the relationship between him and the manager at the time, Erik Ten hag, was forever broken. Since then Sancho has made loan moves to Dortmund and even an Obligation to Buy loan move to Chelsea that Chelsea backed out of activating the Obligation to Buy clause due to the club and Sancho being unable to come to an agreement on his wages.
The other players do not have the same problem and it is even more surprising how clubs are not lining up to sign players like Antony. Antony went on loan to Real Betis and had an absolute career revival in the Spanish league. Antony made 26 appearances and contributed 14 goals and assists in his 6-month loan spell with a quite impressive goal catalogue from his time at Real Betis. After lighting up the Spanish league and leading Real Betis to the UEFA Conference League Finals, there has not been much news or reliable reports of clubs making approaches for the Brazilian winger. It has been made clear though that Antony would love to make a return to Real Betis and that takes priority over any other potential offers and it also important to note that Antony is well loved and adored by his former Betis teammates and by the Real Betis fans. Tyrell Malacia is a player that seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet after an injury took him of action for more than a year and when the Dutchman finally returned, he struggled to adapt to Amorim’s system and left the club on loan to PSV with an option to buy clause of €10m. Malacia has since returned from his loan and just like Antony, there are no reports or updates on any movement for the player who would be available for a cheap fee since the club did not sign him for a hefty price.
Alejandro Garnacho, the Manchester United academy graduate, has fallen out with Man Utd and manager, Ruben Amorim, after his comments following Man Utd’s Europa League final defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The Argentinian has made his intentions clear that he wants to remain in the Premier League even though he is one of the few United players reportedly actually having multiple interest from multiple clubs, especially outside the Premier League however Garnacho’s insistence on staying in the Premier league is limiting his options and delaying potentially a huge sale for Man Utd. The truth of the matter is Man Utd are going to have quite a difficult time trying to offload these players and for a respectful price too because that also been quite the challenge for Man Utd compared to other clubs who can sell their want away players for reasonable prices. Man Utd might also have start considering selling some fringe players in hope of generating sales so the club can continue their business in the transfer window.
