Man Utd's Struggle to Offload High-Earning Squad Players Impacting Transfer Strategy
By Tom Gott
Manchester United's slow transfer window can be partly explained by the Red Devils struggles to free up funds by selling unwanted squad players.
A number of fans have grown frustrated with United's lack of business, with the club only recently making their first signing in the form of midfielder Donny van de Beek from Ajax, with some criticising the intense focus on landing Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho.
Very excited to be the newest edition of the #MUFC family. ? Your enthusiastic responses to my announcement make me feel at home already! Can’t wait to join the team in Manchester.
— Donny van de Beek (@Donny_beek6) September 3, 2020
But first... focus on the Dutch Squad in preparation for the upcoming Nations League matches.? pic.twitter.com/FIUAwed0FA
Sancho remains the priority, but the Manchester Evening News note that manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also wants a new left-back, centre-back and striker, which could cost United a significant sum on top of any potential deal for Sancho.
According to ESPN, United's hesitance to pursue other deals stems from the inability to offload their high-earning squad players like Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Andreas Pereira and Sergio Romero.
Many of those players have attracted interest from elsewhere, but it is their wages which have created problems.
For any of those transfers to go through, the players would have to accept wage cuts or negotiate a pay-off with United to compensate them for their loss in salary, and a reluctance to do that on either side has left United struggling to sell.
United are now at a point where they are considering keeping some of that group of players - namely Smalling and Rojo. Solskjaer's pursuit of a new defender has stalled and the boss is now open to keeping at least one of the pair.
Rojo is understood to have impressed Solskjaer during pre-season by undertaking double training sessions and could well earn himself a regular spot in the squad.
As for Smalling, Roma are incredibly keen on bringing the Englishman back to Serie A on a permanent basis, with talk of an £18m transfer circulating in Italy.
Smalling would appear to be the more-likely player to return after impressing during his loan with Roma, but he is also the player who could command the highest transfer fee, leaving Solskjaer with a tricky decision to make.