Manchester United’s major transfer obstacle before January window even opens
United could only raise the money and create the opportunity to buy within PSR by selling Marcus Rashford
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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester United do not have the funds to buy players to strengthen their struggling team in the January transfer window.
Monday’s 2-0 defeat to Newcastle was their fourth consecutive loss and left United marooned in 14th place in the Premier League, with new head coach Ruben Amorim warning a first relegation in 51 years could be a possibility.
But after spending more than £200m on summer signings and with very little leeway within Profitability & Sustainability Rules (PSR), United are unable to spend unless they sell.
United expect to have a turnover of between £650m and £670m for the financial year but have not managed to break even in recent seasons, making a £113m loss in the 2023/24 season.
Clubs are limited to losses of £105m over a three-year period to comply with PSR – though some spending on infrastructure, women’s football, and other allowable costs are excluded from calculations – and United are very close to their limit.
They spent more than £600m during former manager Erik ten Hag’s reign, culminating in the summer additions of Manuel Ugarte, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee and Noussair Mazraoui. They held off on confirming Ugarte’s arrival until Scott McTominay’s deadline-day sale to Napoli was finalised.
United could only raise the money and create the opportunity to buy within PSR by selling Marcus Rashford, who has said he is willing to leave – and whose status as a homegrown player means any funds raised by his departure would count as pure profit.
However, United have struggled to sell players in recent years, in part because other clubs are reluctant to meet their salaries.
Amorim had been expected to push for arrivals but admitted after the Newcastle game that he cannot buy at the moment. “We don’t have that possibility in January,” he said. “It’s not the case I am arriving here and I can spend a lot of money, changing all the team.”
United’s next accounts will also feature the cost of sacking Ten Hag and his backroom staff and the €11m buyout clause they paid Sporting CP for Amorim, which further limits their room for manoeuvre.
The FA Cup winners have lacked the ability to buy in the winter transfer window in recent years but managed to borrow Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer in January 2023. Another cut-price loan may be their best-case scenario now.
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