Ruben Amorin has confirmed that Manchester United must sell before they can spend in the summer transfer market, raising the prospect of young stars Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo being sacrificed.
The United manager, preparing for Sunday’s visit to Tottenham, has spoken of the need for a busy summer to rebuild his struggling squad.
But, against a backdrop of reports of more redundancies at Old Trafford and other financial issues with Ineos’s sporting interests, Amorim admits that the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules necessitate a sell-first approach.
It raises the possibility of top young stars, led by Garnacho and Mainoo, being sold to fund a bigger, far-reaching re-structure.
“Our biggest problem now is Tottenham, we know with the moment of the club, I have to understand these problems,” said Amorim.
“But that problem is not new, you know the rules of (financial) fair play, we have a problem at the moment but my focus is on that and not the other things. Here it’s simple. To do something we need to sell players.
“But my focus is to prepare the game, the window is closed, we have to focus on the next game then in the summer we will see. You know the (financial) rules better than me, so our focus now is to win these games then we will have time to focus on that.”
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos have been involved in controversies over financial deals with yachtsman Sir Ben Ainslie and the New Zealand rugby team, as well as facing the prospect of making more redundancies at United, adding to the 250 already made.
Garnacho was widely tipped with a move to Chelsea in the January window, although he remained at United where he is yet to cement a regular starting place under Amorim.
Mainoo, meanwhile, has become an integral part of the first-team picture but would command a similar, if not higher, fee than Garnacho and his potential sale would prove hugely unpopular with supporters.
United expect to offload Christian Eriksen and Victor Lindelof, out of contract this summer, and will be looking to offload high earners, currently out on loan, such as Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony.
On the field, Amorim has revealed United have suffered injury problems this week but refused to reveal the identity of the players involved.
An unnamed senior star has also missed training through illness and Amorim has drafted in youth-team players to train with the first team this week.
Even without those fresh issues, Amorim insists he is under more pressure than opposite number Ange Postecoglou ahead of this weekend’s game, because United are a “bigger club.”
“I can understand the connection between me and Ange, we have the same problems,” he said. “With all due respect I am in a bigger club, with bigger pressure, and I think it’s important to follow all of these principles.”
But Amorim still offered sympathy for his opposite number with Postecoglou’s job status under increasing scrutiny.
“Of course, especially because he’s a good guy, a very good coach,” said Amorim. “He wants to play football in the right way, which is a very good thing. And we know when we choose this kind of profession it’s a good thing but then you have to feel that pressure when you don’t win.”
