Manchester United will go ahead with their summer business as planned, despite the loss of Champions League revenue
Manchester United’s faith in Ruben Amorim remains unshaken, despite the club’s defeat to Tottenham in the Europa League final. With expectations still high that he can deliver success at the club, the Portuguese coach will head into his first full pre-season with the full support of the club’s football department and a summer transfer budget of just under £100 million.
United’s commitment to Amorim has not been dented by the loss in Bilbao. Club officials, led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team, understand that the project is still in its infancy, and will now shift focus to rebuilding in the summer transfer window.
It is understood that the Red Devils are already lining up key targets. Wolves forward Matheus Cunha is among the priority signings, with United set to conclude a deal for the Brazilian. Cunha has a release clause of £62.5 million and negotiations are all but done. United are expected to activate his release clause once the transfer windows opens on 1 June.
Also on Amorim’s radar is Ipswich striker Liam Delap, whose release clause is set at £30 million due to Ipswich’s relegation. However, United’s pursuit is complicated by the 21-year-old also attracting interest from Chelsea and Newcastle. The club are also on the lookout for a creative playmaker to inject more vision and tempo into the midfield, though no names have emerged publicly yet.
Crucially, United are in a position to spend without needing to sell. Recent cost-cutting measures introduced by the INEOS regime, including a fresh round of job reductions expected to bring total staff cuts to around 450, have eased financial pressure and freed up funds for reinvestment into the squad.
Still, the club is open to offers for certain players to raise further cash. Key among these is Alejandro Garnacho, who is very likely to leave Old Trafford in the summer. The young winger further fuelled expectations of an exit with his comments following the Europa League loss to Tottenham.
“Until we reached the final, I played every round,” Garnacho said. “And I played 20 minutes today – I don’t know. I’m going to try to enjoy the summer and see what happens next.”
