The 2026 summer transfer window is clearly reflecting one of Manchester United's biggest problems. They are not short of money for shopping, but have difficulty selling players.
While competitors continuously generate revenue from transfer activities to reinvest in the squad, the Old Trafford home team is almost standing still because they have not released their forces.
Up to now, Man United's only notable player sale deal is Tyler Fredricson to Lausanne Sport. However, the 21-year-old center-back has only made four appearances for the first team, so it almost does not affect the personnel structure or financial resources of the club.
In the opposite direction, Man United spent about 87 million pounds to recruit Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and young talent Tynan Thompson, while goalkeeper Karl Darlow arrived on a free transfer. Although not spending too heavily, Michael Carrick's team still has difficulty in pursuing the next targets when the revenue from transfers is almost zero.
In the context of the Financial Fair Play Law increasingly tightening, the ability to sell players plays an equally important role as shopping. This is what Manchester City and Chelsea have done very well in recent years. These two clubs regularly take advantage of the network of affiliated teams to develop, loan and then sell players to generate profits, thereby maintaining budget sources to serve large deals.
Red Furrow" also once owned a reputable youth training system, but has not effectively exploited the commercial value from the academy. In recent years, they have sold Andreas Pereira, James Garner, Dean Henderson, Anthony Elanga and Alejandro Garnacho to collect significant fees. However, the number of successful deals is still too small compared to the potential that Carrington Academy once created.
In fact, Garnacho is the last player to help Man United earn a large profit when sold for about 40 million pounds. After this deal, they almost no longer generate significant revenue from the existing force.
This creates a complete contrast to the summer of 2007 - one of the most successful transfer windows in club history. At that time, Man United not only recruited Nani, Anderson and Owen Hargreaves, but also sold a series of players such as Gabriel Heinze, Alan Smith, Kieran Richardson or Giuseppe Rossi at reasonable prices. Effective force purification helps Sir Alex Ferguson both balance finances and create space for quality rookies.
At that time, Man United's position also helped player value increase significantly. Playing under Sir Alex is a "guarantee" of quality, making many teams willing to spend heavily to own players who are no longer in the "Red Devils'" plan.
Currently, the situation has changed. Many players enjoy too high salaries but no longer meet professional requirements, making transfers extremely difficult. Marcus Rashford has not yet found a new destination after the transfer to Barcelona broke down. Joshua Zirkzee is also on the liquidation list but no partner meets M.U's conditions.
High salaries and unstable form make these players lose value in the market. This makes Man United both bear a large salary fund and cannot generate revenue to reinvest in the squad.
To return to the title competition group, Man United not only needs to buy the right people but also must learn how to sell at the right time. The current transfer market requires big clubs to operate effectively in both buying and selling directions. If the force liquidation problem is not solved, the "Red Devils" will face many difficulties in upgrading the squad and maintaining competitiveness with rivals in the Premier League.
