Manchester United’s January transfer window has suddenly accelerated all guns blazing, be it in terms of departures or potential arrivals.
The Marcus Rashford to Aston Villa bomb dropped out of nowhere and developed so quickly that within a day, Rashford had agreed terms with Villa.
Man Utd have already sealed Ayden Heaven, and Patrick Dorgu is expected to follow him, his signing a matter of when, and not if.
However, United aren’t done yet in the market, especially if Fabrizio Romano’s recent report is anything to go by as he confirms a Man Utd player is set to leave despite a shock transfer twist.
Tyrell Malacia’s Man Utd exit
Tyrell Malacia has had the ignominy of coming off at half-time on every start he’s made for Man Utd since Ruben Amorim became Man Utd manager.
Amorim has trusted the Dutchman to rediscover the bite and energy he had before his injury but he’s looked extremely far off the pace.
With Luke Shaw’s expected return and Dorgu’s arrival, United were open to letting Malacia go on loan for now to get some minutes in his legs.
It looked like Malacia was Benfica-bound, ironically, to play backup to Alvaro Fernandez, who was sold to Benfica because United had Malacia!
However, disagreements over the loan fee ensured that Malacia’s loan to Benfica was off just as it was looking like a formality in a shock transfer twist.
Still, that doesn’t mean he’s out of the woods yet. Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Malacia is still expected to leave Old Trafford before the transfer deadline.
Man Utd clearing house for wage relief
Malacia’s move will hardly have earth-shattering consequences for United’s wage bill, like Rashford’s exit will probably have but it sends a message.
The club is finally being ruthless with the players who don’t fit the bill, even if it means taking some short-term loss and subsidising wages/agreeing to loans instead of sales.
Getting the wage structure right at the club had to be the first priority for Ineos in the transfer market and plans are clearly in place to do that.
Sometimes they won’t go completely smoothly, like Malacia’s hasn’t, but the club can’t lose sight of the endgame which is what they seem to be doing.
Undo one Glazer mistake at a time.
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