Manchester United are ramping up the pace in the transfer market as the window edges to a close with sales being a priority.
The United squad needs some more reinforcements but that can only be done once some players leave due to their precarious situation with Profit and Sustainability Rules.
As such, multiple players are on the chopping block, including marquee earners like Jadon Sancho, or academy products with high value like Scott McTominay.
Fabrizio Romano is now reporting that one exit is close to being sealed with the deal ‘almost there’ which can provide United with the necessary boost to attack the market again.
Fabrizio Romano on Man United exit
Among the many names listed for sale, the effect of Jadon Sancho’s reintegration into the first-team squad was felt most by another winger.
Facundo Pellistri was already a fringe player under Erik ten Hag and with Amad’s emergence plus Sancho’s return, that field was only going to get more crowded.
However, with the Uruguayan’s contract expiring next year, there was only faint hope that Manchester United would be able to find a buyer, especially for the right price.
Since then, the interest of Greek side Panathinaikos for Facundo Pellistris’ transfer developed, and the deal has moved on quickly since then.
Romano reports that they are pushing to close the deal ‘this week’, with the progress so advanced that the completion is ‘almost there’.
He names their manager, Diego Alonso as the key man pushing to complete the deal for his fellow Uruguayan Pellistri. The terms of the deal have not yet emerged.
The economics of Facundo Pellistri’s transfer
Pellistri arrived at Old Trafford in 2020 for a fee of about £9 million from Uruguayan side Penarol. As he is into the last year of his five-year contract, his book value can be safely assumed to be around £1.8 million or so.
Therefore, United will make a profit on his sale as long as they sell him for an amount greater than that figure.
Earlier reports have indicated that the club was holding out for a transfer fee that would see them recoup their initial investment as a whole.
However, Panathinaikos’ club-record transfer fee is about £7.3 million so it is highly unlikely that they spend more than that on Pellistri in the last year of his contract.
United will probably push for a sell-on clause in exchange for settling on a lower amount upfront as they don’t really need much to turn a profit on him due to amortisation.
That will put them in a good position if Pellistri breaks out in Greece with consistent game time as he has shown with his national team already that there is a good player there in ideal circumstances.
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