How do Manchester United get better at offloading unwanted players?

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During the transfer window, it’s always the talk of new faces which gets fans excited.

The signing of Donny van de Beek has got tongues wagging and United fans would go into meltdown if Jadon Sancho followed him through the door.

That said, it can be almost as important – if not as exciting – to offload the deadwood.

United have no shortage of players hanging around the club who have little to no future under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo in defence, possibly Diogo Dalot as well. Andreas Periera and Jesse Lingard aren’t needed now United have three elite creative midfielders, and Juan Mata still around too.

That’s five players United are paying money to who have little realistic prospect of adding value to the first team.

Shifting unwanted players has been a consistent problem for United during Ed Woodward’s time at the club – but how do United get better at it?

The Smalling example

Chris Smalling’s reputation at United wasn’t the best when he headed off on loan to Roma last season.

But what United have done is put him in the shop window, and now the Serie A club are reportedly interested in a permanent deal.

The Mirror report that will net United between £16 and £18 million, as well as clearing his £70,000-a-week wages (Spotrac) off the bill.

For players such as Jones and Rojo, there simply appears to be little or no interest in their services right now.

That’s understandable because they’re injury prone and not playing. So first they have to go somewhere, play every week, prove their fitness and actually generate some interest.

Even if not getting a transfer fee this summer isn’t ideal, it’s surely better than paying the pair to barely be used for yet another season.

The example of Smalling – and Alexis Sanchez – shows the value of putting players in the shop window via the loan market.

High wages may mean lower asking prices

Rojo signed a new deal in March 2018, with Jones doing the same as recently as February 2019, on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s watch.

This was likely done to protect their transfer value if United did sell.

What it’s actually served to do is worsen the issue. There is nothing pushing those players to give up their bumper United contracts any sooner than they need to.

In that instance, United may need to swallow their pride and lower their asking prices to get them off the books, especially in the current climate.

Of course United don’t want to be seen as a soft touch in the market. But they surely don’t want to pay players they’re hardly using a small fortune either.

There now has to be a degree of decisiveness from United. No more frivolous long-term deals, realistic asking prices and a ruthlessness in clearing these players off the wage bill.

It’s a road well-trodden in United terms, but this is where a Director of Football would come in handy too.

Woodward loves chasing the big deals – commercial and footballing – but the nitty gritty of clearing out squad players, which could free up valuable space on the wage bill for new-boys isn’t so enticing to him.

Unless there’s a change of approach from United in terms of outgoings, the same problems will persist this summer and beyond, hamstringing Solskjaer and managers to come.

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