Double signing, £60m deal and Euro 2024 gem - The transfer trend Manchester United can exploit

The transfer market has changed unrecognisably over the last four years. The blow to club finances inflicted by Covid-19 and the tightening of spending rules in domestic leagues have contributed to a seismic shift in the power balance in the market.

Clubs on the continent have seen their clout significantly reduced. Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are still capable of pulling off the odd big deal - see Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham last summer - but others can't operate as they used to. Debts have engulfed Barcelona, who are being reined by La Liga's cost control, and Juventus are no longer a major force in the market.

Premier League clubs coped with the loss of revenue during Covid-19 better than their European counterparts and for a while held sway in the market. A trend of English clubs selling players to each other has only risen in recent seasons. Sometimes the only buyer for a player you want to shift is a domestic rival, as Manchester City have discovered in the cases of Raheem Sterling, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus.

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Manchester United capitalised on that last summer by signing Mason Mount from Chelsea, the first time they had paid a fee to a top-six rival for a player since signing Nemanja Matic.

Now, though, another trend is beginning to emerge, which is players having release clauses inserted into their contract, giving them some control over their future. The transfer budget might be bordering on the unlimited in Saudi Arabia, but a lot of players in their prime don't see it as an attractive option.

So having a contract clause gives them some say in their future. The problem for players can be that the better they perform the more they cut off their options off a move. Bernardo Silva at City is a prime example, with his latest contract believed to have a clause of around £50m in. The Portuguese playmaker has been eyeing up a new challenge for several years but his ideal destination, Barcelona, remains out of reach even at that sum.

One player who looks set to make the most of a release clause is Michael Olise, a potential target for United this summer. Erik ten Hag saw first-hand how dangerous he can be at Selhurst Park in May, but a right-winger wasn't a priority and Olise's £60m price looks set to be activated by Bayern.

United could make the most of Joshua Zirkzee's contract, however. The 23-year-old is a striker being monitored this summer, and a €40m release clause is attractive. United don't have a big budget to play with so need to look for value deals and although Zirkzee remains a work in progress, he has a similar background to Rasmus Hojlund.

Zirkzee is in the Netherlands squad at Euro 2024 having been a late call-up, but he is yet to feature in the tournament with Wout Weghorst being called on as the substitute striker against Poland and France. His countryman Jeremie Frimpong started in the goalless draw against France and the attacking right-back is another player being monitored by United.

He was a key figure in Bayer Leverkusen's unbeaten domestic double and the €40m release clause in the 23-year-old's contract makes him easy enough to budget for. There has to be a chance at least one club will try and tempt him away from a Champions League campaign with Xabi Alonso's side at that price.

One player whose release clause suddenly looks a lot more attractive thanks to his performances in Germany is Nico Williams. The Athletic Bilbao winger was sensational against Italy and although he recently signed a new contract with Athletic Bilbao, the release clause remains at €55m. That looks like a bargain for the 21-year-old on recent evidence.

There is no suggestion United are in for Williams and with Alejandro Garnacho and Marcus Rashford in the squad, another right-footed left-winger isn't required, but it shows that with players realising the sense of having some control over their futures, release clauses are becoming an increasingly popular way of getting deals done.