Manchester United and Dan Ashworth plot £200m transfer cull as six priorities named

With Dan Ashworth now firmly in place as sporting director, Manchester United are poised to kick their squad revamp into high gear in preparation for the upcoming season.

The Red Devils had already been eyeing potential signings before finalising Ashworth's move from Newcastle. Now that he's on board, the club is expected to accelerate their overhaul plans, with manager Erik ten Hag and his squad returning for pre-season training next week.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has acknowledged the enormity of the challenge at Old Trafford, suggesting it could take "two or three summer windows" to see significant progress. This summer marks the first transfer window under Ratcliffe's watch, alongside Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox, and incoming CEO Omar Berrada, who joins the team next week.

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Ratcliffe's call for a dose of reality this summer is apt, given the financial constraints imposed by the Premier League's profit and sustainability rules (PSR). While previous summers saw United splash out vast sums, compliance with PSR means a more modest budget this time around, believed to be in the region of £50m.

United are therefore looking to move on several more players to raise funds for upgrades, with three positions - centre-back, midfielder and striker - viewed as priorities in this window, reports the Mirror.

In terms of outgoings, United will, in effect, listen to offers for most of their squad, with the exception of Andre Onana, Diogo Dalot, Lisandro Martinez, Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho, Rasmus Hojlund and Amad Diallo. United will even consider a sizable offer for skipper Bruno Fernandes, although he is expected to stay and sign a new deal.

Seven players United want to offload are Casemiro, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Christian Eriksen, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood, with the dream scenario for United being able to sell all of them to raise in the region of £200m, giving them a transfer spend of £250m, including the original £50m budget.

Whether United manage to offload all of those players remains to be seen, although what is certain is they will have to take a major financial hit on several of them, in particular Antony, who cost £85m, and Sancho, who cost £73m.

In terms of signings, United have made an initial bid of £35m plus £8m in add-ons for Everton and England centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite. With Everton demanding £70m, United are looking elsewhere and are exploring a £55m move for Bayern Munich defender Matthijs De Ligt.

In midfield, United are looking for a new partner for Mainoo and have scouted Brazil international Joao Gomes of Wolves, as well as Benfica's 19-year-old rising star Joao Neves. United are also pushing to sign Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Manuel Ugarte and securing any of those would be a major coup.

United want to ease the goalscoring burden on Rasmus Hojlund and have focused their search on Bologna's Dutch striker Joshua Zirkzee, who has yet to feature for Holland at Euro 2024, but who has the potential to take his career to the next level by moving to the Premier League.

All of the targets identified by United are young players with potential for the future and resale value, rather than repeating the mistakes of the past at United by paying huge sums for big names or inflated prices for unproven players.