Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho is reportedly ready to green light selling Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial and Marouane Fellaini in order to sign Antoine Griezmann.
As noted by The Independent, the French international has long been linked with a move to Old Trafford as the marquee United signing this summer.
It’s added that it will cost the Premier League giants around €100m in order to satisfy the release clause in his contract with Atletico Madrid, and so they will have to get creative in order to fund the move.
In order to raise the required cash to pay the fee and satisfy his wage demands, it’s claimed that United will axe Rooney, Martial and Fellaini in order to make Griezmann at Old Trafford a reality.
The report goes on to detail how difficult Mourinho has it in terms of dealing with the significant spending that came before him from managers who succeeded Sir Alex Ferguson and failed at United.
Combined with their inability to qualify for the Champions League in three of the last four seasons, it is going to hit them hard financially and Mourinho is under incredible pressure to ensure that they don’t miss out on the top four again this season.
With all that in mind, the Independent claim that the only way that they can realistically continue to maintain a healthy financial sheet with certain players such as Bastian Schweinsteiger stuck at the club until his contract expires, is by selling others who still have strong pull in the market.
It’s noted that Rooney is attracting interest from China, and if United are smart about that move in particular, they can manipulate the Chinese spending to their advantage and get a huge offer.
Further, Martial’s breakdown with Mourinho on a personal level has sparked talk that he could be sold, while Fellaini is dispensable along with Ashley Young, as per the Independent.
It seems like a sensible strategy in truth as they continue to cut away the fringe players and focus on bringing in quality individuals capable of taking United back to the top of European football.
Unfortunately for them, it sounds much easier than it is, and so the first thing for United to secure is a top-four finish this season.