Manchester United have six sales up their sleeve to address the FFP transfer problem

It’s almost that time of year when transfers dominate the football news agenda.

Manchester United fans will be scanning the Manchester Evening Newswatching Sky Sports News on their TVs and following social media to see which players could be signed.

It’s understood Bayer Leverkusen’s defensive pair Jeremie Frimpong and Edmond Tapsoba have been tracked by United, while Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite is being considered. There is also momentum building behind a potential move for Crystal Palace forward Michael Olise.

United must sign a striker to ease the burden of finding the net on Rasmus Hojlund’s shoulders and strengthening the spine of the team is the priority this summer.

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To achieve that, United need to raise funds from sales to work around Financial Fair Play constraints, especially after missing out on lucrative Champions League revenue.

Multiple players will leave upon the expiry of their contracts, with a possible exit for Jonny Evans, a likely departure for Raphael Varane and a confirmed exit for Anthony Martial.

Omari Forson, Shola Shoretire and Brandon Williams are also expected to leave on free transfers and all departures will help create space on the wage bill for incoming signings.

Other players, like Jadon Sancho, Christian Eriksen and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, should be shifted on permanent sales, but what about the peripheral members of the squad?

Such sales might not generate a significant fee on their own, but there are six players on the cusp of the squad who could be sold and their combined exits would raise a decent sum.

The first on that list is Hannibal Mejbri. The midfielder is heading into the final year of his contract and has spent the season on loan with Sevilla, although the Spanish club won’t exercise their option to sign him permanently for £17 million and his future needs addressed.

Hannibal’s loan has not gone as hoped and it got off to a bizarre start when Sevilla announced he wouldn’t be considered for selection just over a week after his arrival.

There have been reports of differences between Hannibal and manager Quique Sánchez Flores and he’s made just five appearances since signing. Nevertheless, he retains potential and United should be aiming to get at least £10m for Hannibal in the summer transfer window.

Faundo Pellistri is another who left on loan in January after spending the first half of the season with United. Pellistri has looked below the level required to make regular starts at Old Trafford – he’s been limited to mostly substitute appearances – but should still raise a decent fee.

United paid £9m to sign Pellistri from Penarol in 2020 and although he hasn’t developed into a first-team starter, he’s an Urguray international and still only 22 years old, which suggested United should be looking to make a small profit on the outlay they committed for him.

Elsewhere, Benfica are set to trigger their option to sign Alvaro Fernandez for €6 million plus €3m in potential add-ons to sign him. United have included a buy-back clause and a sell-on fee if he is sold to another side in the future, so the club are happy with the deal they negotiated.

Should Amad be sold, he could raise as much as £20m, or more, due to his profile. The winger enjoyed an excellent 12 months with Sunderland in the Championship last season, however, has not been given a start for United since he returned from an injury in December.

Amad must be considering his future elsewhere and it seems he’ll only unlock his potential by pushing for a departure, as he’s been consistently overlooked at United.

Will Fish, who has made 45 appearances this season at just 21 years old, has gone under the radar on loan with Hibernian and is receiving transfer interest ahead of the summer.

Staff at United consider Fish’s loan to have been ‘very successful due to the volume of games played and against decent level of opposition’ and Cardiff considered a permanent bid for his signature in January, with other Championship clubs also tracking his progress.

Fish would be a superb signing for a Championship side and has aspirations of playing in the Premier League, so United should be looking to bank another £10m for him.

Finally, Dan Gore might be tempted by a move away, despite growing up supporting United, progressing through the academy and signing a new deal last summer.

Gore is the most contentious inclusion on the list because perhaps another loan exit would make more sense, to give him more experience and raise his resale value.

The youngster joined Port Vale on loan in January but sustained an injury in his first appearance and was, unfortunately, ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.

Combined sales of those aforementioned players could total around £70m.