How Manchester United could make more than £200m from sales in summer transfer window

The financial forecast from Manchester United is almost as brutal as the wintry weather. United's accounts, published on Wednesday, stressed revenue is projected to be lower this year as they are not in any of the European competitions in the second half of the season.

United have trimmed their expected revenues down from £650million to £680m to between £635million to £665m. Away from the Megastore tills, they will have another squad rebuild to start and that has to be facilitated by proactive sales.

The decisiveness in which United are now selling youngsters with no pathway to the first team has been overdue. The majority of academy members do not make it at United but the club have barely milked the cash cow on their turf.

Manchester City have. The highest level James Trafford ever played at was League One and he still fetched the same fee of £20m as England international and one-time United No.1 Dean Henderson.

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Chelsea had a £40m offer for Henderson rejected in 2021, the summer he was informed he would become the outright first choice at United. Then Henderson contracted Covid-19, was laid low for the best part of two months and his manager did not have the heart to drop David de Gea. De Gea and Henderson ended up leaving in the same summer.

United did not always dawdle. David Healy only ever made three substitute appearances but United banked £1.5m from Preston North End in 2001 - 10 days after an eye-catching cameo against Ipswich Town. Giuseppe Rossi and Gerard Pique, headline arrivals at the academy in 2004, left in successive summers for £6.7m and £7m.

Those deals are undermined by