Why Manchester United cannot wait for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to sell players

As interminable as the wait is for the Ineos Group's 25% stake to be ratified, some things cannot wait at Manchester United. Donny van de Beek's time at the club is nearing an end.

During a fact-finding recce in Germany, the United football director John Murtough was told German football was years behind England. Van de Beek, bound for Eintracht Frankfurt, was so off the pace in the Premier League for United and Everton he resembled a Glyndebourne enthusiast who had mistakenly gone to Glastonbury.

United are braced for a £22.5million loss on a 26-year-old they only signed in September 2020. It would be an exaggeration to state Van de Beek was foisted onto Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but the United manager would have preferred Jack Grealish or James Maddison. Who wouldn't?

Maddison eventually left Leicester for the same £40m fee United agreed with Ajax for Van de Beek. Until injury interrupted his campaign, Maddison was the standout player in the Premier League. Van de Beek's playing time in the competition this season has amounted to two minutes.

He is not the only one United have to cut their losses on. If there is not a taker for Anthony Martial in the winter window, he will be released in the summer.

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United sources insist Jadon Sancho will not just be given away but the loss on the 23-year-old winger who has not played in nearly four months and has been exiled since September will be considerable.

Sancho joined United for £72.9m in July 2021 for what was viewed as a cut-price fee after Borussia Dortmund had valued him at €110m the previous summer. United did not do ample due