Man Utd could sign Goncalo Ramos and Cody Gakpo by ripping up 7 deals

Manchester United can raise funds for moves for Goncalo Ramos and Cody Gakpo by ripping up the contracts of seven under-performing stars including Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire. The Red Devils are spending a staggering £63million a year to leave the likes of Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof and Donny van de Beek on the bench – money which could go towards securing their top targets. 

United are believed to be interested in both PSV’S Gakpo and Benfica’s Ramos as Erik ten Hag seeks to improve his attacking options. Both players tend to fulfil the No 9 role, a position the club have suffered issues with this season with Ronaldo out of favour and Anthony Martial struggling for fitness. Marcus Rashford has been forced to fill in regularly as a result, moving away from his preferred position on the left-hand side. 

However, the club’s finances are under pressure after spending £216m in the summer to bring in six new faces, with Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro, Antony and Martin Dubravka all arriving at Old Trafford. As a result, departures will be needed in order to raise the required funds. 

Transfermarkt believes the players are worth a combined £49.5m (Gakpo £31.5m, Ramos £18m), giving a sense of the kind of money it would take to bring them to Manchester. In Ronaldo, Maguire, Shaw, Lindelof, Van de Beek, Aaron Wan Bissaka and Phil Jones, United have seven players they could release in order to raise that kind of money. 

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The septuple make around £63m a year in wages, with Ronaldo unsurprisingly earning the most, with an annual fee of around £26.7m. Maguire is next on around £10m followed by Shaw (£7.8m), Lindelof and Van de Beek (both £6.2m). Wan Bissaka (£4.7m) and Jones (£3.9m) then follow up as the lowest earners of the seven. 

It is, of course, unlikely that will sanction completely ripping up their contracts. The players are still sellable assets, with other clubs likely to be interested in paying for their services while there would also be significant termination fees written into their deals. 

However, it does look increasingly like Ten Hag could be willing to let players leave in order to free up cash. There is now an understanding between the Dutchman and Ronaldo that the Portugal captain will be allowed to leave if a suitable bid comes in for his services in January. It is a clear change in attitude from the club’s approach in the summer, when they tried to ensure he would remain at Old Trafford.

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The 37-year-old’s departure alone would probably be enough to raise the funds required to sign either Gakpo or Ramos, with the chosen star coming in as the five-time Ballon d’Or winner’s replacement. 

It remains to be seen what United’s next steps will be with their interest in Gakpo and Ramos but the Old Trafford faithful will hope that they do not come in just to warm the bench like some of the current out of favour stars. 

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