Man Utd ready to let trio worth £156m leave for FREE to fund huge summer transfer

Manchester United are ready to let three expensive Erik ten Hag transfer flops walk for nothing - to help kickstart the Ruben Amorim era.

The United boss replaced Ten Hag in 2024, inheriting a bloated squad filled to the brim with underperforming, expensive stars. That has contributed to a miserable first 12 months for Amorim, who has picked up just nine wins from his 32 Premier League matches in charge.

Amorim managed to move on a number of high-profile players during the summer window, with Alejandro Garnacho and Antony leaving permanently. There were also loan moves for Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford, Andre Onana and Jadon Sancho - all of whom are unlikely to continue their Old Trafford careers next year.

And the Sun report that more players will be shown the exit door in 2026, to help free up funds for a big midfield signing. United opted to spend heavily on attacking reinforcements this time around, with Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko arriving for a combined fee of more than £200m.

That did mean that other areas were not improved upon, most notably at the heart of their midfield. There were huge calls for a new central midfield player to be added to help the implementation of Amorim’s strict 3-4-2-1 system.

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United were heavily linked with Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba, but despite exploratory talks, a deal was deemed too expensive. The Seagulls value the Cameroon international at £115m and would be the marquee signing of next summer’s window.

The Sun report that United bosses are ready to sanction another swathe of big-name exits, to help slash the wage bill before another splurge in the transfer market. Casemiro would lead that departure list with the 33-year-old set to become a free agent at the end of the current season.

The Brazilian has been a regular both under Ten Hag and Amorim, but after a fantastic first season, has struggled to replicate that form. He has remained a regular under Amorim, but showed his limitations with a damaging red card in the recent win over Chelsea.

United signed Casemiro for £70m from Real Madrid in 2022 and remains one of the club’s highest earners. The Red Devils do retain an option to extend his current contract for a further year, but he now looks increasingly likely to be leaving on a free.

Sancho was an even more expensive misfire by the previous regime, signing for £73m in the same summer as Casemiro. He has failed to play a league match for United in over two years, spending much of that time away on loan.

He is currently attempting to rebuild his career with Aston Villa, but will be a free agent next July - with United unlikely to trigger the 12-month option in his deal.

And Tyrell Malacia is another almost certain to move on having been the only member of Amorim’s ‘bomb squad’ not to secure a summer exit.

The left-back was signed for £13m, becoming Ten Hag’s first signing but has endured a torrid time with injuries. He looked certain to be leaving during the most recent window, but saw a move to Turkey collapse.

Like Casemiro and Sancho, he will be able to leave on a free next year. But one player looking increasingly likely to STAY with United is former captain Harry Maguire.

The England international became the world ’s most expensive defender when he arrived from Leicester in 2019. And despite falling out of favour under Ten Hag, has the backing of his current head coach.

United triggered a contract extension earlier this year to keep him under terms for this season and now hope to tie him down to a longer contract - albeit on lesser terms.

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