The striker saga at Manchester United could run and run until deadline day.
As it stands, United simply cannot afford to enter the bidding for Alexander Isak, Benjamin Sesko or Nicolas Jackson – and by the time they can, Isak may have joined Liverpool and Newcastle may have signed Sesko as his replacement.
But the number crunchers at Old Trafford will do what they can to make the figures work so United have a fighting chance of bringing in a striker after paying more than £130million to sign Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha this summer.
Barcelona covering all of Marcus Rashford’s wage for his season-long loan at the Nou Camp has given United what insiders describe as headroom in the budget. The flip side is that United will receive less than £30m if Barca make the deal permanent next summer.
United still need to give themselves some more room for manoeuvre and that could come in the shape of Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho and Antony – three of the other ‘bomb squad’ players who have been forced to train away from the first-team at Carrington in pre-season.
Confidential understands there is plenty of interest in Garnacho, Juventus are keen on Sancho and Antony is expected to head back to Real Betis where he spent the second half of last season on loan.
Ruben Amorim’s hunt for a new Manchester United striker could run until deadline day
United can’t afford to enter the bidding for the likes of Benjamin Sesko or Nicolas Jackson
Confidential understands there is plenty of interest in the outcasted Alejandro Garnacho
If all the stars align, United could yet clear enough space in the budget to sign a striker before the deadline on September 1. Isak and Sesko are likely to be off the table by then, and Jackson’s £80-100m valuation is seen as prohibitive – although a swap deal with Garnacho is not out of the question.
Aston Villa say Ollie Watkins is not for sale but that has yet to be tested this summer. And don’t forget Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a free agent.
It’s a 50-50 situation but there are more than five weeks to go until the transfer window closes, leaving enough time for United to raise the money for a late deal and maybe some deadline day drama.
No rest for Reds
United got straight down to training at 8am on Wednesday morning, despite arriving 12 hours earlier, in a bid to acclimatise in the US and shake off any jet lag.
The squad worked for two-and-a-half hours in the hot and humid conditions, in what was described as surprisingly tough session that ended with a small-sided game, before training for one-and-a-half hours on Thursday.
Ruben Amorim and his players are training at the Chicago Fire’s new £75million base, the Endeavour Health Performance Center, which only opened a few weeks ago in the west of Chicago around three miles from United’s hotel.
A state-of-the-art gym opens out onto the pitches which lie in the shadow of the spectacular Chicago skyline, and the complex is big enough that United and the Fire can work out there at the same time.
United will switch to Soldier Field – the Fire’s current home ground and the venue for United’s friendly against Bournemouth next week – for Friday’s training session, part of which will be open to the media, before they fly to New Jersey to face West Ham on Saturday.
Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox are said to have been observing training from the sidelines, chatting regularly with Amorim.
United got down to business with their first training session coming 12 hours after they arrived
Tour party shrinks again
The number of staff on tour has been falling in recent years, not least 12 months ago when some were withdrawn from the trip to the US as Ineos prepared to make 250 job cuts.
Redundancies have since risen to 450 and the travelling party has shrunk more than ever with just 60 employees included on the pre-season tour to Chicago, New Jersey and Atlanta, not including coaching staff and the leadership team themselves.
They are made up mainly of the football, travel and commercial departments as well as the club’s security team.
The touring party has shrunk again with just 60 employees included for pre-season
Harry in a hurry
Harry Maguire’s absence from United’s team flight from Manchester to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on Tuesday caused quite a stir when it emerged that the England defender was absent for personal reasons.
Rumours abound, as they do on these occasions, but Maguire soon put to them to bed by announcing on social media that all was well and he would be catching the next plane out on Wednesday.
The 32-year-old was good to his word and arrived at United’s hotel in Chicago on Thursday night in time to have dinner with his teammates.
Harry Maguire missed United’s initial flight out to the US but has linked up with the squad
Full flight to NJ
United will take a full 33-man squad to New Jersey for Saturday’s opening game against West Ham at the MetLife Stadium.
Any players who don’t play in the club’s opening fixture of the Premier League Summer Series will have a training session on the pitch after the game before Ruben Amorim and his players board the team plane for the flight straight back to Chicago where they will continue training ahead of Thursday’s second game against Bournemouth at Soldier Field.
United will take a full 33-man squad to New Jersey for Saturday’s opener against West Ham
Windy welcome for Utd
There has been little hullabaloo surrounding United’s time in Chicago so far, perhaps because the tour launched with a light and firework display 550 miles away at Niagara Falls and the opening game against West Ham on Saturday is 790 miles away in New Jersey.
The local media in this sports-mad town blessed with some legendary teams is too busy to pay much attention to United’s presence over the last three days, but Confidential has at least seen some evidence on the streets of the Windy City.
Banners attached to street lights in the upmarket Magnificent Mile where United are staying have been advertising the double header at Soldier Field on July 30 which sees United take on Bournemouth and West Ham face Everton.
The United players have been making the most of their low profile here by enjoying the designer stores and cafes around the Waldorf Astoria hotel where they have been staying, very similar to the Rodeo Drive district of LA where they were last year.
United’s players have made the most of their low profile in Chicago to visit designer stores
Carvalho cooking up a storm
New first-team chef Will Carvalho has gone down well with the players so far after joining United last month as a replacement for Omar Meziane who left the club in October.
Carvalho has kept the pasta and wrap live cooking stations, which have become a regular feature over the last couple of years, while adding his own twist – not least his signature vanilla rice pudding which he describes as ‘an iconic dish’ which was available to the squad when United played Leeds in Stockholm last weekend.
Carvalho came to United from Premier League rivals Brighton and has worked for the Brazil women’s national team and in rugby with Scotland and Gloucester.
He likes to give players a large choice of omelette fillings for breakfast, a pizza station the day before games, and eight different types of pasta, balancing the high-carb options with high-fuel salad options and protein. ‘The players have been speaking very positively about him,’ an insider tells Confidential.
Omar Meziane’s replacement as United’s first-team chef has gone down well with the squad
Signings silent for now
We would love to bring you details of the initiation ceremony for Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Diego Leon; what songs they chose to perform in front of their new United teammates in Chicago, who sang in tune and who should stick to football.
Sadly it hasn’t happened yet but will do on the next team night out. We will keep you posted. However, sources say that they are all good characters who fit in well with Ruben Amorim satisfied that they have already injected new energy into the squad.
