Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford and the six players Man Utd MUST sell to raise funds for summer rebuild

Carrick will not be the only one assessing the squad, however, and nor will he have the final say. Head of recruitment Christopher Vivell and director of football Jason Wilcox have been planning for the summer transfer window for some time, where finding a new holding midfielder to take the baton from the departing Casemiro will be the top priority. Investing in one or two full-backs should also take precedence.

United spent over £200m last year after also spending big in the previous three summers and even if Carrick guides the team to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in three years, the club will need to delve deep into their pockets if they are to arm the coach with the squad he needs for his first full season in the Old Trafford dugout.

Casemiro is not the only one leaving when his contract runs out in June, with Jadon Sancho and Tyrell Malacia also set to leave. The trio will not bring in any transfer fees but their departures will lead to big savings across the wage bill which can be put towards recruiting fresh players.

GOAL has identified six players the club should sell in the summer to give them a proper war chest for their transfer dealings.

Ruben Amorim said he could look at Mason Mount's eyes "and see he wants this bad" but however much the midfielder has wanted to shake off his injury problems and become a regular for the Red Devils, he hasn't been able to make it happen. Mount has played 67 games across his three seasons since joining from Chelsea for £60m ($80m) in 2023, averaging out at 879 minutes per season.

In those games he has only managed seven goals and two assists, a huge disappointment given he contributed to 29 goals in his penultimate campaign at Chelsea one year before making the switch. His seven injuries have led to him spending 11 months in total on the sidelines, missing 58 games. Such an injury record means he will not be easy to sell but United know they simply cannot rely on him anymore.

When United signed Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain for a total package of £50m it was expected that he would take the place of Casemiro in Erik ten Hag's midfield as the Brazilian looked to be declining and on his way out of Old Trafford. Instead the opposite has happened, with Casemiro instead reclaiming his place as the club's top holding midfielder and relegating the Uruguayan to the bench.

Ugarte has not started a single game under Carrick and he also lost favour under Amorim, even though the Portuguese was his former coach at Sporting CP. Indeed, it was reported that Amorim told the midfielder in front of the whole squad how disappointed he was with his performances for United.

United will have to swallow another loss if they sell Ugarte but any fee they receive will help them with the daunting task of signing a replacement for Casemiro.

Rasmus Hojlund is another player who has rebuilt his career abroad after struggling to perform among the weight of expectation at United. The Danish striker is the joint-third top scorer in Serie A with 10 strikes among a total of 14 goals and four assists for Napoli.

The Italian champions' sporting director Giovanni Manna confirmed last month that they are looking to sign Hojlund permanently in the summer, and will trigger the €44m ($38m) permanent transfer clause they agreed with United as long as they qualify for the Champions League, which appears to be a case of when rather than if as they are second in the Italian top-flight with seven games left.

Joshua Zirkzee has not started a game under Carrick and you have to go back to the 1-1 draw with Wolves in late December for the last time he was included in a starting line-up, only for him to be hauled off at half-time by Amorim despite scoring. The Dutchman has only two goals and one assist this season while he has 11 goal contributions to show for himself since his £34m move from Bologna in 2024.

Zirkzee still has a number of clubs who admire him back in Italy, with Roma expressing interest in signing him last January on loan. United will be braced to make a loss on the forward but it is a price worth paying as he has not done enough to suggest he has a long-term future at the club, often looking like he cannot cope with the intense pace of the Premier League.

Rashford is the player with the potential to generate the most cash to swell the coffers as he has had an excellent season on loan at Barcelona, scoring 11 times and posting 10 assists in all competitions despite not being a regular starter. Before Christmas it was taken as a given that the Catalans would exercise the €30m clause they had agreed with United last summer to sign the forward permanently.

But Barca being the ultra-demanding club they are, Rashford has not truly satisfied his temporary employers and given the club's well-known financial difficulties, they are now looking to negotiate the fee in order to lower it.

United would be within their rights to reject that offer and see if any other club in Europe wants him, although Rashford's massive wages, which Barca have matched this season, remain a big hurdle for most teams to get over. One thing that is clear, though, is that Rashford cannot return to United as the relationship he had with his boyhood club has been broken, even with Amorim gone.

Andre Onana's last outing in a United shirt ended in the club's most humiliating cup elimination of all-time against League Two Grimsby Town but he has revitalised his career on loan at Trabzonspor, helping their title tilt and being called 'The Wall' by the club's social media team.

While reports have claimed that he wants to return to United and reclaim the No.1 jersey from Senne Lammens, the club are less willing to give him another chance, especially considering he earns an estimated £120,000 per week and they are looking to reduce their wage bill.

While United are unlikely to earn back the £47m they forked out for Onana when they signed him from Inter, his experience should help them at least earn a significant sum which they can re-invest in the squad.

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