First Man Utd sale of Ratcliffe era all but confirmed with Euro giants ‘almost certain’ to complete raid

Manchester United have ambitious plans for the summer window and part of that will be offloading players that aren’t in Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s long-term plans. 

Casemiro, Christian Eriksen and Raphael Varane have been heavily linked with departures, with Ratcliffe determined to focus on developing younger players moving forward.

However, according to Portuguese outlet O Jogo, Man Utd are ‘almost certain’ to sell promising young left-back Alvaro Fernandez to Benfica.

The 21-year-old signed for Man Utd from Real Madrid back in 2020, in a deal that was considered to be a serious coup at the time.

Fernandez enjoyed a successful season-long loan with Championship side Preston North End last season, before joining Granada on loan at the start of the current campaign.

That deal was cut short in January so that he could join Benfica where he has forced his way into the starting XI, scoring one goal in 12 appearances so far.

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The report states that Benfica are planning to trigger the €6m (approx. £5.1m) buy option clause in Fernandez’s loan contract, but must do so before the deadline of June 30th.

Benfica set to buy Man Utd defender

O Jogo adds that several other Portuguese clubs are interested in Fernandez but everything points towards him signing permanently with Benfica.

Although, Roger Schmidt’s side could opt to trigger their buy option and flip the defender for an instant profit, rather than keep him at the club.

As mentioned, Fernandez won’t be the only player to be sold by Man Utd this summer as Ratcliffe aims to reshuffle his squad.

Players past their best who are on big wages including Casemiro, Eriksen and Varane look set to depart Old Trafford, for example.

As exclusively revealed by TEAMtalk, Scott McTominay could also be axed as those behind the scenes at Man Utd do not believe he’s good enough to help them achieve their ambitious aims.

Harry Maguire, Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof have also been heavily linked with departures, so Man Utd could look very different in defence and midfield next season.

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Ratcliffe has made signing a top-quality young centre-back his summer priority for that reason.

TEAMtalk sources state that Everton star Jarrad Branthwaite remains at the top of their shortlist, while Man Utd also have their eye on Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo and Juventus’ Gleison Bremer.