Sir Jim Ratcliffe furious at Man Utd wage bill with two big earners up for sale

Manchester United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is scrambling to reduce the club’s wage bill in an effort to free up funds to improve their underachieving squad.

Manchester United are having a painful season and manager Ruben Amorim has admitted they find themselves in a relegation scrap. They currently sit 14th in the league and fans are massively concerned that Amorim will not be given the tools to take the club back to the top.

Their worries are valid as Manchester United do not have the funds to make any major moves this January and they are desperately trying to get some of the club’s top earners off the books. Sources have said there is fury at the state of the wage bill and Sir Jim Ratcliffe is determined to bring it down.

United have put some of their biggest names up for sale as the new owners are tired of having players on high wages giving little return. The new regime have had enough of the poor financial decisions and will be cut throat when trying to fix the problems, according to sources.

Marcus Rashford is for sale and regarded as one of the players who is overpaid for the work he delivers. They are keen to sell in January as TEAMtalk revealed and have told the forward he is free to leave.

Casemiro is also a player that the club are very keen to offload; the midfielder has been underwhelming and struggled to keep up with the pace of the Premier League.

He is one of United’s highest earners and takes home £350k per week on a contract that runs until the summer of 2026 and contains the option for a further year. His deal is one example of the kind of transfer that left Sit Jim and his team bemused when they acquired Manchester United.

It’s unlikely you will see a player aged 30+ get more than two years on his contract at United and they are shifting focus to bringing in more potential players who have a lower average age and less extreme salary expectations.

Work is being done to try and move on the likes of the former Real Madrid man and some sources have suggested that United have opened up a channel of communication with the chiefs of the Saudi Pro League to try and shift some of their unwanted stars. Man Utd transfer news: Zirkzee eyeing exit

Earlier, TEAMtalk also revealed that Joshua Zirkzee recognises he will have to leave Man Utd sooner rather than later.

The Dutch forward was taken off in the first half of Man Utd’s loss to Newcastle on Monday and he could be set for an early exit from the club overall.

TEAMtalk correspondent Rudy Galetti has revealed that Zirkzee is being eyed by three Italian clubs after leaving Serie A in the summer.

While Zirkzee went off against Newcastle, there was no room for Rashford to come on, despite his return to the bench – and Amorim has explained why he didn’t send the 27-year-old on.

Man Utd’s top earners