Some of that is FFP restrictions, and if we sell a homegrown player like Maguire and/or McTominay, that number shoots up. I think with sales, and a well structured deal, we are going to be able to spend 50-70m on a striker. But we’ll need to sell 2-3 players to make that happen.
It’s also worth considering savings in wages as we restructure the squad. Okay, we’ve added mount. His wages will be offset by a couple of departures. Fred seemingly likely to go for about 20m and Elanga 15m, also 35m added to the kitty. If Telles, Bailly and VdB can be sold (now getting some interest from SA) for a combined 15-20 (for all three), the war chest is up to 50-55m, plus whatever we had left. Then consider that Onana May cost 47mm or so but over a five year deal, the club is going to save approximately 50m on the difference between his and De Gea’s wages. Which is insane.
Transfers can also be done creatively. We can loan now with an obligation to buy in 12 months for 50-70m. Maybe adding 5m or so to the fee the for the privilege. Loads of big transfers have been done like this, including Mbappe. There are lots of options in the squad to raise funds through sales.
Bottom line is that I can’t see there being a serious impediment to making a big signing, unless we really have no creative juices at all.
