Reds caught in Catch-22 sale quandary

TO a demographic of younger fans bought up on a diet of Football Manager and FIFA, the transfer window needs winning as much as the football does

- TYRONE MARSHALL

In fact, it can often feel like transfers elicit more excitement than the actual action on the pitch.

The success of those games has made everyone a director of football and opinions on who should be signed and who should be sold are entrenched, often without any realisation of the complexities involved.

Given their army of fans worldwide, no club has as many armchair  recruitment experts as Manchester United.

There are plenty of dream transfer windows doing the rounds on social media, but not many of them are conceived within the realities of how United are operating this summer.

A budget of around £100 to £120million has been halved with the deal to sign Mason Mount from Chelsea.

That is the Football Manager reality holding United's transfer business back. Sales can boost it, but little progress has been made on that front so far.

The signing of Mount will mean United will seek to sell Fred, with  Fulham interested but put off by a £20m price tag. Donny van de Beek is another potential midfield departure, but is recovering from a serious knee injury and hasn't played enough football to put himself in the shop window.