Sale of Mason Greenwood is crucial to Manchester United’s transfer strategy.

Mason Greenwood has not played for Man Utd in two years and will be The latest set of financial results from Manchester United told you everything you need to know about their transfer plans for the rest of the year. United enjoyed record matchday, broadcasting and commercial revenues, as well as record ticket sales and the largest paid membership in world sport. Yet, they still had a net loss of £25.8million.

An overdue improvement was made in terms of player sales, though it was still not enough to offset the huge amount of spending last summer.

In a week that saw both Everton and Nottingham Forest charged with breaching Premier League Profitability and Sustainability rules, finance in football has rarely been as big an issue as it is now. Punishments could include a fine, points deduction or other sporting sanction. It is why United have to be so careful with what they do in the January transfer window.

The Ineos Group is already planning for a significant first summer at the club and once again, a key part of the transfer strategy will be selling players before they can reinvest it elsewhereIn particular, there is a strong argument for United to sell any academy products they no longer need this summer, given that the current financial rules actually encourage such a backwards approach.While United have always viewed their academy as a way to nurture the very best young talent to bolster their own first team, in the modern game, it makes a lot more sense to use it as a money-making machine.

IIt might appear counter-intuitive, but selling academy players is hugely beneficial to a club from a financial fair play perspective because the profit on the sale is purely classified as income. A player from the academy typically doesn’t require a transfer fee, or if they do, they tend to receive relatively low compensation amounts. It means if you sell an academy player for £10m, then on your books it will be £10m of instant profit.