Manchester United plan £62.5m Cunha move but must raise funds from sales

Manchester United are pushing to sign Matheus Cunha from Wolves but may have to raise the money to trigger his £62.5m release clause by selling Marcus Rashford or other players.

Ruben Amorim has identified the 25-year-old Brazilian as his prime target for the No 10 berth, one of the head coach’s two priority positions, along with a centre-forward.

Rashford is on loan at Aston Villa, who have an option to buy the forward for £40m. United could get a higher fee if Rashford were sold to another club.

Rashford earns about £365,000 a week and will have three years on his contract in the close season. His transfer would release about another £56m in saved salary, giving United close to £100m to finance the deal for Cunha.

The Brazilian is thought to earn about £90,000 a week, so if he agreed terms for five years with a considerable salary increase, offloading ­Rashford should allow United to finance most of the purchase.

Rashford is minded that he will not play again competitively for United while Amorim and this executive are at Old Trafford, owing to a breakdown in the relationship.

Jadon Sancho, Antony, Casemiro and Rasmus Højlund are other players whose departure would boost United’s transfer budget. Amorim’s first-choice signing at centre-forward is Liam Delap, who has a £30m release if Ipswich are relegated, which is all but guaranteed.

Sancho is on loan at Chelsea, who have an obligation to buy the forward for £22m-£25m but can pay United £5m if they decide to send him back. If he returns to Old Trafford his asking price would be a minimum of £20m. Offloading Sancho would source most of Delap’s cost.

Antony has proved a success at Real Betis since moving on loan in January and United would hope to recoup at least £30m for the forward, who cost £81.5m in the summer of 2022.

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United retain an interest in ­Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, who has a release clause of about €75m (£64.5m). But before any deal for the Nigeria international, who is on loan at Galatasaray, could be considered, further money beyond any sale of Antony would need to be raised.

The departure of Casemiro, who has a year left in the summer on a £370,000-a-week deal, would draw a nominal fee, and Højlund’s price would be about £30m.

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