Manchester United face Kobbie Mainoo transfer issue as £50m problem explained

Man United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo faces an uncertain future at Old Trafford having been linked with a move away from M16 this summer.

Manchester United have been told why selling Kobbie Mainoo abroad could be an issue if they need to boost their PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules) position.

The Reds will need to sell players if they want to add to Ruben Amorim's squad this summer. Financial Fair Play rules mean English top-flight clubs are only permitted to make £105million of losses over a rolling three-year period.

One way in which United and other Premier League sides could boost their PSR situation is by selling their homegrown talent. Academy players would represent pure profit on balance sheets for the selling club as they did not pay a transfer fee to sign them.

One such player who has been linked with a potential departure from Old Trafford is Mainoo. However, former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson has suggested that the Reds may face an obstacle if they wish to sell their midfielder abroad.

“He’s a valuable player from a PSR perspective because it goes straight to the bottom line and it’s close to pure profit from a PSR perspective. But you’ve got to replace that player and it sounds like his wages at the moment are manageable," he told Football Insider.

“Clearly, if you buy a player, the chances are the wages will be higher and you will have a transfer fee to amortise over the lifetime of that contract, so it can be a false economy.

“Really what you end up doing is taking an immediate profit but then spreading the cost over the next five years, so I don’t think the Mainoo sale will be driven by PSR. I think they’ll have a look at whether the player is considered good enough.

“I think there’s a big issue as to where he’s going to go abroad. I don’t really see that. No league in the world can outpay what the Premier League would pay, so I think if he’s going to go, the likelihood is he stays in the Premier League somewhere.

“We know Chelsea have expressed interest. I would think if he does leave United, which I think he probably won’t, then he’ll stay in the Premier League. Otherwise, you’d really question who in European football has got the money to pay £40-50million for him.

“I can’t see it. You are talking about Bayern Munich and PSG. It’s hard to think of anybody else that would be interested and could actually do the deal. It’s not that teams wouldn’t be interested, but in terms of being able to do the deal, it feels like probably just those two teams.”

Here at the Manchester Evening News, we’re dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis.

Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.

You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.

And finally, if you’d rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast, featuring The Samuel Luckhurst Show and The Midweek Debate. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.