It’s not just Zirkzee! Manchester United’s parallel import purge, half a million midfielders are facing leaving the team

In the past two years, Manchester United has spent heavily on the transfer market in an attempt to return to the top. In the past three years alone, the Red Devils have spent more than 800 million pounds in transfer fees, but most of them have been in vain. Their league ranking has declined instead of rising - they only ranked 15th in the Premier League last season. Today, under the leadership of Amorim, Manchester United temporarily ranks 8th in the Premier League, but there is still a big gap with the European teams.

Although owner Sir Ratcliffe repeatedly emphasized financial constraints, he still gave the 40-year-old Portuguese coach a budget of about 200 million pounds in this summer window and bought five new players at one time. With the arrival of new players, many redundant players in Manchester United are facing the risk of being purged and leaving the team, including Zirkzee and Ugarte.

In the past 48 hours, a number of foreign media revealed that Dutch forward Zirkzee has entered Manchester United's "available list." Last summer, Manchester United spent about 36 million pounds to sign him from Bologna to improve the team's forward line. As a result, he only scored 3 league goals last season. So far in the new season, he has 0 goals and 0 starts, and has only played 74 minutes in the Premier League.

This summer, Manchester United's forward line has been greatly upgraded. The additions of Cunha, Mbeumo and Sheshko have further caused Zirkzee to fall further down the team's pecking order, and the player himself has also begun to consider leaving. Manchester United CEO Omar Berada previously said: "If you can't achieve results within two years, you must sell, otherwise you will lose everything." Zirkzee will become another abandoned son.

Manchester United has more than one transfer black hole. Brazilian winger Anthony will join for 86 million pounds in 2022. He switched to Betis for only 21 million pounds this summer, with a book loss of 65 million pounds. And Ugarte, who was introduced from Paris Saint-Germain for 42 million pounds last summer, seems to be a new "transfer parallel import"! The 24-year-old Uruguayan midfielder dragged his feet defensively and made zero offensive contributions. The data never lies:

-Only 2 starts this season, and only 22 starts in the first season;

-Only completed 40 passes per 90 minutes, creating 0.3 chances;

-3.4 fouls per 90 minutes, with a passing rate of 73% in the same position - meaning that once he cannot grab the ball, he can only foul.

Ugarte can neither intercept and sweep like Casemiro, nor can he move forward like B Fee. His appearance was ranked behind two 30+ veterans, and his performance was disappointing. If a suitable offer is received in the winter window or next summer, Manchester United will most likely cash out him to raise funds for the next "lottery".