A piece of transfer business conducted by Manchester United looks worse and worse by the day and a brutal report claims Real Madrid believe €80m is now a fair valuation of the player United sold.
It’s fair to say Man Utd haven’t covered themselves in glory in the transfer market in recent times. The club have been criticised for splashing out bumper fees on stars who’ve gone on to flop, such as Antony, Jadon Sancho, Rasmus Hojlund etc etc.
The club’s business on the other end of the spectrum has also come under the microscope.
Indeed, Man Utd sold Scott McTominay – who was named Serie A MVP last year – for just £25.7m. Anthony Elanga was shipped to Nottingham Forest £15m and within two years he’d been sold to Newcastle for nearly four times that price (£55m).
A similar case to Elanga’s involves left-back Alvaro Carreras. Man Utd sold the 22-year-old to Benfica in the summer of 2024 for just €6m / £5m. One year later, Carreras moved to Real Madrid for €50m / £43.5m.
Man Utd did collect an extra £7.5m through a sell-on clause, though the latest from DefensaCentral paints a very bleak picture for the Red Devils…
Did Man Utd blunder… twice?
It’s claimed Real Madrid believe Carreras’ value has ‘already risen to at least €80 million.’
Even if a club were to bid that amount, Real Madrid ‘wouldn’t want to sell him’, such is their belief the Spaniard will improve even further from what is already a high standard over the coming years.
Man Utd had the opportunity to re-sign Carreras in the summer via a buy-back clause. However, having already landed a left wing-back in the form of Patrick Dorgu six months prior, United kept their powder dry.
DefensaCentral are a Real Madrid-centric outlet and naturally, they’ll put a positive spin on anything to do with the club.
Nevertheless, it won’t fill Man Utd fans or officials with joy to know they had a player on their books just over one year ago who is now a regular starter at Real Madrid, and that’s before we get to the money Man Utd left on the floor.
Remarkably, Carreras was never handed a senior debut during his four years on Man Utd’s books. The likes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick, Erik ten Hag and more recently Ruben Amorim all failed to give Carreras a chance.
Latest Man Utd news – Amorim replacements, Vlahovic truths and more…
In other news, Man Utd have drafted a three-man shortlist of managers to replace Ruben Amorim.
The Red Devils aren’t actively looking to sack the Portuguese right now, though they are conducting their due diligence and the trio of potential successors all have one thing in common.
Elsewhere, TEAMtalk understands Man Utd are NOT making any effort to sign Dusan Vlahovic despite reports from Italy linking him with a move to Old Trafford.
Man Utd were offered the Juventus striker in August and he’ll be on the move next summer when his contract expires, but not to Man Utd, as things stand.
