Ruben Amorim made decision on £270million quartet called out by Man Utd chief

Ruben Amorim has shown his ruthless side by axing no fewer than four players whose transfers were questioned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The Manchester United manager wielded the knife during a dramatic summer overhaul at Old Trafford, where the exits proved just as significant as the new arrivals.

Slashing expenditure has emerged as a key objective for minority shareholder Ratcliffe since his arrival at Old Trafford. The British tycoon specifically mentioned five first-team players earlier this year, who commanded a staggering combined £340million in transfer fees upon joining United, alongside some eye-watering wage packets. From those five players - Rasmus Hojlund (£72m transfer fee), Jadon Sancho (£73m), Antony (£81m), Andre Onana (£43m) and Casemiro (£70m) - just two remain at the club, with Onana poised to complete a loan switch to Trabzonspor.

This demonstrates the urgency with which Amorim and United's hierarchy are working to restore equilibrium to the squad. In a BBC Sport (via The Mirror) interview from March 2025, Ratcliffe discussed the players he and his team inherited from previous regimes who arrived on bloated salaries and transfer fees that may not have been warranted.

"If you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didn't buy, we're buying Antony, we're buying Casemiro, we're buying Onana, we're buying Hojlund, we're buying Sancho," he said. "These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we've inherited those things and have to sort that out. For Sancho, who now plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we're paying £17m to buy him in the summer."

From that cohort, Sancho has once more departed on loan for Aston Villa, whilst Hojlund has switched to Napoli on temporary terms. Antony has also moved to Real Betis on a permanent basis after spending the second half of last season on loan in Spain.

Elsewhere, Onana looks poised to join Super Lig side Trabzonspor on a season-long agreement. Casemiro could be the only named played to remain, meanwhile, and he appears destined to complete what might be his final campaign under contract at United.

The Brazil midfielder remains United's top earner on £350,000 a week, representing a hefty outlay for a player set to turn 34 in January. Sending out Sancho (£250,000 a week) and Hojlund (£85,000 a week) on loan will spare the Red Devils more than £1million in wages per month, whilst Marcus Rashford's temporary switch to Barcelona has freed up another £300,000 from the weekly wage bill.

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The financial pruning has carried a price, both monetarily and regarding United's standing being damaged by certain fiscal blunders. Antony's departure, for instance, will tarnish their reputation after acquiring the winger for more than £80m three years back, only to offload him for just £19m this summer.

The difficulty in securing a permanent home for perpetual loanee Sancho serves as yet another sign not everyone covets the assets United fought to acquire in recent seasons. While not every significant United outlay in the contemporary era has proved unsuccessful, Ratcliffe remains determined to eliminate some of those weaker investments.

"Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time," he added while speaking to the BBC earlier this year.

"We've got this period of transformation where we move from the past to the future. There are some great players in the squad as we know, the captain is a fabulous footballer. We definitely need Bruno, he's a fantastic footballer."

Supporters will hope prized signings Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko can soon join that roster of confirmed transfer triumphs after reshaping their frontline. And they'll have a massive chance to do precisely that if they can deliver in Sunday's derby clash against Manchester City.