Manchester United face stumbling blocks in chase of key transfer target Nuno Mendes | OneFootball

Manchester United need a sale in order to meet Paris Saint-Germain’s €60m valuation of Nuno Mendes, with Ruben Amorim and the new INEOS leadership keen to start a badly-desired overhaul.

The 22-year-old left-back has been targeted as a key first signing to give balance to the team, but the Old Trafford hierarchy are currently short on the salary offer as well as the transfer fee.

The situation reflects how difficult this crucial first window is for Amorim, with many at United openly talking about how much business needs to be done but how little money there is to spend amid Profit and Sustainability Rule restrictions.

The club have essentially let it be known that they will listen to offers for almost any player, including popular homegrown talents such as Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho. Such reports have dominated the first few days of the window, only showing how stark the situation is.

It is understood that Garnacho has come up in talks between United and PSG, although there hasn’t yet been a suggestion there could be any kind of swap for Nuno Mendes.

The left-back worked under Amorim at Sporting for two years and they won a Portuguese title together, with that also bringing the added value of the player implicitly understanding the manager’s system at a time when he badly needs it to sink in for an imbalanced team.

Nuno Mendes has worked with Ruben Amorim previously at Sporting (Getty Images)

As it stands, however, there is a considerable difference in terms of asking price and United’s valuation with the club even short on Mendes’ desired salary. An added issue that will only further complicate the club’s business is that any such targets effectively have to forget about participating in the Champions League or winning major honours outside cups for at least a season.

United are hence trying to use the situation as an opportunity to clear the decks without greater football cost, since they are highly unlikely to either go down or get into Europe. The new football hierarchy consequently want a fast clearout over this January window and the summer. They also need it in terms of sales.