Manchester United’s owners, the Glazer family, are prepared to hand David Moyes a £60 million transfer kitty this summer in order to allow Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor to stamp his personality on the Old Trafford squad.
Moyes is due to return from a family holiday a week on Monday and it is understood that the Scot will then embark on securing his leading transfer targets ahead of the club’s three-week tour of the Far East and Australia, which begins with a friendly against a Singha All-Star XI in Bangkok on July 13.
Moyes is expected to recruit at least three new signings. Everton defender Leighton Baines, Barcelona midfielders Cesc Fàbregas and Thiago Alcantara and Borussia Dortmund forward Robert Lewandowski have all been identified by the club as targets, although interest in Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini has cooled because of his £23 million buy-out clause. United will also be among the interested parties in Gareth Bale should Tottenham be willing to sell the Wales international.
It is unlikely the money will be used to fund a move for former United star Cristiano Ronaldo, although the club will continue to monitor the situation should the Portuguese forward ask to leave Real Madrid this summer. The £80 million fee United received for Ronaldo in 2009 and some prudent summer spending in recent years are part of the reason why United have money to spend now.
The expected departures of Nani and Anderson, and potentially French full-back Patrice Evra, could increase Moyes’s spending power still further, although the £60 million United have earmarked this year is already in excess of anything Ferguson was given in his 26-year reign as manager.
Last summer Ferguson persuaded the Glazers to agree to the £24 million purchase of Robin van Persie from Arsenal and the £17 million signing of Shinji Kagawa from Borussia Dortmund. They also came close to the £30 million signing of Brazil international Lucas Moura, before a late swoop by Paris St-Germain. It is thought that £30 million may have been rolled forward as part of this summer’s transfer kitty.
With both Van Persie and Kagawa playing key roles in United’s successful Premier League campaign last season, when the team delivered the club’s 20th league title, the Glazers are seeing the virtue of spending on the pitch, especially with domestic rivals Manchester City,Chelsea and Arsenal all shaping up to spend heavily.
The January signing of Wilfried Zaha from Crystal Palace for £12 million, prior to him being loaned back to the Selhurst Park club, will not impact on Moyes’s £60 million fund.
Although United still have a debt standing in the region of £370 million, the club’s accelerated commercial growth has enabled the Glazers to comfortably meet interest payments on their loans. The financial position has also been buoyed by the world record £53 million-a-year shirt sponsorship deal with Chevrolet owners, General Motors agreed last July – which begins in the summer of 2014 – and a £180 million partnership with Aon for the naming rights of the club’s Carrington training ground. United are also expected to negotiate a kit manufacturing deal with Nike in the next six months that could be worth some £600 million.
Source: b/r
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