'Bad smell'- Manchester United urged to take a hit on players unworthy of donning the jersey

Speaking on his Rio Ferdinand Presents YouTube channel, the United icon highlighted his uneasiness over the fact that Sancho will return to Old Trafford after his third consecutive loan exit.

Unai Emery’s side are expected to cover over 80% of the wages of the Manchester City graduate alongside possible bonuses, with the financial statements at Carrington reflecting those balances as 20% expenses given that United weren’t able to sell him on a permanent transfer. But when you compare this quite directly with how United sold Rasmus Hojlund in a move which took him to Napoli, it was something quite telling given how the Premier League heavyweights managed to include a £38m obligation to buy and a £5.2m loan fee for his services.

Despite the criticism, the former Man United skipper went on to praise United over the fact that the board’s strategy is to not have any unsettled players in the dressing room and the fact that the environment will now look more settled at Carrington.

He said:

“Ain’t Sancho’s got an obligation to buy at the end of it?

“I said this ages ago, if you’re going to take massive losses on these players, take them. Just to get out.

“I don’t think you can think about the financials too much if you’re going to have them around the place and let them be a bad smell around the place. No, get rid. I don’t care.”

United will be hoping for a Rashy like rejuvenation for Sancho

Now when it comes to Sancho, he enters the final year of his contract at Old Trafford (with Manchester Reds holding an option for one more), and he would be hoping to replicate the success that Marcus Rashford enjoyed at Villa last season. We saw how Rashy’s form ended up earning him an England recall and then a move to Barcelona, and his experience definitely would have played a role in convincing Sancho to move to Villa Park.

Manchester Reds can still end up getting a fee if Sancho ends up impressing, but that will come without an obligation from Villa, and now going into the autumn weeks, this outcome of fees will be hanging entirely on how he performs at Villa and then their desire to make the deal a permanent move for Sancho.

We saw how Chelsea paid a £5m penalty to avoid activating a £25m clause to take Sancho to Stamford Bridge last season, but with time, United’s room for manoeuvre for a move away for the former Dortmund forward is narrowing.