€38m net spend, Ugarte signs, stars sold - Manchester United transfer plans after signing Leny Yoro

Manchester United have secured two major signings at an early stage of the summer, but they still have a lot of work to do in the current transfer window.

United have been looking to lower the average age of their squad and have effectively signed Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro to replace veteran Anthony Martial and Raphael Varane, who both left as free agents.

It is understood they agreed to pay an initial €42.5m for Zirkzee (spread over three years) and a €62m fee for Yoro while they received a €26m fixed fee for Mason Greenwood, €5.5m for Willy Kambwala and €500,000 for Donny van de Beek. Benfica also spent €6m to trigger their option to sign Alvaro Fernandez permanently.

It means if they are paying three lots of €14.16m for Zirkzee then United have only spent €76.16m and received an initial €38m back in player sales, taking their net spend to roughly €38.16m. Assuming those figures are broadly accurate, it would mean they still have a sizeable chunk of their initial budget left to spend, though any further additions will now rely heavily on additional player sales.

After signing a forward and a defender, United's primary focus will be on signing a midfielder in the coming weeks. Manuel Ugarte looks the most likely addition, as long as a compromise on his fee can be reached, with Paris Saint-Germain understood to value him at roughly £50 million.

United would need to sell players in order to finance such a move, or look at ways around paying the fee upfront, such as spreading it over a number of years (as they have done with Zirkzee) or securing a loan deal with the option to make it permanent at the end. They are open to selling midfielder Casemiro, Hannibal and Scott McTominay this summer.

It is for these reasons a move for Benfica ace Joao Neves is seen as unlikely. The 19-year-old is of interest to the club and is believed to be open to the move, but his transfer fee may be too high for them to afford right now. In order to get the best value for money, United are also considering a number of loan deals and free agents this summer, with Adrien Rabiot viewed as another possibility to strengthen their midfield.

Even after a deal for Yoro, United would still like to sign a second defender with Matthijs de Ligt and Jarrad Branthwaite among their targets. Again, these moves rely heavily on departures first, with the club actively looking to sell Victor Lindelof and being much more open to letting Harry Maguire leave as well.

United are also hoping to sign a left-back to provide cover for Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia, though this is another position in which a loan addition could be targeted. They are also open to signing a right-back if they manage to sell Aaron Wan-Bissaka. A further attacking addition has also not been ruled out, though United will most likely only be able to fund one if they manage to sell Antony or Marcus Rashford.