Man Utd receive La Liga transfer boost as West Ham ‘eye’ trio

There were rumours of incomings and outgoings at Old Trafford on Friday.
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Manchester United’s hopes of landing one of their long-term transfer targets have been raised after La Liga president Javier Tebas gave a gloomy overview of Barcelona’s current financial state.

The Catalan giants have made progress on the pitch after moving clear of arch rivals Real Madrid in the race for the La Liga title and they are now within touching distance of a place in the Copa del Rey Final after a 1-0 win in the first leg of their semi-final meeting with Carlo Ancelotti’s side on Thursday night.

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However, their perilous financial concerns were heightened by early exits in the Champions League and Europa League - with the latter coming in a round-of-16 defeat against United last month. With talk now turning towards the next step in their progression under club legend Xavi, La Liga chief Tebas has confirmed the Camp Nou club will be unable to spend this summer and would only retain around 40% of any player sales.

Speaking at the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit, Tebas said: “As of today, Barcelona doesn’t have any room in its budget to spend in the upcoming transfer window. Barcelona has been involved in questionable behaviour which has had an impact on La Liga and we are acting accordingly. We have ruled that they can no longer sign more players.

He continued: They sold off £620m in TV rights and tried to find different ways to solve the situation but they won’t be able to do that next season. We have strict economic controls. At the end of each window, we tell all the clubs in La Liga what they can spend. In the case of Barcelona, they have to drop from spending on wages and transfers from £532m to £399m, so it’s a budget of minus £177m. They have to reduce their investment in players and we have encouraged them to sell players because, for every amount they raise in sales, they can spend 40 per cent of that.”

Several Barcelona players have already been linked with a move away from the Camp Nou and there are reports Tebas’ comments could have handed a significant boost to United’s hopes of finally landing long-term transfer target Frenkie de Jong.

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The former Ajax midfielder worked under Red Devils manager Erik ten Hag during a highly-successful spell in charge of the Eredivise giants and there were reports the duo were set to be reunited at Old Trafford last summer. A move failed to come to fruition and United turned their attentions to a move for Brazil star Casemiro - but their chances of finally securing De Jong could have now been increased as Barca’s financial worries continue.

Hammers eye Red Devils trio

Former Manchester United manager David Moyes is reportedly set to launch a triple swoop on his old club this summer.

Football Insider have reported the West Ham United boss is hoping to persuade the Red Devils to allow Scott McTominay, Anthony Martial and Harry Maguire to move to the London Stadium during the summer transfer window. All three players have found their game-time limited as Erik ten Hag puts in own plans in place at Old Trafford and could face departures at the end of the season.