The Man Utd and Atletico Madrid swap deal that would break the internet - and annoy Man City

Man United are set to see several departures and incomings this season as they try to negotiate their way around a squad rebuild whilst also staying in accordance with Profit and Sustainability Rules.

They are in a precarious position with regards to PSR, and so will need to sell in order to buy this summer. There are several players expected to leave, with the likes of Marcus Rashford, Antony and Jadon Sancho all likely to be sold after their loan deals end at their respective clubs.

Antony is the only one of the three who doesn’t have either a buy option or obligation in his loan deal. He is at La Liga side Real Betis, who reportedly want to keep him beyond this season after a superb start since leaving Old Trafford in January.

The Brazilian winger has made 14 appearances for Betis, scoring four goals and providing four assists in his time there so far.

Man United could annoy City with Atletico swap deal

Reports emerged recently saying that due to Antony’s impressive performances in La Liga this season at Betis, Atletico Madrid are keeping an eye on him for a potential summer transfer.

It has been said that Atletico want to sign the winger to add more depth up front and that they’d be willing to pay £38.4m with an additional £25.6m in add-ons. This is a move that would suit United, as they need to sell Antony for at least £32.52m in order to avoid making a loss with regards to PSR.

It is no secret that United are looking to sign a striker in the summer transfer window, and so they could use Atletico’s interest in Antony to their advantage and propose a swap deal for former Man City attacker Julian Alvarez. Alvarez joined Atletico last summer from City for a fee of £65m, and has since scored 24 goals in 47 games for the La Liga giants. The sort of numbers that United could do with upfront.

Ruben Amorim’s strikers, Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have combined for just six goals in the Premier League, making the Red Devils one of the worst teams in terms of scoring in the division this season.

If they were to go out and propose a swap deal with Antony and Alvarez, not only would it annoy rivals Man City, but it would provide Amorim with a world-class goal scorer, who is proven in the Premier League. Alvarez made over 100 appearances during his time with City, scoring 36 goals and providing 18 assists.

Which strikers have Man United been linked to?

In recent weeks, the Red Devils have been linked to signing the likes of Liam Delap from Ipswich, Matheus Cunha from Wolves and Victor Osimhen from Napoli (on loan at Galatasaray).

They had previously shown a lot of interest in Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyokeres, who has links to Amorim as he had a lot of success during Amorim’s reign at the Portuguese club. However, Arsenal have now emerged as front-runners to land the Swedish attacker.

The cheapest option would likely be Delap, who has a £30m release clause, which will be triggered when the Tractor Boys are inevitably relegated from the Premier League. However, he has limited experience in the division after just one season with Ipswich.

In other news, Man Utd feel they have a colossus in their ranks who will become "one of the best in the world".