Sports
To keep up with their Premier League rivals, Man United must master the art of offloading players
Daniel James has a unique claim to fame in the recent history of Manchester United. He is the only player who has joined the club since Sir Alex Ferguson retired as manager in 2013 and left for a higher transfer fee than it cost to sign him in the first place.
James, signed from Swansea for £15 million in 2019, was moved on to Leeds for £25 million two years later. For United, there is also the jarring reality that the £25.7 million received from Napoli for the transfer of Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay 12 months ago is the biggest fee banked by the club — aside from the loss-making exits of big signings Angel Di Maria and Romelu Lukaku — for over a decade. Di Maria left for Paris Saint-Germain for £44.3 million in 2015, a year after arriving from Real Madrid for £59.7 million. Lukaku, meanwhile, moved to Inter Milan in 2019 for £68 million, having cost United £75 million to bring in from Everton two years earlier.
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With the 2025 summer transfer window now into its final two weeks before the Sept. 1 deadline, United’s repeated shortcomings when it comes to offloading players are once again threatening their ability to reshape their squad. United have consistently stated that players must leave this summer for the club to balance the books and avoid the risk of breaching the Premier League‘s profit and sustainability rules (PSR). But despite spending almost £200 million to being in four new signings Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Diego León, they have raised precisely nothing from outgoings.
Marcus Rashford‘s season-long loan move to Barcelona has taken the forward’s £325,000-a-week salary off the United wage bill, and the club have also received a nominal percentage of moves by some of their former players Anthony Elanga (Nottingham Forest to Newcastle) and Álvaro Carreras (Benfica to Real Madrid), but no player has yet left Old Trafford for a fee this summer. Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia have been available for months, while United are now also prepared to offload Rasmus Højlund.
In an ideal world, United would hope to raise around £120 million from their departures, but the clock is ticking to the deadline, and clubs who have an interest in those players know United are negotiating from a position of weakness. That £120 million could very quickly become £60 million and once again highlight United as the Premier League’s worst performers when it comes to moving players on. United have suffered for paying high wages to unsuccessful players in the past, with many proving too expensive for new clubs to take on, but it has been a combination of undervaluing homegrown players and losing money on mediocre mid-range signings that has truly defined their transfer outgoings.
The James deal is an embarrassing statistic for a club of United’s stature, but their consistent failure to cash in on unwanted players is perhaps more damning, especially when measured against their rivals. This summer alone, Liverpool have offloaded Luis Díaz to Bayern Munich for a £10 million profit on his £50 million transfer fee when signing from Porto in January 2022, while the Premier League champions have also raised £70 million from the departures of homegrown players Jarell Quansah, Ben Doak, Caoimhín Kelleher and Tyler Morton.
The £10 million received from Real Madrid to enable Trent Alexander-Arnold to make his move to the Bernabeu a month before the end of his Anfield contract was another example of smart financial management by Liverpool. Twelve months earlier, Liverpool raised £40 million by offloading Fábio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg to Brentford — two players who had barely played for Liverpool but were still able to command significant fees.
Manchester City have also left United in their wake in terms of capitalizing on the value of their homegrown players. City have raised £60 million this summer by offloading James McAtee, Yan Couto and Máximo Perrone alone, but Pep Guardiola’s team have consistently been able to make healthy sums in the transfer market. Julián Álvarez‘s transfer cost £14 million from River Plate in 2022 and he joined Atletico Madrid for £65 million in 2024. During the same summer window, City banked £20 million from Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ move to Southampton.
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But there are no comparable deals in United’s recent history to suggest that they know how to raise crucial funds from player exits. McTominay was a sensation for Napoli last season, earning a Ballon d’Or nomination after helping the club win the Serie A title, but he was allowed to leave United for only around £25 million, while Liverpool youngster Doak’s move has cost Bournemouth an initial £20 million plus £5 million in add-ons. Elanga left Old Trafford for Forest in 2023 for £20 million, yet this summer he has moved to Newcastle for £55 million. Dean Henderson left United at the same time as Elanga, joining Crystal Palace for an initial £15 million, and the England goalkeeper has since helped the Eagles to FA Cup success while United continue to search for a consistent No. 1.
One source told ESPN that United’s transfer dealings prior to the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS group in 2024 were heavily overseen by the Glazer family, the club’s minority owners, and that many outgoings were left to the end of the window when valuations had dropped due to rival clubs being away of United’s need for cash.
“The Glazers kept players too long, extending their contracts because it was cheaper to do that than sign a new player,” the source said. “But when it came to getting rid of them, often with a year left on their contracts, their value had plummeted and the club sometimes couldn’t give players away.
“It was often a case of getting unwanted players out in the final few days of the window, just to get some money in after a spending spree, but they hardly ever got decent value for players on the way out.”
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United’s struggle to raise significant funds for outgoing players is also perhaps a pointer to why the team has failed to compete for the biggest honors since Ferguson stepped down. David de Gea took a year to find a new club after being released by United in 2023, Anthony Martial found no takers in Europe’s major leagues and ended up in Greek football with AEK Athens 12 months ago, while neither Victor Lindelöf or Christian Eriksen have found a new team since becoming free agents at the end of last season. If clubs looking for new players are choosing to avoid those whom United deem to be surplus to requirements, it paints a bleak picture of the standard of the squad that has been assembled over recent years at Old Trafford.
But with director of football Jason Wilcox and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell now firmly established in their roles at United following the turbulent overhaul of staff at all levels of the club over the past 18 months, the challenge facing the two men is clear. They must make United players appealing to rival clubs once again and, at the same time, learn how to cash in as successfully as Liverpool, City and many other Premier League teams.
What happens to Sancho, Garnacho, Malacia, Antony and Højlund between now and Sept. 1 will tell us whether United have cracked the code or continue to trail in their rivals’ wake.
Sports
Travis Kelce calls for Shedeur Sanders to start for Browns amid controversy: ‘Give the people what they want’
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Travis Kelce has spoken out about the ongoing controversy over Shedeur Sanders‘ role with the Cleveland Browns.
During his “New Heights” podcast this week, the Kansas City Chiefs star said he believes the Browns should start Sanders, who is third on the team’s depth chart behind veteran Joe Flacco and fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel.
Travis Kelce spoke about Shedeur Sanders’ role with the Browns on the latest episode of the “New Heights” podcast, which aired before the official start of the NFL season. (Imagn)
“Give the people what they want, in terms of the Browns fans. Start Shedeur. … Put him in coach,” Kelce said. “Give the people what they want. The world wants to see him go out there, and not only play, but have success. At this point, guys are rooting for him. This isn’t anything against Dillon. This isn’t anything against Joe. I’m just saying the excitement is there for [Sanders] to go out there. He’s going to put eyes on the screen. He’s going to bring people to the game.
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“I would love to f—ing see it, man.”
On the contrary, Kelce’s brother and co-host, Jason Kelce, defended the team naming Joe Flacco as the starter.
“[Browns head coach Kevin] Stefanski and the Browns are trying to do the thing that they feel gives them the best chance to win football games,” Jason said. “If the Browns and Kevin Stefanski felt their best option and the most confident option they had to win games was Shedeur Sanders, they would be playing him.”
Still, Jason conceded that he “wants” to see Sanders play.
“What do I want? I want to see Shedeur Sanders,” Jason said.
Jason also rejected the “conspiracies” surrounding the situation as to why Sanders is as low on the depth chart as he is.
Criticism and conspiracy theories directed at the Browns reemerged after the team’s preseason finale on Saturday.
Sanders entered the game in the third quarter and completed three of six passes for 14 yards, while taking five sacks for a combined loss of 41 yards against the Los Angeles Rams. He netted minus-27 yards for Cleveland before being pulled from the game on the final drive and replaced by veteran Tyler Huntley.
Huntley led the Browns’ offense on a game-winning field goal drive, and the Browns won 19-17.
It was a far cry from Sanders’ first preseason game against the Carolina Panthers Aug. 8, when he threw for two touchdowns and was praised by fans and sports stars, including LeBron James and Dawn Staley.
However, many fans and pundits were quick to defend Sanders for his rough outing on Saturday and blamed the Browns’ coaching for putting Sanders in a position where he had to rely on backup teammates while also calling questionable plays.
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Jason Kelce on the ESPN postseason countdown set during the 2025 Pro Bowl Games at Camping World Stadium Feb. 2, 2025. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Former NFL quarterback Derek Carr questioned why Sanders wasn’t left in the game to finish the final drive.
“I need to understand why we don’t get to see Shedeur Sanders run this 2-minute drill? Wouldn’t you want to see your young QB operate in this situation? Get him more reps for the future? I didn’t see the whole game so maybe he already showed enough? Help me understand this…” Carr wrote on X.
Sports talk show host Skip Bayless posted a 16-minute rant in defense of Sanders on X, while condemning the Browns for their handling of the quarterback.
“They sabotaged it. They rigged it against him today, putting him in with third- and fourth-stringers, fifth-stringers. You got no shot at quarterback,” Bayless said.
Other users on social media leveled similar criticisms at the Browns, with some speculating that the obstacles being put in front of the quarterback are intentional.
Prior to that game, NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson stoked conspiracy theories related to Sanders in a recent interview, claiming that NFL teams were “told not to” draft Sanders to “make an example” of the quarterback when he fell to the fifth round of the NFL Draft in April.
“I tell you this much, what I heard from someone that’s in the NFL [is] that the NFL told [teams], ‘Don’t draft him, do not draft him,'” Dickerson said in a recent interview on the “Roggin and Rodney” show on AM 570 LA Sports.
“‘We’re going to make an example out of him.’ And this came from a very good source, a very good source. They were going to have him not get drafted to basically show you, ‘This is what happens when you do this.’ I mean, look, the NFL’s got all kinds of power. They do all kinds of stuff.”
Sanders’ slide out of the first round shocked many, including President Donald Trump, who condemned the league’s owners for passing on the quarterback in a Truth Social post.
ESPN host Stephen A. Smith revealed a text message from an associate who compared the situation to Colin Kaepernick being out of the NFL since 2016, suggesting “collusion.”
“‘This is a bad look for the NFL. This feels like Kaepernick-level collusion,'” Smith said of the content of the text, adding the situation goes beyond “talent evaluation.”
“All the hard work the NFL League Office puts in to eradicate these kinds of perceptions, only to turn around and watch as the OWNERS look like they’re colluding, messing up everything. What has been done to Shedeur will outshine everything else in this draft. We’ll never believe this is about just talent evaluation again.”
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Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders against the Philadelphia Eagles during a game at Lincoln Financial Field. (Kyle Ross/Imagn Images)
Sanders was eventually taken by the Browns on the third and final day of the draft with the 144th pick. The quarterback was initially considered a possible contender for the first overall pick early in the draft process after finishing his final season at Colorado.
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Pakistan men’s hockey team has accepted an invitation to compete in the Pro League 2025–26 season, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed on Thursday.
The Green Shirts were formally invited by the apex body to participate in the “League of the Best” after Hockey New Zealand withdrew from the nine-team tournament despite winning the FIH Nations Cup earlier this year in Malaysia.
The PHF was initially given a deadline of August 12 to confirm its national men’s team’s participation, but the federation sought an extension until August 20 as it was awaiting financial support from the government.
The federation was subsequently issued Rs250m for the event on Wednesday, leading to it confirming its men’s team’s participation the next day.
“The International Hockey Federation (FIH) can confirm that the Pakistan men’s hockey team, nicknamed the Green Shirts, have accepted the invitation to participate in the upcoming 2025-26 season of the FIH Hockey Pro League,” the apex body said in a statement.
Pakistan will join arch-rivals India, alongside Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain in the upcoming seventh edition of the tournament, replacing Ireland, who were relegated after finishing last in the previous season.
The Green Shirts’ participation in the tournament meant that they would also square off against traditional rivals India, who narrowly escaped relegation last season as they finished just above bottom-ranked Ireland.
FIH President Tayyab Ikram expressed his delight over Pakistan’s addition to the Pro League, stating it would be a major boost for the team with a rich history and would bolster the tournament’s viewership.
“Great to see Pakistan back in elite competition — this is a truly impactful milestone for world hockey,” Ikram said in an FIH-released statement.
“Their return marks not only the comeback of a team with such a rich and storied history, but also an exciting boost to the visibility and reach of the FIH Hockey Pro League. I can already anticipate an enhanced visibility of the Pro League with Pakistan’s participation.
“Congratulations to the Pakistan men’s team for qualifying through the FIH Hockey Nations Cup and earning their place in the ‘League of the Best’ for the very first time. This achievement is a strong example of how creating more opportunities at every level of our sport fosters growth and provides a natural pathway to the very top.”
For the unversed, Pakistan were set to participate in the inaugural edition of the FIH Pro League in 2019 but pulled out their first three games scheduled against Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, citing ‘inevitable circumstances’, which resulted in them being suspended from the tournament’s remainder.
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