Smalling to Roma on loan according to DiMarzio and Fabrizio Romano.

I guess that now rules them out as a potential destination for Mustafi.

Why are United selling their entire squad without replacing it? What's going on at that club?

Clearing all their deadwood i suppose

But without being able to replace them? As average or downright bad as Sanchez, Smalling and Lukaku have been, that's still a third of their starting eleven a year ago and would be half of their bench currently. I can't believe any manager wouldn't rather have them around as options at the very least. It seems to me like the decision to sell comes from the top.

Ole only wants to keep players who want to be there , thats the line they are sending out lately.

United have too many centre halves, makes sense to move some out.

Sanchez made sense because he was basically elneny at this point, not sure on the other two.

They got loads of money for Lukaku so if he's not first choice that makes sense.

The issue as Klaus points out though is the lack of replacements. They've lost Herrera, Lukaku and Sanchez from the midfield and forward line with only a mid table championship player coming in. It's dreadful planning if nothing else.

Yeah, their squad is like 16 players now if you exclude the U21 players that won't have to be registered until the year they turn 22. Discussions about individual players aside it's pretty difficult to wrap your head around.

They don't trust Ole by the looks of it. Surprised if he's manager this time next season. Its not just him though, they need a backroom overhaul like we've had. Terribly run club. Given their resources and their name they should be competing with City.

You have to wonder how long they have before their financial superiority starts to dwindle in the face of continued failure.

Critics may argue United putting ÂŁ6 million in the bank account of somebody playing for another club is bad business whatever the context. But given the atmosphere a poorly-performing Sanchez carried with him, having the 30-year-old away from the training ground is what Solskjaer wished.

Sanchez cut an isolated figure at Carrington. He performed his duties but declined to interact much with team-mates, bar Romelu Lukaku, who moved to Inter earlier this summer. Any small sense of camaraderie was undermined by those colossal wages, which could reach ÂŁ560,000 per week with all add-ons included.

Sanchez was in mind when a United insider told The Athletic a month ago: “Ole needs to get certain players out. He’s trying to change the culture, but that takes time. He wants to sign players who are on an upward trajectory.”

Sanchez kept to himself at Arsenal too. A source with with close links to the Emirates had a fairly abrupt opinion on Sanchez when asked this week. “Pain in the arse,” was the response.

At Arsenal there were cliques within the dressing room but Sanchez rarely belonged. Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal were natural bedfellows as Spanish speakers but Sanchez did not socialise regularly with any of his peers. In the dressing room, he was a quiet presence who became agitated after games.

One source says: “He did not have friends at Arsenal. He was one of those players who, if we won 1-0 and he had not scored, would come into the dressing room and kick things. If he’d scored twice but we’d lost, he’d be absolutely fine. He did not mix with the players. He rarely, if ever, came into the players’ lounge after games.”

His friend and fixer, Mauro, who has lived with Sanchez in Manchester, would watch games in the Arsenal players’ lounge. Sometimes, an elderly lady would also be present, who most presumed to be Sanchez’s mother. Yet even when his nearest and dearest were in attendance, Sanchez would not mix and mingle afterwards, ushering them to the door and heading for the car park.

At United, due to the size of the club, the players’ lounge is less of a culture. After the weekend loss against Crystal Palace, new signings Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Daniel James and Harry Maguire all headed into the family and friends area, posed for photographs and stayed for over an hour. This, they presumed, was the norm but most others steered clear. Paul Pogba was there, having invited the boxer Deontay Wilder. Maguire is said to have looked devastated by the Palace result.

Sanchez was allowed to stay away from Old Trafford at the weekend, The Athletic understands, as discussions over his move edged closer. But Smalling, who was not in the squad either, took time before kick-off to sign autographs for fans waiting by the South Stand entrance as the team bus pulled up.

Sanchez’s relationship with both the players and the coaching staff never did take off at United. The very public airing of his salary — estimated at 30 percent more than the next highest earner — had a direct impact on United’s ongoing negotiations with David De Gea. Some feel the goalkeeper’s form has also been affected by the contractual uncertainty.

Mino Raiola felt his client Pogba was unfairly paid in comparison to Sanchez, while every representative of a United player who has since entered contract talks will have raised the Chile international’s salary as a barometer of their own client’s value. Ander Herrera left after not getting the pay rise he desired.

Accommodating Sanchez on the pitch was also problematic. His United league debut in a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham on January 31 saw Pogba substituted then dropped for the first time, while Anthony Martial was jettisoned having scored three goals in four games before Sanchez’s arrival. Martial didn’t score again that campaign.

In a dressing room fuelled by loathing and resentment under Jose Mourinho, life became uncomfortable for Sanchez. One source close to the player says the manager often referred to Sanchez as merely “Chileno”, rather than by his name. Two sources have also given accounts of Mourinho raising Sanchez’s extortionate wage package — once in front of team-mates — in a bid to provoke a reaction from the player. A spokesperson for Mourinho declined to comment when contacted by The Athletic.

Snippet as to why United may have wanted Sanchez out. I remember there being rumours that Sanchez didn't get on at Arsenal either and fell out with Ramsey?

They’re trying to start again. I’m not sure that a mediocre £75m defender is a good part of that refresh but that’s what it looks like. When Conte or Pochettino come in, they’ll find a relatively blank canvas to play with. The club is fully aware that Ole is a Hail Mary.

Mirth wrote:

Snippet as to why United may have wanted Sanchez out. I remember there being rumours that Sanchez didn't get on at Arsenal either and fell out with Ramsey?

God I miss Ramsey. He fell out with van Persie too. Such an uncanny ability to spot a snake.

goon wrote:
mdgoonah41 wrote:

alexis off to inter on loan

lol

Inter's template for success is to copy the attack that got United 6th place?

Conte more than anyone can get something out of them. He was hellbent on Lukaku when he was at Chelsea, so who knows what he sees in him.

Seems like normal downsizing at Man Utd. A CL squad being trimmed down to EL level. I'm guessing the plan is to promote a few from within.

Didn’t Smalling sign a new contract last year?

Really odd transfer.

It also looks to have torpedoed Mustafi going there.