United search for striker could go down to wire

Have a glance at the first team section of the Manchester United website and their biggest problems are buried at the bottom of the pile.

- By SAMUEL LUCKHURST

Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, names without squad numbers, are the last two players on the list. Above them are Alejandro Garnacho and Antony.

There are a whopping 33 players on that page. We can omit the aforementioned quartet and Tyrell Malacia from the actual senior squad. Dan Gore and Ethan Wheatley cannot be considered first-teamers and it is premature to assign Tyler Fredricson that status, despite his recent squad number upgrade.

Diego Leon's profile has been uploaded to the first team page but the 18-year-old's first year is expected to be akin to Sekou Kone's. One of acclimatisation with scant opportunities at senior level.

So the number is whittled down to a lean 24 players, an ideal size for a season without European nights on the calendar. Yet sellable assets cannot just be written off.

Rashford, Antony, Sancho and Garnacho collectively rake in £825,000-a-week. They are all still on United's books and the chances are they all still will be going into August.

It is improbable that United will sell all four. Garnacho has takers and Sancho cannot command that high a fee after four feckless years and with a year remaining on his contract. Antony has created a market but his profitability and sustainability-calculated value (£32.58m) is unlikely to be coughed up by a buying club.