Manchester United report: Scale of January spending depends on Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United are ready to invest at least £70 million in the January transfer window, according to reports, but that figure could rise sharply if Cristiano Ronaldo leaves.

It was a busy summer at Old Trafford, with new boss Erik ten Hag arriving along with around £215m worth of new signings.

Antony and Lisandro Martinez came in on big-money moves from Ten Hag’s former club Ajax, while Brazil international Casemiro was brought in from Real Madrid.

Tyrell Malacia, Martin Dubravka and Christian Eriksen also signed deals with the Red Devils to join the squad rebuild.

According to The Sun, United intend to continue investing heavily in the mid-season window and will give Ten Hag a transfer budget of at least £70m.

That will increase to more than £100m if Ronaldo is sold and his large slice of the wage bill is freed up.

Ronaldo’s future was the subject of speculation throughout the summer after he reportedly made it clear that he wanted to leave for a Champions League side.

The 37-year-old was a still a United player by the end of the window, however, and started the new campaign with a reduced role under Ten Hag.

Ronaldo has started two of the Red Devils’ seven games in all competitions so far, and is yet to score.

Ten Hag is said to want at least three more players added to his squad to get them back to competing for major honours.

The Dutchman’s reign got off to a shocking start with back-to-back defeats against Brighton and Brentford, the latter handing out a 4-0 thrashing.

But things have since improved with four consecutive victories in the Premier League, although United’s Europa League campaign got off to a bad start with a 1-0 defeat at home to Real Sociedad last week.

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Antony arrived to tip Manchester United’s summer spending beyond £200m. Memphis Depay was linked with a shock return, with more deals rumoured across Deadline Day.

Atletico Madrid star Yannick Carrasco had been touted, while both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Jamie Vardy were at point linked. United were also interested in Bayer Leverkusen-bound Callum Hudson-Odoi and Atletico apparently offered a swap deal to bring Ronaldo to Madrid.

Erik ten Hag admitted uncertainty over Cristiano Ronaldo’s future, while hailing Bruno Fernandes amidst Scott McTominay’s handball controversy. Elsewhere, pundits have been torn over the new Red Devils signings with Graeme Souness suggesting Lisandro Martinez will be “found out” and Rio Ferdinand scoffing at Souness’s comments about Casemiro.