Sporting Lisbon are facing a financial nightmare after payments from a German bank were blocked due to the knock on affects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Portuguese club sold Bruno Fernandes to Manchester United in January after much speculation.
The deal ran late into the month with the two clubs haggling over the payment structure.
Fernandes' move could cost up to £67.6m due to the various add-ons with United paying an initial £47m.
Sporting wanted that amount paid up front in one lump sum, but the Red Devils were opposed to that and wanted to finance it in payments as is often the norm in big-money deals.
As a result Sporting went to an unnamed German bank who were prepared to give them the full amount in exchange for a small percentage with United's installments soon following, according to reports.
That percentage was believed to be between three and five percent.
However the global pandemic has seen the bank block the payments as they are wary of opening themselves up to such risk.
It leaves Sporting short of cash, which is worsened given their motivation for selling Fernandes was to assist with financial issues.
The 26-year-old has hit the ground running at Old Trafford and come in for plenty of praise.
He has been attribute with driving standards at Carrington and in a recent interview has set his sights on plenty of silverware.
He said: “Two targets, no! Four. I want four because we have league, Champions League, Carabao and FA Cup. I want to win everything. I'm hungry to win everything.
"I told this before in some interview: I came to Manchester to win, to win titles, league, Champions League, everything.
"We know the potential Manchester have, because we are a young team, young players, but we've a lot of quality.
"Doesn't matter if we're young and the others have more experience than us because we have also experienced players who can help the youngest."
