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Manchester Evening News
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Nathan Bliss

Who Manchester United could sign if Romelu Lukaku leaves - according to Football Manager

With Manchester United focusing on building their squad for next season, having already signed Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka this summer, there will inevitably be some outgoings too.

As rumours continue around the future of Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku is also a target for Serie A side Inter Milan, who have appointed former Chelsea coach Antonio Conte as manager this summer.

The likes of Martial, Rashford and Lingard were all preferred to Lukaku towards the end of last season for United, as he struggled for playing time.

So, who could United sign if Lukaku does leave this summer?

We used Football Manager 2019 to have a bit of fun and find out what could happen.

Manchester United - Romelu Lukaku transfer

To find out who United could target to replace Lukaku, we added in a future transfer of £52 million to Inter Milan for 01/07/2019.

We then simmed until the end of the 2019/20 transfer window to see who United would bring in with the money, and any remaining they have leftover

We also added in all the latest transfers and manager changes, to make the simulation as realistic as possible.

This is what happened.

Manchester United 2019/20 transfers

Transfers in: £172.4 million

Paulo Dybala (Juventus) - £141million

Jorge Mere (FK Koln) - £27million

Dennis Man (FCSB) £4.4million rising to £12.75 million

Arthur (Barcelona) - Loan

Transfers out: £81million

Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan) - £52million

Chris Smalling (Newcastle) - £13.75million rising to £15.5million

Marcos Rojo (Wolves) - £8.25million rising to £10.5million

Matteo Darmian (Lazio) - £7million rising to £8million

Lee Grant (Huddersfield) - £325,000 rising to £400,000

Diogo Dalot (Everton) - Loan

(Football Manager 2019)

Incredibly, Manchester United splashed out a whopping £141 million on Juventus striker Paulo Dybala.

United also signed promising young Spanish defender Jorge Mere, 20-year-old forward Dennis Man from FCSB and Brazilian midfielder Arthur on loan from Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Chris Smalling left for Newcastle, Marcos Rojo was farmed out to Wolves and Matteo Darmian was sold to Lazio.

Here's how Manchester United lined up in the first game of the 2019/20 season.

Manchester United's 2019/20 lineup

(Football Manager 2019)

In the first game of the 2019/20 season of this simulation, Martial started in attack alongside Dybala and Lingard.

Solskjaer went with a midfield three of Paul Pogba, Arthur and Nemanja Matic.

In defence, Luke Shaw, Mere and Victor Lindelof all started, with Wan-Bissaka playing as a right-back.

According to Football Manager 2019, the sale of Lukaku could give United more cash to spend and more wages to offer new signings this summer.

   
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