Reina raid: United boss is lining up a big
money move for the Spanish keeper
Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to be given at least
£50million to spend in the transfer market and is targeting
Liverpool’s Pepe Reina as a replacement for goalkeeper Edwin van
der Sar.
The Manchester United manager is prepared to hold fire
until the summer, when the Glazer family will let him dip into the
transfer fund they have accumulated.
A £20m move for Reina is expected then, although the club
are also monitoring Atletico Madrid’s David de Gea, who would cost
£17m.
Reina is known to be unsettled at Liverpool, who are well
off the pace for a Champions League spot, and Van der Sar, at 40,
is coming to the end of his top-flight career.
Rival: Atletico's De Gea is also being monitored by
United
United’s debts reached £750m before a recent
repayment of £249m and they recorded losses of £83.6m in their last
accounts.
But the club have cash reserves estimated to be £120m
thanks largely to the £80m sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid
last year.
That money will diminish as the season goes on but £50m is
thought to be set aside for new signings.
Cash reserves: Joel and Avram Glazer have freed up
funds for transfers
The Glazers appear to have paid off the highest
interest chunk of United’s debts, the payment-in-kind (PIK) loans,
themselves rather than rely on an outside
investor.
Rumours that Qatar International Holdings might have
settled them in return for a stake in the club were discounted
after the Glazers issued just two extra shares to cover the
amount.
They are thought to have paid off the PIK loans by selling
some assets, using cash reserves and arranging alternative
credit.
But if they secured the new loans against the shares in
their holding companies registered in the USA, then there would be
a legal requirement for them to reveal the extent of their
debt.
