But expert says: ‘Do not panic’
that will begin in European backwaters.
Champions League football may not be the be all and end all in a battle to sign Jadon Sancho, for example, but it is much easier to convince such players to sign when that is on offer.
There are still pieces of the jigsaw to be filled for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in his United rebuild, but the form of the last couple of months and the impact of £47m January signing Bruno Fernandes has raised hopes that a title challenge might not be too far away after all.
Yet the reality is it will be a lot closer if United are in the Champions League next season.
It could yet convince Paul Pogba to give life at Old Trafford another chance, with the tantalizing prospect
The drop in value of United will be seen as a blow to some, but the Reds should be well prepared to cope with any loss of income while football remains in shutdown as part of the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.
“United is a very successful business historically and you would expect that to continue once matches resume,” said Maguire. “They’re very popular with sponsors and broadcasters, every match will be sold out, none of that is of a midfield dynamic with Fernandes on show, as well as speeding up the business of adding more quality to the squad.
It would also end the arduous challenge of Thursday-Sunday football, which is difficult to manage and places extra demands on a squad, who often face long journeys back from Europe’s more remote outposts, with little preparation time for the next Premier League game.
These kinds of issues are of secondary importance as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic at the moment, but once we are through the other side they will become vital once again, and United’s short-term future will play a part in how quickly their longerterm future brightens up. going to change. There’s going to be a problem in terms of cash flow until matches resume, but United are probably better insulated than most.
“There was a big kerfuffle when they announced their most recent results because they burned their way through a lot of cash in the second half of 2019, they still had £100m in cash sitting in a bank account, that’s a lot more protection than Rochdale, for exampled, have.”