Sir Jim Ratcliffe hasn't been afraid of making difficult decisions in his 11 months in charge at Old Trafford, and if a good offer arrives for Kobbie Mainoo or Alejandro Garnacho this month, you can be certain sentimentality won't be priced into the equation.

Manchester United need to sell to raise funds to invest in Ruben Amorim's squad, as well as ease their own position within the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), and that means some hard decisions might have to be made.

Some easy ones could come first. Offers would be welcomed for Casemiro, Antony, and Marcus Rashford, and the departure of any of them, even on loan, would be a financial bonus, but it is sales that will really move the dial for United.

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That has led to the unpalatable position of not ruling out sales of the club's crown jewels from the academy. Mainoo and Garnacho were among the 'untouchables' in the summer, but no player now holds that status under Amorim. As academy players, their sales would represent pure profit in PSR terms, and they would both attract sizeable fees.

There are also reasons why United must consider a departure for both. Mainoo, 19, is at an impasse over a new contract, and Garnacho, 20, is yet to force his way into Amorim's starting XI. Chelsea are keeping tabs on the situation around midfielder Mainoo, and Garnacho has long been tipped for a return to Spain.

Selling either would go down like a lead balloon amongst the fanbase, but United are in a position where they can't afford to turn down attractive bids. They have gotten themselves into this position with some woeful and wasteful recruitment decisions. Spending £70m on Casemiro and £85m on Antony are prime examples.

In an ideal world, that pair of 2022 arrivals would be sold to raise funds, but there is a reason there is barely a market for them. Antony remains at what should be his peak years, but the 24-year-old has flopped disastrously at Old Trafford and is now worth scarcely a fraction of the astronomical fee United paid Ajax.

Casemiro was always a short-term signing, but his decline has started earlier than expected. The 32-year-old is one of the club's highest earners, as is Rashford, and is no longer in the strongest XI.

It is those decisions that have forced United to consider the unthinkable for many fans. A decade of disastrous recruitment will eventually catch up with you, and that is what is happening now. More than £1.6bn has been spent on players since 2013 for little reward. Only a handful have been sold for a profit.

In that time, the club became a loss-making exercise, particularly in the last five years, where losses totalled more than £370m. That has led to the catastrophic financial position inherited by Ineos and Ratcliffe's drastic cost-cutting measures.

Having made 250 staff redundant, axed FA Cup final perks, ended Sir Alex Ferguson's £2m-a-year ambassadorial gig, and done away with concessions for unsold tickets this season, it was inevitable that such financial prudence would eventually stretch to the most expensive part of a football squad, which is the first-team squad.

That could manifest itself in selling players if a good offer comes in and will undoubtedly result in a tightening of the belt regarding wages. That Casemiro and Rashford are amongst the highest earners but now don't feature in Amorim's immediate plans will frustrate Ratcliffe, who will want a better wage structure at the club.

He will also want the first team to be populated by academy graduates, who don't cost a transfer fee and have a clear trajectory to a better pay packet. Mainoo and Garnacho are examples of that, but United's dismal decade under the Glazers means that even they aren't safe at the moment.