Mainoo and Garnacho for sale

We've seen numerous reports that United, though not actively looking to sell them, would consider bids for Mainoo and Garnacho if the price were right. I'm minded to read these as genuine, because they come from reputable journalists with access to the FC.

The logic is clear enough: Ineos inherited a situation where we are in a PSR hole. Big fees for home-grown (pure profit) players are the obvious way of climbing out of the hole.

But at the same time: fuсk that sh]t. Generally, I've cautiously welcomed Ineos, at least in relation to Glazer family management, on the basis that they believe in 1) placing sporting aspirations at the centre of the organisation's remit and 2) believe in bringing in genuine specialists to run sporting operations. That's obviously a very low bar set by the previous regime, and I don't think anyone can argue they haven't cleared it.

Beyond that, we are entitled to feel aggrieved by the way Ratcliffe's deeply unsentimental approach to business has been applied to United. Maybe staff cuts were necessary, but they could have been handled in a less arbitrary way without killing staff morale. Maybe ticket price rises were inevitable as part of the various measures to make the business more sustainable, but it was handled in a way that flatly refuted Omar Berrada's introductory letter to the fans, acknowledging them as a key part of Manchester United and promising a more consultative relationship. Then there were little things such as travel to the cup final and the Christmas party being withdrawn - sure, not business crucial expenditure, but also investments in the sense of community around the organisation and nonentities on the balance sheet. Maybe people would buy into the hard nosed ruthlessness if it weren't accompanied by farcical and very expensive missteps such as hiring Ashworth and rehiring ETH before sacking them shortly afterwards.

All of this comes down to the point that it's very hard to put a monetary value on the soul of a football club, but that value is real. Fergie was without doubt a ruthless man, but he also understood the importance of spending club resources and his own valuable time on actions, gestures, perks, tokens of generosity that created a sense of togetherness, of family around the organisation. For all the drift and complacency of the Glazer years (and probably more because they were too detached to think about killing it rather than because they thought to nurture it) I don't think that culture died after 2013.

It's at grave risk now. If willingness to sell Mainoo is emblematic of how the leadership looks at the club going forward, a lot of us will increasingly wonder what the point is. We won't defect. We probably won't renounce the club. But many of us will feel deepening indifference. Ultimately, that will impact the metrics Ineos care about: revenue, engagement. It will also detract from the club's soft power, which will make it harder to attract great coaches and players (and academy prospects) who have lots of options.

Under the Woodward regime we suffered from having too many underqualified ex-players feeding into decision making. Today I wonder whether we could do with one or two such voices in the board room.