Sir Jim Ratcliffe demands Manchester United improve their youth academy sales, starting with Rashford! £180 million over 10 years still falls short compared to Aston Villa.

Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has denied rumors that Marcus Rashford's buyout clause expires in March; Barcelona can activate this permanent transfer option before the summer window opens on June 15. United insists they will not lower the price. If Rashford is successfully sold to Barcelona for €30 million this summer—though many consider this fee low—the deal would rank fourth in the club's history for sales of academy players.

Because Manchester United has historically struggled to sell academy players, a recent report shows that over the past decade, the club has earned only €271 million (£189 million) from selling its own youth-trained players.

Data released by the CIES Football Observatory indicates that since July 2016, United's academy sales rank 19th globally. The CIES report defines academy players as those who spent at least three seasons at a club between ages 15 and 21.

United's figures are not particularly poor, but they fall far short of the club's own high standards for its youth system. Leading the list is Portuguese club Benfica, which has earned €589 million from academy sales over the past decade—more than double United's total.

Ajax ranks second, partly thanks to significant contributions from United. It is well known that the Red Devils have signed several players at high prices from Ajax, especially during Erik ten Hag's tenure.

United's academy sales revenue places them fourth in the Premier League, behind Chelsea (€442 million), Manchester City (€404 million), and Aston Villa (€303 million). However, United's youth sales have improved slightly in recent years; if only the past five years are considered, they rank seventh, yet still trail Chelsea, City, and Villa.

Data shows that the highest transfer fee for an academy player sold by United is Alejandro Garnacho's €46.2 million move to Chelsea this season. David Beckham's transfer to Real Madrid in 2003/04 remains firmly second, with a fee of €37.5 million.

Scott McTominay's €30.5 million transfer to Napoli ranks third, which would surpass Rashford's potential sale fee. Currently fourth is Mason Greenwood, whose move to Marseille brought €26 million.

Anthony Elanga (€22.93 million), Danny Welbeck (€20 million), Dean Henderson (€17.5 million), Álvaro Fernández Carreras (€14.3 million), James Garner (€10.4 million), Giuseppe Rossi, and Willy Kambwala (€10 million) also make the top ten.

These are the only academy players United has sold for over €10 million; subsequent sales are below this amount, including Andreas Pereira (€9.5 million), Adnan Januzaj (€8.5 million), Jonny Evans (€8.3 million), among others.

Compared to the prices United pays for other clubs' academy players—such as Chelsea's former "prince" Mason Mount, who joined the Red Devils for £60 million in his final contract year—Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the INEOS management team have ample reason to believe that selling academy players is an area the club must improve.

Since acquiring United, Sir Jim has signed many "lottery-type" young talents. Whether developing them into stars or selling them later to raise funds, this is increasingly vital under tightening Financial Fair Play regulations.