Three Manchester United players could prove Sir Jim Ratcliffe €100 million claim wrong

If Manchester United fans wanted honesty from their owners, they have certainly got that already in the form of Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Ever since his initial purchase of a 27.7% stake in United was completed in February, he has spoken plenty of times on record about the various issues that have plagued the club and how he hopes to address them in the years ahead.

Just this week he named Real Madrid as the club they are looking to emulate, admitted it would take several transfer windows before they would be entirely happy with their playing squad, and claimed manager Erik ten Hag was not the biggest problem at the club.

Another intriguing admission was when the 71-year-old claimed 'United don't have any players that are valued at €100 million or more', a rather damning statement that might bruise a few egos in the Old Trafford dressing room. It depends on who you ask. It is fair to say United probably don't have anyone who is an undeniable world-class talent in their squad at the moment, but they do have a trio of exciting young players whose untapped potential puts them close to that bracket.

In fact, according to the latest International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) Football Observatory figures, there are two United players who they already value at the €100 million price tag: Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho.

Even after a disappointing individual campaign, Marcus Rashford is third on the list at €80m, while Diogo Dalot and Kobbie Mainoo are both rated at €60m. It will be interesting to see whether or not Mainoo's value rises again once their next set of monthly figures are released midway through the European Championship.

The test for Hojlund and Garnacho will be to build upon their impressive individual campaigns and prove they are worthy of the price tag, while for Mainoo it will be to prove he is the real deal and join his two close friends at the top of the list. Ratcliffe will hope to be proved wrong by the fact United already has some elite talent at the club, but ultimately his comments do highlight a flawed transfer policy that has seen so many star signings depreciate once moving to Old Trafford and they also highlight exactly why United should be looking to develop more young talent in the years ahead.

As the co-owner later added in his interview: "The first thing to do is to build a balanced squad and make the squad progress. Then maybe you finish with one or two players like (Kylian) Mbappé, but that's not the solution today." It remains to be seen how successful United will be in executing their new transfer policy, but the intentions are certainly encouraging for a club who have acted so recklessly in the market for so many years.

Ratcliffe might not think United have any €100m players yet, but they have three who could be soon.