Ruben Amorim demonstrated his ruthless streak by cutting no fewer than four players whose signings were questioned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The Manchester United boss swung the axe in a sweeping summer of change at Old Trafford, where the departures were just as pertinent to the squad as those arriving at the club.

One of the major priorities for minority owner Ratcliffe since coming through the doors at Old Trafford has been cutting waste. And the British billionaire namechecked five first-team stars earlier this year when referring to players who cost a combined £340million when joining United, in addition to some exorbitant salaries.

Of those five players - Rasmus Hojlund (£72m transfer fee), Jadon Sancho (£73m), Antony (£81m), Andre Onana (£43m) and Casemiro (£70m) - only two are still at the club, with Onana on the verge of joining Trabzonspor on loan. And it shows a sense of urgency from Amorim and United's backroom team to bring the squad back into balance.

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Speaking to BBC Sport in March of this year, Ratcliffe spoke of player he and his team inherited from their predecessors who arrived on inflated wages and fees that perhaps weren't justified: "If you look at the players we are buying this summer, that we didn't buy, we're buying Antony, we're buying Casemiro, we're buying Onana, we're buying Hojlund, we're buying Sancho.

"These are all things from the past, whether we like it or not, we've inherited those things and have to sort that out. For Sancho, who now plays for Chelsea and we pay half his wages, we're paying £17m to buy him in the summer."

Of that group, Sancho has again left on loan for Aston Villa, while Hojlund has joined Napoli on temporary terms and Antony has moved to Real Betis permanently. Onana is close to joining Super Lig outfit Trabzonspor on a season-long deal, while Casemiro looks set to see out what could be the final year of his United contract this term.

The Brazil international is United's highest earner on £350,000 a week, a steep expense for a player poised to turn 34 in January. Loaning out Sancho (£250,000 a week) and Hojlund (£85,000 a week) will save the Red Devils more than £1million per month, while Marcus Rashford's loan to Barcelona has added another £300,000 or so to the weekly budget.

The cost-cutting has come at a cost, however, both literal and in the sense that United's image has been hurt by certain money missteps in years gone by. The sale of Antony, for example, will remain a stain on their reputation after buying the player for more than £80m three years ago, only to sell him for just £19m this summer.

The struggle to find a permanent suitor for perennial loanee Sancho is another indicator not everyone wants the assets United strained to sign in recent years. Not every major United expense in the modern era has been a failure, of course, but Ratcliffe is focused on siphoning out some of those poorer deals.

"Some are not good enough and some probably are overpaid, but for us to mould the squad that we are fully responsible for, and accountable for, will take time," he continued when speaking to the BBC earlier this year.

"We've got this period of transformation where we move from the past to the future. There are some great players in the squad as we know, the captain is a fabulous footballer. We definitely need Bruno, he's a fantastic footballer."

Fans will hope star recruits Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko can soon join that list of verified transfer successes after remoulding their attack. And they'll have a big opportunity to do just that if they can perform in Sunday's derby showdown against Manchester City.

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