Updated: Manchester United transfer status as of September 2026
This piece was updated on 17 September 2026 with the latest on Manchester United’s reported interest in Jorge Salinas. The teenage Racing Santander talent has a release clause of €16m (£13.7m). It is still not clear whether United have gone beyond early scouting interest. Our original report on Jorge Salinas first flagged the links last month. The picture has become clearer since then, though not necessarily more encouraging for supporters hoping to see him at Old Trafford.
Nothing in the latest reporting suggests a deal is close. Racing Santander have not been reported to have agreed a sale. The story has settled into a familiar pattern. United’s recruitment staff are said to admire the player. But two recent reports disagree on how far any talks have actually gone.
Supporters should treat those two reports as sitting in direct tension with one another. That contradiction is why this update exists.
Racing Santander’s £13.7m release clause for Jorge Salinas
Salinas, 19, has a release clause worth €16m, roughly £13.7m, written into his Racing Santander contract. A clause at that level means any interested club, including United, can in theory sign him without agreeing a fee with Santander. The full amount simply needs to be paid upfront.
That figure is relatively modest by Premier League standards. It helps explain why United’s name keeps surfacing in connection with the player. A modest clause does not mean an easy transfer, though. Clubs still need to agree personal terms with the player and his representatives. Racing Santander are under no obligation to negotiate a lower fee, offer instalments, or help him leave before the clause is met in full.
Release clauses like this are often reported on well before any club acts. Salinas’ situation currently sits at that early stage, rather than anything more advanced.
Data department rating and wider transfer targets
According to reports, United’s data department rates Salinas highly. Staff see him as a player with significant long-term potential. That internal enthusiasm is understood to be one reason his name keeps circulating in United-linked stories, even without confirmation of firm action from the club.
Salinas is not the only name on United’s radar this window. According to reports, David Raum remains on the club’s list of potential left-back targets, a position Carrick’s staff have monitored for some time. Elsewhere, according to reports, United are closing in on a potential £65m agreement for Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba. That deal would cost far more than any move for Salinas.
Taken together, these targets point to squad planning across several positions. It is not a plan built around one teenage prospect from Spain’s second tier.
Jorge Salinas to Manchester United: Have formal talks taken place?
No. According to BBC Sport, Manchester United have not pursued formal negotiations for Salinas. The club have not moved to trigger his release clause either. That report contradicts an earlier claim from social media aggregator SullyTalkzLog, which said United had held discussions with the player’s representatives.
The two accounts cannot both be fully accurate. Supporters should treat the SullyTalkzLog claim as unconfirmed rather than established fact. BBC Sport’s reporting currently offers the stronger evidence. It suggests United’s interest has not gone beyond background scouting and internal data analysis. Until a more established outlet backs up the claim of representative contact, the safest reading is simple: United admire Salinas but have not formally acted on it.
This is not the same as saying interest has gone away. Based on what is currently verifiable, no approach, bid or clause activation has happened.
What happens next under Michael Carrick
Michael Carrick remains Manchester United manager. Any move for Salinas would need his backing as part of a wider squad-building plan. Raum is still under consideration at left-back, and the Baleba deal is reportedly further advanced. Salinas currently looks more like a name being monitored than an active target with a bid attached.
Nothing in the current reporting rules out United returning to the conversation later in the window, particularly given the data department’s reported enthusiasm for the player. Equally, nothing confirms that a move will happen at all.
For now, the honest position is straightforward. Salinas remains a watching-brief case for Carrick and his recruitment staff. He is a player United reportedly like, at a price they could comfortably afford, but one they have not yet formally pursued. This page will be updated again if that changes.
