Ruben Amorim has insisted Manchester United will not sell their players on the cheap and he is ready to welcome the four exiles back into his squad should suitors not match the club’s valuations on them.

Alejandro Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia have been left out of United’s travelling party to the United States, and are training separately from the senior team at Carrington as talks continue on their exits.

There is a sense that the players want to wait until late in the window so that their price tags fall with United under pressure to agree deals, but Amorim said rival club directors with that mindset will be “surprised” by chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox.

“I think that is not the case because there are different reasons for the players,” said Amorim, speaking at Soldier Field after a training session with his team. “Some players have to find a new place to have more space in the team and other players clearly show they want a new challenge and want new teams. We are just allowing these players to have time to think and to decide.

Antony and Sancho both spent time on loan last season (Aitor Alcalde – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

“If we reach a point where they have to join the team, they will join the team because they are our players. I know for a fact Jason, Omar, and the club have a number for these players. If they (clubs) don’t reach that, they will be Manchester United players, no doubt about that. I understand the clubs are waiting for the last minute but they can have a surprise.”

Garnacho featured in 58 games for United last season but was told by Amorim in a dressing room address following the final game that he needed to find a new club.

Chelsea are interested but there is a belief Garnacho is prepared to see what happens as the window develops in case his fee falls. Set against this is his wish to play for Argentina at next year’s World Cup in the U.S., to which Amorim alluded.

“I’m ready to receive the players, they have more competition. If you want to play in the World Cup next year you need to play, so I’m really happy with that because I have more options. If they have to fight each other to play (laughs), for me it’s perfect.”

Kobbie Mainoo’s future was up for discussion in January, and the signings of Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo, both No 10s, appear to limit the 20-year-old’s chances, especially in a campaign with no European football. But Amorim has called him a “big talent”, albeit one with aspects to improve.

“I think he can play in both positions in the midfield,” said Amorim. “Last year he played more in front, I think his perfect position is more near the ball, always with the ball.

“I think he is a big talent. I think he needs to increase the rhythm, the pace, I’m always on top of that with Kobbie, because he is so good sometimes, but he can be better, so I have big plans.

“But again, one game per week, the competition is going to be huge, and everybody has to be prepared to play one game, or play all the games, that is a key point in our season.”

In terms of signings, United are surveying the centre-forward market, but Amorim said Cunha and Mbeumo “can play as a striker” and he is focussing in on Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.

“We have Josh, we have Ras, so our focus is to improve the connection between them,” he said. “I think our club in the moment, we need to be really careful when we sign a player. So if we have to start the season with this squad, I’m happy, because all the players that are here want to be here, and that for me is the most important thing. With Bryan and Matheus, we are clearly a better team.”

‘Amorim addresses one of United’s biggest questions of the window’ – analysis

How much money United can get for four players who have so clearly been cast apart from the first-team is one of the biggest questions in this second half of the transfer window.

Amorim telling Garnacho he would need to find a new club in front of his teammates let the cat out of the bag on one of United’s highest value players, instantly impacting the price potential buyers would be willing to meet. Jettisoning him as well as Marcus Rashford, Sancho, Antony and Malacia did so even further.

Rashford may have secured a loan move to Barcelona but the €30m buy option is almost half the £40m fee Aston Villa had agreed in January — a sign of the changing price points for United’s bomb squad.

So at least here Amorim is trying to claw the value back. If clubs do believe they might not let these players leave they could be encouraged to bid higher. Of course, they may see through the claims and reason that when push comes to shove United will have to do a deal.

Amorim did explain why he did not bring those four on tour.

“If you see the best teams in the world, you feel the bond between all the players, and I think that is really important,” he said. “Then I think we need to remind ourselves how special it is to be in Manchester United. That is my feeling, it’s the best club in the world, it should be for everyone that is on the pitch with our club. So I really like that feeling.

“I really like to be in the group that is healthy. We are going to suffer, we have problems, but that feeling of bonding from everybody, from the staff, from the players, with the technical staff, is really important. I think it can help us to win some games that we are not performing so well, but something happened because the spirit is positive.”

(Photo: Stephen Pond/Getty Images)