Do Manchester United have a £40 million transfer budget left?

Speculation alert!

But questions have to be asked over Manchester United's transfer budget after the news they have had two big bids rejected this week.

The bids in question were for Lucas Moura, for £29.8 million, as reported by financial giants Bloomberg, and last night it was reported by the Guardian they had offered Arsenal £12 million for Robin van Persie.

Add these two figures up and it is a prospective £40 million outlay. But is it a case of 2 + 2 = 5 ?

So the first question we should ask - Are the reports true?

Both figures have come from leaks at the clubs themselves Sao Paolo and Arsenal. United will of course not comment on the specifics of  theirtransfer business, which if truth be told is probably the right approach.

If defies logic that United would bid for both without having the actual funds, so if the club do move on elsewhere, in theory the total of £40 million can be targeted at bringing in other players.

However United have already spent close to £15 million on Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell, and it is unlikely the club can go any higher than the figure.

The thought of United having £40 million seems quite unbelievable - but that is what the Van Persie and Lucas reports indicate.

So they have hit a brick wall with both players, and they must decide who is more valuable. Do they add some of the £12.5 million set aside for Van Persie to their Lucas bid to tempt Sao Paolo into a sale?

Or do they take some of the Lucas money and meet Arsenal's £20 million valuation and seal the deal for Robin Van Persie?

It is certainly an interesting time for the Old Trafford club, with several weeks left of the transfer window. The possibility of having a big transfer budget available will continue to keep fans interests' racing, and now the cat is well and truly out of the bag that they have multi-millions still available.

If they didn't already, fans will certainly expect a big name arrival now, whether it is Lucas, Van Persie, or they move to Ajax starlet Eriksen, or even Modric.

It may be that United are counting on making a big sale to offset any outlay, with Anderson one possibility. £5 million has been recouped on Park Ji-Sung and the club are hoping for at least the same by offering Dimitar Berbatov at a cut-price.

All supporters want is to know what is going on with their club, and we are quite rightly putting the question out to debate.

Do you believe United have offered £28 million for Lucas Moura, and £12 million for Van Persie?

Is it from the same transfer pot, or do United have a combined £40 million budget?

Do they need to sell to achieve this budget? Where do they go from here?

All poignant questions, which will continue as the summer goes on. Sir Alex Ferguson will be keeping a tentative eye on affairs as he prepares his team for their second pre-season friendly in South Africa tonight.

What do you make of the reports? Do United have a £40 million budget? If so how should they use it?

image: © Paolo Camera