Despite all that every year they take their dividend of around £10m from the club because all that investment is loaded on to the debt.
Utd wouldn't even be talking Sancho unless they had a big wedge of cash to spend on that sort of signing so no need to be full doom and gloom on it.
There was cash in the bank prior to covid the club extended it's loan facility because of covid to cover operating costs so the original transfer budget will likely remain in place.
We need Ole to apply the pressure which I'm sure he will he won't have been happy being left short for the first half of last season it can't happen again.
I think Utd could recover around £60-80m this summer £20m Smalling, £30m Lingard, £10m Periera few other odds and ends could easily add another £10-20m to the kitty. Sanchez wages are also off the books now.
Hopefully we see 1 or 2 in before the new season starts and maybe another before the window closes if we can get 3 in and 3 out I think that's ok given the covid impact on football.
I can see you enjoy playing transfer market, but I think your figures are wildly overestimated. £20m Smalling, £30m Lingard, £10m Periera??? Smalling is the most valuable of the lot and will fetch £12M if we are lucky, £8 for Lingard, £5 for Pereira - and these will probably be something closer to Alexis' final deal (i.e., just go). We sold Blind (a much better player than these you list) for $17.6M, Fellaini $7.92M. The other 7 departures (2018-19) were loans, frees, or retirements. $33.61M = £25.47M.
Arrivals 2016-17 (both windows) = £154.24M (including record fee for Pogba)
Arrivals 2017-18 (both windows) = £165.41M
Arrivals 2018-19 (both windows) = £68.95M
Arrivals 2019-20 (both windows) = £178.41M (including record fee for Maguire).
And United would be talking Sancho either way, whether they have the money to spend or not, because talking isn't buying, and we talk about loads of players we never sign for untold reasons.
The point is, all of the figures being bandied about and all of the supposed motivations for United actions are just speculation. No one knows anything. Each and every transfer window teaches us that but we fail to learn.
My expectations for this window are similar to when Maguire, James, and Grant came in: 1 player we've heard of, 1 we haven't, and 1 youth prospect. And by "heard of" I don't even mean "heard we were interested in signing" but rather "someone here has heard this player's name before". We are not big game hunters and Covid has quashed whatever spending spree fantasy dreams we had, regardless.
With all that said and done, I'd think Grealish a more realistic option than Sancho.