Manchester United’s newly announced profit to go towards three player raid on Real Madrid

Ed Woodward's got some cash burning a hole in his pocket.

It was announced on Thursday that Manchester United had registered a second-quarter income of £133 million (€169 million), a 26% profit on last year, and were forecasting earnings of over half a billion pounds for the financial year. And it sounds like it's going to be reinvested right back into the team as reports emerging on Friday point to an incredible raid on Real Madrid. Spanish outlet Sport claim that, should Jose Mourinho take over as United boss in the summer as expected, he's hoping to take a trio of players from the Bernabeu. Gareth Bale, Luka Modric and Raphael Varane have all been hand-picked as solutions to certain problems that United currently have, namely a lack of directness out wide, an unreliable central midfield and a significant scarcity of options at the back. Mourinho has maintained a good relationship with Real president Florentino Perez and it's believed that he won't stand in the way of those players' departures if the money is right. They're not the only players targeted by United as it's also understood that the Red Devils are interested in bringing in former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Lassana Diarra, according to French publication L'Equipe. Up front, United have also been left wanting and they could look to remedy that with a bid for CSKA Moscow forward Ahmed Musa who has piqued the interests of Leicester for some time. The Foxes failed with a €19 million bid for the Nigerian international as CSKA held out for a figure closer to €25, a price that United would be more likely to be able to match.