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Will Man Utd invest this January? Perhaps not but the players have looked brand new under Solskjaer
Andy Mitten |

January 5, 2019

THE January transfer window is open and a lot of Manchester United fans would love to see their club act.

A top quality central defender would be top of the wish list, but fans are easily seduced by almost any new signing. They all enjoy a brief honeymoon, even if fans know next to nothing about the player because fans want to believe that new additions can improve the team. Fred’s stock among United fans has never been higher than on the day he signed.

Fans have been bitten many times by signings who’ve turned out to be underwhelming – such as Alexis Sanchez from last January – that they’re twice shy.

The Chilean played well when he came on at Newcastle midweek, but he has to do much, much more to win the hearts and minds of the people who pay his wages. He’s cut a surly, unhappy figure in Manchester and he refuses to engage with the media – and the fans.

United expect this transfer window to be a quiet one. The club has targets, but don’t anticipate any of them being available this month. Take Napoli’s Senegalese central defender Kalidou Koulibaly. His team are second in Serie A and aiming to win the Europa League. They have no intention of selling their best player mid-season and if they did want to cash in, who could they replace him with at the last minute?

United hold the view that the best clubs do not sell their best players mid-season – unless they are about to leave on a free at its end as was the case with Sanchez. Or if the player had become more peripheral as in the case of Juan Mata, signed five – yes, it really was five – years ago. A record transfer fee clinched that deal.

If the targets do become available then United will take advantage, but that is unlikely. Added to that, Jose Mourinho was told that if he wanted another central defender to add to the six he had in August, then one had to be sold.

United had a €20 million offer for Marcos Rojo at the start of the season, but the club rejected it. The Argentinian, who has started only one league game so far this term because of injuries, didn’t want to leave and Mourinho was fine with that.

United’s position was the same this time last year –it hardly helps if they make too much information public, but then they didn’t expect Sanchez and his massive wages to become available.

United also had a permanent manager then. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is only a caretaker. Despite Mourinho’s moaning, the club felt that they’d backed him and given him a squad strong enough to fight for trophies. We can discuss their merits until the cow’s come home, but the squad vastly underperformed under the Portuguese.

Knowing that their reputations have dipped, players like Paul Pogba and Sanchez need to perform far better. Pogba is doing this and United are seeing the benefits.

The defence is unstable and leaky, though. Sixteen different combinations have been used in 21 league games so far. Victor Lindelof has been the best defender and it’s also encouraging to see Luke Shaw playing most weeks as left-back. Right-back is an issue.

Antonio Valencia, the club captain, is 33 and out of contract in the summer. His start at Newcastle was his first league game since Wolves in September. Mourinho considered that Diogo Dalot can become United’s right-back for a decade and maybe he can, but he’s 19 and has started three Premier League games.

Ashley Young, the man who mostly deputised for the Ecuadorian at right-back, is also 33. He’s been a decent United servant and he’s also out of contract in the summer. Young’s versatility has been a boon for United and the club can extend the contract, but would you want either as first choice next season?

United should have the best players in the world in as close to every position as possible.

United should also welcome another central defender, Timothy Fosu Mensah, 21, back in this month. He’s been on loan at Fulham, where boss Claudio Ranieri has said he can leave.

Mourinho always wanted a right-sided midfielder, but Solskjaer hasn’t been asked what he wants because that’s not his priority. Speaking to the media – a media keen to write transfer stories because they’re so popular – on Friday, he said: “I am sure they (the club) have got plans for this transfer window. The club has probably had a plan since the summer and the year before.

“I am here to voice my opinion on that and I am sure we will sit down, me and Ed, if they have got anything in the pipeline. I am here now to work with the ones that I have got. They have all performed and as long as they perform, they should always be given a chance. That is my job – to improve the team and individuals.”

For now, he’s in the job for five months, but with every win the idea of him staying longer becomes stronger. United speak to agents throughout the year and tell them the players they’re looking for.

Mourinho had a significant input into that process, but with a caretaker manager and the club set to appoint a director of football to work with whoever is in charge next season, the club is also in a state of flux.

It’s a happier state, mind, and as long as the team keep winning the fans will keep smiling. New signings? Half the players have looked like new signings in the last four games – and that’s not a bad thing.

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