The January transfer window is fast approaching and Man United could look to do some mid-season business.
Plenty of mistakes have been made since Ineos took control of football operations at Manchester United. Often the communication with supporters has been poor and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s treatment of fans when it comes to ticket prices and other matters has been rightly criticised.
However, one area that has improved has been the recruiting and selling of players. Of course, not every piece of business will be universally welcomed but at least there seems to be a method which United are looking to implement in the transfer market.
Sporting director Jason Wilcox explained this on a recent episode of the Inside Carrington podcast. He said: “Last year’s summer window was a lot more chaotic than this one. This one was really calm, we knew the plan, we knew which players we were going to target, we had our lists, we knew which areas of the pitch we needed to improve.
“These are continuous meetings between myself and Ruben [Amorim] with Chris Vivell and his team underneath. We are very clear on the profiles that we need. The brief will come from myself and Ruben, it goes into Chris.
“[There is] a lot of debate and discussion around the profiles of what we need and then the scouts will go into the market. We combine that with the data team and there will be constant dialogue. Right now, I am having weekly meetings with the recruitment team of the profiles, the age bracket, the cost, are they attainable with Ruben as well. It is a really joined up approach.”
This is a world away from the recruitment plan under Erik ten Hag. At times it seemed as though he was solely responsible for identifying possible targets.
While some of his ex-players have proven to be decent buys – Lisandro Martinez started well and Matthijs de Ligt is getting better every week – many others fell short of the required standard. But if Wilcox is true to his word and the manager still has a say in recruitment, the board need to listen to what Amorim had to say this week.
Amorim was asked why his team’s level was dropping off in the second half of matches. In response, the Portuguese head coach highlighted two players’ absences – two players who could no longer be with the Reds at the start of next season.
He said: “I think we have some problems in two games that we lost, we lose Casemiro with some pain, Harry Maguire the same thing, and they are key players. Not just the way they play and the experience they have, the set pieces and people don’t take that into consideration.”
The United duo are both out of contract at the end of the season. As things stand, neither man will be staying beyond then. Casemiro has stated he wishes to continue playing football beyond this campaign. Despite United having an option to extend his contract by a further 12 months, the Reds would rather negotiate a new deal to lower his salary.
United have already used the option to extend his stay by a further 12 months and so a new deal would need to be struck. United will likely want to lower his wages to reflect the amount of playing time he will have beyond 2026.
Maguire seems the most likely to stay at present but if one, or both, of these players leave Old Trafford in 2026, United have a job on their hands to replace them. Amorim knows neither man is the future of United but what they both have shown is that the team looks weaker when they are not on the pitch.
This should have alarm bells ringing inside Old Trafford. Replacing players with such Premier League and European experience will be a difficult task and this interview alone has ensured the issue has been flagged early.
If both end up leaving, United will need to replace them with quality, experienced players. If they are not able to, they risk losing key squad depth for 2026/27.
2025-11-23 04:00:00
