Man Utd's January plan sums up summer's transfer failings as club make rare move

Manchester United are ready to act in January by making at least one signing as they look to try and rescue their season.

The Red Devils ploughed all their finances into improving their midfield in the summer, which ended with three new arrivals - Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans and Carlos Baleba. The latter has only just come into the first-team picture after struggling with injury.

The aforementioned duo have question marks over them at this early stage of the season, contributing to the club's worst start to a campaign in 40 years, which has left Michael Carrick as a man under pressure.

It seems the board have accepted their failings, as The Times report that they will look to make an addition in the New Year, with the holes in their squad being seriously exposed.

Get our comprehensive football coverage, with news, updates, opinions, analysis and everything that matters to you, straight to your inbox.

To get it, it's a quick and easy one-two:

1. Head THIS WAY

Make sure you don't miss sport's biggest stories and breaking news by making the Daily Mirror one of your Google preferred sources.

But United are not a team who do such business in January, history suggests so. Even in the past under the likes of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag they've started poorly, but still stuck with the squad they had.

Bruno Fernandes is an example of a January signing proving a huge hit, but notoriously the first month of the year is a tough time to do successful business for the right fee. That is backed up by the fact United have signed only THREE new players in the January transfer window since their capture of Fernandes back in 2020.

Amad was signed from Atalanta the year after, but allowed to remain with the Italian club for a period. More recently Ayden Heaven was captured from Arsenal, but he was another young player who was seen as more of a long-term project.

The only player signed with a view to going straight into the first-team is Patrick Dorgu. He joined from Lecce when Ruben Amorim was in charge.

Dorgu had the profile to play as a wing-back, which was a major part of the system Amorim tried, but failed, to implement. Since his dismissal Dorgu has had positive moments, but is by no means a regular with United reverting back to a conventional back four under Michael Carrick.

Under Ten Hag, they signed the likes of Jack Butland, Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer on loan, but their impact was limited, and even those decisions copped criticism.

United's need to bolster all areas of their squad is well known, which will no doubt drive up the price. January signings can be overpriced with selling clubs often knowing that the buyer is in, something of, a desperate situation.

The Red Devils need a left-back, which they failed to land in the summer, to cover for Luke Shaw. They've also not welcome a major centre-half since Leny Yoro in 2024.

In attack, they're without the injured Benjamin Sesko as there's no genuine No 9 to cover for him, leaving the likes of Marcus Rashford and Matheus Cunha to act as makeshift solutions.

Even in midfield their new trio have not lit the world alight, and frustration among fans and ex-players has only mounted by watching how impressive the likes of Elliot Anderson and Sandro Tonali have been. Two men who United backed away from due to their price tags.