Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has insisted that his side must be on the lookout for suitable loan deals in the January transfer market.
Having flattered to deceive in the Premier League in the first half of the 2023-24 season, as well as suffering early EFL Cup and Champions League exits, Red Devils fans have been crying out for January reinforcements.
However, with Mason Mount, Rasmus Hojlund and Andre Onana arriving in a trio of big-money deals over the summer, club chiefs have played down Man United's ability to splash the cash during the winter window.
Furthermore, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 25% purchase of the club for £1.3bn is yet to be ratified by the Premier League, and back in July, Man United were fined just over £250,000 by UEFA for breaching Financial Fair Play rules over a four-year period from 2019 to 2022.
The Red Devils did turn to the loan market in January 2023, capturing Wout Weghorst after Cristiano Ronaldo's acrimonious exit, while also bringing Marcel Sabitzer to the club due to midfield injuries.
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Neither man managed to play their way into a permanent Man United contract, but speaking to the press ahead of Sunday's Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur, Ten Hag insisted that more temporary deals cannot be ruled out.
"You always have to consider such choices. They are, again, two very good loans; (Marcel) Sabitzer and Wout Weghorst really contributed to our success last year," The Mirror quotes Ten Hag as saying.
"When such opportunities come up, we have to take them. At the same time, you have to analyse what we have on board, what is coming up. I already counted on Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo; I knew they might make mistakes and we can't bring them in every game but I counted on them.
"Of course, it went straight away negative when Kobbie Mainoo got injured in the second game of pre-season, then you lose him for three or four months and it stops the process.
"Now we have to work him back and then also you have to accept he can't play three games of 90 minutes in the Premier League in six or seven days - it is not possible.
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"You have to manage that and manage that process because you do not want to get injured again, but then you need players who can replace his position in that moment and get the right results, so that is what we try to prepare in the moments where we make our decisions."
Reinforcements in all areas of the field are believed to be on the cards for the summer window, but the Red Devils have been especially linked with a move for an experienced striker in January to ease the goalscoring burden on Hojlund.
It has been claimed that Bayern Munich striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has agreed a switch to Manchester for the second half of the season, although much may still depend on the immediate future of Anthony Martial.
The Frenchman is now in the final six months of his Old Trafford contract, although he supposedly wants to stay at the club and fight for his place under Ten Hag before a possible exit in the summer if his 12-month extension is not triggered.
Martial has missed Man United's last six matches with an unspecified illness, though, and Ten Hag confirmed that the 28-year-old would remain absent for Sunday's visit of Tottenham while he receives medical treatment.
