3 talking points from Manchester United’s January transfer window | Premier League 2019-20

The winter transfer window ended on a frenzied note after 31 days of excitement and anticipation. Manchester United had a slow start to the window, but by the end of the month, chaos had set in. The Red Devils managed to secure Bruno Fernandes and Odion Ighalo within in the last 2 days of the transfer window, even though they were linked to a host of players throughout the month.

United had adopted a cautious approach at the start of the window, but their transfer strategy was sent out of the window after the injury to Marcus Rashford. The Englishman exacerbated his back injury against Wolverhampton Wanderers, prompting the club to take a proactive stance. That resulted in a crazy last couple of days for the regular Manchester United fan, before United ended the month with 3 new players, while also letting Ashley Young leave for Inter Milan.

The winter transfer window might not have delivered the promised land to United fans at the end of January, but it can be safely assumed that United ended the month stronger than before. As such, we take a look at 3 talking points from Manchester United’s January transfer window.

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#3 Manchester United finally signed a midfielder

Bruno Fernandes

The Red Devils were short of a midfielder since the departure of Marouane Fellaini last January, but in truth, the United midfield was crying out for a world-class addition for quite some time. To make matters worse, Ander Herrera was allowed to leave last summer, which made signing a midfielder a priority before the start of the new season. Unfortunately, United failed to make any additions to the midfield, despite being linked with several players.

A season-defining injury to Paul Pogba highlighted United’s poor planning and lack of squad depth, and when Scott McTominay joined the Frenchman on the sidelines, the Red Devils were down to the bare bones. Thankfully, the Premier League giants rectified their error come January and managed to wrestle Fernandes away from Sporting Lisbon.

The Portuguese has already shown his class in his first game, against Wolverhampton Wanderers and fans cannot wait for him to team up with Pogba on the field. Most importantly though, United have managed to strengthen a very important position in the team and that could have a say in their quest for a 4th place finish in the Premier League.

#2 Striker search highlighted lack of planning at United

Odion Ighalo

The fact that Manchester United started their search for a striker with Erling Haaland but ended up with Ighalo speaks volumes of the current situation at the club. It is hard to imagine that a club of the stature of United could display such lack of planning in the transfer window. While the failure to convince Haaland to make the move to Old Trafford might have occurred due to various reasons, United’s reluctance to step up efforts to move on to counter targets was a huge letdown.

The first half of the season had clearly indicated that United still required a proper No. 9 in the team. After Haaland’s rejection, United went under the radar and showed no desire to prize away other top strikers from the league or abroad. While the negotiations with Sporting Lisbon for Fernandes seemed to have strained them, the Portuguese’s arrival knocked some urgency back into United.

The Red Devils enquired about Danny Ings, had a bid turned down for Joshua King and tried to target every striker they could think of around in the last 2 days of the month, before eventually running out of time and settling down on Ighalo. One cannot help but wonder that had this urgency existed at the beginning of the season, United’s hunt for a world-class striker might have had the desired outcome.

#1 Red Devils need more reinforcements in the summer

Will United pursue Jadon Sancho this summer?

At the end of the January transfer window, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had made 3 additions to the United squad, but only one of them will improve the starting eleven. As of now, the Norwegian has made 4 significant additions to the squad since taking over as the permanent manager, but it is clear that the Red Devils need a few more before they can compete with the best in the league and Europe.

Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James have shown promise, while Fernandes is also expected to play a starring role in the team. However, United are staring at another important summer up ahead and need to show a lot more intent once the transfer window reopens after the end of the season.

The requirement of a proper right-winger has been written about a thousand times, while the club’s inability to add a striker in January means that they might be forced to revisit that chapter in a few month’s time. The defense has also been an issue, so a partner for Maguire could also be on the cards. United should also prepare for the imminent departure of Pogba, and cannot afford to be caught off guard at the penultimate moment once again.