Who Manchester United need to buy and sell in January transfer window – Samuel Luckhurst

Manchester United have been active in each of Jose Mourinho’s January transfer windows. There were the high-profile departures of Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay in 2017 and the earth-shattering acquisition of Alexis Sanchez 10 months ago, as well as a smattering of academy departures.

United have previously described January as a ‘seller’s market’ but maintained that if the right player becomes available they would not hesitate in making a move for them. Such as Sanchez.

Mourinho ended the summer without two of his four priority targets and the uninitiated only have to look at United’s goals conceded column to guess one was a centre-back. Liverpool broke the transfer record for a defender with the £75million Virgil van Dijk this January and United might have to shatter their own defensive record if they are to reinforce their backline.

The United squad is riddled with dead wood but a winter cull is unrealistic. They do need to buy and sell, though.

Buy

Toby Alderweireld

There was one telephone call between Ed Woodward and his Tottenham counterpart Daniel Levy in the summer. Tottenham were enquiring about Anthony Martial and Juan Mata yet United did not entertain the possibility of selling either player, amid tension between Martial and Mourinho. United’s interest in Toby Alderweireld was conducted through intermediaries as far as the final days of the transfer window but they could not reach a breakthrough.

Woodward’s hesitancy to deal with Levy directly was similar to how United negotiated the club-record signing of Juan Mata from Chelsea in January 2014. United had rejected offers from Chelsea for Wayne Rooney in the summer and Woodward declined a face-to-face meeting with Chelsea representatives to agree a transfer for Mata, since he felt it was inevitable talk would divert into Rooney territory. So the deal was concluded without a single exchange in person.

Woodward was so strongly against selling Martial it is possible he avoided direct contact with Spurs regarding Alderweireld to avoid a swap arrangement, something the intermediaries touched upon. It would also account for United’s sudden interest in Harry Maguire.

Now Martial is United’s highest scorer this term, a frontrunner for the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award and United are negotiating a new long-term contract with the Frenchman. If Woodward seals that new deal before January then he may pick up the phone again. United should not be fazed by Levy when Alderweireld is seven months away from having his £25million release clause triggered.

Alderweireld turns 30 in March and the United hierarchy have distanced themselves from Mourinho’s ‘short-term’ recruitment strategy. Yet the days where a player’s decline began at 30 are over and United have shipped 21 goals in 12 Premier League games.

Other options United considered – Internazionale’s Milan Skriniar and Maguire of Leicester – were valued at an excessive £75m. Both have since signed new contracts.

A forward

Ideally, a right winger. Bernardo Silva would have been ideal 17 months ago but Mourinho, a fellow Gestifute stablemate, never showed any concrete interest in the silky Portuguese.

United showed interest in then Bordeaux winger Malcom last season but dropped their interest once Alexis Sanchez became attainable and the Brazilian joined Barcelona in the summer. Willian has hovered on and off United’s radar during Mourinho’s time at the club but that seems to be a non-starter in January.

The interest in Malcom stemmed from United dedicating more resources to the French market and scouts have watched Bordeaux again this season. As well as Lille, where the 23-year-old Ivory Coast international Nicolas Pepe is generating a buzz. And yes, he is a right winger.

Sell

Matteo Darmian

Mourinho’s ’emergency player’ has played once all season and that was in the Premier League opener. United did not receive a suitable offer for Darmian in the summer and a high-level source said he hoped the Italian would stay since he is a ‘great professional’.

Darmian is technically approaching the last six months of his contract but United have the option of an additional year. He has made the bench in the last six matches but the 28-year-old wants to return to Italy and United need to cut their losses while his re-sale value is still respectable.

“That’s what I want,” Darmian said when asked about a possible departure in July. “But we will see what happens because we don’t know. I want to play more regularly. Last season I didn’t play much – that’s my objective and my ambition. That’s why I spoke with the manager and also with the club about my future.

“Honestly I’m waiting. If I stay, I stay and I do what I did up until now. If I go it is because the offer that another team makes will be good. We have to take decisions in our life and this is my decision.”

Given Mourinho’s use of Darmian as the main back-up full-back, a summer exit seems likelier.

Marcos Rojo

Has there been a more inexplicable or undeserved contract in United’s modern history than Rojo’s in January? The injury-prone 28-year-old has played more times for Argentina than United since he scrawled his name in the Carrington press room in March and has not figured once this season.

Rojo has played in 107 out of a possible 240 United games during his four-and-a-half years with the club and, save for a five-month period in Mourinho’s first campaign, not performed consistently.

United have tried to sell Rojo in three out of four summers (he was injured in the other) and their failure to offload him to Everton in the last window partially scuppered a move for a replacement. United are unlikely to entertain having six centre-backs and Rojo could make way for the new centre half.

The trouble is United will struggle to make an acceptable profit on an unwanted player whose deal expires in 2021. United bought Rojo for £16.5m in 2014 and could have reasonably expected close to £30m in the summer. His recent inactivity will have driven his value down.