What will the January transfer window hold for Serge Gnabry, Fabinho, and Gerard Martin and Manchester United? | National World / Getty Imagesplaceholder image
What will the January transfer window hold for Serge Gnabry, Fabinho, and Gerard Martin and Manchester United? | National World / Getty Images | National World / Getty Images
Manchester United are looking to secure Champions League football in the second half of this season
It’s the dawn of yet another era at Manchester United, though this one is guaranteed to only last a matter of months before a permanent and (hopefully) long-term manager takes over at Old Trafford
Which means this transfer window feels pretty useless for The Red Devils unless they can magically sign Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe in January. Any specialist players they get could be sidelined (like happened with Alejandro Garnacho, Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo under Ruben Amorim) when the new coach takes over, so it should be a pretty quiet month of transfer movement at Old Trafford despite so many high-profile rumours in recent months.
Manchester United have a serious problem now with the makeup of their playing squad given it’s been so tailored to playing Amorim’s system. Michael Carrick has a dearth of specialist wingers and his squad is bloated in attacking areas, as there’s no obvious way to fit Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, Amad Diallo and Benjamin Sesko into a starting XI that also includes a back four. If only someone had pointed this out in the summer. Oh wait, we did.
Anyway, to see if it will indeed be a dry window, we loaded up Football Manager 26 fast-forwarded to February to see what it predicted.
Man United’s January transfer window signings predicted
Wojciech Szczesny - £5.25 million from Barcelona - How strange would it be seeing Szczesny not only back in the Premier League, but in a Manchester United shirt? Something of a meme in his time at Arsenal, the Pole has gone on to have a very successful stint on the continent, winning four Serie A and La Liga titles, and nine trophies in total across his career.
Szczesny would be signed as a backup goalkeeper to Senne Lammens and in a season where The Red Devils don’t have any games left outside of the Premier League and whatever moneyspinning tour Sir Jim Ratcliffe tries to shoehorn in, Szczesny likely wouldn’t see much action. However, the experienced Pole would be a valuable mentor for Lammens.
Gerard Martin - £21m from Barcelona - This could ultimately be a bargain for Manchester United with Martin clearly talented. However, he’s stuck behind one of the best left-backs in the world at Barcelona in the form of Alejandro Balde and would surely be tempted by a better path to the first team. But would he find that at Manchester United? It’s only 12 months since they signed Patrick Dorgu for a potential £30m he only just turned 21.
Fabinho - £11.25m from Al-Ittihad - Could Fabinho emulate his compatriot Casemiro and roll back the years at Old Trafford in his fourth decade? Somewhat staggeringly, he’s only 32 but looked fairly past it in his final season at Liverpool despite racking up a lot of minutes. Casemiro was arguably the greatest holding midfielder of his generation yet even he’s struggled in portions for The Red Devils, and Carrick’s priority should be getting Mainoo back to his best again.
Serge Gnabry - £17.5m from Bayern Munich - Still an active member of the Germany squad, it’s been a few seasons since Gnabry was at his best, but that’s why he could be available for a fraction of his peak value. Like Fabinho, this feels like a bit of a needless signing given The Red Devils’ current squad makeup. They already have so many options in forward areas, all of whom signed to start, so adding Gnabry into the mix could simply complicate things for little gain.
Man United’s January transfer window sales predicted
Lisandro Martinez - loan to Girona - Finally, the nightmare is over for Manchester United fans. One of Eric Ten Hag’s signature signings, Martinez never settled at Old Trafford and wasn’t helped by a string of tough injuries. With Yoro and De Ligt on the books and Aiden Heaven around to develop as a rotation player along with Tyler Fredricson,
Altay Bayindir - £825,000 to Sunderland - Lammens isn’t giving up the starting spot between the sticks any time soon and the Dutchman is better off with an experienced face to learn from.
There’s a host of temporary departures predicted too - starting with Tyler Fletcher to Grimsby Town now his father isn’t in charge of proceedings. Though based on the League Cup this season, this may in fact be an upgrade. Also departing for the EFL are Ethan Williams, Sam Mather, Jaydan Kamason and Ashton Missin who head to Huddersfield Town, Mansfield Town, Doncaster Rovers and Bristol City respectively.
Finally, James Bailey is off to South Shields, Albert Mills heads to Southend United and Dante Plunkett relocates to Buxton.
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