Ruben Amorim has stressed that Manchester United's approach to the winter transfer window will not be dictated by the impact of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Our head coach knows the Reds must deal without the services of Noussair Mazraoui, Amad and Bryan Mbeumo for a prolonged spell, at a time when the domestic calendar fills up.
After upcoming games against Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, there will be the opportunity for the club to do some transfer business and speculation, to that effect, is already inevitably increasing.
During the embargoed section of his pre-Villa press conference, the boss was asked if there is money available to spend in January.
“We will see,”
Ruben replied. “The only thing we know is we will only try to bring players that we think are going to be the future.
”It’s not going to be to save something in this moment, to cope with the losses of three players for AFCON, it’s not going to be like that.
“Even if we try to bring one player, maybe it’s not the position that we need more. We will try to bring now, and [at] the end of the season, players that are perfect for our future.
”So, I don’t know what is going to happen, but it is possible that we can do something.“
The window opens on Thursday 1 January, two days after our home contest with bottom-side Wolves.
The deadline for any deals for Premier League clubs is 19:00 GMT on Monday 2 February, this is because the last day of the month falls on a weekend.