Manchester United have prioritised player sales in the January transfer window in an attempt to trim their bloated squad.
The MEN understands United have earmarked possible transfers for Sergio Romero, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones in the New Year and Timothy Fosu-Mensah is also considering his future at the club.
United currently have a 31-man squad and senior club sources say the deadline day arrival of Edinson Cavani means United will not have to secure a replacement for Odion Ighalo when he returns to parent club Shanghai Shenhua at the end of January.
Fosu-Mensah, 22, is out of contract in the summer and United have one-year options on the deals of Romero and Rojo but risk widespread ridicule if they extend the stays of two players manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has deemed surplus.
Solskjaer excluded Argentinian duo Romero, 33, and Rojo, 30, from United's Champions League squad and Romero was also omitted from the Premier League squad. Rojo last made a United matchday squad over a year ago.
Romero's wife, Eliana Guercio, accused United of a lack of respect on deadline day on October 5 for supposedly denying the Argentinian a move. Romero has started training with the first-team after belatedly returning to United's Carrington training complex on October 27 but is the third-choice goalkeeper.
Rojo, 30, has not appeared for United since November 10 last year and played once during a chastening loan spell with boyhood club Estudiantes earlier this year.
Argentina international Rojo has started 12 times for United since he surprisingly signed a three-year contract in March 2018 and the club have tried to sell Rojo in five of the last six summers. He was recovering from a cruciate ligament injury in the other.
Chris Smalling and Alexis Sanchez were the two high-profile permanent departures from United in the close season and Smalling's deadline day sale to Roma was confirmed within an hour of the club's announcement they had signed Alex Telles for £13.6million. Smalling left for exactly the same fee.
Jones, 28, has not played for United since January 26 and only started twice in the Premier League last season, having received a four-and-a-half year contract in February 2019.
Fosu-Mensah went more than three years without playing for United until he lined up at Crystal Palace on July 16 and started this season's opener against Palace at Old Trafford.
