Manchester United are preparing to keep their money banked in the January transfer window.
And boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hinted he may only do loan deals if he does recruit, rather than splash cash on players who are not top-priority targets.
Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has admitted United suffered earlier this season when France striker Anthony Martial was sidelined for seven weeks with a thigh injury.
United won just one of the five Premier League games that Martial missed as the £73million summer sale of fellow striker Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan left them short up top.
But although United have a hefty £100m January war-chest, it seems they won’t be rushed into making signings with Solskjaer revealing he isn’t interested in short-fix solutions.
“It is not about ‘X’ amount of money we have to spend – it is about who do we think will be good for the club in the long-term, not just three or four months,” said the United boss.
“The targets we have are probably not available in January.
“Not many clubs want to sell players that they would otherwise want to keep in January. Maybe one or two could be a loan deal but that is not a big money thing, it is just to help the team.
“But we are getting players back to fitness and we are looking at what can be available for us.”
United have been linked with renewed interest in Juventus striker Mario Mandzukic, who was a target on deadline day in August.
The 33-year-old Croatian is only a stop-gap measure, but it’s believed the experienced star regrets not forcing through a move to Old Trafford after failing to play a single minute for the Italians so far this season.
