Manchester United’s interim boss Ralf Rangnick has spoken in detail about the criteria any player must meet before sanctioning a move in the January window.
The German is set to take charge of his second Premier League clash on Saturday, having beaten Crystal Palace in his maiden match in the competition.
Rangnick put out a full-strength side against the Eagles before subsequently rotating his charges for the Champions League dead rubber against Young Boys in midweek, during 1-1.
After stints as the RB Leipzig sporting director, the 63-year-old is set to take on a consultancy role at Old Trafford once his six-month contract in the dugout ends at the season.
As such, he already has one eye on the future and how arrivals could help to bring silverware back to United after a drought now stretching more than five years.
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And his early assessment of the squad assembled by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has led him to the belief that they definitely need to strengthen.
"I’ve got to know them better in this week, I saw most of them play in the two games and had three, four or five training sessions this week," Rangnick said on Friday.
"But it’s still too early to speak about what might happen in the winter transfer window. If I look at the number of players we have, it’s still a big squad, we definitely do not have not enough players."
Asked specifically about the type of players he will look to target, Rangnick added that it must be one of high quality, one which will not be privy to a winter premium and an individual that will come with the right winning mentality.
“My opinion on winter transfers is clear,” he explained. “It needs to be a player who improves the quality, who helps the team to get better. It needs to be a high quality player, no matter which area of the pitch.
“On the other hand, it needs to be a player who, if they were available in the summer, they’re available for similar conditions in the winter. Then it might make sense.
“It needs to be the right mentality as well as the right quality. For this competitive league, we need the best possible mentality. He needs to be mature enough, have a winning mentality, and for me the mentality in this league is even more crucial than in any other league in Europe.”
Meanwhile, in matters back on the pitch, Rangnick is expected to return to his strongest XI when the Red Devils take on a resurgent Norwich City at Carrow Road.
Cristiano Ronaldo was given a very rare Champions League night off and will be looking to continue to show the kind of intensity he displayed in the new manager’s first game last week.
