Manchester United director of football John Murtough explains why the club are unlikely to spend much in the January transfer window

John Murtough has hinted that Manchester United will not be busy during the January transfer window.

The Red Devils have had a busy summer in which they brought stars such as Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Antony to the club.

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These players arrived as part of Erik ten Hag’s plans to restore the club to its former glory.

Their arrival came after the departures of Juan Mata, Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani who all moved on at the end of their contracts.

With United doing well in the Premier League, some fans are hoping the club will enter the transfer market as they push for Champions League qualification.

But according to director of football Murtough, they are unlikely to duplicate their summer spending.

Speaking at the United Fan Forum in September, he said: “We have signed five regular first-team starters on permanent transfers and one high-quality backup goalkeeper on loan.

“We finished the summer slightly ahead of what we expected in terms of the number of players signed, so we don’t expect the same level of activity in the coming windows, although we will continue to strengthen.

“The next step was to reshape the team and we worked closely with Erik throughout the summer to agree on who to bring in and who we would allow to leave.

“As always, there was a lot of media noise and speculation to contend with, but ultimately at the end of the window we were happy with where we ended up.”

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