Ruben Amorim offers insight into Man Utd's transfer strategy ahead of January window

According to The Guardian, United are believed to have prioritised signing a new central midfielder in January, with Al-Hilal’s Ruben Neves, Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher and Bournemouth’s Tyler Adams having been added to their shortlist.

The 20-time champions were keen to bring in a new No. 6 in the summer transfer window, but withdrew from negotiations to land Brighton and Hove Albion’s Carlos Baleba after being put off by his reported £100 million (€114m/$133m) valuation.

Brighton owner Tony Bloom confirmed in October that United were keen to sign Baleba, telling The Argus: “There was interest from Manchester United, and we said that he wasn't available this summer and they went away. So we've had many bigger sagas in the past. But Carlos Baleba, his improvement has been immense. Massively important player to this football club, and just delighted that he's with us for this season.”

However, after Amorim revealed earlier in December that United were prepared to strengthen in other areas of the pitch - provided the “perfect” players for the long term became available - the BBC have reported the Old Trafford club were keen to sign Bournemouth forward Antoine Semenyo next month.

But United look set to miss out on landing the in-demand forward, who has a £65 million (€74m/$87m) release clause that can be triggered in the first two weeks of January, after the same publication reported the Ghana international is leaning towards joining Manchester City instead.

United are short of numbers following the departures of Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo, who are competing for Morocco, Ivory Coast and Cameroon respectively at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), while Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire are all injured.

“The only thing that we will try to bring now – and in the end of the season – are players that are perfect for our future,” Amorim said before United’s 2-1 Premier League defeat against Aston Villa on 21 December.

“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. So I don't know what is going to happen, but it's possible that we can do something.”

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Continuing to highlight the importance of long-term planning, Amorim has said that while he and sporting director Wilcox do not always see eye-to-eye when it comes to potential additions to the squad, the Portuguese insisted United will not make a January signing unless both men have sanctioned the move.

"Sometimes I have one idea, Jason and the board have another idea,” Amorim said in his pre-match press conference ahead of United’s home game against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday. “Every decision we make, we need to reach a common ground.

“That is really important because you don't need to make everything for the manager because the manager can change and [then] you need to change everything. But you also need to understand the manager understands the way of playing. If you don't reach common ground the player would not come, so we just try to do that. We try to make all of the assessments of how they live, how they train, their characteristics.

“I think we did well [with our summer recruitment], but I think they have more to give. If you talk about (Matheus) Cunha, for example, Ayden (Heaven) is a young guy, but Cunha and Bryan (Mbeumo) are from here, from our league, so it is easier for them to perform.”

United are looking to round off 2025 with a victory over a Wolves side who are rock-bottom of the Premier League table, having failed to win any of their 18 games this season. The Old Gold have collected just two points in 2025-26.

Meanwhile, Amorim’s men are hoping to record back-to-back league victories following the 1-0 home win over Newcastle United on Boxing Day. Denmark international Patrick Dorgu scored a fabulous volley to earn his side a first win on home soil since the 4-2 triumph over Brighton in October.