Man Utd's January transfer business was exactly what Red Devils needed to be a threat in the Women's Champions League

United really impressed at times in the Champions League league phase, seeing off Atletico despite being reduced to 10 players, beating a talented - albeit disappointing - Paris Saint-Germain side at Old Trafford and getting a solid win in Turin against Juventus on the final matchday to secure a sixth-placed finish in the final standings and, with it, seeding for the knockout round draw.

That accomplishment was made all the more impressive by some of the injuries United were dealing with at the time, the quantity of which regularly left the Red Devils with a significantly emptier bench than many of their opponents. Only Twente used fewer players in the league phase than United, who also used the same amount as Belgian minnows OH Leuven. The other 15 sides in the competition all used more players than the Red Devils, including Valerenga, St. Polten and Paris FC.

In November, the negative impact of that thin squad on United's ability to compete across four fronts became particularly apparent. Playing four games in 12 days, United suffered three defeats, losing to Aston Villa and Manchester City in the Women's Super League and Wolfsburg in Europe. It caused irreparable damage to the Red Devils' league title push, seeing them fall seven points behind City at the top of the standings, having been only one point behind their local rivals prior to that Villa loss.

City didn't qualify for this season's Champions League and that relief in their schedule is at least one reason why Andree Jeglertz's side are running away with the WSL title this time around. United, meanwhile, have looked leggy and been unable to rotate much given the injuries that were further restricting Skinner, who was already working with a smaller squad than desired after a summer transfer window that didn't involve enough business to set this team up for the challenge of four competitions.

"I think we need a bigger squad. I have no doubt about that," Skinner said earlier this season. "I think in the winter window, we need to add to the squad."

It was something he emphasised again in December, when he rotated his XI for the visit of Lyon and saw his side come up second-best in a 3-0 defeat: "[The squad] needs support and it needs numbers of quality. I don't want to diminish anything from my squad. I love [the players] and what they do. It's not about replacing them, but it's about trying to grow the team."

United have certainly done that now. Lundkvist, a dynamic full-back who came in from the San Diego Wave, has filled a necessary spot in the depth chart, competing with Jayde Riviere. Riviere plays a high energy and all-action style that is demanding, and having someone else to rotate with her in the line-up is vital if she is to remain as effective as possible through an entire season, while Lundkvist herself also has plenty of top-level qualities to bring to the table in United red.

However, it is in attack that the recruits are most eye-catching - and potentially most significant. Schuller, a centre-forward with plenty of top-level experience, arrived after scoring 103 goals in 180 games for Bayern Munich and with a record of 54 strikes in 82 Germany appearances, while Wangerheim, still only 21 years old, joined for a club-record fee off the back of a 17-goal season in her native Sweden, with seven assists also contributed at Hammarby as they finished second in the Damallsvenskan.

The firepower both can add to this team is obvious from those numbers. But it is the variety and versatility that they give this United attack that can be game-changing as some huge fixtures approach.

Already in 2026, we have seen United be much more unpredictable in attack with these new signings. Before the winter break, one could almost always accurately guess the Red Devils' XI. Most likely, Ella Toone would play in the No.10 role, Jess Park would occupy a free-roaming position on the right, Melvine Malard would play down the left and Elisabeth Terland would lead the line.

As Fridolina Rolfo built up her fitness following her summer arrival from Barcelona, she introduced a bit more variation, coming into the attack on the left to replace Malard or to push the Frenchwoman into a centre-forward role, with Terland on the bench.

Consistency in team selection is good. It allows players to build chemistry and important relationships on the pitch. Park and Toone, for example, worked together excellently in the first half of the season because of how regularly they played in their roles next to each other, as well as their great relationship off the pitch. But it can lead to that air of predictability, and Skinner didn't have as many options to avoid that as is necessary when participating in so many competitions at the elite level.

That's changed since the New Year. In their last six games, United have yet to start with the same front four, able to choose from Malard, Park, Rolfo, Terland, Schuller, Wangerheim, Simi Awujo and Lisa Naalsund to operate in those positions, with Toone to come into the mix again next month when she returns from injury.

In that time, United have scored 15 times for an average of 2.5 goals per game, significantly up from the 1.86 they were averaging prior to the winter break. Of course, the results this year are still a small sample size, and United's 5-0 win over third-tier Burnley in the FA Cup skews the figures somewhat, but the eye test suggests an added potency in attack, one that has only grown with each passing week as Wangerheim and Schuller have settled in.

It means that, as United approach the business end of the season, they are suddenly more difficult for opponents to plan for. Park, for example, played almost exclusively on the right through the first half of the campaign; since the turn of the year, she's played on the right, on the left and centrally. In that same time, three different players have been deployed in the No.10 role, Malard has played on the right and the left, while Terland and Schuller have had three starts apiece leading the line.

On Thursday, United take on an Atletico side that they beat 1-0 in the Champions League league phase, despite a controversial red card for Dominique Janssen reducing them to 10 players for the majority of the match. That day, United put out an XI that featured Toone in the No.10, with Malard and Rolfo either side of Terland.

This time around, Atleti's guess will be as good as any as to who Skinner chooses for both legs of this tie, with United primed to bring an added unpredictability into the business end of their season. Having worked hard and, at times, against the odds in the first half of the campaign to put themselves in a great position for the final few months, the attacking boost provided by the January transfer window could well push the Red Devils to new heights.