Manchester United are facing the prospect of making no new signings in the January transfer window despite earlier plans to add to the midfield and forward line.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had anticipated strengthening his squad in January, with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward expecting to secure the signing of Erling Braut Haaland from Red Bull Salzburg at the start of the month.
Instead, the 19-year-old Norwegian striker decided to join German side Borussia Dortmund with the official word from United being that they did not want to surrender too much control over the player's future to agent Mino Raiola .
His five goals in two appearances for Dortmund have shown precisely what United have missed out on, and things got worse when Marcus Rashford was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his back, an injury which could keep him out for two months and potentially longer.
Solskjaer also wanted to add a midfielder to his squad following Paul Pogba’s decision to have an operation to resolve an ankle injury, but the situation is made more desperate as Scott McTominay, one of United’s brightest performers of the 2019-20 season, was also forced into a lengthy spell on the sidelines following a ligament injury.
The club opened talks with Sporting CP a fortnight ago in order to bring Bruno Fernandes to Old Trafford, but talks have been stop-start as the two sides are about £20 million ($26 million) apart over the fee, with the structure of the deal also a sticking point .
This is despite super agent Jorge Mendes’ attempts to broker a deal, with the greatest obstacle being co-owner Joel Glazer’s objection to the asking price. But while some figures at United would like to complete a deal, and with Sporting having to balance their books, there is little expectation that a compromise can be reached.
Pressure is growing from supporters, who continued their violent chants regarding Woodward and the Glazer family during the FA Cup win at Tranmere. Fans are frustrated with the lack of top-level success since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, and failure to add a single player may be a tipping point, with plans for a walkout at the Premier League game against Wolves on Saturday evening.
The club have been linked with loan moves for Islam Slimani and Odion Ighalo, but for now there is little action behind the scenes despite there being only a matter of days left before the end of the transfer window on January 31. If United do intend to firm up their interest in Slimani, they may have left it too late to negotiate the release from his existing loan deal at Monaco from Leicester City.
Unless the side experience a dramatic loss of form before the end of the season they expect to retain Solskjaer as manager, which means any transfers may be postponed until the summer, with James Maddison and Jadon Sancho top of the transfer committee’s shortlist.