Former Manchester United midfielder Luke Chadwick has responded to the club’s lack of activity in this January transfer window so far.
The Red Devils do not look like they have any major deals in the pipeline as we head into the final few days of the transfer window, with players heading out of the club seemingly far more likely than the prospect of any players heading in.
Anthony Martial has joined Sevilla on loan, and there may be one or two others joining him in leaving Old Trafford in the next few days.
Chadwick expects, however, that Man Utd’s lack of signings at the moment is perhaps not too surprising as the kind of big names they could be going after would be more likely to join in the summer.
“You can only sign what’s available, and it’s quite rare to see a massive transfer in the January window,” Chadwick told CaughtOffside.
“There don’t seem to be a huge amount of Man United rumours around – we’ve heard about names like Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice, but I can’t see any of them happening in this window.
“Obviously there could be players going out and that could help the environment in the dressing room and give Rangnick more of a streamlined squad going into February.”
Discussing Martial in particular, Chadwick admits it’s disappointing that the Frenchman never really fulfilled his true potential at United.
Martial started so brightly in his first season with the club, and Chadwick wonders how differently things might have gone for him if Louis van Gaal had remained in charge for a bit longer.
“He (Martial) had some fantastic moments in his time at the club, some great performances the season before last in particular,” Chadwick said.
“He had a huge amount of potential but never showed it on a consistent basis. He perhaps needed a manager to put their arm around him and I think since Van Gaal left he didn’t really have that, he was never really trusted or seen as a striker, having been shifted out wide by Mourinho.
“I’m sure it was the right time for Van Gaal to go but maybe it wouldn’t have been Martial’s first choice. Under a different manager maybe he would’ve done better, but the club will always be the most important thing.”
Overall, Chadwick is pretty optimistic that MUFC are in decent shape after beating West Ham 1-0 just before the brief Premier League winter break.
“The best thing to come out of it was the three points, a clean sheet, and a feel-good factor with a last-minute winner,” Chadwick said of the win over West Ham.
“The defence has improved a lot, it’s another clean sheet under Rangnick. Overall it looks like he’s done a good enough job, the team’s not playing the free-flowing football you’d like to see, but the results are coming together. Hopefully there’ll be more of the same after the winter break.”
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