Manchester United will NOT buy in January — reports

Strootman? Hummels? Vlaar? No, no, and thrice no. According to the Guardian, Manchester United will not be dipping into the transfer market this January. Apparently, the glut of injuries and the failure to recruit at least one top-drawer centreback last summer will not provoke any wintertime shopping.

The Guardian's information is that United feel:

acquiring top quality players is a more realistic proposition in the close season rather than in the winter window, when many clubs remain in Champions League or Europa League competition.

This is not, claims the paper, a question of money not being made available. But United's top two targets — Roma's Kevin Strootman and Borussia Dortmund's Mats Hummels — are both likely to be involved in European competition after the winter window has closed, and so the club will wait rather than panic.

The paper also reckons that Van Gaal has been "encouraged by the progress of the squad as it stands", and as such "any recruitment after Christmas is now being viewed as an exception". Progress ... he's talking about Paddy McNair, isn't he?