Manchester United are finalizing their approach for the January transfer window, with Ruben Amorim speaking out on the type of players the club should target
Manchester United’s Director of Football Jason Wilcox has explained how the club’s recruitment process will work as the January transfer window approaches. United have had a busy summer, bringing in Matheus Cunha, Brian Mbeumo, Benjamin Sesko and Senne Lamence, but they will have the opportunity to add more players in the new year.
The club spent more than £200m to strengthen Ruben Amorim’s squad in the last window, but there are still areas to improve, with central midfield at the top of the list. Carlos Bareva, Conor Gallagher, Adam Wharton and Elliott Anderson are among the players interested, but it may be difficult to secure one of them in January.
Nevertheless, Wilcox, Amorim and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell hold regular meetings to discuss potential targets and the type of players they need. Wilcox, who joined United in April 2024 after working as Southampton’s director of football, revealed the process in an interview with the club’s Inside Carrington podcast.
“Right now, I have weekly meetings with the recruitment team about different profiles, age groups, costs, achievability, etc. It’s a really collaborative approach, including Ruben,” he said. “When we sign players, there are so many people involved in the process.
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“The data team is involved in the process and we focus all our attention on a particular player, so it’s very important that we do a background check to see if they are professionals who live a clean life. This is very important.”
United have improved in recent weeks and their winning streak ended at three with a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest at the weekend. Amorim’s side are eighth in the Premier League, just one point away from the top four, which is their main goal this season.
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“We have to continue to build the spirit and continue to develop Reuben’s ideas,” Wilcox added. “Ruben has a very clear idea. It’s a much more flexible idea than people give it credit for. We have to understand the game model with the end goal in mind and understand what Manchester United are like. That’s really important and we have to put the pieces of the jigsaw together.”
“You want to put the pieces of the jigsaw together and put all the pieces in place where you see a very clear picture, but it becomes even more difficult when you lose a few football games because while you’re building and you’re building the picture, people start to question things. But for us and Ruben and (chief executive) Omar (Berrada), the ownership is very clear, we’re very clear about the direction we’re going, which is very important.”
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