Why Erik ten Hag’s gloomy assessment of January transfer prospects makes total

If any Manchester United fans were holding out for a few new signings in the January window to help turn around a season of often underwhelming performances on the pitch, Erik ten Hag appears to have poured cold water over those hopes.

Not that the rebuild is complete, as is plain for anyone to see. In an interview with fanzine United We Stand, Ten Hag stressed the importance of improving the squad at his disposal.

“We have to develop and progress this team. In reality, we go to the next summer window and there will be new players coming in,” he said.

What about January though?

“I don’t think so,” he added. “As a club, you have to look for improvements, so if you can find better and it’s realistic financially and with financial fair play (FFP), I think the club has to go with it.

“But realistically, in relation to the market, most of the time you don’t attract the best players in the winter. The top, top players will not leave their clubs in the winter. It’s players who are disappointed, injured or just not the right fit or whatever.”

Generally speaking, Ten Hag is right and United’s January signings during his first year in charge go some way to proving his point, fitting into at least one of the three categories he outlines.

Wout Weghorst certainly disappointed by scoring just twice in 31 appearances, even if his unquestionable work rate meant he was still regularly preferred to the alternatives up front.

Weghorst was a surprise January signing (Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images)

Marcel Sabitzer was adequate short-term cover in midfield — and a deal struck quickly at short notice after Christian Eriksen’s ankle injury — but not deemed the right fit for the long term. Jack Butland was also signed as cover, brought in after Martin Dubravka was recalled by Newcastle, but did not play a single minute.

All of which would seem to support the notion that the month-long winter window is typically slower than the summer’s. Clubs tend to leave their priority business until later in the year. But that is more of a guideline than a rule and quality is still available before the clocks go forward.

Last January, Chelsea broke the British transfer record for Enzo Fernandez, having already set up a deal for Malo Gusto, one of the most promising young full-backs in Europe.

Anthony Gordon joined Newcastle United and Cody Gakpo arrived at Liverpool that same month. The previous January saw those clubs sign Bruno Guimaraes and Luis Diaz respectively, while Manchester City arranged their move for Julian Alvarez.

And then there is the only permanent first-team addition to United’s squad to arrive in January in the past four years: their most influential player over that period, club captain Bruno Fernandes.

In other words, it is not necessarily the case that there is “no value in the market”, to borrow a phrase Sir Alex Ferguson regularly leaned on at the turn of the 2010s, when a refinancing of…