Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says his club will be “looking” to buy players when the transfer window reopens.
The Red Devils have had a rather inconsistent start to the season, but Skinner claims injuries have caused major disruption and he is keen to bring in reinforcements, with the United States a particularly attractive market to explore:
“For sure, we’ll be exploring, whether it’s the NWSL or other areas also out of season. I don’t think I’ve stood still ever since I’ve been here. If you look at my recruitment, we’ve moved every season because we have to bridge this gap that we’ve been put into based on only being around five seasons.”
“We don’t use that as an excuse. We’re building and bridging, trying to invest and progress. Yes, we’re looking in this window. If the right players become available, hopefully, we can do the business we need to, to bring them in. It didn’t help at the start of the year we took three ACL injuries… We do need to look at areas to invest and grow the squad out and compete.”
There are multiple reasons for United’s slow start
As Skinner mentions, injuries to the likes of Emma Watson, Gabby George, Aoife Mannion and Evie Rabjohn have certainly not helped matters, but the departures of two key players (Alessia Russo to Arsenal and Ona Batlle to Barcelona) have played a significant role too.
It was never going to be easy to follow up their runner-up finish last season, especially as Skinner hasn’t been able to rely on a settled starting lineup.
United’s 3 WSL fixtures before the winter break
While United are already seven points behind top-of-the-table Chelsea, they will be hoping not to fall even further behind ahead of the New Year when changes to the squad can be made.
They face Bristol City next up in the league, before fixtures against Tottenham (a) and Liverpool (h).