Newcastle, Chelsea and Tottenham could deliver Manchester United a January transfer window blow

Any Manchester United fan casting their minds back to January might shudder at the thought.

Heading into the window, Erik ten Hag had not earned the entire trust of the board just yet but the wheels were in motion. Cristiano Ronaldo was allowed to leave after his Piers Morgan interview and it was imperative a replacement arrived.

But funds were not released so a stop gap of Wout Weghorst was signed to little effect. All January 2023 served to do was push the problems down the line to the summer. Marcel Sabitzer and Jack Butland arrived too but while the former provided good cover in the absence of Christian Eriksen, the latter was merely a squad filler. Then that was it. A team desperate for quality additions settling for short-term solutions.

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While that was a nightmare, January 2024 has the potential to be even worse. Once again, United need to recruit heavily, perhaps even more so than last year considering how badly the current squad is performing.

But they won't be alone in needing to improve. Newcastle United, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur will all be competing in the same price bracket as United and suddenly the Reds look like the weakest option.

Despite recent results, Newcastle retain a feel-good factor, while their injury woes mean new signings are almost guaranteed minutes. Spurs are in a similar boat and Ange Postecoglou is quickly earmarking himself as a manager players want to work under.

Arguably joining Ten Hag and United could be seen as a brighter prospect than moving to Stamford Bridge but there feels to be a plan with Mauricio