Manchester United should only enter the January transfer market if “the right player” becomes available, says Gary Neville, with the Red Devils warned off “panic” buys in a tricky window.
Patience at Old Trafford is being rewarded in 2020-21, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer having overcome more questions of his future to edge his side into contention for major honours.
Many have United in the Premier League title race, as they sit five points off the pace with a game in hand, while progress to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup has also been made.
A useful habit of grinding out results on the road has been picked up, while a 6-2 victory over arch-rivals Leeds suggests that a spark has also been found on home soil.
With all of that taken into account, Neville is not convinced that United need to spend again.
Value can be hard to find over the winter so, despite the Red Devils not yet being the complete package, Solskjaer has been advised to steer well clear of any urge to add for the sake of it.
Red Devils legend Neville told his podcast for Sky Sports: “If the right player is available then yes, Manchester United should go into the January transfer market because they need to improve the team. But if the player is not there, they won't panic, they have been doing things a bit better in the market in recent years.
“What I would say is that Manchester United are a confusing bunch, two or three weeks ago you looked and this team and thought it would be a tough old season. They went out of Europe, the performance in the first half at West Ham was really poor, I was there.
“But if you look at the result at Everton, the glass is half full. The squad has been used after the performance against Leeds, where they were brilliant. Six goals against Leeds then nine changes against Everton, everyone is involved and playing.
“Leicester is a big game on Boxing Day, but if they were to go there and win, they would really be gathering some confidence. Contrast that to a couple of weeks ago where there were questions over the manager's job - not from me, I always thought Ole should get to the end of this season as a minimum.
“But as he walked off the pitch at Goodison with a smile on his face, the fans will be happy, the players on the pitch have a lot of quality and if they can just get into a rhythm and start to produce performances, real performances over 90 minutes, there's a bunch of players with big character and quality. They have not moulded together yet as a team, but they are getting better, they are getting stronger, they have match-winners.”
United, who have also dropped into the last-32 of the Europa League and have an FA Cup campaign to come, have seen belief returned to their ranks by recent displays and are daring to dream once more as they seek to bring a four-year wait for major silverware to a close.