Manchester United 'open to offers for five players in January'

Manchester United are reportedly prepared to listen to offers for five high-profile players during the January transfer window.

Despite making a number of major additions in the summer, Erik ten Hag's second campaign at Old Trafford has been mixed in terms of performances and results.

However, United began this week sitting in sixth position in the Premier League table after seven defeats in 16 matches and needing to beat Bayern Munich on Tuesday night to retain any chance of reaching the Champions League last 16.

Rumours persist that Ten Hag's position in the dugout is not entirely safe at a time when he would naturally like to make changes to his squad at the midway point of the season.

Nevertheless, that is expected to dependent on whether Sir Jim Ratcliffe formally secures a 25% in the club - taking over control of transfers - and whether United can stay within FFP criteria.

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Ideally, Ten Hag would like to tinker with several areas of his squad, with centre-back, central midfield and at least one new winger believed to be on his wishlist.

According to The Guardian, United will attempt to counteract that by listening to any bids that are made for some of their most notable players.

Offers for Casemiro will allegedly be heard, the Brazil international having struggled in his second year at the Theatre of Dreams at a time when he commands in excess of £300,000 per week.

The same can be said of Raphael Varane, who has barely featured since September despite largely being available, but it has bene claimed that the 2018 World Cup winner would prefer to fight for his place.

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Jadon Sancho's availability is already an open secret, the winger having fallen out with Ten Hag at the beginning of September and the pair having reached an impasse in their relationship with Sancho having refused to apologise for his reaction to criticism from his head coach.

Like they were in the summer, United are said to be open to offers for Anthony Martial, the 28-year-old contributing just one goal from five starts and 12 substitute outings in the Premier League and Champions League during 2023-24.

Donny van de Beek is known to be ready to move on from United having played just 21 minutes this season and none since the start of October, leaving United ready to cut their losses on the Dutchman.

Such is the high wages of each player that United will realistically have to consider loan proposals or parting ways with the aforementioned squad members for a cut-price fee in order to encourage interested teams to up their efforts.