Four signings that would be ideal for Mauricio Pochettino’s Man Utd in January

Mauricio Pochettino is set to take the reins at Manchester United and they’ll be hoping for an immediate boost in their fortunes – but they might have to add to their squad at the next opportunity to give themselves the best chance.

United’s season so far has been a disaster. They’ve gone into the international break sitting in the Premier League’s relegation zone. It’s cost Michael Carrick his job as manager, but quite rightly, the blame is more widespread.

United’s owners, directors and players have all come in for criticism, but if anything’s going to change, it’s probably the latter.

It’d be wrong to expect a mass overhaul in January, a notoriously difficult transfer window to do big business in, but it’d be equally daft to expect United to just sit around and do nothing.

A new manager coming in gives them a chance to bring in new ideas and players to suit those ideas.

So, keeping it semi-realistic, who’d be a good signing for them under Pochettino?

It’s tempting whenever a manager gets a new job to look at who’s at his former clubs that he might like to reunite with.

Ironically in this case, the one familiar player that might most appeal from Tottenham isn’t someone Pochettino worked with at Tottenham – it’s been a while, after all – but at Chelsea instead.

Gallagher was Pochettino’s most-used player during his sole season at Chelsea, playing in 48 of his 51 games in charge.

Sure, United already did a lot of work on their midfield over the summer, but they still seem to be missing runners there. And if there’s one thing Gallagher can do, it’s run. And if there’s one thing Pochettino wants his midfielders to do… you get the picture.

On average, Gallagher has covered 12.2km per 90 minutes when playing in the Premier League this season. It’s the highest average in the squad of anyone with three or more starts.

Pochettino used to rave about Gallagher at Chelsea. Exhibit A, this ringing endorsement in February 2024:

Gallagher hasn’t exactly been a regular starter for Spurs this season, but he only joined them in January, so he might be tricky to prise away.

But hypothetically, he’d get more of a look in from Pochettino in a midfield where Kobbie Mainoo is a top prospect, but Carlos Baleba has had injury issues, Youri Tielemans hasn’t convinced with his energy and Andrey Santos remains an unknown quantity.

Santos spent the 2023-24 season out on loan away from Chelsea rather than as part of Pochettino’s squad.

Gallagher would add to United’s homegrown quota too, but for a Pochettino team, he wouldn’t just be making up the numbers.

Pochettino got the best out of Luke Shaw when they worked together at Southampton, but Luke Shaw then was different to Luke Shaw now.

Back in those days he was a talented teenage prospect. Nowadays, he’s United’s tired only natural option at left-back. Quite simply, they need to freshen it up.

Pochettino will probably be happy to keep Shaw around as a senior, trustworthy figure. But he’ll be wanting more energy from the full-back positions and that means fresh legs.

Some of Pochettino’s best teams thrived when their full-backs bombed on to offer width while the wingers cut inside. Shaw can’t really do that anymore.

One player who can get up and down the flank is Palace’s Mitchell, who might not be the most inspiring choice but could be the best of what’s available.

Palace’s precarious position, coupled with the fact that Mitchell is out of contract at the end of the season, could make January his ideal time to escape.

His attacking output hasn’t always been cited as a strong point, but he can cover plenty of ground up and down the channel. A Pochettino team don’t necessarily need their full-backs to be the ones getting goals and assists, just to offer support and threatening runs.

Mitchell also has a good record in duels and could offer United more stability in defence, as they desperately need. There might be a signing with a higher ceiling to make, but that’s the kind of thing that might have to wait until the summer.

It’s not just at left-back United need to upgrade. The battle between Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui on the other side is hardly awe-inspiring, but unless they can shift one or the other, finding an upgrade might be a summer job.

At centre-back, though, they might not be able to afford to wait. Getting Harry Maguire back from injury will be a boost when the time comes, but with Lisandro Martinez suffering a sharp downturn in form, a brand new centre-back would help.

We reckon Nottingham Forest’s Murillo would be a pretty smart signing for United. He’s strong and imposing but also good on the ball, which is perfect for Pochettino.

Is he gettable in January, though? Probably not. He signed a new contract in the summer and we know what Forest are like when it comes to selling players. Or stopping them from being sold.

File this one under the dream signing category. Murillo has Premier League experience, plenty of good years still ahead of him and the attributes that Pochettino values highly in his defenders.

Look, we can safely say Pochettino would love to work with Harry Kane again. We know there have been numerous times when United would have loved to sign Harry Kane. It’s just not happening, though, is it?

Ink dry on his new Bayern Munich contract, Kane is off the menu. But a striker is still high on United’s wish list.

By January, Benjamin Sesko will be just about ready to return from injury, but who knows in what state. In his absence, United don’t have great alternatives. Joshua Zirkzee has had enough chances now and not taken them, while Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo are probably better out wide.

The summer transfer window is usually the more likely option for big striker moves. United could still do with someone to put them on, though.

The right kind of middle-ground between luxury signing and mere stop-gap could be someone like Borussia Dortmund’s Guirassy.

He’s the same height as Kane at 6’2 and boasts some similar strengths, such as his link-up play and chance conversion.

With eight goals from 14 games this season, including four from four in the Champions League, he’s in solid form. It’s no anomaly, looking at his last few seasons: 22 goals last time out, 38 the season before, 30 in the one before that.

At 30 years old, he’s not necessarily the long-term solution. But Kane is 33 and you’d sign him, wouldn’t you?

Guirassy might be one of the best options out there in terms of value for money.

READ MORE: The 6 players Man Utd let go in the summer – & how they’re faring elsewhere