Vieira: Man United's Wan-Bissaka 'loved by fans' amid Crystal Palace links

Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has discussed a potential January move for Aaron Wan-Bissaka, revealing he hopes the club are 'busy' in the transfer market.

The right back left Selhurst Park for Manchester United in a £50million deal in 2019 but has fallen out of favour this season at Old Trafford.

And Vieira admitted academy product Wan-Bissaka is 'loved by the fans' amid Palace being linked to a return for the 25-year-old.

He said: 'Listen, he is a Man United player. We have to respect that and there's nothing more to say about that.

'He is a good player, there is no doubt about that. He's related to this football club and I think he's been loved by the fans. But again, he's a United player. I hope we're going to be busy [in January].

'We always work hard to try to improve the squad but we know how tough and difficult it is to find the players to improve the team. We are quite short on numbers but it is important to find the right players.'

Palace chairman Steve Parish insisted any deals the club do in January are likely to be loans, with permanent business saved until the summer - potentially setting up a six-month loan with option or obligation to buy for Wan-Bissaka.

The defender, who has only played four minutes of Premier League football this season after falling below Diogo Dalot in the pecking order, delivered a fine assist as the Red Devils beat Burnley 2-0 in the League Cup fifth round on Wednesday.

After the match, manager Erik ten Hag said: 'It's clear he has a future. He had some good years here at United, but from the start this season he had a lot of illnesses and injuries, so running behind.'