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Senior Writer, ESPN FC- Gabriele Marcotti is a senior soccer writer for ESPN.com. Read his archive here and follow him on Twitter: @Marcotti.
The winter transfer window closed on Monday and Manchester United largely underwhelmed in the market thanks to financial constraints and the difficulty in recruiting midseason. Out went Marcus Rashford and Antony, two expensive and unwanted veteran players; in came a largely unknown defender from Serie A (Patrick Dorgu) and a youth player (Ayden Heaven) from Arsenal's academy.
The biggest issue? They didn't bring in a centerforward to ease the pressure up front and keep them from falling even further behind.
So what does the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign look like from here under Ruben Amorim? Does he have the players he needs to make his tactics and system work? And how should he tackle the league vs. cups debate, with United still alive in the FA Cup and Europa League while being stuck in the bottom half of the Premier League table?
Gab Marcotti and Mark Ogden debate the state of Man United.
Overall, given the situation, how content should Man United fans be with the January transfer window?
OGDEN: I think they should be alarmed, but they won't be surprised. The club has been consistently delivering the message that finances are tight, there is virtually no wriggle room with Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR) and ultimately, players need to leave in order for the club to raise funds and reduce the wage bill.
Their January business was sensible from a financial perspective -- United announced annual losses of £113m ($140m) last September -- but Ruben Amorim's squad is desperately short of attacking quality and the failure to invest in a forward, even on a six-month loan, could cost them their one realistic chance of qualifying for the Champions League through winning the Europa League.
I haven't heard a single dissenting voice over the decision to offload Marcus Rashford and Antony on loan to Aston Villa and Real Betis respectively, but to allow them to leave without at least one replacement is really risky because it places even greater pressure on Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee to score the goals they've failed to deliver all season.
The addition of Patrick Dorgu gives Amorim another option at wing-back, but time will tell if he is the solution. Right now, United are like a sinking ship trying to limp back to port for essential repairs.
MARCOTTI: I'm not quite as negative as Mark here. The financial restrictions are what they are, of course, and I assume most United fans accept that. What you don't want in these situations is to make rash decisions, especially on young players, and I think that's part of the reason why they opted against bringing in another striker now.
Hojlund and Zirkzee may not be scoring much, but they are youngsters who represent a huge investment for the club. Bringing in another forward "to score goals" on loan risks limiting their playing time and their development. If Amorim ultimately decides to move them on, it becomes harder to do so without losing money.
I think it's pretty obvious that this is what Amorim is trying to do. Even Tyrell Malacia, who moved to PSV on loan at the end of the window, made no fewer than nine appearances for Amorim. He didn't just write him off, and that has to be the mindset.
Shifting Rashford to Aston Villa on that sort of deal was a solid move: There's no point having a guy that won't contribute, and getting Villa to pay a significant chunk of his wages represents a significant savings. However, the fee agreed to make the deal permanent is pretty irrelevant. It's not as if Monchi says "Hey Omar, I know we agreed £40m, but how about we give you £30m instead?" The club will then say no and take him back. Those bridges are evidently burned.
(I guess the only scenario might be one where Rashford scores so many goals that Villa make the deal permanent for £40m and then transfer him to Real Madrid or Barcelona or whatever, but let's be real here.)
Dorgu is a piece of clay: it's up to Amorim to mold him. He has tremendous physical skills and is a smart kid, but obviously Old Trafford isn't Lecce. It's not lost on anyone that he fits the profile of what Amorm had with Geovany Quenda at Sporting CP.
How close are Man United to having the players to implement Ruben Amorim's 3-4-2-1 formation and execute it properly?
MARCOTTI: I think they're very close, and I think we're nearing the point where we can judge Amorim's tactics without the alibi of him needing to fit square pegs in round holes.
Dorgu's profile is very similar to Quenda's. The back three -- at least until Lisandro MartÃnez's injury -- has players with the right characteristics in the right positions. Could they use a guy who can carry the ball out of the back, like Gonçalo Inacio did at Sporting? Sure, but we're getting there.
The midfield remains a question, since it's not clear Kobbie Mainoo is the right partner for Manuel Ugarte in this system, but the wide areas are OK and there are options at the No.10 position. Centerforward remains an issue, sure.
Note here that I'm talking about profile and characteristics, not quality. Of course, you could get a better version of Ugarte, Mathijs De Ligt, André Onana and so on, and United would be better. But the question is whether these are players who fit his system and I think that, with some exceptions, they do.
What's been disappointing so far, I think, has been United's performances against poor teams when they need to take the game to the opposition. Clearly the attacking mechanisms aren't working the way they should, but he's closer now to getting the players to improve that.
OGDEN: I disagree with you on this, Gab. I take your point that in perhaps 8-9 positions, United have a competent option for Amorim's line-up, but we are talking the most basic of options. You could make a case for an upgrade in each of those positions, but if we are talking crisis-mode selections then yes: Amorim can just about get by, apart from his attacking options.
We've seen Amorim's blueprint work away from home against Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal, where United have been well-organised and able to score on the counter-attack, but the system fails when faced with a more defensive opponent, especially at Old Trafford.
So it's a bit of a contradiction. Amorim has been able to implement his plan away from home against better teams, but without the ability to dictate play and play on the front foot, United are dismal and that's why they have been so bad in home games under him.
Is centerforward still the most pressing need, and how confident are you that it can be addressed in the summer?
OGDEN: It's their top problem, but it has been the same for almost a decade. United have made so many mistakes in terms of recruiting a reliable centre-forward and Hojlund and Zirkzee (who isn't a centre-forward, but has had to play the role) are so poor that they would struggle to get in any other Premier League starting line-up.
