Man United sign £25m forward and ex-Arsenal gem in risky new January transfer prediction

It won’t take much to make Manchester United’s 2026 January transfer window their best in recent years, and that’s what Red Devils fans will be hoping for to try and supercharge the few green shoots of optimism they’ve seen under Ruben Amorim.

Their summer seems to have netted at least two serviceable starting players in Bryan Mbeumo and Senne Lammens, even if the other 50% of their signings are yet to prove themselves at Old Trafford.

There are still first-team holes to fill at wing-back, centre-back and in central midfield along with depth required at every single outfield position, and The Red Devils are still in huge trouble if Amorim does depart given their squad is so one-dimensional.

So with that in mind, we wanted to get a sneak peak about how the window could look for Manchester United, so we fired up Football Manager 26 and simmed straight through to February, which produced these intriguing results:

Man United’s predicted January signings

Serge Gnabry - £9.75m from Bayern Munich - The former Arsenal player is closer to his best form that he's been in three years, though Manchester United would be gambling on whether the 30-year-old can extrapolate a few months’ form to several future seasons.

Luis Henrique - £3.5m from Inter Milan - Given Inter signed the Brazilian for €25m (£21.8m) there's no chance of The Red Devils pulling off this bargain.

Wociech Szczesny - £4.3m from Barcelona - We can’t see Barcelona wanting to part with the reliable Pole given he's start the bulk of their games in the last two seasons. But such is the Catalan club’s need for cash, nothing is off the table.

Josip Stanisic - £29.5m from Bayern Munich - Capable of playing at centre-back or wing-back, Stanisic would likely be signed primarily as the replacement to Amad Diallo on the right, though it remains to be seen whether he could be creative enough to fulfill that role.

Leandro Trossard - £24.5m from Arsenal - Given Amorim spent his first year in charge purging Old Trafford of anyone who remotely resembles a tradition winger, we can’t really see him splashing out on Trossard - though the Belgian did play a handful of games at wing-back for Brighton.

Danilo Pereira - £1.4m from Al-Ittihad - The real hurdle to signing the versatile yet aging Bissau-Guinean would be his wages, not transfer fee, but if the Red Devils can agree on a wage that suits all parties the defensive destroyer could be worth a point..

Mykhaylo Mudryk - loan from Chelsea - FM26 is making a pretty bold prediction that Mudryk will be available to play again over a year on from his FA suspension - even Manchester United’s transfer department aren’t unhinged enough to sign some who can’t play. We think. Cristian Orozco from Fortaleza and Brentford’s Coran Madden arrive for nominal fee

Amorim finally rid of Sancho

Jadon Sancho - £8.5m to Roma - United are still hoping they can get some compensation for their fourth-biggest signing of all time. The £73m flop has done little on loan at Aston Villa to suggest teams can't wait until he's available for free.

Joshua Zirkzee - £48.5m to Borussia Dortmund - If Manchester United can pull this off and make a profit on Zirkzee, or even break even, it'll be a couple.

Toby Collyer - £1.5m to Sunderland - The 21-year-old was a useful bit-part player for Manchester United last season and could well go on to star for Sunderland. He’d get a chance immediately with so many of their midfielders leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations. Additionally Finley McAllister (West Ham), Louis Jackson (Fulham), Will Murdock (Wrexham), Hayeeb Ogunneye (Remo Stars) leave for nominal fees and Jaydan Kamason (Northampton), Malachi Sharp (East Kilbride) are predicted to go out on loan.