Three Man Utd stars ‘poised to leave’ in January as Barcelona ‘try to sign’ JJ Gabriel
Man Utd are ready to allow three players out on loan this winter with another of their young stars attracting interest from Barcelona, according to reports.
The Red Devils won three games in a row in the Premier League in October to give supporters hope that they had turned a corner under Ruben Amorim.
However, their 2-1 win at Crystal Palace at the weekend was their first victory in their last four matches after returning to inconsistency under their Portuguese head coach.
There is hope from fans that, with an addition or two in the January transfer, Man Utd can become more competitive further up the Premier League in the second half of the campaign.
Man Utd are looking to bring in a midfielder in the winter but it looks like offloading a number of players on loan could be just as pressing over the January market.
The Manchester Evening News claims that Chido Obi, Ayden Heaven and Diego Leon are ‘poised to leave the club on loan next month’ with Man Utd boss Amorim ‘prepared to let them to go out and get more game time during the second half of the season’.
As well as attempting to find ideal loan clubs for the trio of youngsters, Man Utd will also have to fend off interest from Barcelona in JJ Gabriel.
The Sun claims that Catalan giants Barcelona ‘are trying to sign’ Gabriel from Man Utd with the 15-year-old one of the most talked about youngsters in the Red Devils academy.
The report adds:Â ‘Sources say United director of football Jason Wilcox was key in convincing Gabriel to stay at the club this season and next term.
‘United insiders believe the involvement of Wilcox demonstrated to Gabriel’s family how much they value the forward and there is confidence they will keep him.’
Former Man Utd striker Louis Saha insists that the atmosphere around the Old Trafford squad is much better since the Red Devils allowed Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho to leave.
When asked if there is now a more positive attitude to the squad after the duo left, Saha told Pundit Arena: “Totally (the squad is much more harmonious). It’s the best transfer you can make. When you have one player that is not pulling their weight, you can just about manage.
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“You can leave them out of the side and the rest of the squad can cope. But when you have three or four players who are really talented, but just aren’t at the races, then it drags the team down a level.”
“It’s really hard for the manager to turn that situation around, so I think it’s very important to act decisively in situations like that, so Amorim got rid of them (the disruptive players).
“He replaced them with Sesko, Mbeumo and Cunha, and now United are playing at a higher level than what we had before. These three work hard, they’re willing to defend, they don’t think they’re bigger than the team. With a negative attitude, a team is in big trouble.
“I think that was the main goal for United in the transfer market. Players who thought about themselves above the team, they needed to go. The squad is more balanced now.
“You need at least three quarters of your team to be dedicated, willing to sacrifice, and talented too. You can afford a few flair players who might not always have that attitude, but it has to be a small minority. Back when I was there, we had Gary and Phil Neville, John O’Shea, Wes Brown. They made life easier for us.”