Man United have a new transfer priority for January window

Manchester United are nearly two months away from the start of the January transfer window

For once, Manchester United do not seem like the kind of team who are desperately counting down the days to the start of a transfer window.

In recent years, United have looked a mess with several areas of pitch in desperate need of improvement, mid-season. This time last year, we had just seen the Reds draw at Fenerbahce in the Europa League as they continued their simultaneously unbeaten and winless start to that competition and we were less than a week away from the West Ham defeat that ended Sir Jim Ratcliffe's patience with Erik ten Hag.

Fast forward 12 months and not everything is perfect at United, there is an acceptance that the recovery will take time but at least we are starting to see some green shoots of hope. Yes, the midfield needs a major overhaul but that seems like it could be a task saved until the summer.

Therefore, the actual priorities list for new arrivals will likely depend upon who departs. Again though, United will not be expected to allow loads of players to exit.

January remains a seller's market but it also makes replacement additions hard to come by. However, the player they should prioritise to leave this winter does not have to necessarily be replaced.

In the summer, Diego Leon arrived in Manchester full of confidence. "When you're a professional, you have to adapt quickly, it is a massive opportunity," the full-back told the Paraguayan media in July.

"Everyone thinks I'll go out on loan, but I don't have that mindset. I'm going to kill it in pre-season and within one or two games, I'll already be playing with them."

As much as you can admire Leon's confidence, things have not quite worked out like that for him. The 18-year-old has made just two appearances in United colours - his latest coming in the 5-2 defeat to Barnsley in the EFL Trophy in midweek.

In fact, he has yet to make an appearance for the senior squad. He made the bench against Manchester City, Brentford and Sunderland but was missing on Sunday at Liverpool.

With United's injury problems starting to diminish, Leon's opportunities to break into the first-team this season are starting to dwindle too. In pre-season we saw signs of why the teenager was signed and he did impress, particularly against Leeds.

However, he still needs time to adapt to European football and a loan spell away from Old Trafford in January could be just what is needed. Of course, the club chosen for him needs to be right.

United have a long-standing tradition of sending the youngsters who they favour most, to the Championship. This season Harry Amass, Radek Vitek and Toby Collyer are among the players battling in the English second tier at Sheffield Wednesday, Bristol City and West Bromwich Albion respectively.

We must remember that it was only recently that Amad changed the course of his United career playing for Sunderland in the Championship, so it would be a sign of confidence in Leon to organise a similar switch for him. By the end of the season, Tyrell Malacia will have left and Leon will re-enter the squad with further experience which could help him make that jump to the first-team.

If opportunities are not going to be forthcoming for Leon this campaign, this has to be the club's priority going into January.

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