January signings unlikely

[admin]

Sir Alex has reiterated his belief that transfers are best conducted in the summer and admits he has no current plans to add to his squad in January.
“It is very difficult to buy players in January,” he said. “You don't just want to buy any player simply because it gives you another player. If you are going to buy, you want to buy someone who can make a difference.
“We have only had maybe four or five signings in my time here in January: Louis Saha, Andy Cole, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra [and Diego Forlan]. It is not a consistent route for us to buy in January, simply because of all the disadvantages.
“There are a lot of issues there and there is nothing in my mind at the moment.”
The manager’s stance shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, Sir Alex rarely spends in the winter window. The last time United made significant January signings was in 2006, when Vidic and Evra joined the club.
That was shortly after the Reds last failed to reach the Champions League knockout phase and this season’s similarly early exit, coupled with Vidic’s season-ending injury sustained in Swizterland, has prompted calls for Sir Alex to dig deep once more.
But the manager has stressed 2006's winter spending was triggered by a different set of circumstances.
“At the time [we brought in Evra and Vidic] we were looking to get players in who were important in certain positions," he told reporters at his

[admin]

weekly pre-match press conference.
"After Denis Irwin retired it was very difficult to get a left-back with quality because everyone looked for left-backs in our industry. Patrice was one we identified. Although he had been playing wing-back for Monaco, he has the qualities attacking-wise that attracted us.
“Vida is a lad I went to see in Paris three or four years before that, when he played for Yugoslavia against France [November 2002]. They played him as a marker in the game. They played with three centre-backs.
“I was unable to really get a feel for whether he could play in a back four. There was no evidence in that particular game. He went to Russia and played in a back four there. We knew then he could play in the back four and there wouldn't be a problem. We decided to go for him.”