Our senior Manchester United writer Tyrone Marshall answers your questions on the club and what is going on at Old Trafford, including the possibility of two players returning
08:00, 31 Jan 2026
We have answered your burning Manchester United questions this week
The good times keep on rolling for Manchester United under Michael Carrick. The head coach followed a win against Manchester City in his first game in charge with a stunning success against Arsenal at the Emirates last weekend.
While it’s been a quiet month in the transfer market, that hasn’t stopped the good vibes from flowing, given the uplift in performances seen under Carrick. United now sit fourth and firmly in the race for Champions League football next season.
This weekend they face Fulham at Old Trafford in what will be a very different tactical test for United under Carrick. For the first time they will dominate possession and have to break down a low block. There are also a few days remaining in the transfer window and your questions on United are covered below.
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We run weekly question and answer sessions, so click here to submit your questions, and we’ll answer them next week. Here are the answers to some of this week’s questions:
We need wingers
More of a statement than a question but one that is difficult to disagree with. I don’t think right-wingers are needed. Amad, Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu can all play on the right and I think all of them would prefer to play on the right.
The problem is on the left. Dorgu has done well in that role in the last couple of weeks and you would expect Matheus Cunha to come in now. Mason Mount could also play there, but I don’t think any of them convince.
Cunha is better centrally, for me, and while Dorgu is an excellent squad player, I think you want another left-wing option, and probably a right-footed one. It’s something United will look at this summer when the transfer window opens, although midfielders are the priority.
Wingers weren’t needed under Ruben Amorim and United are about to lose a couple of left-wingers this summer as well. Speaking of which…
Will Rashford come back?
I can’t see it, too much water has gone under the bridge for this to happen, although it is probably true that if he was here now under Carrick, he would be playing regularly on the left wing.
Rashford is loving it at Barcelona and he is having a good season at the Nou Camp, with nine goals and 12 assists in 31 appearances in all competitions. He wants to stay at Barcelona and Barcelona want to keep him, so I think a return to United is unlikely. For starters, it would annoy the player, and he would immediately return as the club’s highest-paid player now that Casemiro is leaving.
The issue will be financial. There is an option to make the deal permanent for €35million, but that feels unlikely to happen given Barcelona’s ongoing woes. Especially when Rashford is on the kind of Premier League wage that the Catalan club is unlikely to be able to afford.
Compromise will be needed on all sides but that feels more likely to happen than Rashford returning to United in a first-team role.
Will Man United re-sign Greenwood?
I can’t see this ever happening, to be honest. Greenwood has had another productive season at Marseille but the optics of bringing him back are not good, especially when United have already tried to reintegrate him once.
The attempt to bring him back into the fold in the summer of 2023 was poorly handled and ended disastrously. The club underestimated the backlash from supporters and in the end the right decision was made.
United could still profit from Greenwood, with a sizeable sell-on in the deal with Marseille. He is playing well enough to get a move but the biggest transfer fee would come from the Premier League and I can’t see any English club being willing to fight the PR battle to sign him.
Kindly transfer updates
You’ve asked very nicely, but I’m afraid there is little to offer. United have been adamant all month they won’t sign anyone unless a long-term target becomes available. That was always unlikely to happen and with just a couple of days until the window closes, we can now consider it almost certain that no arrivals will be incoming.
United will instead keep their powder dry until the summer, and if they return to the Champions League as well, that will be a major boost to their spending power. With a bigger transfer kitty, I would expect a couple of midfielders, a left-winger, a defender and maybe a new back-up goalkeeper.
In terms of the final days of this window, there will be a few loan moves for academy players. The only first-team player in with a chance of leaving is Tyrell Malacia, who wants to move five months before his contract expires. He is desperate to go and play first-team football.