Man Utd boss discusses January transfer plans as he praises ‘technical genius’

Manchester United boss Marc Skinner admitted he feels his side is not complete yet as he discussed the club’s plans in the upcoming January transfer window.

The Red Devil’s boss has guided his team to second place in the Women’s Super League after winning seven of his opening eight games and, with just three matches to go until the transfer window opens, he admitted the club will aim to add the squad.

“In every window we will look to be present if the right people are available” said Skinner. “We have been assessing since the summer, we’ve been assessing since before the summer. We are aware of people’s contracts and we are aware of our targets. If the right people are there and it is for the right moment, we will for sure look at how we adapt and evolve our squad.

“We are not done. I’ve been very clear on that. We are nowhere near done as yet, so we have to keep growing as a team and keep growing our experiences. But yeah, that includes adding new players going forwards”.

Skinner’s side turn their attention to Continental Cup action on Wednesday night as they return to their home of Leigh Sport Village knowing they need a result against Everton to give themselves a chance of progressing from the group stages of the competition.

Changes are expected to be made with a big weekend game to come against Manchester City on Sunday, but the United head coach insisted those who come in will be there on merit. “It feels like when you are talking about rotation, it is like these players are being given a chance” he said.

“That’s not the case at all. These players are top class players, it’s just we are playing well. For us it is much more about if you deserve to be in the team. I’m not going to give anyone anything, you have to earn the right to play for Manchester United.”

Skinner also discussed the performance of his team captain Katie Zelem who opened the scoring in Saturday’s 5-0 rout of Aston Villa at Old Trafford. “She’s brilliant. She is the captain for a reason off the field. On the field, she is ever present, she never shirks a day in training, she’s always present,” he said.

“It is her ability to find spaces at the right time to manipulate the opponent. It is no secret our game is built on spaces on the field and how we exploit them and how we can use them.

“Katie is a wonderful brain in midfield. She’s a technical genius at times. She’s really important to what we do - as are the others - but she is our leader on the field. Some of the things you don’t even see - the communicaton, the timing, some of the rhytyms of the game are things you can’t always put in statistical analysis. For me, she knits the team”.