Manchester United's relatively low-key January transfer window was down to a desire to avoid the mistakes of the past, but there is a real danger that they are making mistakes of the present instead.

United are clearly damaged by a decade of disastrous spending that has left the club facing a financial crisis, and it has put them on edge when it comes to getting the cheque book out again. They even baulked at a £5m loan fee for Mathys Tel, especially if the deal came without an option to buy. Tottenham managed to get those terms in the deal for the 19-year-old, who will make his Premier League debut against United.

The caution isn't necessarily the wrong approach. United have burned through money like it grows on the Carrington training pitches. As Ineos now try to drastically cut costs and avoid breaching the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), they are finding a limited supply, even for a football club that was a cash cow not so long ago.

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But there is a balance between being cautious and avoiding the mistakes of the past and becoming inhibited by them. United spent £25million in this window on Patrick Dorgu, with a further £4m in add-ons. The wage bill could be around £1m-a-month lower, with Antony and Marcus Rashford now out on loan.

That should top up the budget for the summer window when it is easier to do business. It's going to be a significant few months as Ruben Amorim tries to finally shape this squad to his own ideals.

With the arrival of Dorgu, he finally has a specialist for the left wing-back position. But United are now down to four attacking players, and in a team so desperately short of goals, the failure to strengthen that area looks like a mistake. Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund haven't scored since December, and the burden is going to fall on the shoulders of Amad and Alejandro Garnacho. An injury for either, especially Amad, would be catastrophic.

United keeping their powder dry could even make sense in Premier League terms. They aren't going to be relegated, but they are going to finish in the bottom half. It's the first week of February, but their league season is over.

They do have two routes into Europe, however. The FA Cup remains attainable, and that would secure a spot in the Europa League. They are also into the last-16 of the Europa League, are the only unbeaten team in that competition and have a chance of lifting the trophy in Bilbao in May. Even more critical than the silverware would be the ticket to the Champions League that comes with it.

That would be a £100m+ boost to the budget. United are more likely to win that competition with another forward on the books, and there were clearly players available who would have improved this squad.

The reality is they are weaker than when they started. Antony and Rashford have been peripheral, but no player in this squad has more goals per 90 minutes than Rashford this season. How this team could do with someone providing 0.42 goals per 90 right now.

The window is another reminder of why Amorim wanted this job in the summer, not the hospital pass he was delivered in November. He is breaking unwanted records as head coach and has to plot his way through the rest of the campaign with a squad not up to the task.

Speaking after United made their move in November, but while he was still Sporting CP boss, Amorim said: "I had three days to decide one option that radically changes my life.

"The only request I made was for it [the transfer] to be at the end of the season, and they [United] told me that it wasn't possible; that it was now or never. I knew if I rejected it that in six months I wouldn't have it. And I knew that in six months I would know that I wouldn't be at Sporting."

Amorim had already told Sporting that this was his final season, but United acted like a big club and told him it was now or never. In many ways, people have been calling for them to do that for a long time.

But having given Amorim that ultimatum, they have failed to live up to their end of the bargain. This looks like a long slog towards the end of the season and the chance to finally reset, just when Amorim always wanted to press that button.