The first team profiles on the Manchester United website have been updated. Antony and Ethan Wheatley now have monochrome headshots and their statuses now read 'on loan'.

And then there were five. Five forwards. It's effectively four, with Marcus Rashford out of the fold. Of those four, one striker has not scored in 11 games and the other striker has one goal in 14 games. But United are still prepared to sell Alejandro Garnacho, their second-highest scorer. At least Amad got a new contract.

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said last week they are "playing with fire" if they do not reinforce their attack. So are United. They currently have a 24-man squad, including Rashford, Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount, four players who last played more than a month ago.

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A 23-man squad is the number assembled for month-long international tournaments. United are gearing up for four trophy-chasing months. Twenty-four players is insufficient.

Eight years ago, Jose Mourinho allowed Morgan Schneiderlin and Memphis Depay to leave in the winter transfer window and Bastian Schweinsteiger followed them out of the door in March. That trimmed United's squad from 28 players down to 25.

United played with fire ahead of a run-in where they reached the League Cup and Europa League finals, as well as the FA Cup quarter-finals. Had United reached the semi-finals, they would not have had an available date in the calendar to play Burnley at Turf Moor due to their progression in Europe.

Come April 1, Matty Willock was on the United bench against West Brom and it was not an April Fool. By the end of the month, Scott McTominay was booked in for an overnight stay at The Lowry as he was promoted to the first team squad.

Injuries had started to pile up and four players - Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcos Rojo, Ashley Young and Luke Shaw - were on crutches for the Europa League final in Stockholm. McTominay, Axel Tuanzebe, Josh Harrop, Demetri Mitchell and Joel Pereira made their full debuts in May.

Academy debutant 250, Wheatley, was promoted to the first team squad on the eve of the Community Shield in August but he cameoed once in the League Cup against Leicester City before moving to runaway League Two leaders Walsall on loan last week. Harry Amass, bizarrely unused after a propitious pre-season, is still turning out for United in the FA Youth Cup.

Of all the overseas youth signings to make, settling on a 17-year-old Paraguayan left back when United already had the 17-year-old left back Amass, signed from Watford a mere 18 months ago, was odd. Diego Leon will not join United until the summer.

Reinforcing the left side remains United's focus this window, with discussions ongoing with Lecce over a possible deal for Patrick Dorgu. Lecce are in the relegation zone and were beaten 4-0 by Inter Milan on Sunday.

Dorgu, 20, is well regarded and recently switched to a more high-profile agency. His versatility could be invaluable in Ruben Amorim's 3-4-3 formation as he has played at left back and left midfield for Lecce.

A goalscorer is more pressing for United, though. Amad, Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes are crafty creators behind two players competing to break into the club's worst top 10 strikers list.

United have scored a woeful 16 goals in 12 Premier League games under Amorim. A quarter came against 16th-placed Everton and there were three against Championship-bound Southampton. United's goal difference is -4 and only five teams have scored fewer goals than them.

That is an especially dicey dynamic in knockout football. Spurs, 15th in the Premier League, and 12th-placed United remain the favourites for the Europa League. That competition offers deliverance for either club away from their wretched league campaigns.

Tottenham are due to be deprived of Dominic Solanke for six weeks through injury and cannot depend on the capricious Richarlison. Rashford has scored more league goals than Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee, despite his persona non grata status on matchdays.

Rashford's representatives pitched him as a centre forward during their dialogue with Spurs even though he bristled at returning to that role under Erik ten Hag at the start of last season. Amorim picked Rashford up front in his first match in charge at Ipswich.

Bizarrely, Spurs are 90 minutes away from one final in the League Cup while United's chances of defending the FA Cup have been buoyed not just by the manner of their elimination of Arsenal, or the kind fourth round draw at home to Leicester City, but other draws: Brighton-Chelsea and Aston Villa-Tottenham. At least two rivals will be knocked out.

United could save up to 84 per cent of Antony's £200,000 weekly salary while he is on loan at Real Betis. More cost-cutting but also squad-cutting. But at what cost?

No European football next season, possibly.