Manchester United are not hiding the fact that January would be a difficult period for them.

The Reds are currently in the midst of a balancing act as they attempt to avoid Financial Fair Play (FFP) penalties. As such, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has taken a cost-saving approach to his ownership of the club with several departments cut back to help alleviate United's strains.

This means that despite United's disappointing position in the Premier League table, Ruben Amorim will have to sign off on player sales before being given the green light to spend money. Fortunately, there appears to be three transfers in the offing which could free up a budget for the club.

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First is the ongoing saga involving Marcus Rashford. Rumours have stepped up surrounding his future after MEN Sport reported that he had rejected offers worth as much as £35m per year to move to Saudi Arabia.

His agent is claimed to be in Italy to discuss a move to a Serie A giant - namely AC Milan or Juventus and while it is likely that this would only be a loan deal, it would help to cut his salary off the wage bill. Meanwhile, Casemiro finds himself out of favour with Amorim and it is claimed he has options to earn significant sums away from the Premier League.

GiveMeSport reports the Brazilian has been offered a whopping £650,000 per week to join Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr, taking another high earner off the United wagebill. Elswhere, Fabrizio Romano reports that Andreas Pereira could potentially leave Fulham for Palmeiras, which would see United bank 20 per cent of the fee.

Should those three transfers happen, United could suddenly have money to spend on players. In that scenario, United would likely look to prioritise the purchase of a centre-forward and a left-sided wing-back.

A move for Viktor Gyokeres may have to wait until the summer but perhaps a player like Randal Kolo Muani could be approached as a stop gap for the remainder of the campaign. Meanwhile, Kolo Muani's teammate Nuno Mendes is thought to have caught the eye of United and his arrival would create more balance in the team.

But, it is first and foremost integral that the Reds get players off the books quickly before they get to a stage this window where they cannot improve their squad.