MANCHESTER UNITED will not spend big in January, according to reports – after learning lessons from the Alexis Sanchez mistake and Liverpool's recruitment methods.

With the club languishing 12th in the Premier League and recorded just three wins from 11 games, it would be tempting to splash the cash when the transfer market re-opens.

But according to the Mail, United are instead willing to bide their time to sign the right players for the right price rather than be pressurised into panic buys.

The signing of Alexis Sanchez for record wages in January 2018 was a failure.

United were convinced to pay him well over the odds in order to ensure he did not end up across town at the Etihad.

This season, Moussa Dembele is thought to be a target but they will not pay Lyon's £71million asking price.

Instead they would rather follow the example set by Liverpool and be patient before landing the target they really want for an acceptable price.

The Reds were desperate to sign Virgil van Dijk in the summer of 2017 but were forced to wait until the following January, paying Southampton £75m for the Dutchman – they decided not to sign anyone to try and plug the gap in between.

Manchester United are also thought to be interested in signing up to a Spanish consultancy company to help identify targets.

Madrid-based Driblab have more than 100,000 players on their database, analysing players aged 16 and over from more than a hundred different competitions.

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RYAN GIGGS reckons Manchester United need five new players to bring the glory days back to Manchester United.

United are in a real rot, without an away with in the Premier League since February and lost at Newcastle last weekend.

But as the pressure mounts on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he will need serious financial backing when the transfer window opens in January.

So SunSport assesses five players that Ed Woodward might try to sign to turn around the Red Devils' fortunes….

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A dozen La Liga clubs are signed up, as are Nottingham Forest, as they look at the advanced algorithms which show how players are performing.

This information – coupled with the club's worldwide scouting network – would help under-fire boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and assistant Mike Phelan pass on their wish-list to transfer chiefs Ed Woodward and Matt Judge.

And the Red Devils will be hoping the modern technology can help them discover exciting players for bargain prices – just as Liverpool managed to land Philippe Coutinho in 2013.

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