How Manchester United are changing their transfer strategy

Jurrien Timber's promise he would mull over his future on holiday would suggest any arrival time in Manchester is not imminent.

The Netherlands have four Nations League fixtures this month, the last of them on June 14. United's non-internationals are scheduled to report at their Carrington training complex on June 27 and the departure date for their pre-season tour is July 8.

Timber would require a governing body endorsement, potentially another minor delay. The 20-year-old said on Tuesday at the Dutch training camp in Zeist "the picture has to be right" and he is open to staying at Ajax.

READ MORE: Timber United's defensive priority as club hold talks with Carmo

With all of that in mind, United have held two rounds of discussions with Portugal defender David Carmo's representatives and have consulted Erik ten Hag on the Spain international Pau Torres.

One of the more sensible strategies as part of the recruitment reboot in 2019 was to whittle down targets to a three-man shortlist. The scouting and recruitment structures have been streamlined amid the recent exodus at the hierarchical level.

Keen though United are to bolster their defence, the decision-makers are in agreement the midfield and attack are the priority Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted a midfielder to balance out the team last year but there were a myriad of reasons behind United not reinforcing that area. Solskjaer played himself into trouble by resisting Paul Pogba's sale in 2019 and with Donny van de Beek, whose deadline day loan to Everton he blocked last August.

Ed Woodward once bragged United had never encountered a situation similar to Arsenal with players running down their contracts. Juan Mata, Edinson Cavani and Nemanja Matic had little resale