The five Manchester United players who could leave Old Trafford in January transfer window

The January transfer window could be crucial to turning Manchester United's dire season around.

There might not be much left to savour by then given there can't even be a dream of winning the Premier League title now and United will be lucky to move into the Europa League, let alone qualify for the Champions League knock-out stages. But there's still the FA Cup to potentially win, a top-four place to secure and a job for Erik ten Hag to keep.

So there will still be plenty on the line in the second half of the season and strong recruitment in the new year could give the boost needed. Injuries have ravaged the squad this season and serious reinforcements are needed in defence, out wide and up front.

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But United will be working on a shoestring budget after overspending once again in the summer market, leaving them to shop in the bargain bucket for loans and free agents once again. However, one way they could spend a bit on new players is by moving others on to raise funds.

Here are five players who could leave United in the January transfer window:

The most likely departure in January has to be Jadon Sancho. The winger has been frozen out of the first-team squad since early September after his bust-up with Ten Hag and there has been no sign of either party thawing their position.

It seems now that Sancho's only chance to stay would be if Ten Hag is sacked before the window opens but even then the club and player may maintain their positions. A split seems to be the only resolution but United can not hope to recoup anywhere close to the £80m outlay they spent on Sancho. In fact,