Ian Wright has called on Manchester United to make some signings during the January transfer window, insisting that the squad are already “playing at full capacity”.
Marc Skinner’s side made an excellent start to the season and were unbeaten through their first seven Women’s Super League (WSL) games and three Women’s Champions League matches.
However, they have lost three of their last four games, with a shock defeat at home to Aston Villa, followed by heavy losses away at Manchester City and VfL Wolfsburg.
After the defeat to Villa, Skinner reasserted his call for signings in the January transfer window. Arsenal legend Wright has backed those calls.
Ian Wright: Manchester United need signings in January
Speaking to former Lioness Steph Houghton on the Crossways Podcast, Ian Wright has urged Manchester United to strengthen their squad further during the January transfer window.
While praising the Red Devils for how they started the season, Wright believes United can’t improve much on what they have shown so far, as they are “playing at full capacity”.
He said: “They’ve done brilliantly Steph, finishing in the top three to get to the Champions League.
“But it’s like the owners are just letting them get there, “go on, you get there,” they are not building them up, so once they get there, they can do something.
“It comes back to how much do they want to see this team succeed? Because they are now playing for me at full capacity.
“It comes back to how much they want to see this team succeed”
Wrighty believes Manchester United’s small squad are already at full capacity 😬 pic.twitter.com/5Wu5g2O0tn
— Crossways Podcast (@crosswayspod) November 22, 2025
“If they have not done anything in January, it’s going to be interesting to see how this pans out simply because they have done so well to build a team that can qualify into the Champions League places but then not invest after that.”
Manchester United signed Julia Zigiotti Olme, Fridolina Rolfo and Jess Park during the summer transfer window. The latter of which arrived in a cross-city switch that saw Grace Clinton join Manchester City.
Wright added: “If they get some injuries, then it could be a problem. Because I really think they need to strengthen in January.
“When you lose someone like Tullis-Joyce and then you have to put in an inexperienced goalkeeper like that, who you have to say that’s the deep end. You can see now where it’s now starting to be a bit stretched for United.”
Concerns over squad depth at Manchester United
The calls from Wright come after concerns over the squad depth at Manchester United.
The Red Devils were unable to fill out a full list of substitutes earlier in the season due to injuries, with Carla Ward insisting that the club’s board had “let the women’s team down”.
She made the comments after United played Liverpool with a squad of 16 players out of a possible 20 in September.
United’s director of women’s football, Matt Johnson, though, has defended the club’s recruitment strategy.
He said: “The way we do transfers is exactly the same as men’s team. We go through the same processes that the club has, we go through the same director of negotiations in Matt Hargreaves. Everything is joined up and it is 100 per cent the same.”
Johnson has also outlined winning the Champions League as the club’s ultimate ambition.
