Manchester United's summer business rightly focused on adding several midfielders, as they needed to address that area of the pitch for several seasons.

After missing out on a couple of big-name signings, including Mateus Fernandes and Sandro Tonali, United secured Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans in quick succession, then announced the signing of Carlos Baleba for £70 million after missing out on him the previous summer.

Last summer, United continued its recent transfer strategy of focusing on one area of the pitch, rather than spreading its transfer budget across the pitch and addressing several positions, as most other clubs across Europe do.

As a result, some positions were overlooked in the summer, leaving Michael Carrick lacking in a couple of areas across the pitch, so players such as Leny Yoro, Diogo Dalot and Bryan Mbeumo have had to deputise out of position.

Lewis Hall looked like Manchester United's dream signing in the summer, but Newcastle's demand for a £70 million fee quickly ended their pursuit, so United turned to Antonee Robinson and Jorge Salinas to address the club's poor left-back depth.

Another such player was Barcelona's Alejandro Balde, who opted to stay in Spain, believing he could play his way into a starting spot under Hansi Flick. Instead, with Xavi Espart's emergence this season, the young left-back has seemingly slipped further down the pecking order.

The left-back has played only 101 minutes in LaLiga and 16 minutes in the Champions League for Barcelona this season, and as reported by TEAMtalk, Manchester United are pushing to sign the out-of-favour left-back on loan in January.

The outlet reports that United's recruitment department believes the Spaniard has a high ceiling and could develop into a significant player if he can rediscover his best form, and that the club is considering bringing the 23-year-old to Old Trafford on loan before committing to a potential permanent deal.

As Manchester United are left to rue not signing a new left-back in the summer, with Luke Shaw currently out injured, the club have received a boost that their concerns could be alleviated by Balde's loan signing.

Spanish journalist Juan Jesus wrote on X that despite several injury absences in Barcelona's defence, Hansi Flick still isn't turning to Alejandro Balde and isn't convinced by the full-back at all, so he remains absent from his plans.

He also writes that the player remains on the transfer list and that the door is wide open to a winter departure, while later tweeting that the relationship between the two is 'completely broken.'

Balde's camp is now firm in the belief that a January exit is the best option, a major U-turn from his stance in the summer, and Jesus also reports that United are going all out to secure the signing in the winter window.