Louis van Gaal identifies the areas of the Manchester United squad he wants to improve in January

Manchester United rarely move for players in the January transfer window, but comments by Louis Van Gaal suggest they could be poised to try and sign winger in the new year.

Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata - United's goalscorers against West Brom at the weekend - were deployed out wide by Louis van Gaal, who has since indicated that the pair are not his ideal candidates for their roles. “I have said already in my first year many times we need speed and creativity on the wings," the Dutchman said after the game. “You have seen that now we play with Jesse Lingard and he is not the most speedy winger in the world and Mata is also not the most speedy winger in the world. “So first we must first finish that problem and then we can see how we have to play and how we are in balance with playing with speedy wingers.” Having been linked with Gareth Bale in the summer, the United manager's comments are certain to spark more rumours of a move for the Welshman. Perhaps a more obvious candidate may be Southampton's Sadio Mané, a player that United were said to be interested in towards the end of the summer transfer window. With Luke Shaw a long-term absentee as he recovers from his broken leg, van Gaal also suggested that he may need to look at signing another left-back. “It is dependable for instance on the rehabilitation of Luke Shaw – how long it will last."