Manchester United’s first January signing is underwhelming

£55,000 spent. A decent day's pay for Wayne Rooney.

Manchester United have tied up their first bit of transfer business in this season's January transfer window. While United have been heavily linked with mid-season moves for Atletico Madrid midfielder Saúl Niguez and Dynamo Kiev defender Aleksandar Dragovic, the club's first outlay is more austere. 16-year-old Italian defender Luca Ercolani has joined up with the club following successful trials in late 2015. Ercolani played with United's U17 and U18 sides and impressed coaches enough to force through a switch from his current side, Serie D [fourth division] Forli. Sporting Romagna report that Ercolani was spotted by the same scout that alerted United to Guiseppe Rossi and Federico Macheda. Adding a talented defender to the youth ranks may not alleviate a full-blown crisis at the club following reports, this morning, that Derek Langley, head of youth recruitment at United, is leaving the club. Ercolani had flagged his arrival at United by posting a series of [now deleted] Instagram posts in club training gear.