MANCHESTER, England -- Ruben Amorim has said he's expecting players not playing regularly for Manchester United to ask to leave the club in January ahead of the World Cup.
Both Kobbie Mainoo and Joshua Zirkzee have had limited opportunities at Old Trafford this season.
Without regular games, the pair are in danger of missing out on a place at next summer's World Cup with England and Netherlands, respectively.
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United turned down a request from Mainoo to leave at the end of the summer window.
And Amorim is preparing himself for the prospect of both players asking for transfers in January.
"A lot of things can happen," said Amorim when asked about the January window.
"Even in our club, and you know that we have World Cup, some players are not playing, they will ask to leave, so I have to manage everything."
United have spent close to £250 million ($328 million) on players since Amorim's appointment a year ago.
The club have usually done the bulk of their transfer business in the summer rather than January.
Amorim insists United are focused on making long-term recruitment decisions, but didn't rule out the possibility of strengthening the squad in the winter window.
"We want to bring players, everyone here, we want to bring players that we can see a big future in Manchester United," he said.
"We are not just buying one guy, because now we feel in December that we need this kind of player for now. No, it's going to be .... we want to buy players that we know we are not going to change a lot of times. So that is our idea.
"I don't know what is going to happen, but of course we think about how we can improve the team, and in January the window is open, we can do something."