Erik ten Hag was uncertain whether Manchester United would be able to reinforce their midfield at the 11th hour to offset the absence of the injured Christian Eriksen.
Eriksen has been ruled out for three months with an ankle injury inflicted by a nasty tackle by Reading striker Andy Carroll.
"As you said, on deadline day it's difficult, you can't make policy on such bad injuries," Ten Hag said. "But we have players in the midfield department. good players. We have players who can fill the gap."
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Ten Hag admitted some United players could leave on loan before tonight's deadline. Facundo Pellistri and Anthony Elanga have been linked with late loan moves while Zidane Iqbal and Brandon Williams are eager to head out on loan.
Pellistri, Elanga and Williams were mentioned in a question posed to Ten Hag if there could be any departures today. "Could be but it depends on certain circumstances," Ten Hag replied. "If so, would be likely loans, yeah."
Ten Hag was reluctant to be drawn on Chelsea's extravagant spending, with the club on the verge of signing Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for £115 million.
That would take Chelsea's spending beyond £500m under the ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital. Tenth-placed Chelsea are 10 points behind United in the Premier League.
Ten Hag last week stressed United should be prepared to "strike" for any opportunities before the winter window closes but he stressed the club's approach has to come within their "financial frames".
"I can't talk for other clubs, I'm talking for our club," Ten Hag said. "We have a strategy, so we keep the strategy where we want to go. We want to restore Manchester United to where they belong.
"We are in a good direction and it also has to match our financial frames. We started the season, we keep consistent to that plan, to that strategy and we are developing as a club, we are developing as a squad in the way of play.
"You see also the results in the process, we make the right progress, we have to keep the process going and keep improving every day."
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