Manchester United warned off making January bid for Fulham starlet Moussa Dembele
Fulham head coach Slavisa Jokanovic has told Manchester United to forget about signing Moussa Dembele during the January transfer window.
Dembele, 19, is enjoying a breakout season at Craven Cottage,, having struck 10 goals in 25 appearances for the Championship side. Highly rated since his arrival in England as a 16-year-old, the Frenchman has been repeatedly linked with moves away from Fulham, with Sky Sports suggesting in December United were monitoring the striker ahead of a possible January bid.
But Jokanovic, who was named the new Fulham boss on 27 December, says the club will not consider selling any of their marquee names, including Dembele and Scotland international Ross McCormack.
"I am not thinking about selling my key players like McCormack or Moussa Dembele," Jokanovic said. "I don't plan for it and that is it. This team needs some fresh blood and we are thinking about some players who can help us in the future."
United manager Louis van Gaal has indicated the club will consider bringing in another striker during the winter window. The club's only up options up front at the minute are Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial, who have contributed just eight league goals between them this season.
But while the Dutchman could be open to another arrival up front, he has also suggested the solution to their woes in front of goal could be solved on the training pitch, rather than in the transfer market.
"It can be solved with money but also on the training pitch. We are training but scoring goals is a quality," said Van Gaal, the Manchester Evening News report.
"We have that quality but at this moment there is a lack of confidence at the right time or we need to buy another striker. It is always like that.
"We need the luck of a striker. There are several players who played in the striker's position. They need luck. How many players have had the chances to score and why they didn't score? You cannot always explain that.
"Of course, we are looking always for solutions in the team. But we still have a good team and we can still score goals. I am convinced of that. But we also need a little bit of luck."
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