Manchester United manager David Moyes has reiterated his stance, claiming he didn’t say that the Red Devils are against any business in January, but admitted that getting prime targets are tougher during winter.

The Champions have had a stuttering start to their campaign so far and while they are virtually out of the title-race, United cannot afford to slip further for the race to finish top four. There is a general consensus that the Red Devils need to bolster the squad, with investment in central midfield should be top priority for Moyes.

The Mirror reports that Manchester United are ready to make a £24million bid to land the highly-rated Borussia Dortmund midfielder Ilkay Gundogan.

The 23-year-old hasn’t played much football since August because of a back injury but the Moyes is keen to land the 23-year-old Germany international this month.

Gundogan’s contract situation is very interesting as well. He has a contract till June 2015 and Dortmund are not willing to let him go on free as the club do not want to face another situation that happened with Robert Lewandowski, who will join Bayern Munich in the summer.

We reported back in December, that the player has expressed his desire to stay but he is also open to move to foreign countries, if the contract extension talk doesn’t go smoothly. The Sport reported last month that he has refused the latest renewal offer from the German club, and Dortmund are actively looking to sell him and make profit.

There are reports in Spain, however, that the player already has a pre-contract with Real Madrid and Florentino Perez might very well get him at a reduced price – far below the €30m Dortmund want – like he did with Sahin a few years ago.

According to German newspaper Bild today, Madrid are looking for a swap deal to sign Gundogan, with striker Karim Benzema moving the other way.

Should Manchester United move quickly and try to sign Gundogan