Today I have been writing about Manchester United again and about their managerial situation, because I still think what happens there could have an impact on Celtic.

The pieces I have written have focused on Michael Carrick, the uncertainty surrounding his position and the very real possibility that he will not be Manchester United manager for much longer.

That is why I was surprised to see Benjamin Nygren’s name suddenly being linked with a move there.

Now, let us be clear about what this story actually is. It does not appear to come from Manchester United. It does not appear to come from anybody claiming that United have contacted Celtic, contacted the player or placed Nygren on some formal January shortlist.

It comes from Anders Limpar, the former Sweden international, who believes Nygren is good enough for the Premier League and has suggested Manchester United, Liverpool and Everton as clubs which should be looking at him.

That is a recommendation. It is not a transfer story.

But even if we pretend for a moment that Manchester United were genuinely interested, there is another obvious problem with trying to project any current recruitment plans into January. Who exactly is going to be making those decisions?

Michael Carrick has survived this week so far, but his position remains extremely precarious.

He may not even make it to November.

So, if Manchester United did have a list of January targets right now, how much of that survives if a new manager walks through the door?

Would Eddie Howe want the same players? Would somebody else? Would the recruitment department continue regardless of who occupies the dugout?

Those are all legitimate questions.

And that is why, at this stage, I would treat the Nygren-to-United story as exactly what it is.

One former Swedish international looking at a very talented Swedish player and saying that Premier League clubs should be interested. Nothing more.

This looks like one of two things.

Either it is lazy journalism, or it is somebody trying to inflate a fairly ordinary comment into something much more substantial than it actually is.

Because there is nothing remotely credible here to suggest that Manchester United are preparing a move for Benjamin Nygren. No bid. No talks. No indication that Celtic have been contacted. No indication that the player has been contacted. Nothing.

And Manchester United, of all clubs, are hardly in a position to be thinking too far ahead about January recruitment while they still have a decision to make over who their head coach is going to be. That decision now feels imminent.

Until it is settled, the club remains in crisis.

And even after they make it, there is every chance they will still be in crisis, because crisis has become something close to a permanent state of affairs at Old Trafford. So, trying to construct a serious January transfer story around Nygren right now feels ridiculous.

There is simply too much uncertainty around Manchester United for anybody to pretend their recruitment plans are settled.

And even beyond the managerial question, Manchester United are almost certainly looking at another squad rebuild.

They are not in this position simply because of bad management.

The squad itself is imbalanced, and there is no coach on earth who is going to walk through the door and suddenly fix those problems without significant changes to the personnel. Money will have to be spent. Players will have to leave. Others will have to come in.

And if Manchester United were genuinely looking at Benjamin Nygren, they would discover the same thing Celtic supporters already know about him.

There are parts of his game which are very good. There are also parts of his game which he does not do particularly well.

And increasingly, those are the areas modern coaches demand from midfield players.

The next Manchester United manager is going to want some say over recruitment. He is going to want players who suit the way he wants to play.

And that raises another obvious question.

How realistic is it that, in the middle of a major rebuild, Manchester United are going to be shopping in the Scottish Premiership for one of the pieces they believe can help solve their problems? The whole thing just feels ridiculous to me.

A former Swedish international recommends a talented Swedish player to a few English clubs. That is it. That is the story. These clubs will hear recommendations like that constantly.

Agents make them. Former players make them. Scouts make them. People connected to national teams make them. The overwhelming majority go nowhere.

So, the fact that somebody has suggested Nygren would be good enough for Manchester United does not mean Manchester United are remotely interested in signing him.

And yet this is how these things work.

One person says something, somebody else picks it up, and before long it has been inflated into a transfer story which bears almost no resemblance to what was actually said in the first place. Then Celtic supporters see the headline and immediately start panicking.

The player is already gone. The deal is already done. Everything has been arranged behind the scenes. We are jumping at shadows. We really need to stop doing that. We need to think about these stories logically before reacting emotionally to them.

Manchester United are going to have major problems between now and January. They are going to make major decisions between now and January. And the first of those decisions will not be about who they sign.

It will be about what kind of management team they want, what kind of football they want to play and what kind of vision they have for the club as a whole. If they have all of that properly figured out by January, I will be surprised.

Until then, Benjamin Nygren to Manchester United is not a transfer story. It is a recommendation which has been inflated into one, and Celtic supporters would be wise to treat it accordingly.

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