They have hailed the return of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who beamed about his bond with such a family club, but Manchester United's players are taking matters to the extreme.

Alan Hansen said famously United wouldn't win anything with kids, but there's a baby boom among the first team with no fewer than SEVEN players welcoming new additions to their families.

Romelu Lukaku led from the front, producing a boy with his girlfriend before Christmas, and he was followed with a little more publicity by Paul Pogba, whose partner Maria Salaues gave birth to a boy prior to the squad's trip to Dubai.

Nemanja Matic welcomed his third child to the family after his wife Aleksandra gave birth

Nemanja Matic stayed behind following Sunday's win against Tottenham to be with wife Aleksandra in London's Portland Hospital for their third child, Anika, while fellow midfielder Fred and partner Monique Salum announced a baby boy on Wednesday.

Victor Lindelof and wife Maja Nilsson are expecting next, with Maja posting on Instagram this week that she was 'starting to organise the baby room'.

Defender Chris Smalling and his model wife Sam Cooke confirmed they are expecting their first child with an Instagram post on New Year's Eve.

She wrote: 'Happy NYE from the Smallings! This year our dreams are coming true as we'll be welcoming our first son into the world.'

Smalling's wife Sam is pregnant with their first child, breaking the news on New Year's Eve

United's Brazilian midfielder Fred and partner Monique Salum are also expecting a baby boy

Fred and his partner posed for Instagram pictures to announce their new arrival

And last, but not least, Italian defender Matteo Darmian and wife Francesca Cormanni announced at the end of last month that they had a baby on the way, too.

'I'm not sure what happened nine months ago,' said one staff member. 'So much for 'get plenty of rest'. We may need chef to put more bromide in the tea.'