By the turn of the year the names will all be in place for Manchester United.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been holding monthly transfer meetings with his heads of recruitment since the start of the season to finalise his shortlist of targets for January and the summer.

Old Trafford sources remain cautious about the likelihood of any major business next month, but Ed Woodward has assured his manager funds are available for the players on his wish-list – including Erling Braut Haaland.

The Norwegian starlet is one of up to five options United are considering to fill the void left by Romelu Lukaku last summer and was watched most recently by head of global scouting Marcel Bout.

Bout is United’s expert in analysing young targets and in this instance his input has been vital during the regular meetings Solskjaer has held with him, chief scout Jim Lawlor and technical chief scout Mick Court.

It is that type of due diligence that has convinced United’s hierarchy that Solskjaer will benefit from the most advanced and coherent transfer strategy in the club’s history.

One designed and honed to end the shambolic spending post-Sir Alex Ferguson - and one that is considered vital to any hopes of bridging the alarming gap to Liverpool and Manchester City.

Even if performances on the pitch continue to be a concern, United believe their new transfer approach is already bearing fruit, with Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James all impressing since signing in the summer.

Compare that to a period under Louis van Gaal when senior figures accept the Dutchman’s record in the transfer market dipped below a five out of 10 success rate.

To Woodward’s credit, he backed his manager with the funds to bring in marquee signings like Angel di Maria, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Memphis Depay – but the business done during that period epitomised everything wrong about United over the past six-and-a-half years.

To illustrate how dysfunctional the club’s recruitment strategy was at that time, scouts would warn Woodward against signing Van Gaal’s targets because they weren’t ‘United players.’

But the executive vice chairman felt obliged to trust his manager’s judgement – something he was heavily-criticised for not doing when vetoing Jose Mourinho’s attempts to sign Maguire and Jerome Boateng in the summer of 2018.

While United ended up paying an even higher premium for Maguire 12 months later – making him the most expensive defender in history at £80m – they did so in the confidence he was absolutely the right fit.

He, Wan-Bissaka and James, sources insist, were Solskjaer’s top three targets – even if the Norwegian wanted to sign as many as six players in his first summer window.

Solskjaer has been drawing up his plans for 2020 since September.

In an ideal world he would bring in three additions in January. In reality, he is prepared to wait until the summer to avoid compromising over targets.

As well as a striker, he has prioritised two midfielders – including an attacking right-sided option.

James Maddison is a leading target at No10.

Solskjaer details the physical and technical attributes he is looking for in each position.

As a rule United keep those parameters much broader than the likes of Barcelona and City under Pep Guardiola, who both have very definite types of players.

Speed and robustness were key characteristics Solskjaer was looking for last summer when recognising he desperately needed to imposed a more aggressive and energetic style on United.

Wan-Bissaka and James embody that approach.

At centre-back Solskjaer wanted a figure to impose the same authority as Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool. And while his top two targets, Maguire and Kalidou Koulibaly, differ in style, he believed both could have that effect.

He tried and failed to land Paulo Dybala to replace Lukaku, but has now turned his attentions to Haaland.

Richarlison at Everton is another striker he has looked at.

The remit is to find a player capable of leading the line, comfortable with his back to goal, but also good at turning and running in central areas. Crucially, he wants a clinical poacher.

It has now become folklore at Old Trafford that a list of 804 potential right-backs was thrown up by the club’s recruitment database, which takes feeds of incredibly detailed information on players from across the globe.

Using the same process going forward, that list is whittled down to around 15 players for Court and his team of video analysts to assess.

A top 10 is then passed on to United’s senior scouts – including Bout – to watch in person, as he did with Haaland in RB Salzburg’s game with Liverpool earlier this month

All the time, Court and his team – who are said to have an eight out of 10 success rate at identifying ideal targets - carry out further investigation from videos.

By the time it reaches January, Solskjaer will have shortlists of between three and five targets for each position he wants filled.

But a further filter comes from the United manager himself.

Last summer he refused to go below any of his top two options – even though that left him desperately short in midfield after missing out on Sean Longstaff and considering Idrissa Gueye.

It meant he ultimately opted against bidding for Bruno Fernandes, despite United being among the interested parties in the Portugal midfielder.

Sources close to Solskjaer say he would rather do without than continue the club’s recent history of ‘churning’ players.

From January it will be over to chief negotiator Matt Judge to get the deals done.

His talks with Mino Raiola will go a long way to determining whether Haaland opts for United over Borussia Dortmund or RB Leipzig.

There is an acceptance that United can no longer cherry pick the best players from the Premier League – and even for someone like Haaland, there is no guarantee they can flex their muscle with Salzburg.

But they are convinced they have finally got their act together when it comes to their transfer strategy, which is fundamental to turning the club’s fortunes around.

As one senior source put it: “If you don’t get recruitment right, you’re f*****!”