Van Gaal depletes United's attacking options further by letting James Wilson go to Brighton on loan

Yep, that's right - United and Brighton & Hove Albion have agreed a loan deal for 19-year-old James Wilson until the end of the 2015/16 season.

Unlike last year where Wilson was firmly considered one of United's main striking options - playing 17 times (the majority of those appearances coming from the bench) and scoring twice - he has been virtually anonymous this time round; starting only once and that was in the Capital One cup defeat vs. Middlesbrough last month.

Wilson joins van Persie (Fenerbahce), Hernandez (Bayer Leverkusen) and Falcao (Chelsea) as the fourth striker to leave United this season, while Welbeck (Arsenal) left the team in the summer of 2014. Along with attacking-midfielder Januzaj, who left in the summer to play for Borrusia Dortmund throughout 2015/16, United's attacking options have seriously diminished in the past 18 months to say the least.

Don't get me wrong, the move could certainly serve to improve the young striker who will hopefully be given a lot of playing time and even help contribute to Brighton's Premier League push (they are currently sitting second in the Championship table). I just don't understand van Gaal's naivety in the transfer market as he continues to rip our squad apart while failing to bring in worthy replacements.

For the league game against Watford last week we had Rooney, Martial and Fellaini all out injured, while Wilson was also ruled out (I guess now we know why!). Although we just about got away with it, with Depay doing a sound job in his make-shift role up front, we can't expect to compete for the title with only two first team strikers in Rooney and Martial - neither of whom have been prolific this season.