Christmas has come early for Manchester United fans with the official announcement of four contract extensions for senior players this week.
United had always been expected to trigger the optional one-year clauses they had in deals for Diogo Dalot, Fred, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw, though official confirmation of that is certainly welcome news.
The key reason for doing so is to ensure those players can't negotiate with overseas teams when the January window opens next week, meaning United effectively have an extra year now to discuss long-term contract extensions with the quartet.
