The latest player to arrive at the United Stadium is left-back Anthony Tonkin. Tonkin was signed this afternoon from Cambridge United, where he had forged a reputation as the best left-back in the league, and he was recently voted into the NLP's Team of the Decade (although so was Wayne Hatswell, so that's not so prestigious as all that). Tonkin will help shore up a position where United have struggled since Steven Kinniburgh's injury in the home FA Cup tie against Barrow on 28 November. Tonkin's signature was part-funded by the wonderful 12th-Man initiative, joining Jamie Cook and Onome Sodje in that regard.

Moving out are left-back Chris Carruthers, who has agreed to join York City on an 18-month contract, and left-winger Marcus Kelly, who is likely to join Kettering Town, where he has been on loan for the past couple of months. Carruthers has been on loan at York since his loan spell at Crawley Town came to an end; it is possible that he is the victim of pastagate, having allegedly taken the last helping of pasta at the training ground just as Chris Wilder was about to help himself. Apparently the manager blew a fusilli.

Also mentioned on the official website is the news that Luke Foster, United's Player of the Season last year, has been given permission to talk to other clubs. The article claims that another Conference club has made enquiries about Foster and, with the central defender out of contract at the end of the season, he could leave. It's not as though United don't have a plethora of high-quality central defenders on their books, with Mark Creighton, Rhys Day, new signing Jake Wright and Kevin Sandwith all able to play in that position. Not that losing Fozzie won't be a blow, but it's not likely to be a fatal one. [@player]carruthers, chris[/@player][@player]kelly, marcus[/@player]