5 Unlikely Transfer Targets for Manchester United

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Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United will be a force to be reckoned with next season.

Since the Premier League began in the early 1990's, Manchester United have been the most dominant team in England, and their trophy haul speaks for itself.

Throughout his tenure at Old Trafford, Sir Alex Ferguson has made a series of unlikely signings.

Michael Owen is the one that immediately springs to mind.

I'm going to look at five unlikely signings that Manchester United could make during the summer transfer window.

Mathieu Debuchy (Lille)

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Although they've got players who can fill that role, Manchester United really only have one dedicated right-back, so adding Lille's Mathieu Debuchy would make sense.

He was one of the most impressive French players at Euro 2012 and he looks set to leave Lille this summer.

His pace and defensive qualities would suit the English game well and at 26 years old, he's entering the prime of his career.

Leighton Baines (Everton)

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If it wasn't for Ashley Cole, Leighton Baines would probably be England's first-choice left-back.

He's consistently one of the most impressive players for Everton and his set-piece abilities can't be questioned.

Adding Baines to the squad also provides cover for Patrice Evra, especially as Fabio has gone on loan to QPR.

Marouane Fellaini (Everton)

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With Darren Fletcher out for the foreseeable future, Marouane Fellaini could be the answer to Manchester United's defensive midfield problem.

Paul Scholes is at the stage of his career now where he's also filling that role, but Sir Alex might not want to play him in every game.

Fellaini is one of the most elegant footballers in the league and he's always a threat from set pieces.

Seeing him turn out for United at Old Trafford wouldn't be that much of a shock, it is just very unlikely given that he's a huge part of David Moyes' jigsaw at Everton.

Rafael Van Der Vaart (Tottenham)

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Tottenham pulled off a great coup when they signed Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid a couple of years ago.

I've always thought he was a tremendous player, but that he lacked consistency.

There's no way that Sir Alex would settle for any less than 100% effort, so that wouldn't happen at Old Trafford.

Van der Vaart's skill, trickery and threat from set pieces would compliment another man I mentioned on this list, Leighton Baines, down the left-hand side at Old Trafford.

Andy Carroll (Liverpool)

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Sometimes, it's good to have a "route one" option and right now, Manchester United don't have that.

With Michael Owen gone and Dimitar Berbatov seemingly on his way out too, Sir Alex can only call on Wayne Rooney, Javier Hernandez and Danny Welbeck for goals.

Why not take a different tack and go for Andy Carroll?

With Carroll seemingly out of favour at Liverpool, it looks like he could be available and there's no manager better placed to nurture his talents than Sir Alex Ferguson.