Manchester United: 5 Players They Cannot Afford to Lose

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Manchester United have been very active on the transfer window this season. They have already bagged Phil Jones, Ashley Young and David de Gea and are looking to add more to their roster.

This activity can be related to the loss of Edwin van der Sar, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Owen Hargreaves.

Given all these, United still have to stick on to their top guns. So, here are the top five players that they cannot afford to lose.

5. Nemanja Vidic

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Not that he is leaving or something like that.

Currently, the Captain of Manchester United, Vidic has made a great player out of himself. He came into the team in 2006 for a mere fee of £7 million. Now, he is probably worth three or four times that amount.

Vidic has solidified United's defense along with Rio Ferdinand. Both of them have formed the most solid center back partnership in England.

More than that, Vidic continues to be a yardstick for young united defenders like Johny Evans, Chris Smalling and now, Phil Jones.

In 208-2009 season, he helped his team achieve 14 continuous clean sheets. His agent now commented that Vidic is going nowhere. Let us hope that this Serbian sees his career off at Manchester

4. Nani

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Nani had a great start to the season. He played consistently and scored goals. But after Christmas, he was silent. Now, with the arrival of Young, his place is in dilemma.

Well, for starters Nani was voted as the players' player of the year by his teammates. This proves how much he is loved and how much he is valued. Yes, he might be put under the rotation policy with a new winger on the team but he is someone whom United cannot afford to lose.

He has played when Cristiano Ronaldo was there at United. Then why should the arrival of Young threaten him?

Fast, accurate, dangerous goal scoring abilities and counter-attacking skills make him one of the best in England. United should not lose him on any case.

3. Wayne Rooney

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Rooney had an early part of the season which he will like to forget. After getting into the scandal, he wanted to move away from United. Later, things patched up and he signed a new contract with a whopping pay.

Now, there are reasons why United cannot leave him go.

1. He is a RED. Fans love him, he loves them. He loves winning with United and that is an attitude of a true Manchester United player

2. He is the best striker in England if not the world. He might not be on par with Messi or Ronaldo in terms of talent and skill but he makes that up with his work ethic and input.

Every team in the world wants him and it will be foolish off United to let him go.

2. Patrice Evra

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Name me a better left back than Patrice Evra. I'm sure you cannot even think more than four or five players. Evra is humble, determinant, workaholic and a better attacker than most left wingers in England.

With Evra, there are no side effects. He is a perfect Left back with good attacking abilities. He can make those deadly run-ins and is off great help in counter attacks and rebounds.

Evra attracts interest from top footballing teams like Real Madrid. He even considered moving at times but he is well settled in Manchester and quite frankly, United are lucky to have him.

He has four to five years of football left in him and United should make sure that he sees them off at Old Trafford.

1. The Da Silva Twins

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These twins came to United in 2008 and quickly created news because they looked exactly like each other!

Even Chris Foy went on to book Fabio in one Carling Cup game when it was Rafael who committed the crime.

The one thing which impressed me the most about these twins was how quickly they adapted to the English conditions. When they came to England, they were only 17, and now, they are perfectly settled. Both of them played handful of games the last season and they are two of the main reasons for the sale of Wes Brown and John O'Shea.

Mocked as the Neville brothers of Brazil, the twins occupy the right and left back positions, respectively. Rafael for the early opportunities due to the vacancy in RB slot while Fabio came on to the team a bit latter. They both have differences in their game play, with Fabio being more offensive.

In three or four years, both of them will be on the peak of their game and they will attract attention from the leading clubs of the world.

United should make sure that neither of them leave the club.