Manchester United Transfer News: Grading January's Acquisitions and Departures

As the transfer window slammed shut yesterday, I think it's fair to say that Man United's January was a fairly quiet one.

There was no £30 million swoop for Wesley Sneijder, Mario Goetze or Eden Hazard, or any deals made for breakout stars like Demba Ba or Michael Vorm.

No, Sir Alex Ferguson stuck to what he knows: a prudent January, with a minor delve into the market. But how did he do? I'm going to take a look at the ins and outs of Old Trafford this January and rate how effective they are or will be for the club.

But will it be the business which Sir Alex didn't do that could prove costly for United in the run-in?

In: Paul Scholes on a Free Transfer

In what could be described as a shock, United brought former player Paul Scholes out of retirement to offer depth to the midfield which has been suffering one of the worst injury crises in years.

His debut came against none other than United's close rivals Manchester City, where his performance turned this nostalgic into a sceptic, as he looked shaky on the ball at times and made a critical error which lead to an opposition goal.

However since then he has featured in all three of Man United's league games, and even netted himself a poacher's effort against Bolton on his Old Trafford return. In these three matches he has maintained an 89 percent pass completion record, and has generally made the United midfield look more comfortable.

Michael Carrick in particular has benefited from Scholes' return as he now looks to get forward a lot more now, and has shown he is developing a bit more of an eye for the goal because of it.

While he is not a long term solution to the midfield issue, he is still looking as good as he ever was and really adds something to the United midfield.

The big question on the fans' lips is whether he will stay past May or not. This Man United fan hopes so.

Grade: A

Out: Darron Gibson to Everton

Last night was possibly the first and last time you'll ever hear "there's only one Darron Gibson" at Old Trafford—but he wasn't playing for United.

In fact Gibson was plying his trade for Everton, and his 20-yarder against Man City put United joint on points at the top. It seems like an inspired sale already, huh?

Coincidences aside, Gibson was one of United's hottest prospects between 2009 and 2010, and was in fact one of the candidates to replace Paul Scholes after his departure, however it was not to be.

The reason that Gibson never became United's first choice central midfielder is possibly down to the fact that Sir Alex's older players refused to slow down. Players like Giggs and Scholes would have usually been moved on in the latter stages of their thirties, however these two are still demonstrating quality and have staked fair claims for their places in the United midfield.

Will United regret selling Gibson one day? Maybe, but at this point in time Ferguson needed to move on a couple of his backup twenty-somethings, and this deal did just that.

Grade: B

Out: Danny Drinkwater to Leicester City

In one of the less reported stories of the January transfer window, United's Danny Drinkwater moved to Leicester for an undisclosed fee.

Despite spending six years at Old Trafford, Drinkwater never made a single senior team appearance, and spent time at four different clubs on loan including Cardiff, Barnsley, Watford and Huddersfield.

He is a player from the academy who never really lived up to expectations, and another name off of the books won't hurt United either.

Grade: A

Out: Mame Biram Diouf to Hannover 96

Mame Biram Diouf is a player who suffered at United thanks to over-competition for places. Following his return from a loan spell from Blackburn Rovers (in which he only notched three goals in 26 appearances) he featured in United's preseason tour of America, suggesting that he could be in line for a run in the first team.

Unfortunately for Diouf, he had competition from Danny Welbeck, Dimitar Berbatov and Federico Macheda, who were all vying for the chance to partner Wayne Rooney in the EPL. Diouf, however, did not manage to make a single appearance in the EPL this season.

Accordingly, Sir Alex moved him on to cut a little bit of the dead weight in the squad, and more importantly for Diouf, give him a chance to play regular first team football elsewhere.

Like Darron Gibson, Diouf was a good prospect a couple of years ago, but is not of the quality to call himself a Man United regular.

Grade: A

Out: Ravel Morrison to West Ham United

Uniteed's only deadline day sale was of Ravel Morrison who moved to West Ham for a fee believed to be around £650,000 (plus up to £2 million of add-ons).

Many fans agree with the sale of the player, as the relationship between the club and the player had broken down, including many of the training staff refusing to work with Morrison. Genuine disrespect for the club amongst other authority is a glaringly obvious trait of Morrison's, whose move to the first team was hindered by the fact that he missed training too often.

Others believe that the deal was silly as Morrison could be worth up to £30 million in years to come, and undoubtedly has the talent to be a massive star in the future if he curbs his attitude and off-field antics.

I'm going to plump myself in the middle of the road here, because this could easily prove to be a good bit of business, but equally could come back to bite United.

Grade: C

In: Frederic Veseli from Manchester City

Whil Sir Alex has never been a big fan of deadline day, he proved otherwise this year by making a move for Manchester City's 19-year-old defender, Frederic Veseli.

While most fans do not know a lot about Veseli there is an obvious question to be asked: If he isn't good enough for City then how will he be good enough for United?

I personally am sceptical of this transfer, however SAF must have seen something in Veseli to bring himself to making an approach for a City player.

Will he feature this season or not? If there's many more injuries then he could end up as a regular starter come May. Aside from that, he is likely to offer sound backup for the remainder of the season.

Aside from his ability on the pitch, off the pitch he is best friends with FC Basel star Xherdan Shaqiri—possibly a bargaining tool for a summer swoop?

I'll reserve real judgement on the player until I have seen him in a United shirt.

Grade: C