Rumoured Manchester United January Targets and Whether They Need Them

Manchester United have not enjoyed a good summer, and for once the incessant refreshing of the rumour mill, even after the close of the transfer window, doesn't seem so absurd.

Having pursued Thiago Alcantara and Cesc Fabregas throughout the months of July and August to no avail, instead ending up as patsies to the players' agendas at Bayern Munich and Barcelona, respectively, September 2 was a day of humiliation for United.

The club's situation wasn't helped by the bizarre series of approaches sanctioned by new chief executive Ed Woodward aiming insultingly low offers at utterly unrealistic targets. His nativity and lack of awareness felt eerily similar to the carelessness shown by Manchester City last summer—a failed recruitment drive that ultimately cost them a realistic shot at defending their Premier League title.

Reading the latest murmurs regarding United's likely targets for January, much of the gossip remains fixated on the players that got away from David Moyes in August and September. Whether the club can salvage some deals out of the wreckage of the summer depends on how they deal with their weakened buying position and the difficult diplomatic situations they may have left behind at clubs such as Everton and Athletic Club.

Having scoured Europe for a creative midfielder, however, there may not be many other avenues left to explore when it comes to reassuming Moyes' search for another midfield recruit and more after Christmas.

Marouane Fellaini's arrival on the final day of the transfer window throws another twist into the tale, with the Belgian’s presence altering the dynamic of United’s midfield situation. Priorities may well have shifted or changed completely over what kind of player needs to be signed next and in what position.

In the following slides, we’ll assess the merits of the current rumours for January signings and ask whether Manchester United need them.

Which players are you hoping the club will target when the window next opens and why?

Ander Herrera

In many ways Ander Herrera would be a very typical Manchester United signing. 

Young, relatively obscure and seemingly overlooked by rival clubs had he completed a move to Old Trafford during the summer, he would have arrived as a somewhat unheralded signing, much like Denis Irwin, Park Ji-Sung, Antonio Valencia and Javier Hernandez before him. 

Should David Moyes make another move for the midfielder in January, that shock factor will have lessened due the increased scrutiny that is sure to follow the player over the coming months. Yet while Herrera may well lack the reputation and glamour of Fabregas and Thiago, he looks well suited to the job of sorting out the creative shortage in Manchester United's midfield.

Not only that, but the 24-year-old appears more than capable of matching up to the physical and technical demands of the modern game. Tenacious, assertive and skillful, while his baby face looks may fool many into underestimating his staying power, Herrera is far more combative than your average midfield playmaker.

Having blossomed as a key player in Marcelo Bielsa's intensive and attacking Athletic Club sides of 2011-13, the Basque midfielder has enjoyed the ideal preparation for replacing Tom Cleverley as United's more mobile middle man alongside Michael Carrick. Herrera would be a significant upgrade on the Englishman who can often struggle to impose himself on games.

In order to secure the Bilbao player's services in January, however, United will still have to pay the release clause that stands at around £30.5 million depending on additional fees and taxes. Such bureaucracy may well be off-putting to the club that will surely want to look decisive and light-footed in their next round of transfer dealings following the summer's incompetence rather than becoming bogged down in protracted legal battles.

While his name may not impress fans craving van Persie-esque bragging rights, Herrera's statistics do make for some interesting reading:

"

Ander Herrera won more tackles last season (90) than Premier League trio Frank Lampard, Jack Wilshere & Yaya Toure combined (83).

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 30, 2013"

"

Ander Herrera executed more key passes last season (35) than Manchester United duo Tom Cleverley & Shinji Kagawa combined (33). #MUFC

— Squawka Football (@Squawka) August 30, 2013"

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Ander Herrera: Was fouled more times than any other player in La Liga last season (107)

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 2, 2013"

A player who clearly relishes the cut and thrust of the midfield battle, who shows ambition with his passing range and wins regular fouls—set pieces have become something of a speciality for United thanks to Robin van Persie’s delivery and could yet become more threatening thanks to the added aerial power of Marouane Fellaini—Herrera could be ideal.

Verdict

Herrera is mobile, robust and creative, and therefore exactly what’s required, but does he have the profile to boost morale after a disappointing summer? Like with Fellaini, Herrera may be left waiting until the last minute as a backup target should bigger names fail to come.

Leighton Baines

Over the past few months, Leighton Baines has become a somewhat divisive figure within Manchester United's fanbase.

As speculation mounted around an impending move to Old Trafford in the summer, supporters split into two camps: those who wanted the club to sign the best left-back in the Premier League, and those worried about the differences between Baines and Patrice Evra.

The Frenchman, who may well lack Baines’ dead-ball delivery and impressive European-leading chance creation stats, has great acceleration and is more skilled at beating markers one on one. In fact, Evra plays more like a secondary winger than a full-back, driving into the opposition penalty box to distract defenders and cause panic and indecision.

Baines, on the other hand, although an excellent player, is a different kind of left-back, one that would take United's overlapping wing play in an altogether different direction. The Evertonian performs his role in a far more traditional manner. His main weapons are his crosses from deep and dependable support play for those ahead of him on the left flank and in midfield.

Compared to Evra, however, he can sometimes look rather agricultural and it would be a shame to sacrifice the skill and penetration that currently adds so much to United's game going forward. The wing-back is also a popular presence in the dressing room and a firm fan favourite. At the age of 32, however, a long-term replacement must be found soon.

At the age of 28, Baines has neither the extra potential of youth nor the years of service expected of a full-back who would likely cost over or around £20 million.

If David Moyes is adamant about tweaking the way United's left-back slot operates, then he well find the answer closer to home.

Fabio da Silva is a right-footed left-back who, if granted the game time to catch up to the progress of his brother, could offer a similar kind of platform to Baines, overlapping and underlapping as required to support the midfield and allow the likes of Shinji Kagawa to drift inside upfield.

Alternatively, having reportedly offered Alexander Buttner a new deal this week, Moyes could persist with the Dutchman can be moulded into Evra's penalty box-bothering successor.

Verdict

Give it up, Moyes: Baines is too expensive, especially considering his age. There's also Evra’s longevity and the youth players already at Old Trafford.

If he really wants to bring in a new left-back, why not someone like Luke Shaw or Ben Davies—youngsters brimming with potential? Moyes should place his trust in youth rather than wasting money hedging his bets with Baines.

Davide Astori

Manchester United are apparently chasing Davide Astori, Cagliari's inconsistent and flawed AC Milan castoff, to add more depth to central defence, according to the Express.

That may sound harsh, but as a serial offender when it comes to own goals and disastrous drops in concentration that balances out his occasional, last-ditch heroics. Astori is precisely the type of defender you wouldn't want to introduce to a high-end back line where trust and constant vigilance are vital for success.

With reports of interest coming in from Chelsea and Manchester City, this could yet be another news story massaged into the press by an agent seeking better terms for their client. It’s hard to pin point the logic in this transfer rumour otherwise.

After all, ignoring Astori’s numerous issues, what niche would he fill that isn’t already catered for in the United ranks?

With Vidic offering plenty of muscle and commanding presence, Jones and Smalling adding strength, energy and potential, and Evans and Ferdinand contributing excellent distribution and an ability to step out into midfield with the ball respectively, the idea of adding an error-prone 26-year-old just doesn’t make any sense.

Verdict

Nonstarter. Ezequiel Garay times two?

Forget being experienced cover for Ferdinand and Vidic, Astori’s game is patchier than United’s current defensive prospects in progress whose development his arrival would also block.

Ilkay Gundogan

Even when the deal to bring Thiago to Manchester looked all but complete or when stories began to circulate claiming that Fabregas was open to a switch to United, a sizeable number of United fans continued to look toward the Bundesliga for their preferred midfield saviour.

For his admirers, the two Spaniards pale in comparison to Borussia Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan, who would be the perfect man to complete United’s midfield (via the Express).

Having joined Jurgen Klopp’s side following the sale of Nuri Sahin to Real Madrid, Gundogan quickly proved to be more than just an adequate replacement for the club's prodigious Turkish midfielder. Since his arrival from 1. FC Nurnberg in 2011, the 22-year-old has won a Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal domestic double alongside Shinji Kagawa before his departure and scored a penalty as the runner-up in the 2013 Champions League final.

As well as being an exceptionally bright and composed footballer with an excellent passing range and awareness of those around him, in 2011-12 Gundogan was one of the key reasons for Kagawa’s immense second season in the Bundesliga that saw him win the league's Player of the Year award.

With Gundogan driving forwards from deep while feeding and playing off Kagawa, the Japanese was able to create chances, score goals and take advantage of the team's fluid movement and passing angles from his position in the hole. The prospect of reuniting the pair at Old Trafford, and finally unlocking the Japanese playmaker’s full potential in a United shirt is mouth-watering if unlikely.

However, with Gundogan committed to the Dortmund cause, and the club unwilling to entertain offers as their other star player, Robert Lewandowski, continues to hold out for a move to Dortmund's main competitive rivals Bayern Munich, for now this dream signing will likely remain too good to be true.

Verdict

Ideal but difficult to make happen. It's unlikely that Gundogan would be available or United would be prepared to pay a landmark fee for the Dortmund midfielder judging by their fiscal conservatism in the summer.

Eliaquim Mangala

Porto’s Eliaquim Mangala is fast becoming one of the most highly rated young centre backs in Europe.

With Manchester City apparently prepared to bid £30 million in January to secure his signature (via the Express), Manchester United may well be forced to look elsewhere with central defense far from a priority at present due to the talent and potential already at the club in that position.

There is a lingering desire for another top-quality youth defender at the club, however, as evidenced by the failed approach to sign French prodigy Raphael Varane before his move to Real Madrid. Whether the motivations behind such a move are based on a near-paranoid caution born of recent defensive injury crises or a greedy hunger to stockpile the very best defenders for the future, it’s impossible to know.

Should David Moyes move for Mangala, however, and pay dearly for his services without plugging United’s creative gap, a landmark fee for a defender may appear to the fans as a conservative folly, indicative of a wasteful, negative approach.

Verdict

Unlikely and unnecessary. Mangala’s signature would demand a high price considering Porto’s demands and the other clubs in pursuit. Again, his arrival would block the progress of United’s existing talents at the back.

Christian Benteke

Every few years a new country becomes the in vogue nationality in world football. In the recent past Slovenian and Senegalese players have been coveted for their feats on the international stage, yet for the next decade at least, it looks as those Belgium will be the most fashionable country in terms of the transfer market's trends.

The Premier League already boasts such Belgian superstars as Marouane Fellaini, Vincent Kompany, Eden Hazard and Mousa Dembele, who were last year joined by new arrival Christian Benteke.

Aston Villa's 22-year-old striker is a powerful and well-built athlete with a hard working ethos and a well polished technical game, almost custom-built for English football. Last season, Benteke scored 23 goals in 39 appearances, and was one of the most effective and decisive players in the league. At times it looked as though Villa's Premier League survival rested solely in his hands, a burden that only inspired him to great levels of performance rather than weighing him down.

Having signed a new five-year deal amid speculation he could move on to Spurs or Arsenal in the summer, Villa will be able to use the contract to demand a hefty finder's fee for introducing him to the league's larger clubs should he leave so soon after coming over from Genk last August.

For United, however, such a purported move as reported in the Mirror doesn’t quite make sense in the short or medium term.

With the aforementioned contract extension signed, Benteke would not come cheap, and although impressive as Aston Villa's main goalscorer and driving force against relegation, a price tag in excess of £25 million is a lot for a player whose potential is yet to be tested on the game's biggest stages.

With Robin van Persie in the peak of his career and Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez desperate for game time, it is the future of Wayne Rooney and his future role should he remain at Old Trafford long-term, that would decide whether a bid for Benteke is viable.

The Belgian would be a bold but exciting signing should Rooney move on, but it seems unlikely that Moyes will allow him to leave, what with a new contract apparently being offered to the Englishman. Then again, anxiety continues to grow around the contents of Sir Alex Ferguson's much hyped autobiography that could yet shatter the peace once more with its potentially damning Wayne-centric revelations. 

Verdict

Too soon! Should Rooney move on or decide to play a deeper role on a more permanent basis for United, Benteke would make sense as a busy and dominant presence up front.

However, with Welbeck improving, van Persie in form and Hernandez struggling for games, signing him to stagnate on the bench for big money wouldn’t make any sense, especially with the highly rated Angelo Henriquez touted by many as the club’s next big prospect for the No. 9 role.

Fabio Coentrao

For those not in favour of Leighton Baines moving to Manchester United, the prospect of the club signing Fabio Coentrao on loan with a view to a permanent purchase sounded like the perfect compromise.

As evidenced by his showing against United at the Bernabeu, going forward the Portuguese left-back is a frightening sight for defenders. Fast, skillful and a genuine goal threat both within and outside the box, Coentrao could well be the ideal successor to Patrice Evra. Aged just 25, he has plenty of time left to further improve his game further before hitting his peak years.

The idea was that the Real Madrid full-back was unsettled and available for a cut-price fee, initially on loan. However, Madrid had second thoughts after the club failed to sign a replacement in Guilherme Siqueira from Granada and the move never materialised.

Where that leaves a potential reassessment in January is anyone’s guess. Media outlets originally reported that Coentrao had broken down in tears at the news he wouldn’t be heading to United—apparently being consoled by an emotional Ronaldo and Nani while away together on Portugal duty—but now the picture doesn’t look so clear.

Marooned at Madrid, the left-back has been telling the press of his love for Real and satisfaction that the proposed move to Manchester didn’t come off. Face-saving comments drafted by a PR agent to ease his Bernabeu agony or the ugly truth about another botched summer approach by Manchester United? Who knows.

Verdict

Panic buy? Coentrao's failed loan move felt like a knee-jerk reaction at the end of United’s underwhelming summer.

In comparison to the differently skilled Baines, however, the Portuguese looks to be an ideal successor to Patrice Evra. It’s hard to know whether the attempted loan signing was the result of some well-thought out, long-term planning that will be reviewed in January or just a hurried attempt to look busy that would now best be forgotten.

Daniele De Rossi

Chelsea signed Michael Ballack back in 2006 at the age of 30 as a tried and tested shot in the arm for the club’s trophy-winning momentum. Four years later the veteran German midfielder left the West London club with a Premier League and League Cup medal, three FA Cup medals and runner-up medals for the Champions League and Premier League twice.

Daniele De Rossi, now also 30 years old, was once again a persistent fixture in this summer’s transfer window.

The midfielder had made it know he was considering his future after growing unhappy at AS Roma following Zdenek Zeman’s stint as manager. Having lost his first-team place, De Rossi appeared to be ready to leave his boyhood team and Rome behind and head to the Premier League. Both United and Chelsea were reported by the Express to have made approaches for him.

In this era of obsessions over youth players, it’s refreshing for such interest to hold around a mature player, especially one with the quality and pedigree of De Rossi—yet unfortunately for English football, no moves materialised.

Perhaps the ideal signing for both United and Chelsea, with both clubs suffering from underpowered midfields of late, it’s unclear whether the bids failed due to the Italian’s situation improving or a lack of desire for a move in the first place, once again using foreign interest to reassert his importance and value to Roma through the shock fear of loss.

Whatever happened, it may be that with Fellaini signing on to join United, capturing De Rossi as well as the Belgian would have become a major and unnecessary drain on resources. After all, with the midfielder thought to be the best-paid player in Serie A, his wages would not have come cheap.

Verdict

Missed opportunity. Too little, too late by United. With De Rossi now reported to be happy at Roma after feeling unsettled earlier in the summer window, the time to strike and grab one of the best midfielders of his generation has now passed.

Sami Khedira

Subject to a end of window bid of £34 million, Sami Khedira was a late addition to the Manchester United midfielder merry-go-round that swept through early September, leaving almost everyone bemused at the seemingly scatter-gun approach taken by Ed Woodward and David Moyes.

Khedira, while being an excellent midfielder, didn’t seem to fit the pattern of the players under consideration prior to United’s bid for him. Thiago, Fabregas, Modric were the criteria that saw Khedira tacked onto the end of that list purely that he played against or alongside them in the Spanish La Liga?

As a midfield solution, Khedira would have been a safety-first addition, offering a more brisk version of Carrick’s role, intercepting passes, laying off the ball and adding authority to the team’s patrolling of territory in the middle of the park.

With the signing of Fellaini, again the cast of midfielders seems rather overegged with a distinct lack of quick, creative midfielders becoming the primary concern—not a role that Khedira is suited to.

Verdict

Not what’s needed anymore. Before the signing of Fellaini, Khedira looked to be a high-class option for shoring up the midfield. With his price tag and Madrid’s reluctance to sell taken into consideration, United need to look at players able to offer more going forward.

Wesley Sneijder

Has a player ever fallen from grace so quickly through his decisions on the pitch rather than off it as Wesley Sneijder?

Remoulding himself from a modern, treble-winning playmaker in 2010 with Internazionale who was unfairly overlooked for World Player of the Year, the Dutchman has become a regressive and obsolete, retrograde of the traditional No. 10 in just 18 months later.

The reasons for Sneijder’s self-destructive desire to revert into such a narrow and outmoded tactical role remain unclear. Laziness? Arrogance? The misconceived idea that it was only through this specific specialisation that he could hope to overcome Lionel Messi in future contests for individual awards?

Whatever the reason, Sneijder’s career has been in decline ever since, taking his attitude with it. From his sky-high wage demands, which scuppered an original deal to United in 2011, to reports of an aloofness in training, he may succumbed to complacency and comfort after enjoying such unprecedented success in Italy.

If Manchester United really were in for Wesley Sneijder this summer—rather than such a rumour being a tired old joke perpetuated by the sports media—then the club’s lingering interest may hint at problems that go far deeper than Ed Woodward’s transfer dealings.

Sneijder made little sense before his career meltdown. Today, competing for his signature is getting close to resembling a transfer tussle for a Leeds United-era Tomas Brolin.

Verdict

United’s interest is worrying if true. Expensive, inflexible and hostile to Robin van Persie. Fans can only hope that Sneijder’s presence in the rumour mill has become a long-running in-joke amongst journalists rather than a move with any substance behind it.

Cristiano Ronaldo

The narrative of Cristiano Ronaldo's triumphant return has already been written in fan-fiction filled minds of his adoring Mancunian public.

Dissatisfied with live in Madrid—having suffered a disappointing lack of trophies compared to the haul he expected when signing back in 2009, less forgiving Spanish tax laws coming into force, his sponsors wooing him to return to their preferred club Manchester United—Ronaldo decides to once again don the No. 7 shirt of Manchester United. 

It’s fantastical, it’s absurd but it’s also as likely as anything else when it comes to transfers of this magnitude at the most extreme end of the spectrum.

Talks are apparently ongoing behind the scenes between Manchester United, General Motors—the owners of the club’s new sponsors Chevrolet—and Nike, who want their star endorsee back at a friendly branded club. Chevrolet are also keen to use the Portuguese as the face of their next major ad campaign.

Questions remain however over how much Ronaldo wants such a move to happen and whether Madrid would let him leave before 2015. Much depends on Gareth Bale and whether he can take on the mantle as Real Madrid’s golden boy, taking the shine and attention off Ronaldo.

There’s little chance that such a move would take place in January, but a deal could conceivably be struck to decide the player’s future during the winter.

Whether United need Ronaldo is a different story, but then again with players of this calibre surely the onus should be on fitting them in rather than fitting in?

Verdict

More of a “when” rather than an “if”? Rumours abound that General Motors and Nike are prepared to fund a fairy tale return as Ronaldo wants out of Madrid for financial and personal reasons.

Any potential developments in January would surely be limited to agreeing conditions for a summer move, but that could be enough for many fans to make up for the shenanigans of the summer.

A Director of Football

While David de Gea’s efforts to tap up Thiago Alcântara while on Under-21 duty with Spain were appreciated by fans, it may be time that Manchester United looked toward hiring a director of football to ease the load on David Moyes and Ed Woodward rather than rely on their ever-improving sweeper keeper to continue as a makeshift deal-breaker.

Considering the summer success of Franco Baldini at Tottenham Hotspur, reinvesting the Gareth Bale in an impressive rebuilding effort to improve rather than impoverish Villas-Boas’ squad, the Glazers may decide a similar model could be implemented at Old Trafford.

Whether the club hired a specialist like Baldini, attempted to bring in David Beckham or Eric Cantona as status symbols with a similar purpose to Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid, or asked Sir Alex Ferguson to take a more hands on role managing the club so that Moyes can focus on the the team, another pair of experienced hands can only help with steering such a large, unwieldy institution as Manchester United.

It seems unlikely that the latter option would come to pass however. Any sniff of Ferguson taking back any degree of power would quickly be spun into a tale of David Moyes failing to manage the demands of his job, and he would quickly become undermined and placed under pressure.

The former two options sound possible though, with Ryan Giggs having apparently attempting to divert Mesut Ozil’s attention away from Arsenal to United in a last-gasp deadline-day phone call.

Regardless of what steps are taken to dissect and understand the failings of the summer, a repeat cannot be allowed to happen in January. With every single one of United’s rivals strengthening, including Arsenal and Liverpool, the club can’t afford to make such mistakes in a single transfer window, let alone consecutive purchasing periods.

After all, in the age of the oil-backed super clubs, all that Manchester United have to keep an edge on the well-funded competition is canny management, smart long-term planning and their heavily monetised reputation.

David Moyes can provide the former part and the club’s worldwide brand should take care of the latter for now, but it’s vital that the club’s infrastructure is fixed and made fit; otherwise terminal decline, caused by knock-on effects to other parts of the club, may be inevitable.

Verdict

End of January if results don’t improve. Should Ed Woodward fail to impress again in the next transfer window, a February reshuffle could well see him bumped off back to the club’s commercial wing, with a new face brought into Old Trafford to work closer with David Moyes. Joe Kinnear need not apply.