Manchester United Targets Two Players, Cheik Tiote and Emilio Izaguirre

Reports are springing up from various sources today suggesting that Sir Alex is looking to lead his summer reinforcements with Newcastle United midfielder Cheik Tiote and Celtic fullback Emilio Izaguirre.

Even alongside the superb Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton, Tiote has been the standout midfield performer for Newcastle this season since his arrival from FC Twente.

He has made a name for himself as a tough-tackling, but classy central midfielder and given our long-standing interest in signing Lassana Diarra, it can only be expected that Tiote’s name has come up, as he would be a sensible alternative. He is similar in stature to the Real Madrid man and occupies a similar role.

He also showed that he knows where the net is with his thunderous equalizer against Arsenal last weekend, but being only his fourth goal in 137 appearances, it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.

The Ivory Coast international also knows what it takes to win titles, having been a regular on Steve McLaren’s title-winning side last year.

Less is known of Honduran Emilio Izaguirre, him having only joined Celtic in the summer from relative obscurity in his home country. Ipswich rejected the chance to sign him in 2008 and it seems he reappeared on the scene last summer in the CONCACAF Champions League.

He has become a fan favorite at Celtic for his attacking prowess, and Sir Alex no doubt sees further similarities between him and Patrice Evra, given that they are both relatively short for defenders, but make up for it in tenacity.

His 44 caps for Honduras include two at last summers World Cup.

It looks like it’s warming up to be an interesting summer of transition at United, and although it’s too early to draw parallels with the summer which saw Ince and Kanchelskis leave, with Giggs and Scholes aging and the feeling that Evra no longer contributes what he has in the past, changes are likely.