A large portion of Manchester United supporters here in the Football Transfer Tavern are getting themselves used to the fact that Louis van Gaal will probably be lasting the entirety of the rest of the season despite what they think of him.
With a lot of Red Devils fans’ opinions having changed about the Dutchman in accordance with the club limping out of the Champions League at the hands of Wolfsburg last week, the overarching concern is whether the club are even closer to the league title than they were under David Moyes.
It’s a real problem when Ed Woodward has sanctioned £250 million worth of new talent, yet still, there seems gaping holes of quality in United’s squad.
Taking a quick glance at the full Premier League table at the moment, United are still relatively well placed on 35 points in fourth place at the moment and the Red Devils have actually conceded the fewest amount of goals in the division (12).
While the likes of David De Gea and Chris Smalling are doing an admirable job at the back, the real problem is the lack of goals at the other end of the field with United having only scored 21 in comparison to Leicester City, Arsenal and Manchester City’s totals of 34, 29 and 32 respectively.
So understandably, strikers will surely need to be on United’s January hitlist next month but who could be arriving at Old Trafford in another wave of free-spending?
Here’s five players that United must simply attempt to sign in the January transfer window.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five players Manchester United must attempt to sign in January.
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Lucas Moura
One of, if not the biggest criticism levelled at Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United team this season not only by fans but ex-players as well such as Paul Scholes and Peter Schmeichel is that their style of play is boring.
An entire generation of Red Devils fans were brought up in the Sir Alex Ferguson era whereby United tried to outscore any team, no matter who the opposition was but nowadays under van Gaal, this possession football is all a bit feeble.
One player who would undoubtedly add a bit of flair to this average United side is Paris Saint-Germain’s Lucas Moura who has flirted with the idea of a January switch lately.
talkSPORT recently carried quotes from the Brazilian international himself who claimed: “If an opportunity comes later and I no longer have the desire to play here, I would take the decision and I would play for another club.”
A player who interested United prior to his PSG switch, Lucas is in and out of Laurent Blanc’s side given Angel Di Maria’s arrival in the summer but still, he’s registered six goals in 22 appearances so far this term.
Romelu Lukaku
Now while Everton have earned themselves a real steely determination for keeping hold of their best players in recent seasons, this surely won’t stop United from sanctioning a cheeky bid for the Toffees’ top striker Romelu Lukaku.
One of those players like Kevin De Bruyne that Chelsea gave up on way too early in his career, Lukaku is now fulfilling the promise he had as a young player and on a consistent basis to boot with 12 Premier League strikes to his name so far this season and in second place behind 15-goal Jamie Vardy.
On Wednesday, the Daily Star referenced Italian reports that claimed Louis van Gaal has made Lukaku his number one transfer target for January and there’s no doubt that he would get the Red Devils firing again up top.
As mentioned already, Roberto Martinez and Everton have done well at fending off interest in the likes of John Stones, Seamus Coleman and Leighton Baines but we think United should enquire at least.
And what would it take to prise him away from Goodison Park – £40 million considering he’s still just 22?
Ryan Bertrand
While Manchester United’s interest in Southampton’s Sadio Mane is well known, they’ve also been interested in his Saints team-mate Ryan Bertrand of late according to Metro.
With Luke Shaw out for the season, van Gaal has been rotating Ashley Young, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo at left back but this constant tinkering can’t be doing much good in terms of consistency.
Bertrand seems one one of those players who is underrated and like Lukaku mentioned previously, could surely be doing a job for Chelsea at the minute?
In with a shout of being first choice England left back alongside Kieran Gibbs for Euro 2016 next summer, surely a move to United would give him a huge leg-up to be in Roy Hodgson’s starting eleven with Gibbs unable to oust the consistent Nacho Monreal from Arsenal’s line-up.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Back in November, Metro ran a transfer story concerning Arsenal that claimed Borussia Dortmund want £42 million and no less for their top class striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
But why aren’t Manchester United in the mix we wonder?
While you’d have to pay top dollar for the Gabon international, he already has 24 goals in all competitions so far this season and this is the calibre of forward United need to really get motoring with Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial and Memphis Depay anything but consistent goalscorers.
As we all know by now, Manchester United aren’t scared to splash a few handsome fees here and there under the Ed Woodward regime and while some Red Devils fans think it’s a mockery just how much they’re splashing on average players, there’s no doubting that Aubameyang is top quality.
Saido Berahino
While he’s probably not in the same class as Romelu Lukaku and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, perhaps the most easily attainable player on this five-man shortlist is West Bromwich Albion’s Saido Berahino.
In fairness, we weren’t saying that too long ago with the Baggies denying the England Under-21 international a Tottenham switch in the summer but ever since November 29th with Tony Pulis’ side playing three Premier League games since then, he’s been an unsued substitute.
With club-record signing Salomon Rondon getting the nod up front, it’s been strange that Berahino hasn’t even been getting any second-half cameos here and there and we think Albion could be preparing themselves for his January departure.
While Tottenham will probably be in the mix for his signature again, we think that if the likes of Dortmund and Everton continue to dig their heels over Aubameyang and Lukaku, a good alternative could be Berahino who has proved last term that he can score against an entire range of opponents.
