It feels a bit better to be a Manchester United fan in the Football Transfer Tavern this week after Louis van Gaal’s men finally arrested their winless slump to record a victory over bogey side from the past couple of seasons, Swansea City on Saturday.
Saturday’s 2-1 triumph was nervy and Lukasz Fabianski’s last minute header had Red Devils supporters sweating but getting back to winning ways was the most important thing and in truth, United supporters didn’t mind how it came.
In United’s two last games against both Chelsea and the Swans, we’ve seen the Red Devils play with more vigour and class and all United supporters would’ve been delighted to see Wayne Rooney back on the scoresheet and how with an excellently taken back flicked strike to make if 2-1.
You can also tell that Anthony Martial is improving once again with a fantastically well taken header having proved his contribution against the Welsh side but in truth, he’d been knocking on the door in the previous game against Chelsea.
The Swansea victory is only just the start in United fans’ eyes however with much more needing to be done to re-convince them that there is actually a long-term future for van Gaal at Old Trafford.
In their eyes, despite having splashed multi-millions in the past couple of transfer windows, more recruitments are still required, especially up front and at centre back.
With that in mind, we’ve today devised a list of five players who may well be following Romelu Lukaku to Old Trafford this month with Metro having reported that the Everton man will be the subject of a £37 million Red Devils raid this January.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five players who could follow Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United this month.
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Felipe Anderson
When looking around cyberspace for concrete Manchester United rumours at the minute, many of them concern this man – Lazio’s Felipe Anderson.
The Brazilian international is reportedly a top target for the Red Devils this January and the Daily Express even goes as far to claim that talks are underway while referencing that a £35 million deal isn’t that far away from being completed.
A winger or attacking midfielder by trade, this isn’t the first time Anderson has been linked with Old Trafford and given that fact, there must be something in the Red Devils’ interest, right?
Given Memphis Depay has largely been ineffective so far this season, signing an additional winger does sound sensible and after all, United didn’t end up replacing Angel Di Maria in the summer so there would be space for another body such as Anderson.
Marquinhos
Make no mistake; any potential deal to take Marquinhos from Paris Saint-Germain to England will be incredibly ambitious but nevertheless, the Red Devils can feel buoyed by the Brazilian international’s latest comments.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, Marquinhos is quoted as claiming: “I will continue to work to get my place. But it’s true there will come a moment where I am older. You cannot just get used to sitting on the bench.
“There are six months left for PSG to win titles. After that, we’ll see what happens.”
While the former Roma defender seems content to bide his time, an irresistible offer from United may be enough to tempt him to move ahead of schedule this month.
With Daley Blind playing a lot of this season at centre back, Marquinhos knows that first team chances would be far easier to come by at Old Trafford and it’ll be interesting to see if the Red Devils aggressively pursue a deal for undoubtedly one of the best young centre backs in European football.
Sadio Mane
With Southampton’s Sadio Mane having endured a very public falling out with Saints boss Ronald Koeman in and around the south coast club’s most recent Premier League encounter with Norwich City, we wonder whether this could have an impact on his short-term future.
Most definitely one of the Premier League’s most tricky customers, Manchester United’s interest in the Senegal international stretches back to the summer and he’d undoubtedly prove a popular signing at Old Trafford.
Turning up late to a pre-match meeting for Southampton at the weekend, this will only give United greater encouragement that the player himself is angling for a move and as we’ve seen in the past, the Saints sell their best players when the price is right.
Signing somebody such as Mane as opposed to Anderson is also a better option in many United fans’ eyes with the former player having already learnt his trade in the English top flight unlike talents such as Memphis who is struggling right now.
Bojan
Compared to the likes of Felipe Anderson and Sadio Mane, if Manchester United are looking for a cut-price attacking solution this month, perhaps they should officially sanction a bid for Stoke City’s Bojan.
Yesterday, we read in the Daily Star that the Potters forward has a release clause of just £10 million despite Mark Hughes’ insistence that they want to keep hold of the former Barcelona attacker.
One of the standout players in Stoke’s team, Bojan will surely have designs on returning to the top table having had to rebuild his career at the Britannia Stadium after being highly-rated as a young player at Barca.
Even if United managed to get their hands on Romelu Lukaku, adding another striker such as Bojan would still be welcome given United said goodbye to both Robin van Persie and Javier Hernandez in the summer.
With just Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney to call upon at the moment, the Red Devils are simply too light up top and too reliant on that pairing for goals.
Lucas Biglia
Like Felipe Anderson, his Lazio team-mate Lucas Biglia is another player who Manchester United were apparently looking at in the summer.
At one point back in August, Metro were claiming a deal was almost done for Biglia despite Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger arriving and this suggests the Red Devils are looking at a long-term successor to Michael Carrick.
Fast forward to this January and the Biglia rumours are out in full force again with the Daily Star claiming that Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are also keen on the Argentine international.
With United eyeing him as the ‘ideal’ addition and both Marouane Fellaini and Carrick surely not having long-term futures ahead of them at Old Trafford, you can see why another solution such as Biglia is being trailed closely.
