Facing Everton away at Goodison Park by the time Saturday afternoon rolls around, no Manchester United supporter in the Football Transfer Tavern is feeling totally confident of all three points given the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal the Red Devils suffered last time out.
In fairness, the last time United visit the blue half of Merseyside, the Toffees also dealt a 3-0 hiding to Louis van Gaal’s side so there will be plenty of work to do by the time 3pm hits in four days’ time.
On the whole however, United have endured a solid start to the Premier League season and currently sit in third place in the top flight at present and just two points behind current leaders Manchester City.
One of the reasons in which United find themselves towards the top of the table is because big summer signing Anthony Martial has taken to life at Old Trafford like a duck to water.
Registering three league goals for the Red Devils in quick succession, there will be plenty more to come from the clinical Frenchman and if he can make that sort of impact, United fans are wondering whether any more reinforcements will be brought into the club in January to bolster the club’s fast start.
One man who has been linked with a United switch despite their embarassment of riches in the central midfield position right now is Anderlecht’s young Belgian international Youri Tielemans who The Mirror are claiming is next on Louis van Gaal’s radar.
Having already accumulated Champions League experience despite being just 18-years-old, there is no denying Tielemans’ potential but who else may be following him to Old Trafford come the New Year. Here’s five players who might well be.
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Click on the image below to reveal the five players who could follow Youri Tielemans to Manchester United in January.
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Hakan Calhanoglu
While Youri Tielemans has been intensely linked with an Old Trafford switch in recent days, this hasn’t stopped other outlets from also linking Manchester United with a swoop for fellow attacking midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu.
Bayer Leverkusen’s standout Turkish international was an ambitious transfer target for Sunderland in the summer but given the likes of Barcelona and United are being linked with him now, the Black Cats’ interest seemed nothing more than well, natural interest.
Louis van Gaal has reportedly been interested in acquiring the former Hamburg man before according to The Mirror and it’s worth noting that despite Juan Mata doing an excellent job on the right wing at present, United missed out on Pedro and didn’t end up replacing Angel Di Maria.
Therefore, there could yet be room for Calhanoglu on the flanks and not in an overcrowded central midfield position for United.
Bebe
No, your eyes don’t deceive you Manchester United fans; yes, your former flop of a player Bebe has been linked with a sensational return to Manchester United today!
In an incredible admission from the player himself who will undoubtedly go down as one of United’s biggest mistakes in the transfer market, Bebe has claimed a United return is not impossible.
We think Louis van Gaal might be having a laugh to himself in private when glancing over these quotes from the Portuguese but in fairness to the player, he is slowly catching the eye again in the game having scored a rasping free-kick for current employers Rayo Vallecano against Sevilla in La Liga lately.
Jorginho
If you thought we were done with central midfielders think again because in association with the Youri Tielemans rumours this week, United have also been linked with a swoop for Napoli’s naturalised Italian mifielder Jorginho.
Born in Brazil, the midfielder has declared his international allegiance to Italy but strangely still awaits his first cap for the Azzurri having put in a string of performances that have not only caught United’s eye but also their great arch-rivals rivals Liverpool too.
Yet to register a Serie A goal for Napoli since transferring from Hellas Verona back in 2014, Jorginho is more of a robust defensive midfield solution than a creative one.
One of our punters does make an incredibly valid point however when he claims that he can’t see why United would be looking to land another defensive midfielder in January when the club invested so much money into the transfers of both Bastian Schweinsteiger and Morgan Schneiderlin this summer.
Saido Berahino
While we all know that West Bromwich Albion played hardball in preventing star striker Saido Berahino from joining Tottenham Hotspur on deadline day, we don’t think he will be at The Hawthorns in the long-term.
Seemingly intent on getting his head down and scoring for the Baggies while still pining for a bigger move deep down, we can’t understand why he hasn’t been so frequently linked with a switch to the likes of United.
In the summer, we saw similar, if not inferior players such as Danny Ings achieve a big move to Liverpool so who’s to say an English player in Berahino couldn’t have a similar impact to the likes of Anthony Martial?
Having proved himself to be a capable goalscorer in the top flight last season, Berahino will earn a big move eventually and perhaps United’s ears may prick up in January if he manages to further build on his reputation between now and the New Year.
Felipe Anderson
We might not have heard about Felipe Anderson for a little while now but the Lazio man was somebody who was described as being on United’s radar for January back at the start of September.
Having largely impressed in the Serie A outfits’ squad over the past year or so, Felipe Anderson has since been recognised at senior international level for Brazil and given his age of just 22-years-old, he’ll undoubtedly have a bigger move in him over the cpurse of the next few years.
But could it be to United in January?
As discussed on the Calhanoglu slide, United didn’t end up replacing Angel Di Maria so could find room for another attacking midfielder / winger in the transfer market and lets face it, both managers and players often prefer signing attack-minded signings who can get fans off of their seats when teams are going through periods of struggle.
We saw that in the summer whereby Chelsea moved for Pedro as an added lift kind of signing, ironically beating United to the punch.
