Karim Benzema claims he turned down Manchester United for Real Madrid. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sergio Aguero and Samuel Eto'o are reported and repeated targets. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Robin Van Persie have been mentioned in Dutch despatches. And all this after United have already signed three attacking players.
But rewind six weeks into the aftermath of the Champions League final and nobody was arguing that United had lost to Barcelona because of an inability to take chances. In truth, they were never given chances to miss because of the inability of the United midfielders to stop Andres Iniesta and Xavi dominating the midfield. They were missing a Roy Keane, a Michael Essien, a Javier Mascherano...they were definitely not missing an Aguero.
Against Liverpool at Old Trafford, they were battered largely because Steven Gerrard was given a criminal amount of room behind Fernando Torres. They were missing someone with the discipline of Essien to shackle the Reds skipper. Nobody walked away from that game saying 'if only United had more attacking options...'
Of course, Ronaldo has now exited and has taken a considerable number of potential goals with him, but it's simplistic to say that United must replace goals with goals. They should come as a natural consequence of Luis Antonio Valencia playing as an orthodox winger, Wayne Rooney moving centrally to form a partnership with Dimitar Berbatov that could be reminiscent of the Rooney/Saha combination of 2006/07, and Michael Owen arriving as much more effective back-up (goals-wise at least) than Carlos Tevez.
It would be folly to say that United have emerged offensively stronger after the departure of Ronaldo, but it would also be folly to ignore the positives of shared responsibility and shared pressure. Rooney will relish the opportunity to play as a genuine no 10 while Berbatov may thrive in a similar position to the one he enjoyed at Spurs. Neither player was comfortable in a nominal 4-3-3 with Ronaldo given licence to do as he pleased. Curiously, a little more rigidity can sometimes bring a little more freedom.
If I were a United fan, I would not be clamouring for United to spend £25m or £40m on another attacking player, I would want to see serious money spent on a defensive midfielder. He may not be needed against the Birminghams and the Hulls of the Premier League, but against the best teams in Europe, he could be the difference between bridesmaid and bride. Playmakers can only play if they are given the ball, and any combination of Michael Carrick, Anderson, Darren Fletcher and Paul Scholes will look lost against next season's Barcelona or Real Madrid.
They already have one readymade player in Owen Hargreaves, and perhaps Sir Alex Ferguson is absolutely certain that he will return as fit and strong as the Owen Hargreaves of 2006. If not, then perhaps that money burning a hole in his pocket should be heading towards a spoiler rather than another poster boy.
Sarah Winterburn
Your Comments
Megatron
"i completely agree with sarah winterburn.Losing Cristiano ronaldo is a massive loss for united but at the same time they have their attacking and midfield options (rooney,berbatov,owen) which would be motivated enough to prove themselves but lets not forget that united have won a lot of matches last season with a smaller margin (1-0) which may or may not be the case this time. so definitely they need defensive midfielder who would not only strengthen their defensive capabilities but also assists to the attackers for goalscoring."
mgaffney
"UnitedJerseyBoy, I never really thought much of him til last season. I always thought he would be a squad player or maybe he would move on. But I was proved wrong I think he was played out of position an awful lot when being played out on RM prior to last season. It was only when he got a prolonged run in the team in CM that he flourished. I have to say that I have had to eat my words thankfully because I always liked that he was a grafter & always gave 100% whenever he played but last season he bulked up & changed his game a bit more & I think he is one of our best mid after Hargreaves if fit after last years performances just hope he keeps it up next season. "
UnitedJerseyBoy
"kingkongcomador - with you on that, Fletcher was a masive loss to Man Utd in the CL final. I was SO gutted when he got that red card against Arsenal, he was going to be massive for us in winning the ball in midfield and getting it forward, something which we couldn't do at all as it turned out... I don't know why he doesn't get the praise he deserves although it's mostly from non Man Utd fans who don't see what he does for the team week in week out. In the first few games of last season he was out top scorer and got us out of trouble cos the rest of the team were still asleep after winning the CL. Fingers crossed he'll do the business this year. "
mgaffney
"Cassius, The last time I checked it wasn't a Americas next top Model. Its Football so to be honest I don't really take to much notice on how players look unless there insanely ugly ie Tevez & Luke Chadwick or Ian Dowie he kinda looks like that dude from the Goonies."
liam775
"If Utd don't sign a defensive midfielder it must mean that Ferguson has faith in Hargreaves and Fletcher. Let's not forget, Giggs replacing Fletcher in the CL final made them a much weaker team defensively. But I agree with the article. Ultimately, Utd will need someone with true grit in midfield to challenge in Europe."
Cassius
"United weren't sexy with Beat Down Dog Tevez, Ogre-esque Rooney, Pasty Slimey Berbatov, Hollow Gimp Ginger Scholes, Crooked Face Vidic, Tea Cup Van Der Saar?"
freddiemercs
"michael owen and luis antonio valencia are not sexy names, drinksalot must have read this article"
bastardsunited
"Cambiasso would be my first choice but if not then I think Anderson could do the job. The season before last Anderson was given the man to man job on Stevie G and did a great job."
bakerbard
"There has been rumours of Yaya Toure moving IF Maacherano leaves Utd. He would be an ideal foil to Carrick or Fletcher"
bun9
"The one thing people haven't picked up on is actually the period in his first season when Anderson looked potential world-class it was all when playing alongside Hargreaves as Carrick and Scholes were both out. Obviously Anderson needs this type of player alongside him just to give him confidence and whether it's Hargreaves or a new signing (maybe Senna?), this should be Utd's first choice midfield."
All comments on this story