United’s midfield targets. Fantasy or reality?

It should have been a fresh, positive, start to the new year. It was, in many ways, a stale, uninspired return to the past, with United struggling to find their way around Spurs and Wayne Rooney deployed in central midfield for the last quarter of the game in what was, effectively, one last adventurous, yet futile, roll of the dice.

David Moyes’ decision to play Rooney in midfield spoke for itself in terms of defining the sheer desperation and paucity of options that cripple United’s engine room, with players either past their best, not as good as we had all hoped or, quite plainly, not good enough to cut it at Old Trafford.

Midfield problems are about as much of a novelty as an iPod, but they’ve intensified to a point where they could well scupper United’s hopes of reaching a top-four finish (how did Arsenal and Spurs fans manage to get so excited about it and for so long?) let alone of retaining the title which, after yesterday’s debacle, is all but gone.

The January transfer window has long been described as United’s saviour, the 29 days between now and the end of the month capable, according to some, to turn the Reds’ season around and propel them towards a successful second half of the season.

The reality, of course, is extremely different.

For a start, United’s record in the transfer window over the summer is so dismal that it’s hard to fathom how the club could fare better in a month than they did in three, with clubs either more reluctant to let players go or aware of their opportunity to demand inflated fees – Fernando Torres anyone – given the buying party’s desperation.

Furthermore, with half of the season already gone, convincing players to jump ship in January can be more complicated than in the summer particularly if, as it’s the case with United, the future looks far from bright. Having said that, a couple of quality signings are desperately needed unless we want to endure another five months of Tom Cleverley, Marouane Fellaini and Anderson.

With the rumour mill in full swing and different players linked with a move to United almost on a daily basis, of all the players rumoured to be on Moyes’ list, who could United realistically get close to sign this month?

1) Ander Herrera

Herrera might never wear a Manchester United but at least the club’s pursuit of the Athletic Bilbao’s man last summer provided us with a dose of entertainment likely to last for decades.

The Basque has been one of the first names to be linked with a January move to Old Trafford, with many believing Moyes is determined to get now what he couldn’t get four months ago, even though Athletic are currently fourth in La Liga and there are no indications as yet of whether Ed Woodward has learnt the meaning of “release clause”.

Being Spanish and rather expensive, Herrera seems to fit the bill of successful modern midfielder, but while the 24-year-old has been consistent this season, he hasn’t exactly shone, playing 12 league games out of 17, during which he mustered the grand total of no goals and no assists.

Herrera might be a more realistic option than other targets (more of which later) but the excitement deriving from acquiring a Spanish playmaker could soon turn into unwanted pressure, were he to fail to impress – one can imagine the “United have signed the wrong Spaniard” headline.

Good? Yes. Available? Perhaps. Worth £35m? Hmmm…

2) Ross Barkley

Having spent £27m on Marouane Fellaini, David Moyes must now wish he had invested that sum on Ross Barkley, as the Everton midfielder has enjoyed a fantastic first half to the season, scoring goals and dictating games for fun – in short everything his former team-mate is yet to do.

Good as Barkley has been this season, the rumours linking him with a £50m to Old Trafford are more suited to April Fool’s Day than to the January transfer window, for paying that amount of money for a player who’s through his first season as first team regular would be ludicrous, even for United’s standards.

Furthermore, the ITKs populating newspapers’ columns and social medias seemed to have not realised that a) Everton are currently in a much better position than United, b) considering the way United handed the bids for Fellaini and Baines in the summer, Roberto Martinez is unlikely to even listen to any offers and c) imagine the popular uproar were Moyes to sign another Everton midfielder?

3) Arturo Vidal
 

The Chilean signed a new contract with Juventus last month and is probably the first name on the team sheet for the Old Lady, who are on course for a third consecutive Serie A title, yet according to a French newspaper United might tempt Vidal to swap Turin for Manchester with an extremely lucrative deal.

Because, obviously, Vidal gets paid peanuts at Juventus and United have suddenly money to splash on wages. Obviously

 4) Ilkay Gundogan

Dortmund’s charm has taken a blow in the last month or two, with football hipsters suddenly losing interest in them, as Jurgen Klopp’s troops hit a bit of a rough patch, thanks also to Gundogan’s lengthy absence.

Dortmund’s loss of form, coupled with their inability to hold on their star players – having lost Mario Gotze last summer, Robert Lewandowski will be on his way in July – has everybody salivating at the prospect of Gundogan getting itchy feet and packing his bags for a different destination.

Granted, were Gundogan decide to leave Dortmund, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich – Pep Guardiola can never have too many midfielders, it seems – could complicate things a tad, but a deal for the Dortmund midfielder looks marginally more achievable than most of the players United have been linked with, as out of those three, United are the only club that could offer Gundogan a starting spot.

Unfortunately, however, not before the summer, given Dortmund seem increasingly determined to place all of their season’s remaining eggs into a Champions League-shaped basket, which makes this a no go.

5) Juan Mata
 

The bearded man wants out, Mourinho has told him he can go and United are crying out for a man of his calibre – we are crying out for anybody who could pass the ball forward, to be perfectly honest – so where’s the problem here?

Well, for a start, it’s hard to see Chelsea selling one of their best players to a club Mourinho considers a direct rival for the title- even though, sadly, we clearly aren’t – not to mention that United had reportedly enquired about obtaining Mata’s services in a straight swap for Wayne Rooney last summer.

Denials followed, but who’s to say that were United to formulate an offer for the Spaniard Mourinho won’t demand Rooney to be included in the deal? It would have made sense in August but, love or loathe Rooney, it sounds like a terribly ill-advised plan at this stage of the season.

However, if United are serious about strengthening their squad this month, Mata should top David Moyes’ list.

6) Koke

Spanish, young, talented and rather brilliant. Exactly the sort of player who would turn United down, in other words. Joking aside, while Koke has been linked insistently with United and the club’s scouts have monitored his performances, there’s very little to suggest this transfer could happen. Atletico Madrid are flying and have a serious chance of breaking the Barcelona-Real Madrid duopoly and, quite frankly, why Koke would swap that for a race for a Europa League spot in the Premier League is anyone’s guess.