It's that time of year with the January Transfer window just round the corner - there have been bizarre rumors with the likes David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo et al. being linked to their former club to the even more likely Fellaini/Baines/Strootman/Lewandowski/ etc.
The below is my personal wish-list based on need and not for reasons of glamour:
1) Defensive Midfielder - Fellaini/Strootman : I have been praying for a player in their mould for a long time now and for those of us who have been watching the games this season we know that ManUtd really lack a player who can stop the opposition in attack as well as create chances or himself score. Our current options are Carrick who himself is having one of his best seasons so far but is still not the Defensive Midfielder we need. He is better in the Central midfielder position. Fellaini and Strootman are both above 6 feet tall and their presence would surely be felt.
Personally though I'm a big fan of Fellaini - I would prefer Strootman who is as good in terms of talent and IMO would come cheaper than would Fellaini who is already now an established star in the EPL.
A dark horse in this race in an unkown Victor Wanyama of Celtic : He is tall, strong and scores goals. He can substitute as a defender as well and is better than having Carrick at that position.
2) A defender - Shawcross/Hummels/Forren : We are talking about a team that is on top of the league by 7-points but has also let in as many as 28 goals so far this season. As football 365 rightly pointed out -"ManUnited have now exceeded the number of goals(28) as they conceded in three of their most recent title winning seasons - 2006/07, 2007/08 and 2008/09" (Link here). I really miss the days when Evra, Vidic, Ferdinand and Van der Saar would go three months without conceding. ManUtd really need another good defender - firstly to challenge for all trophies and also because Fergie would rather play Carrick out of position rather than give a youngsters chance.
Among the mentioned three personally I would go for Hummels because of he is a finished product. Shawcross is another top option because he is now among the top defenders in the EPL and also knows how ManUtd function(tough to imagine he was allowed to go at such a partly sum), I'm sure the clause in his contract with Stoke has something to say about his potential - did Fergie know of his potential - moreover Shawcross is a part of the most miserly defense in the EPL this year with letting in only 14 goals so far. Though Begovic has a major role to play in this part too. More on him later.
Thirdly Vegard Forren is doing very well at Ole Solskjaers Molde and I'm sure he is an option too.
3) A goalkeeper - Begovic : He's been one of the best keepers in the Premier League so far and I would swap him for Lindegaard. De Gea is still learning and I'm a big fan of his reflexes. He will be a great keeper in the years to come. I am not saying Lindegaard is bad but he's too good to be 3rd choice or even joint 2nd choice and De Gea can grow very well under Begovic by being a good understudy with ample game time.
4) Lewandowski : Initially I was complaining about even buying RVP but after seeing the effect he's had on our scoring rate - I've changed sides - we need the attack to score 5 even if the opposition score 3. Also Lewandowski would sit perfectly well at the top of a 4-2-3-1 with Rooney, RVP, Kagawa or one of the Wingers in the 3. Chicharito would play a good substitute at any of these positions. There have been talks of a misunderstanding between Kagawa and him but Fergie is a master of egos and I'm sure will handle it well if it is true.
Mario Goetze could possibly be a summer move and also Jurgen Klopp would be a good replacement to Sir Alex but my favorite would still be David Moyes - here's why. Okay maybe we should just buy out the whole Dortmund team.
If these additions are made esp. with the ones that aren't cup-tied with the Champions League then there is no reason why ManUtd cannot win the UCL as well as the Premier League. Lewandowski could be solely used in the league and with the others rotated well.
