What do Man United want in their Christmas stocking ?

WITH the silly season in full swing, at Sports Analytics INC we thought we would provide some insight into what each Premier League team wants in their Christmas stockings and what they are likely to receive. Many teams use the upcoming January transfer window as an opportunity to strengthen and either consolidate themselves as a title challenger or at the end of the spectrum simply stay out of the drop zone.
So here they are in no particular order…

Man United

What they want...
The Glazer’s are tipped to finally offload the club to the cashed up Qataries, United could be expecting a transfer war chest to solidify their title credentials in the League and the Champion’s League. With this in mind they have been searching unsuccessfully for a while for suitable successors for Paul Scholes in the midfield and Edwin van der Sar between the posts.

Central midfield candidates
Paul Scholes is not an easy man to replace, which is why he is still bossing the United midfield at the ripe old age of 36. Anderson has shown form recently though serious question marks linger in the back of Sir Alex’s mind about the Brazilian’s suitability as a successor. Money is no object here though and there are a number of ready made replacements out there, namely;
- Luka Modric
- Andreas Iniesta
- Xavi
- Mesut Ozil
- Kaka

Goal Keeper replacements
To our knowledge (happy to be corrected) van der Sar is the oldest player currently plying his trade in the Premier League at 40 years young. United have tried unsuccessfully to find a protégé for a number of seasons trying Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak with limited success. They have been tracking Shalke’s outstanding keeper Manuel Neuer for some time now and now Christmas seems as good a time as ever to pull the trigger.
- Manual Neuer
- Julio Cesar

What they’ll get...
As Ferguson has a preference towards English candidates and the ‘Red Devils’ are champions league contenders, potential candidates will not be cup tied. This rules out all the ‘fantasy’ replacements for Paul Scholes. Yet at Sports Analytics INC we wouldn’t be surprised if the Manual Neuer transfer eventuates. Expect United to have to outlay £ 20M + to land the Manual though…