David Moyes has spent the best part of his week in Europe looking at every single central midfielder that can kick a ball straight. His management team have also been gallivanting around Europe on the hunt for fresh talent to try to bring in, with Phil Neville spotted at various Spanish games armed with a notebook and pencil.
It can’t be a nice situation for Moyes, as his every move is well documented within the British press. The air of desperation surrounding his requirements really does put him in a difficult position. The main question is: who will actually want to come?
War Chest
An apparent £200 million war chest is available, but it remains to see if Moyes will be given the code to unlock the safe. There was a time when United would be able to go about their business quietly under the radar and attract some of the best talent in Europe to Old Trafford. Now Moyes is struggling to convince any players to believe in the project he has undertaken. It’s clear that the money is there, and the ambition, but is there the realistic chance to win silverware any time soon?
Hamsik, Moura and Lallana
United are now being linked with Marek Hamsik (again), who has just come back from injury, Moura (again) who can’t get a decent run in the PSG side with a World Cup fast approaching, and Adam Lallana in the wake of the latest drama in the boardroom at St Mary’s.
The links with these players, plus Gundogan, Koke, Pogba, Everton Ribeiro and Juan Mata have refused to go away and one thing is for sure, after this week of watching just about every game he could get into, Moyes will be tabling bids next week. Whether any get accepted is a completely different matter.
The Revolving Door
As Anderson undergoes his medical at Fiorentina and Nani is wanted back at Lisbon, United are going to be bidding farewell to at least a couple of the first team squad in this transfer window. If it’s a one way system that results in nobody coming in, this won’t be received well at all.
Chelsea to Come
One hopes he’s not forgotten about Chelsea away this week. It’s kind of a big deal. A win there would close the gap on Mourinho’s side to six points and make it 7 wins out of 8 in the league, so all of a sudden United might be back in the hunt for a Champions League place which in turn would maybe help to attract a few players.
It’s an interesting time at Old Trafford right now. They’re not playing well (although their away form is the best in the league right now), their two best players are sidelined and they can’t get anyone to come and join the party. But as they always say, never write United off, because things have a funny way of working out in the red half of Manchester, and this time next week things could look very different indeed….
