No matter what Manchester United seem to do they have remained in 6th position in the Premier League for a painful amount of time. Although United have recently found some brilliant form, overall their season thus far has been pretty mediocre. Although fans will be happy that it appears the post-Sir Alex Ferguson blues are over they must get back on track next season as true title contenders. To do this as often is the case they’ll probably have to splash the cash once again.
However, it’s not really obvious where United need to improve which could prove problematic in the transfer window but from looking at the league table there is one statistic that stands out. When compared to teams above them in the League Manchester United have conceded a similar number of goals which would suggest that the defense isn’t an issue and the goalkeeper position doesn’t even need to be thought about as long as David De Gea stays with the club.
However, problems arise when you look at the United attack. Although it would at first appear their attack is world class, given some thought it’s not hard to see that this season the Red Devils have been too reliant on Zlatan Ibrahimovic and as a consequence he’s having an incredible season but overall compared to the rest of the teams who should be contending for the title United haven’t been scoring enough goals. This lack of goals has, in turn, lead to them drawing more games than they should be and so they find themselves back in 6th place. Therefore with Zlatan being the age that he is it’s not unreasonable to say that United should already be looking for his replacement. It’s a difficult situation though because none of us would be surprised if he plays just as well next season if he decides to stay. But you also have to respect that the Swede is now 35 years of age and will soon be approaching the end of his career. Although he’s an incredible player still, going forwards being reliant upon a 35-year-old player is risky.
So what attacking options might become available in the summer transfer window?
Although the situation at Arsenal is very unclear at the moment it appears that Alexis Sanchez might become available in the summer following his rumored fall out with manager Arsene Wenger as well as some players. Sanchez has recently spent an unusual amount of time on the bench by his standards and could look to manufacture a move away from the Gunners. Given this unrest rumours have sprung up suggesting that Manchester United would be interested in the player. This is definitely a story that is very easy to dismiss but you’d have said exactly the same for Robin Van Persie and look what happened there. United have a seemingly bottomless pit of money and so I wouldn’t doubt that they can finance a move but whether it happens we’ll have to wait and see.
Another attacking option could come in the form of Belgian Dries Mertens. This season the Belgian has been in fantastic form for Napoli in the Serie A but it’s beginning to look like he’s beginning to out grow the club much like Higuain and Cavani have in the past. To further progress his career Mertens will have to look away from Napoli and if he does choose to do so this year United would be a suitable destination. At 29 years of age his chances to play at the very top of world soccer will be running out now and so he just might take the chance while he can in the summer.
