Manchester United may make just one more signing this summer, suggested manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Yes they only lost the Premier League title on goal difference, but the 89 points the club achieved was seen as more of an overachievement by the context of their squad’s shortcomings.
Those shortcomings were exposed in Europe, when they failed to qualify from a Champions League group containing Benfica, Basel, and Otelul Galati. Then to add salt into the wounds, they were exposed against Athletic Bilbao home and away, losing twice on their way to Europa League elimination.
Their 6-1 defeat to Manchester City may have been seen by many as a freak result, but the way they failed to create chances in their 1-0 loss at Eastlands in the return underlined that there is indeed work to be done.
So far two new additions have been brought into Old Trafford, Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell, brought in from the Bundesliga and League Two respectively.
Expectations will differ with regard to each of them, with Kagawa especially hoped to be the missing link creatively that United have lacked.
United appear to have backed off signing a new right-back, failing to register an interest in free agent Nathaniel Clyne, or rival Newcastle for Mathieu Debuchy, with Ferguson offering Rafael da Silva a new contract and backing him to become one of the best in the world.
The left on the other hand is another matter, with Fabio da Silva loaned to QPR, there is no cover for Patrice Evra, and Leighton Baines has been linked, albeit at a costly price of £17 million.
Left-back is not the only area United need reinforcing. They could do with another striker too, unless this is the season Federico Macheda finally makes his mark. For the moment they are retaining Dimitar Berbatov, but there is still every chance he will leave and require replacing.
If United could pick up another young, promising striker for under £12 million it would be just what they need, while not eating too much into their budget. Sporting’s Ricky van Wolfswinkel would be an ideal candidate in that price range.
So far we have not mentioned the glaring area which requires improvement – central midfield. It was here that United were exposed last season, and prior to that, with their problems dating back to the 2009 Champions League final when they were outclassed by Barcelona. New additions in the area simply have not been bought.
If Anderson and Tom Cleverley could stay fit for an entire season, United’s problems would be diminished somewhat, but allowing Park Ji Sung to leave, and Ferguson’s admission Darren Fletcher is some way off returning only serve to emphasise their lack of depth in the area.
United require a real defensive midfielder, able to break up plays and do the dirty work. Michael Carrick has his assets, but he is not the same type of players as Cheik Tiote or a Yann M’Vila, while Joao Moutinho could do that and more.
The challenge of replacing Paul Scholes has been postponed for another season, but in an ideal world United would make a move to sign one now, they have been linked with Brazilian starlet Lucas Moura, whether that materialises into anything beyond speculation remains to be seen.
In the youth team Ryan Tunnicliffe, Davide Petrucci and Larnell Cole will all hope to make a step up, but United cannot expect that they can fill a void, and should rather see any rapid development from any of them as a bonus.
So with two central midfielders required, a left-back, and arguably a striker, Sir Alex Ferguson’s suggestion that he will bring in just ‘one or two’ more new signings is already looking a little lightweight.
What do you think, do United need more than one signing? How many?
image: © Nasmac
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