Sir Alex Ferguson needs to make only one new year’s resolution for 2012 – sign Luka Modric.
The Manchester United manager spent the summer months trying and failing to land a replacement for Paul Scholes. Now he has four weeks in January to secure the midfield playmaker he so desperately requires.
And few, if any, fit the bill better than Modric.
Ferguson has considered the elegant Croatian on more than one occasion – instead focusing his attention on Wesley Sneijder and Samir Nasri following Scholes’ retirement last season.
The enormous finances required to bring Sneijder to Old Trafford saw United go cold on the Dutchman, while Nasri opted for City when leaving Arsenal.
It left Ferguson short on alternatives – and crucially, short on creativity when the season kicked off in August.
Currently sitting second in the Premier League – five points behind City – and on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League knock out stages, United are well-placed on all fronts. But that has not disguised the frailties of a team that has needed to deploy Wayne Rooney as a makeshift midfielder in the uninspiring wins over Otelul Galati and Sunderland in their last two matches.
Rooney can do the job with his eyes closed – but United can ill-afford to be without their most potent threat up front.
In his withdrawn role, United have scored three times in two games – with two of those, own goals.
It has left Ferguson facing up to the possibility of going against his self-imposed policy of avoiding the January sales.
He has traditionally dodged the new year free for all – baulking at inflated price tags and the inevitability that the best players will be cup-tied in European competition.
While Modric’s price would undoubtedly be inflated, UEFA rules state that he would be allowed to play in the Champions League after Christmas.
There are notable exceptions, but as a rule Ferguson prefers to get his business done in the summer and play that hand for the rest of the season.
Trend
The need to buck that trend was never more evident than in the derby humbling that still resonates at Old Trafford.
The timid wins against Everton, Otelul and Sunderland have all been played against the backdrop of the 6-1 drubbing dished out by City.
On that day, Ferguson’s decision to stick with his midfield rather than twist in the summer appeared to have spectacularly backfired.
Sneijder should have been signed at any cost.
The Inter Milan star possesses the rare ability to elevate United to the next level – to give Ferguson the chance of realising his new mission statement of rising to the challenge of Barcelona.
Instead he had to watch on as David Silva dismantled his side with a display of near perfection. Worse still, he looked over at Roberto Mancini’s bench to see Nasri and Nigel de Jong
sitting on it – players who would walk into his side right now.
Ferguson does not like to be proven wrong – but if he wants to avoid looking up at City from here until the end of the season then he must remedy what he failed to do in the summer.
Tom Cleverley’s progress has been exciting, but the England international’s shoulders are too young to carry the burden of being United’s chief source of creativity in the middle of the pitch.
Thrilling
Without him – following his foot injury at Bolton in September – they have never rediscovered the thrilling displays of the start of the season.
The 22-year-old needs support and Ferguson needs to know he can take him out of the firing line on occasion.
Ferguson is monitoring potential targets.
Villarreal’s Bruno Soriano and Javi Martinez of Athletic Bilbao have both been linked – and like Modric will be eligible for the Champions League.
Unlike Modric, they will not be accustomed to the Premier League – or as likely to make the required immediate impact Ferguson will be looking for.
Tottenham resisted the attentions of Chelsea for their most prized asset in the summer – despite the general belief that he would be allowed to go at the right price.
Harry Redknapp is certain to want to strengthen his squad in the transfer window to build on the impressive start they have made to the season.
A Champions League place is up for grabs and the funds from any Modric sale would help sign the reinforcements he’s tried to add in the last two windows.
There also remains the possibility of off-setting any fee with Dimitar Berbatov, who is out of contract at the end of the season.
Modric is arguably the closest fit there is to Scholes in the Premier League right now.
Blessed with a wonderful, vision and range of passing, it is understandable why Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas was so determined to sign him in the summer.
It is also understandable why Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, fought so hard to keep hold of him.
The last time Ferguson made a big splash in the January sales was with the double signing of Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra in 2006.
Already eliminated from European competition, he was signing two players with a view to the Premier League and building the side that 18 months later would win the first of three successive titles.
And while the Champions League remains Ferguson’s chief obsession, a January move for Modric may just be the difference between maintaining United’s domestic dominance too.
Should Ferguson go for Modric? Have your say.
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We never went for Nasri and we pulled the plug on Sneidjer so get you information straight. Modric is no where near the level of Scholesy and we already have the man to fill the gap and his name is Tom Cleverley so stop boring on the same old lines. Cleverley is not too young, he is the perfect age to start being the creative spark in the middle, Modric is rubbish and not good enough for our great club, Cleverley is already miles better that this mercenary, let Chelski have him. Why waste money when we have Cleverley now and other young creative starlets in the wng just waiting for their moment. Manchester United already haves the talents who will maintain our dominance.
Excellent article. No doubt the usuals will be on now telling us that Modric isn't as good as Carrick or Anderson! Or the excuse they used before that hed be a liability defensively, even tho he plays in a 442 with Spurs and works hard. Or that he's too small, yeah that's the one! Any and every excuse will be wheeled out as to why we shouldn't buy him. The truth is he'd be a wonderful signing. But along with him we also need an energetic ball winner who can also play a bit. We should have strengthened the midfield in the summer but we were too tight to pay top dollar for Sneijder but if we could get Modric from spurs we'd be doing very well indeed
don't you northern monkeys get it? he ain't for sale!
he would fit in nicely , but i dont think harry will let him go !
Go get him Sir Alex. Cleverly's injured with no real replacement in sight.
What's the point in discussing Modric as a transfer target when he's not for sale at any price, as Abramovich found out in the summer.
It's more of a priority to get some of our own players fit.
i would like to see us sign
m villa
martinez
& modric
then we can ship out the deadwood in our midfield
If Fergie is dumb enough to think that all is well with the current team, he better retire! without a creative midfielder.....nothing goes right. the team looks like a milkmen combined f.c. with fletcher huffing and puffing his scottish shoulders up and down the pitch creating nothing. carrick shying away with one or passes a day hiding behind opposing midfielders so that no one gives him the ball...so that he doesnt get blamed. Cleverley (or a creative middie) makes the team tick. The supply line circulates blood all over the pitch. from defence. from midfield.to wingers. to attackers. fluidly. suddenly its attack after attack after attack.
No midfielder...no entertainment. no goals. useless midfield (except cleverley and somehow andy) ugly football huffing and puffing...some even hide themselves behind opposing midfielders so that they dont get the ball i.e. carrick. even the buddha would know that there its the midfield that all our life lies. when cleverley plays. the team is vibrant, entertaining, dangerous and scares the hell out of big teams...ask arsenal. if he doesnt play and the team sheet includes fletcher, carrick etc. just go home and rest. u will never be entertained. no creative midfielder...same old boring united that was thrashed by barca, man city and its downhill. no difference with stoke city and bolton. except their mid is better
Yes it would be nice but it's not going to happen especially after Levy turned down the huge offers from Chelsea. Might as well have written an article pleading for Sir Alex to buy Xavi and Inesesta.
We all wondered how we'd get on without a replacement for the Ginger Prince. Well, now we can see. Our midfield is totally porus and having to play Rooney so deep is reducing our attacking options. Chicharito looked isolated against Sunderland and with performances like that Citeh have nothing to worry about. Anderson is a total waste of space, Fletcher is lightweight and Carrick, well, the less said about him the better. I would be surprised if the Glazers will allow more spending in January while at the same time David Gill will be telling us that money is not an issue. Oops, there goes a flying pig!.
No use talking about Modric or anyone else for that matter SAF is so stubborn these days its unreal, he thought he could get away without replacing Scholes is he wrong as ( i hate to say it ) City proved, he thought he could get away with playing Carrick against Barca twice WRONG again, he will now stick with what he has got because he believes that these players in Midfield are World Class they are not , Cleverly will be but he likes to play free flowing one and two touch football which thrills us all but at the moment seems to scare SAF half to death and leaves us with clod hopper boring slow football, mark my words he wont buy anyone .
Ship out carrick fletcher evans. buy modric/sjneider/martinez. without cleverley our game is so boring. we cant make 3 passes. we hoove it from defence to attack. no entertainment at all. clev brings the best out of everyone. football becomes easy to watch. attacks never cease. the wingers enjoy their football. attackers dont come to get the ball...the supply line is constant. we have known the missing link and if Fergie hasnt known that he should retire instead of letting our game look like rushmond and diamond
Without wasting others' space I would say YES multiplied 100 times.
we need javi matinez and m vila together with cleverly we will make a great midfield and we must change to have three in there with nani and young out wide and rooney sole up front and then sell as many as we can to create spaces.
Oh I see and are Tottenham going to roll over like a little puppy and allow United to lure him away are they?
However or whatever will United be able to afford Modric that is the million dollar question?
Would be a great signing. Wont happen though.
I think Modric is overrated and not what we need. Certainly not at the prices Chelsea were reported to have offered.
The injuries we have had show that we need another central midfielder but for me it wouldn't be a short lightweight play-maker. Looking at the composition of the midfield I think that we could do with a tall, athletic box-to-box midfielder who likes a physical battle. The only tall players we have in midfield are Carrick and Fletcher, neither of whom are physically intimidating, and all of the rest are short and slight. Eventually Pogba may be that player but he's so tactically naive that it will be a couple of years before he's ready. He's also got to fill out a bit. So, I'd probably buy a player now. Just not sure who though. M'Vila has been linked but each time I've seen him he has stunk the place out. Certainly against Celtic last week he was the worst player on the pitch and got himself stupidly sent off. Being worse than every player in the worst Celtic side of all time is no recommendation.
We need two new greats midfielders to compete against teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona. Anderson, Cleverley and Pogba as replacements. If we have chance to find a buyer sell Carrick, Flecher and Gibson.or let them go free
Everyone appears to have a better midfield than united until the end of year awards are handed out.
In another big club Fergie would have been sacked for not having planned to replace Scholes. The Glazers who only think of their financial interests are pleased to have a manager like Fergie
Although Modric is a decent enough player, and one that would enhance our midfield, my understanding is that Spurs turned down Chelsea's last offer of £30m+ before the transfer deadline. You have to be realistic and say that we are not going to spend that sort of money on a 'decent enough' player. If it was Scholes or Keane. in their prime maybe - but Modric? I don't think so. You have to accept that United are run as a business and, as such, you need to get value for money from signings. I suspect that we will sign another midfield player soon but that (unless Wesley Sneijder has a change of heart about personal terms) we will be pitching around the £20m mark as a maximum. There are, howver, lots of guys that could fit the bill and, no doubt, SAF and his team are busy assessing the best likely to be available in January/summer 2012.
This article is a total waste of space and readers' time. Spurs have stated throughout the summer that Modric was not for sale and confirmed it by turning down all offers made by Chelsea although it was clear that Modric himself wanted the move. With fourth place up for grabs and the lure of CL football again at White hart lane next season there is absolutely no chance for Levy to sanction the sale. Sure, Modric would be a great addition to United but this is a wish that will remain just that !
What s up with you MAN U we need to buy top class or we ll be on our arse we re getting there fast cos our midfield the last - stop trying to bring in kids that aren t good enough at the moment to fill big boys boots
It is clear now that it was a mistake not to sign Sneijder in the summer.
We are still desperately lacking at least one class midfielder. Luka Modric will cost a lot more than Sneijder and where Inter are willing to discuss, Spurs have made it clear they are not willing to sell.
We could have gone for Scott Parker and massively improved our midfield, but didn't.
Here is hoping we make a decisive move before the window opens...