Forget Slimani and Ighalo! Who Manchester United should be looking to sign this month
There is only a week left to go in the January transfer market and predictably Manchester United are yet to sign a player. In fact, their squad is even thinner following Ashley Young's departure. They had weeks and months to plan for the winter market but go into the final week desperate.
United started the month targetting the likes of Jadon Sancho, James Maddison, Erling Haaland and Bruno Fernandes and are finishing it being linked with Islam Slimani and Odion Ighalo. It's a shambles, it really is. Things are so bad that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is even willing to do everything he said he wouldn't and look at signing short-term targets.
With Marcus Rashford out for three months, it's clear United need goals or they can forget about finishing fourth. Creating goalscoring chances is also a huge problem for the Premier League outfit.
Anthony Martial isn't a reliable goalscorer and to place the expectations of a club on 18-year-old Mason Greenwood is extremely unfair. A well run club wouldn't be in this state of panic but that is the modern day Manchester United. So, with everything in mind, and based on the profiles of players being touted about in the press, who exactly should United be realistically looking to sign in the next seven days.
Dries Mertens (Napoli)
Football Index share price - £1.09
Napoli's disasterous campaign should put a number of Europe's top clubs on red alert. If there was any a time to prise away some of their best players then it's now. Dries Mertens may be in the twilight of his career but there are certainly still goals in him.
The 32-year-old's contract is up at the end of the season and Napoli should be looking to the future with Hirving Lozano and Arkadiusz Milik. Perhaps that is already happening, as Mertens has started just 10 times in Serie A this season. In part due to injury, though Mertens is expected back from a thigh problem immiently.
Mertens has reserved his best scoring form for Europe this season with more goals in the Champions League group stage (five in six) than in Serie A (six in 16). The Belgium international has long been linked with a Premier League move, so perhaps now is the time to make that happen.
Olivier Giroud (Chelsea)
Football Index share price - £0.92
Olivier Giroud is desperately looking for a way out of Chelsea this month in order to make France's Euro 2020 squad and a move to Inter is stalling as Antonio Conte's side explore a swap deal with Napoli involving Fernando Llorente. The France international has endured a rough time under Frank Lampard this season but his Premier League experience could prove invaluable to United.
Any move to Old Trafford would hinge entirely on whether Chelsea sign a replacement first and even then Lampard may opt to block the transfer in order to prevent strengthening a direct rival for fourth place. With Rashford facing a race to feature again this season, Giroud would certainly be assured of regular playing time at United for the remainder of the season.
Dimitri Payet (Marseille)
Football Index share price - £1.33
It's all well and good that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has afforded so much playing time to young players this season but he is in danger of running them into the ground. Daniel James is a clear case of that already. Signed from Swansea to be a squad player, the Wales international has remarkably started all but three league games this season.
A report from France earlier this week emerged suggesting West Ham were considering a shock move to re-sign Dimitri Payet from Marseille. The 32-year-old cemented himself as one of West Ham's best ever players in the Premier League in just 18 months at the club.
Even as he approaches his 33rd birthday, Payet is at his creative best in Ligue 1. In fact, the former France international averages more key passes per game (4.1) than any other player in Europe's top 5 leagues.
United's lack of creativity was laid bare in their humilating 2-0 defeat at home to Burnley in midweek. There was no cutting edge in the final third and so many aimless balls put straight down the throat of Burnley's centre-backs. Payet would certainly help in that regard. He should have been playing for a top Premier League side long ago. It's not too late.
