It is a task as demanding as any Sir Alex Ferguson has faced in his 25 years at Old Trafford – how to replace Paul Scholes.
Of course, there is no such thing as a carbon copy of the midfield genius, who retired at the end of the season and will go down as one of the club’s
greatest-ever players.
But the Reds boss has around £55m – either to be accrued from potential sales or ready in the bank – for summer imports.
And after the chastening experience of the Wembley defeat against Barcelona, the Old Trafford manager and supporters want a new playmaker to make the Reds tick.
The arrival of £16.5m Phil Jones has been welcomed as a rearguard policy that will mature in the future.
The £20m deal to land Aston Villa’s Ashley Young that will go through before the end of the month has been met with a somewhat lukewarm reception.
Glorious
And the probable July signing of Atletico Madrid’s David de Gea is a necessary plug to fill the gap left by the retiring Edwin Van der Sar.
But it is the void left by Scholes’ decision to call time on his glorious career that must be filled if United are to eat up the ground Barca put between themselves and the rest of Europe in London last month.
Whether Scholes had gone or not, it was a position that had to be addressed.
By his own admission, the midfielder was only a shadow of the player he was in his pomp last season.
And without his stamp of class on United’s midfield the Reds generally lacked flair in that key area.
The search for the answer has got United juggling transfer balls – and waiting for the moment when one lands safely in Sir Alex’s clutches.
United fans are split on who they want to see posing for pictures in a United shirt this summer with the ubiquitous scarf held above his head.
Wesley Sneijder looked initially like he would win the vote by a landslide.
His marvellous season with Inter Milan – that saw him inspire the Italians to the Serie A title, the Copa Italia and Champions League in 2010, plus a key
contribution to Holland reaching the World Cup final in South Africa – made him the must-have playmaker.
A follow-up season of discontent at the San Siro has given suitors hope they can lure him from Milan.
But Sneijder was 27 this month, hasn’t experienced the Premier League and is unsure whether he fancies England.
That has steered United and their fans in the direction of Tottenham’s Luka Modric.
At 25, he fits snugly into the mid-20 range that Fergie is trying to stock up on. The Croatian shone in the Premier League since 2008, so there will be little settling down period.
Modric is not afraid to drop deep to help out and is a good link man.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp will fight tooth and nail to keep him and it is believed only a colossal bid would force Tottenham’s hand.
But Redknapp is said to have already begun the search for Modric’s replacement if that fat cheque shows up.
Intermediaries for United and Arsenal are also understood to have made tentative contact with regards to Samir Nasri.
The Arsenal midfielder is out of contract at the Emirates next summer and has yet to sign a new deal, prompting suggestions he’s ready to quit the
Gunners.
There is, however, the suspicion that it could be a move to force Arsenal into a bigger and better deal.
His agent Alain Migliaccio said: “I want to clarify that there has been no break with the Gunners over the contract’s renewal and we should meet again soon with Arsene Wenger.
Outsider
“There are a few clubs interested in Samir, but it is useless to name them.
“Before listening to other teams, we need and we want to talk with Arsenal.”
Coming up on the rails is outsider Sochaux’s Marvin Martin. He has been promoted to Laurent Blanc’s French international side and scored twice on his debut.
Fergie is certain to have Blanc’s ear on that one. Martin is 23 and that might appeal to the United manager’s devilish penchant for pulling a shock bargain out of the hat.
Parisian Martin has been nicknamed ‘Little Xavi’ after the Barcelona genius and has certainly got the tools for the job that the Reds require.
At Old Trafford Tom Cleverley is keen to push his claims to become the new Scholes, while Michael Carrick will not want his nose pushed out in the scrap to become United’s new lead playmaker.
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