Sir Alex Ferguson must invest in a midfielder

This has been a problem at United for years, and I'm baffeled why Ferguson hasn't seen or addressed this problem. Maybe his masterstroke will be to move Rooney into midfield.

Thank God some is addressing this pressing issue, one of the worst blights affecting football today.

What about their lack of striking options now that Mickey Owen has been put out to pasture?

I'd argue our striking options are exactly as they were while Michael Owen was at the club.

Plus think of the savings that can be achieved on bench re-covering.

(I'm struggling a bit here, to be honest)

It happens - look at Arsenal, where Arsene - over time has forgotten what type of defender got him his titles in the first place.

Kagawa is not a number 10. He plays as an attacking midfielder for Japan and for Dortmund. Maybe not the ballwinner United need, all the same, but describing him, Valencia, Young and Nani as forwards is simply inaccurate. Assuming United play a 4-4-2 in most games next season, between those and Carrick, they've enough to fill all four midfield roles.
Agree with what seems to be most people's opinion though - none of this is news, and why exactly is it on WSC anyway?

It interests me that the writer of the piece didn't mention that United (ding) can't compete financially when it comes to signing the best midfielders available, and the reason for this, the Glazers, were being championed by the manager just the other day.

'For once, at the world's richest club, the money is actually there for the manager.'

No it isn't! Yes we need a quality central midfielder, but to most United fans this really isn't news. I'm sure Ferguson would love to buy Modric but the money still isn't there; of the '£60m' worth of players that the author mentions only the Kagawa deal (£12m) has been tied up, and to be honest I would be surprised if either of the others come through. I do think its a bit naive for the press to continue to overlook the Glazer situation on the basis of a few fanciful transfer rumours (which appear every summer anyway).

That aside, surely the dire situation at Portsmouth is more worthy of attention than the usual tittle-tattle of the summer transfer window?

Assuming it's worth discussing - while it's acknowledged Man U don't have the resources of the Oil Two, they're not exactly paupers. They have a plethora of attacking midfielders: Young, Nani, Valencia, Cleverly, Kagawa, Giggs/Scholes or have they re-retired?, and they're sniffing around Lucas Moura, unless that's just agent talk. So it's not as though he couldn't have gone looking for a holding player at some juncture.

As was mentioned upthread it's what Arsene's been lacking since Vieira left.

Oh no! Manchester United need another striker/midfielder/defender/someone else. The whole world of football will collapse! I'm going to hide under the table.

It may be a bit of a jump... but SAF has stated Nick Powell will play midfield. I believe he will be alright. Paul Scholes level alright...