Manchester City’s crosstown rivals and English Premiership title contenders Manchester United could also do with a transfer signing. Nemanja Vidic, the club captain and lynchpin of the Manchester United defence, is out for the rest of the season. Rio Ferdinand, the former England captain and one of the best defenders in the club’s history, continuously suffers from niggling injuries and his participation is never certain until the match begins. Darren Fletcher, the lung busting central midfielder, has a peculiar problem with his health and is unlikely to return this season. Ashley Young has struggled with injuries, Tom Cleverley has yet to return from an injury suffered at an early stage of the season, and Javier Hernandez, without a preseason training programme behind him, has struggled to find a sharp touch all season. The club have such serious problems with injuries that Sir Alex Ferguson decided to bring Paul Scholes back out of retirement. The club could do with a transfer signing to quell the unrest of the fans who want to see some improvement in the teams performance (especially in midfield where the play often appears weary and without control) and an addition of attacking talent to make the team more exciting to watch again. The players could also probably do with a psychological boost as they chase Manchester City.
Liverpool are in dire need of improvement all round, defence excluded. The midfield needs new players and the attack needs rejigging. Kenny Dalglish has to find a more reliable source of goals than the intermittent supply from Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez. A Champions League place, achieved via a top 4 finish in the English Premiership, might already be beyond the club considering the position they find themselves in after 22 games of the season, but if the club is going to get back on the right track, moving forwards, then they need new impetus.
Chelsea need a striker and a midfielder too. The club rarely control matches anymore, suggesting they were right to chase Luka Modric in the summer as that is precisely what the Croatian brings to a team, and the club need a striker. Fernando Torres might yet turn things around and become a £15 million striker, let alone a £50 million one, but right now he is not delivering and the club is suffering as a result. Tottenham could do with an alternative to Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermaine Defoe. Roman Pavlyuchenko is not appreciated by Harry Redknapp and after him there is nobody else, of a senior position, to come in to the team.
Finally, Arsenal. The club are in a desperate shape and could do with a new signing in defence (a utility full back player who could come in to the team and allow Thomas Vermaelen to return to the centre of defence), more control and flair in midfield, and another striker to reduce the burden on Robin Van Persie. Arsenal, in fact, need a plethora of new signings to convince the current stars, like Robin Van Persie, that the club have genuine ambitions of being a title challenger, and to assure the fans that the club are not merely a money making operation but are also an institution indebted to the supporters.
