If Sir Alex Ferguson wants to compete once more this season with city rivals Manchester City, he needs to take charge of further rebuilding at Old Trafford after the signings of attacking midfield pair Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell, especially with Roberto Mancini said to be closing in on his own summer targets.

One of the most needed areas of development for Sir Alex is in midfield, whose lack of depth lead to the retirement u-turn of Paul Scholes, and which may well still be compounded by the question mark that still hangs over the fitness of Darren Fletcher. Even more specifically, United need defensive steel to balance their attacking options, and Sir Alex will surely have made a holding player, or a playmaker capable of playing deeper as a priority this summer.

Here we look at seven possible options for Sir Alex…

1. Cheick Tiote

  • Current club: Newcastle United

Sir Alex Ferguson will need no reminding who Newcastle United’s Ivorian defensive midfielder is after he shackled Wayne Rooney in the Magpies’ impressive 3-0 victory over the Premier League runners-up at St James Park.

Tiote was imperious in that performance, as in the majority of his eye-catching time at Newcastle since joining from Twente in a phenomenally good bit of business, combining steel and energy with an astute eye for a pass and the confidence to take players on. He’s also adept at tackling without going to ground, and though he tends to pick up a lot of yellow cards thanks to his commitment, and occasionally hot head, his defensive play has been one of the shining lights of the Pardew regime, and along with Fabricio Coloccini, Tim Krul and Yohan Cabaye, he forms the back-bone of the team.

At the minute, Tiote remains an important part of the Newcastle first team, and it’s unlikely Alan Pardew will sell for anything other than an Andy Carroll style inflated fee, but then United need to rebuild their midfield and an enforcer like Tiote would be potentially worth his weight in gold, so fees probably won’t be a massive impediment.

 

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