Man Utd Transfers: 5 Defenders Fergie Must Sign To Plug Leaks

4. Brede Hangeland

Hangeland

Brede Hangeland's contract with Fulham runs out in June 2013, and manager Martin Jol has admitted that the Norwegian defender could leave Craven Cottage with a cloud of uncertainty surrounding the players future. The 30 year old has still yet to put pen to paper on a deal deal at Fulham and could join the likes of former key-player Clint Dempsey in walking out on the side. His age is clearly a factor, but one of Hangeland's traits is that he has been relatively injury-free for years - he played in every single Premier League game for Fulham last season and that's precisely the sort of consistency at the back United need with Phil Jones, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic all so injury prone. Hangeland also has a commanding aerial presence similar to that of Vidic but is a great passer of the ball, too. He has an 87.4% pass-success-rate from an average of 47 passes per-game, according to football statistics provider Whoscored.com. When you consider how many times United have given the ball away this season, that's the sort of player you want in your side. He'd be cheap, too, since he is 30 - and could even join on a free next summer. Source(s): ITV.com
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Contributor

Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.