With Paul Scholes forced to play in every important game and the contributions of Michael Carrick and Anderson a giant question mark, Sir Alex Ferguson has some headaches. Darren Fletcher is a nonstop warrior for the club, to be sure, but his inability to hold on to the ball is at best worrisome. Having squandered a number of starting opportunities, Darron Gibson needs to perform over the next few weeks or he will surely be gone. It would be a beautiful miracle if Owen Hargreaves could stage a comeback and reclaim his holding midfielder position and we all wait with our hearts in our mouths to see what happens next to the Canadian dynamo. Bottom line, though, is that, no matter what, United need midfield reinforcements
Having read a number of rumors concerning the likes of Boltons Fabrice Muamba, Real Madrids Lassana Diarra and Muhammedou Diarra, Spurs Wilson Palacios, Werder Bremens Marko Marin, Toulouses Moussa Sissoko, Standard Lieges Steven Defour and Axel Witsel, Panathaniakos Sotiris Ninis, and, most frighteningly, Sunderlands Lee Cattermole, it was a relief to read one that really made common sense this afternoon. It would make 100% total sense to try for Spurs Tom Huddlestone, although I doubt he would be available until Spurs get knocked out of European Champions Cup competition. Is it imperative to purchase new blood in January?
Fabrice Muamba plays up the road for Bolton Wanderers. An Arsenal and Bimingham City reject, it has taken him three years to begin to bloom into the new Patrick Vieira many pundits claimed he was on the verge of becoming. 62 and solid, a capable 
player with the ability to play both as an enforcer and a deep-lying passer, his potential is clear to every manager in the Premiership. However, as anyone who saw him in action against Villa this last weekend will tell you, his tackling can be reckless and terribly late. He might be worth gambling on, but tho! se of us who recall all the hyperbole about Eric Djemba-Djemba when he arrived in Manchester may notice many similar danger signs. The kind of money Owen Coyle will probably want for Muamba9M to 10mseems a tad rich for an unfinished product.
Lassana Diarra is a superb little player. Having already performed well with Arsenal, Chelsea and Portsmouth in the EPL, he would come from Real Madrid as the complete package at 25. The down side is that Lass would cost 22 to 25M and suffers now and again from attacks of a mild form of Sickle Cell Anemia disease. This blood disease is usually fatal, although he is most likely, despite the temporary attack which caused him to withdraw from Frances World Cup squad this summer, to still have a more or less normal career span.
Muhammedou Diarra formed a fantastic midfield partnership years ago at Olympique Lyonnais with Michael Essien and Juninho Pernambucano: One that was much admired by the Gaffer. A fine tackler and passer, still blessed with speed, he could slot in right now as a valuable part of Manchester Uniteds midfield and would only cost about 7M to 8m. Unfortunately, he is 29. The problem would be that unofficial rule oft stated by David Gill: We will not buy any player over 26-years-old! Funny how that one got forgotten when we bought Berbatov though, isnt it?
Wilson Palacios is a big, strong brave performer for Spurs. If I were a copper and needed a partner to go through a door with, Palacios would be the guy. A nonstop, gung-ho athlete with a winning attitude, he helped improve Spurs midfield a lot least season. A wise buy at 12M by Harry Redknapp from Wigan, Palacios did such a fine job of protecting his delicate midfield colleagues, Luka Modric and Jermaine Jenas. th! at they finished in the top four. Unfortunately, the timing of his tackles is often late. He collects a lot of yellow cards and this can be fatal as the season wanes from April into May. Questions about Palacios true age persist also. He claims to be just 26, but various journalistic sources back home in the Honduras have hinted that he may more than a few years older. For the 16M or so Tottenham would want, United can do better.
Marko Marin is a little tiny grafter who reminds me of Gordon Strachan. Adaptable enough to be a goal scoring winger or an atacking central midfielder, Marin would bring a lot to the table. He is, unfortunately, depending upon whom you read, between 54 to 57 tall. Being tiny has never hurt Joe Cole or Wesley Sneijder, but I have definitely noticed the Gaffers reluctance to gamble on the titchy likes of Adam Ljajic, and Zoran Bambi Tosic as well as his wavering over Sotiris Ninis. As Werder Bremen want around 20M for him, hed be bit of a gamble.
Part 2 to follow:
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