Looking at Louis van Gaal’s Transfer Plans For January And Next Summer

Manchester United finally appear to have shaken off the lingering cobwebs from Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure and have begun to find form on a regular basis with Louis van Gaal’s side recording four straight league victories for the first time since Sir Alex’s time at the club.

Having commissioned a record club spend of around £150million last summer the club looks set to continue on their mission to rebuild the first-team squad with van Gaal reportedly set to be handed a war chest of a similar amount over the next two transfer windows.

The arrivals of Angel di Maria, Ander Herrera, Luke Shaw, Radamel Falcao, Daley Blind and Marcos Rojo have all given United’s squad a much needed facelift however there are still a number of areas of concern for van Gaal with his intention very much to challenge for the Premier League title next term.

For years United supporters have bemoaned the lack of investment into the heart of midfield however following the summer’s transfer business there is only really one space left to fill before it is a unit of the highest quality.

There is still a lack of power and leadership in the middle of midfield despite Marouane Fellaini finding form in recent weeks. V Gaal is a great admirer of Roma’s Kevin Strootman with sources close to the Dutch coach suggesting he sees the former PSV star as the complete midfielder.

Such is the high esteem in which Strootman is held by van Gaal, when the 24-year-old was ruled out of the World Cup through injury, the United boss totally changed his tactical system to a 5-3-2 simply due to the fact he deemed his four-man defence to weak to work without Strootman’s protection.

Strootman fits what United need in midfield perfectly, his game has come on leaps and bounds since his transfer to Roma in the summer of 2013 and he is now capable of leading United’s midfield. He has the physical power of Nemanja Matic who has been one of the key elements to Chelsea’s successes over the past ten months, as well as the technical ability to keep possession ticking over in good areas.

It is my understanding that Strootman remains one of van Gaal’s major targets with the player himself even having initiated a change of agent at the beginning of last September in the hope a move could be pushed through in the next window. The author of van Gaal’s biography Hugo Borst has even intimated that the pair have shaken hands on a deal to take Strootman to Old Trafford next summer.

It is highly unlikely United will push ahead with this move in January given the concerns about Strootman’s fitness as well as Roma’s unwillingness to sell. United will almost certainly target Strootman heavily in the summer unless something out of expectation occurs this January, i.e. Daley Blind or Michael Carrick picking up long-term injuries.

In defence there is the obvious need for an experienced world class defender, a player to lead United’s young defenders through matches in a composed manner. Last summer the main target was Borussia Dortmund’s Mats Hummels but United were unable to find an agreement with the German giants, especially after Hummels was publically named as the club’s new captain which made negotiations all but impossible.

Dortmund’s poor start to the season which sees Jurgen Klopp’s side rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga has seen speculation that United will target Hummels in January, but again this is very unlikely.

Hummels does have a history of injury problems and given United’s current woes with player fitness, it may well be the case that Hummels is avoided altogether. Atletico Madrid’s Diego Godin is believed to be another target for the summer. Godin is believed to have a buy-out clause of around £29million which wouldn’t be too much of an obstacle for United next summer.

I expect the January window to be quieter than people expect. Chief Executive Ed Woodward has already briefed that the club will not target short-term fixes in the upcoming window and that is sensible.

United do need a backup right-back with Antonio Valencia not the most adept at defending, although the Ecuadorian is in a good run of form at present. Shakhtar’s 32-year-old Darijo Srna is a name which has been linked with United in January and given the player’s age it would be such an expensive deal.

This arrival would give United a high quality reserve in an important position, especially when you consider Rafael’s history of injuries. It would also buy United time to fully develop the promising Saidy Janko.

Next summer will be an altogether different story with United, as previously mentioned, ready to splash the cash again. Depending on the outcome regarding Radamel Falcao’s loan deal, the Telegraph’s Mark Ogden believes United will target another forward.

At the moment very little is clear, however I expect January to be rather quiet unless something remarkable turns up in United’s crosshairs rather like Falcao did in late August. In the summer however Kevin Strootman will be the club’s number one target along with an elite defender, whether the club will get them however may depend on United finishing inside the top-four this term.