There are several areas of the Manchester United team that should require surgery in the summer, one of which is up front. Surely, Radamel Falcao's loan will not be extended or made permanent, while Robin van Persie is not the player he was and James Wilson is still raw. The thing that United have lacked this season is real pace in their attack, a commodity that is not especially readily available in European football at the moment. Palermo's Paulo Dybala has been mentioned, but he is perhaps not the sort of forward United need, while Saido Berahino is probably too much of a risk for the sort of money West Brom could ask.
Another option is Lacazette, who, along with Nabil Fekir, has been the driving force behind Lyon's title bid this season and certainly has the speed that United require. Lacazette would of course represent a gamble because he really has only one season of goal scoring in Ligue 1 under his belt, but it would perhaps be a gamble worth taking.
Manchester United
It's difficult to remember a time when talk of Manchester United chasing Hummels wasn't a fixture in the gossip pages -- perhaps it's always been there, from the very dawn of time. Hummels would indeed be a fine fit for Louis van Gaal's side, whose central defensive options are limited, to say the least.
However, the German might well be equally coveted across town, where Manchester City have their own defensive problems, with Vincent Kompany's decline shifting from "worrying" to "potentially ruinous" in the past season. While Eliaquim Mangala is a walking example of throwing money at the problem being a flawed solution, they need to do something. Financial fair play considerations must be taken into account, but Hummels would appear to be as close to a proven solution as Manuel Pellegrini -- or whomever is in charge at City come the summer -- will find.
Manchester City
It's sometimes quite curious how managers simply take issue with certain players. For Van Gaal, that player seems to be Rafael. The Brazilian has been relegated to a substitute role and, perhaps even more damningly, has fallen behind Antonio Valencia, a limited winger, in the right-back pecking order. It seems fairly certain that United will therefore buy a right-back, and while Dani Alves could be one option, there are noises coming out of Barcelona to suggest he will be staying there.
In any case, Van Gaal might well want a younger option. Seamus Coleman might be a little expensive, so Southampton's excellent Nathaniel Clyne would seem to fit the bill. One might think the Saints will not want another summer of upheaval after last year, but this season will at least have displayed that they can cope with the sale of their top players, particularly if someone offers upward of £15 million for Clyne.
Manchester United
This is a transfer that seems so obvious that it's something of a surprise it hasn't happened yet. At the end of last summer, as he saw most of his teammates being sold around him, Schneiderlin expressed his dissatisfaction that Southampton wouldn't allow him to leave, too. While he stayed and things have gone rather better at St Mary's than he and many others feared, he still seems keen to move on after this season.
"In August, I wanted to take a move, but the club had lost too many players to agree to sell me," he was quoted recently as saying in L'Equipe. "Since then, I have had discussions with the leaders and I want to play at the highest level. It is important at 25 years old to finally know the Champions League ... Southampton may qualify for the Champions League and I can stay. Who knows? I have no desire to be in front of my TV on Tuesday and Wednesday." While the form of 23-year-old Francis Coquelin has been excellent this season, Arsenal still need a serious defensive midfielder, and Schneiderlin very much fits that bill.
Arsenal
It would appear that even if Burnley manage to survive this season -- and they are making a decent fist of things at the moment -- Ings will depart for pastures new in the summer when his contract expires. There has been , and he's also been linked with Liverpool, but it's perhaps the club across Stanley Park that would be a better fit for Ings. While his scoring record has been excellent this season, a move to a side with Liverpool's aspirations might be a step too far, while it's slightly difficult to imagine exactly where he'd fit in Rodgers' side.
Everton, however, would still represent a promotion but not an unmanageable one. It would makes sense for Roberto Martinez, too, as he'd have an alternative to the overworked Romelu Lukaku. A beneficial move for all concerned.
Everton
The latest flying winger to emerge from the Netherlands, Depay is attracting some rave reviews for his performances with PSV Eindhoven, but such is the hierarchy of European football these days, they will probably struggle to keep hold of him even though he signed a new contract last year. There have been plenty of suitors for him, too, notably Tottenham last summer.
"Tottenham were willing to offer €20 million for Depay," PSV director Toon Gerbrands said recently. "We decided to keep hold of him, but he has the option to leave after this season." It would certainly make sense for Spurs to revisit their interest in the summer, given that Erik Lamela still flatters to deceive, Nacer Chadli is inconsistent and Andros Townsend will probably never be quite good enough. Depay would represent another fairly significant outlay, but the signs are he would be worth it.
Tottenham
There was once a time when most people believed Milner was little more than a willing workhorse, the sort of traditional English grafter who was holding the national team back as other sides relied on technical excellence. However, many of those have disappeared, and most can now see the value of an enormously consistent and versatile midfielder; particularly Manuel Pellegrini, who called Milner a "phenomenon" a few weeks ago, but not enough of one to play him every week.
That has apparently led to Milner seeking a move away from Manchester City, and with his contract expiring in the summer he will be free to seek regular football. Liverpool would appear to be the most obvious destination, with a hole coming up in their midfield and Milner being both adaptable and tenacious, and thus seems to be a perfect player for Rodgers' style.
Liverpool
If you can have sympathy for a wealthy, young professional footballer, it's tough to feel anything but sorry for Walcott. put him out for not only the second half of the campaign and the World Cup, but sidelined him at a time when Arsenal were strengthening. In the summer, Arsenal signed Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain became one of the club's most consistent midfield options.
This doesn't leave much space for Walcott, as shown by his place on the bench most weeks, and with his contract having only a little over a year to run, it looks like a summer departure would be best for all concerned. Manchester City are thought to be set for a summer overhaul with one of the aims to lower the average age of their squad, so with Walcott still only 26 and the need for English talent, pace and the potential for goals in their squad, City might be a good fit for the winger.
Manchester City
It's something of a surprise that Cech has lasted this long at Chelsea. From the moment it was clear Thibaut Courtois was going to return to his parent club, it was inevitable that the young Belgian would be Jose Mourinho's first choice, and not necessarily because of anything Cech has or hasn't done.
"I don't want another season of this," he said recently. "I still have the contract for the next season, so it really depends on Chelsea a lot. It is not in my hands, but it's obvious I want to play." He won't be playing much at Stamford Bridge but has shown that he's still good enough to play at the top level and at 32 (33 in May), he still has a good five years left in him yet.
He would be a perfect fit for Arsenal, with Wojciech Szczesny and David Ospina remaining unconvincing, but Arsene Wenger's famous stubbornness could put paid to that idea, having brought the former up through the youth ranks and the latter purchased only a year ago. But if they did manage to persuade Chelsea to sell Cech to them, Arsenal could have a serious chance of at least challenging for the title with a proper goalkeeper behind them.
Arsenal
Life isn't especially sweet for Bale at the moment. He seemingly cannot do anything right at Real Madrid, forever in the shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo, where his poor form is simply exacerbated. Still, this "poor form" has seen him score a perfectly respectable 16 goals in 32 appearances, but that is seemingly not enough for the notoriously fickle and demanding Madridistas, who jeer his every move and have after the loss.
His obvious destination in England is Manchester United, and while contemplating how to fit the Welshman and Angel di Maria in the same team might give Van Gaal a headache, it's one that Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti eventually solved rather well last season. And, of course, one should not discount the possibility of United cutting their losses on the Argentinean, whose form has disappeared of late. It would take a hefty fee to get Real to part with Bale, but he will surely be worth it.
Manchester United
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