Manchester United: 8 Transfers Who Could Bring Some Creativity to Their Midfield

Let's be brutally honest here: Manchester United are on the verge of having one of their worst seasons in the last decade, and their first trophy less season since the 2004-05 season.

Baring a complete collapse by Manchester City at home vs Queens Park Rangers, Manchester United will end the season 2nd in the EPL, and ignominiously eliminated from the FA Cup, Carling Cup, Champions League and Europa League before the latter stages of all four competitions.

Even if Manchester United do manage to miraculously claim the EPL title on the final day of the EPL, the credit will have to go largely to Sir Alex Ferguson, who will have willed a modest United squad to victory over a much more talented City squad.

The bottom line is this: Manchester United need improvements this summer to get back to their winning ways with Sir Alex Ferguson. Ferguson is a fantastic manager, but managerial talent can only go so far without the necessary players.

Here are eight players who could help bring silverware back to United by improving United's current biggest weakness—its midfield.

Let's get the most obvious Manchester United target out of the way first.

At the end of March, Goal.com reported that Luka Modric was Manchester United's #1 transfer target for Summer 2012, and as the article itself says, it's easy to see why.

Modric would slot seamlessly into Manchester United's starting lineup, occupying one of the two spots in the center of midfield. His quality would represent a massive improvement over the likes of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.

The duo may be Manchester United legends, but, at the age of 38 and 37 respectively, can no longer produce the kind of quality passes that Modric can in the midst of his prime (26).

Modric would also take the creative burden off the likes of Wayne Rooney, allowing Rooney to focus more on scoring goals and finding space in the middle of defenses rather than creating scoring opportunities for his teammates and himself.

It's a transfer that many Manchester United fans dream of. Unfortunately, a big transfer fee and the stubbornness of Daniel Levy and Harry Redknapp at Tottenham may stand in the way of making the dream a reality.

At this point, it feels like I'm writing an article about Eden Hazard at least twice a week. 

On April 28th, 2012, I discussed the then-recent interest of Manchester United and City in Eden Hazard, then followed that up last Friday with an update on the factors that could swing Hazard's decision in either City or United's favor.

Assuming Hazard does transfer to United, he'll likely be utilized on the wings, where United aren't as lacking as they are centrally.

Nevertheless, Hazard's quality would be a welcome alternative to Ashley Young and Nani, who have both had good but inconsistent seasons.

In time, he may even prove to be better than them.

With every passing day, Shinji Kagawa's transfer to Manchester United seems more likely.

Again, this is a transfer which I've discussed previously. Like Hazard's transfer, Kagawa's transfer wouldn't make the impact Modric's transfer would, but it would provide Manchester United with at least another quality player.

The biggest problem I see with Kagawa is that he really isn't a great fit for the system played at Manchester United. He's an attacking midfielder who also operates as a second striker; in other words, he plays Rooney's positions.

Could he be converted into a central midfielder? Maybe, but that would be like asking Rooney to become a central midfielder; he'll do it once or twice, but he's unlikely to be happy doing it on a permanent basis.

Another option for United would be to change their formation entirely and go with a 4-3-2-1. But United are most deep in the winger department, and will want to maintain a formation that allows them to utilize two wingers.

Neither Javier Hernandez nor Danny Welbeck have had much success operating up front on their own anyway.

Finally, Kagawa could potentially play as a winger, but it's not a natural position for him either. Dropping natural wingers like Nani, Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young for Kagawa wouldn't make much sense.

If SAF does pursue Kagawa this summer, it'll be very interesting to see how he decides to utilize Kagawa, since on the surface the Japanese playmaker does not seem to be a good fit for United.

After a generally miserable season, Wesley Sneijder has looked reborn at Inter under Andrea Stramaccioni, and Stramaccioni's confirmation as next year's coach for Inter may have been enough to convince Sneijder to stick around for another season.

However, if Sneijder were to pack his bags and leave Inter to take advantage of his final few years in top form (he turns 28 in June), no one could really blame him.

If Sneijder were to leave Inter, he'd probably go to the team that chased him for a long while last summer, Manchester United, according to the Daily Star.

The problem with Sneijder is the same problem that Kagawa has. Like Kagawa, Sneijder plays as an attacking midfielder or second striker—central midfielder isn't a good position for him. And unlike Kagawa, Sneijder has never proven to be a good wing player either.

In addition, Sneijder has a contract with Inter until 2015, and as such would likely command a massive transfer fee, in excess of €30 million.

Will United be willing to pay that much for a midfielder with five goals and six assists this season? Doubtful.

This one's a bit out of left field, but bear with me.

James Rodriguez has been dubbed "the new Ronaldo" by the press, and 12 goals and eight assists at the age of only 20 suggests that he's very much worth the hype.

The Daily Mail has his price-tag at a hefty £25 million, but it has been suggested that including Anderson in the deal could bring down Rodriguez's price significantly.

If United are indeed looking a new Ronaldo, this would be the guy to go after. He's been nurtured by Porto for a season-and-a-half now, and is ready to break out similar to Ronaldo.

Again, he shouldn't be the number one priority on United's summer shopping list, but if all else fails, why not?

Taken directly from Sabotage Times:

"Predominantly a midfielder, Bielsa has moulded Martinez into a centre-back this season. Martinez’s aggression is one of the main factors behind this move, which he highlighted against Lisbon last week by spending the majority of the first thirty minutes crashing into committed tackles. The fact he didn’t receive a yellow card was thanks to the immaculate timing of his challenges as much as Martin Atkinson’s leniency, but Martinez has showed his versatility by being adept in both positions.

Central defence and defensive midfield are positions that United have been found wanting in this season. With Vidic out injured, Ferdinand often off-colour and Phil Jones playing all over the pitch it has been left to Jonny Evans to stand out as their best central defender. How such an idea would have caused ridicule only a matter of months ago.

Carrick still occupies the position that is most alike to the holding role for United, but he is not renowned for his tenacity. Past him and Scholes, and the options aren’t looking great, with Anderson perennially on the treatment table there is a void to be filled."

I'm a big fan of Martinez, because he'd give United versatility in two positions they're not great in right now. As the article states, he's a defensive midfielder, so creativity isn't his priority, but he's shown himself to be a solid passer in Marcelo Bielsa's system at Athletic Bilbao this season.

This is one of those transfer rumors that just really needs to go away for the sake of Manchester United's progress.

Apparently Nicholas Gaitan is a big fan of moving to Manchester United, but it is not yet known if the feeling is mutual.

Gaitan showed that he indeed is a solid, up-and-coming player in world football with seven assists in this year's Champions League.

However, he recorded only three goals and seven assists in 25 league games for Benfica, and failed to make a difference over two legs for Benfica against Chelsea.

Gaitan is a good player, but at the age of 24, does he look like a player who'll one day be better than Nani, Young or Valencia?

For me, he's no better than any of the three, and he's not someone I see becoming better than any of those three either. Those two reasons should be more than enough for United not to buy Gaitan, even if he could technically add creativity to United's midfield.

If you've kept up so far, you know that of the names on this list, I completely approve United's pursuit of Modric and Javi Martinez, while James Rodriguez, Shinji Kagawa, Wesley Sneijder and Eden Hazard all earn varying degrees of "maybe" from me.

Nicolas Gaitan is a flat out "no."

My final "yes" transfer target on this list is Yohan Cabaye. He's not a name that's been linked with Manchester United much, if at all, but he's a player that would slot excellently into United's starting lineup.

One of the reasons I think Cabaye would be a great fit at United is because United have seen his destruction first-hand. At the start of January, Cabaye converted a magnificient free-kick and a dominating midfield display to help Newcastle to 3-0 home win over United.

Cabaye is an all-action midfielder, a "box-to-box" midfielder if you will. He's not just a playmaker, and he's not just a tackler; he does it all, and when your team plays only two central midfielders like Newcastle and Manchester United do, it's great to have a player like Cabaye.

Indeed, Cabaye is one of the few players who plays the box-to-box midfielder role right these days.

If Newcastle United harbor any hopes of repeating this year's success next year, they'll hold on to Cabaye tightly this summer.

However, if Mike Ashley decides to cash in on this year's success by selling the team's best players for profit, Cabaye could prove to be a wise investment for Manchester United down the line.