The worrying reality facing Man United in the transfer market:

There is no getting away from the fact that the return of Paul Scholes will be a major talking point for a long time to come. Some people focus on the sentimentality for it, some on the fact that United are apparently in crisis and this is why the player has chosen to return.

Others have asked the question of exactly why he has returned, and if the reason behind this is due to the fact United have no money to spend and the Glazers have literally given Fergie nothing when he needs it most.

How far this statement is true remains to be seen – it was the player himself who asked to return several months ago – or so we are told by the club, and Fergie duly agreed. United would paint this as a fantastic thing that gives the squad a boost and provides another option for them not to mention an experienced head during a difficult time.

Yet despite all this, the fact remains, United are lacking in a few areas, with the midfield being the most evident of these. Fans, media and even the creatures who live under a rock have been saying for a while now that United are in need of a defensive midfielder and also an attacking one, therefore whilst there may be disagreements of exactly meets the criteria, there is no argument that they have to buy someone.

After being run rings around in the Champions League final, most people thought Fergie would buy and restructure in the summer, and he did so to an extent, spending a fair bit of money, yet did not buy anyone for the centre of the park who can be generally considered world class.

Cue the start of the season and the rise by City, not to mention a few games where United have looked ordinary, and an early exit from Europe – sorry Europe’s premier competition – to boot.

With the January transfer window now open people thought Fergie would buy, yet all he has added to the squad is Scholes. Yes Fergie is not one for panic buying in January, and it is hard to get clubs to sell their top players, but everyone has a price, and a marquee signing for the centre of the park is exactly what United need, yet are clearly not going to get.

The most obvious explanation for this is the fact that Fergie has been given no money to spend by the Glazers who have caused such passionate opposition since their takeover at the club, or even if he has, the club could simply not afford the subsequent wages that such players would then demand, with current players wanting a raise to be on a par etc, and a vicious circle commences.

More to the point however, exactly where has the £80 million from the sale of Ronaldo gone? Everyone is well aware of the intrest repayments the owners have to pay on the club, and it is more than possible that a portion of the money from the winger’s sale has gone towards helping this.

It would be easy to point the finger at the owners, and with the way fans feel about them, they would always be a scapegoat for problems at the club, and the fact remains United will simply have to buy at least two world class players if they want to compete firstly domestically with City who will just get stronger and stronger, and also on a European level, with the big two in Spain miles ahead of United, not to mention the resurgence of AC Milan and Bayern Munich.

The problem however, is that they do not seem to have the money to do this, and bringing Scholes out of retirement is certainly not going to help – in fact it just throws a harsher light on the problems at the club.

Written by Rebecca Knight for FootballFanCast.com

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