United must not stop at Young

As Alex Ferguson edges towards his second signing of the summer, it is vital that Manchester United don't stop the midfield recruitment process with Ashley Young. While it looks a foregone conclusion that Athletico Madrid goalkeeper De Gea will be gaurding the sticks at Old Trafford next season,  it is a central attacking midfielder that Sir Alex must make his number one priority. The impending arrival of Ashley Young is a sound move by Sir Alex, as he is arguably the most up and coming attacking English midfielder at the moment. Young also fits the criteria of the new ruling of eight homegrown British players to be included in each teams 25 man squad. However, as Barcelona proved at Wembley this year and also two years ago, United are lacking greatly in the centre of midfield. Surely, any denial Sir Alex was experiencing has all but disappeared after United were played off the pitch once again against Barcelona last month.

The arrival of a creative midfielder to play alongside Fletcher, Anderson or yes Carrick, would represent the final jigsaw in Fergie's team. The usual candidates are circulating the back pages of every tabloid in the UK and Ireland, with Sneijder and Modric being the top two candidates.It doesn't take a genius to see that Sneijder is obviously the perfect replacement for Paul Scholes and why Sir Alex hasn't moved yet is unknown. However, there is a young Danish international by the name of  Christian Eriksen that could prove to be excellent value for money. Eriksen is 19 years of age and has put in some impressive performances against England, which i'm sure Fergie is well aware of. Eriksen is young, quick, skillful, creative and has all the attributes to fit in perfectly at United. The young Dane also represents a younger, more promosing and exciting version of Luka Modric.

In an ideal world, Fergie would sign both Sneijder and Eriksen, and give United a real chance of preventing the Champions League from taking permanent residency at the Nou Camp.However, it would not surprise me to see Sir Alex put the check book away and place his trust once again in his current squad, while also maybe providing Tom Cleverly with a chance to reach his potential. That move may be good enough to secure a 20th Premiership title, depending on what Manchester City and Chelsea do in the summer, however, as Sanchez moves closer to Barcelona from Udinese, United could once again struggle against Europe's elite. Your call Fergie.