Looking to find a solution to his worries this winter, David Moyes was spotted at Juventus’ Serie A clash with Cagliari on Sunday.
The Manchester United manager won his first game of 2014 against Swansea on Saturday, stopping the rot of three straight defeats.
But he still has a lengthy injury list to deal with at Old Trafford, and has been linked with several players this January.
One question is, who was he looking at during this particular game? The usual January suspects Luke Shaw, Cesc Fabregas and Daniele De Rossi were unsurprisingly nowhere to be seen at the Stadio Is Arenas.
United have been linked with Claudio Marchisio in the past, a creative midfielder (though he was on the bench), while former youth player Paul Pogba was in action.
It’s possible, with former Juve star and current Real Madrid assistant manager Zinedine Zidane claiming, in the Sunday Mirror: ‘I think it was a mistake letting Paul Pogba leave.
‘He will go on to be one of the best central midfield players in Europe and he was the natural successor to Paul Scholes, someone they could have built the team around.’
However, with his defence leaking goals, it could have been that the Scottish boss was keeping a keen eye on Cagliari centre-half Davide Astori.
The Italian international has long been courted by many of Europe’s finest, and has rejected several moves in the last few years.
He turned down Spartak Moscow in 2012, while he allegedly rejected Southampton last summer.
With Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic out of contract in the summer, and Chris Smalling struggling for form, it could be that United turn their attentions to the 27-year-old.
The game finished 4-1 to the visitors, Fernando Llorente netting a double, while Marchisio also conveniently scored.
Stephen Lichtsteiner got the other, while Maricio Pinilla grabbed Cagliari’s goal.
The Cagliari watch follows a series of scouting jobs going on at United. Chief Scout Robbie Cooke was at Rayo Vallecano v Villarreal on Monday night, possibly to check out the away side’s defender Mateo Musacchio.
Also, Phil Neville was reportedly at Getafe v Rayo Vallecano on Sunday morning, was that to check out highly-rated Rayo youngster Saul Niguez again?
With all these possible incomings, what about Old Trafford outgoings?
Moyes will show Anderson, Nani and Wilfried Zaha the exit door this month, while he wants to get rid of a dozen players before the start of next season.
Anderson is close to joining Fiorentina permanently, Nani could return to old club Sporting Lisbon on loan, while Zaha is tipped to join United old boy Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Cardiff on a temporary deal.
Written by Steve Milne – Have your say below 🙂
