Manchester United have done pretty well this season. The early parts were rather wobbly but performances over the past 3 odd months have seen them move way ahead in the Premier League title race. Here, let us see at which places can the squad be improved and who can be brought in for that!

Goalkeeper: The current incumbent David De Gea has had his fair share of ups and downs since he moved for £17m in the summer of 2011. He is brilliant at shot stopping, absolutely fantastic! The number of points he has saved for United, the way he has shown grit in the face of relentless media scrutiny has been heartening.

He is 22 but has played in the finals of major tournaments with his ex-club, United and the Spanish U-21 side. He has his issues most noticeably with the high incoming balls but I’m sure the United staff with work with him and iron out his flaws.

At 22, no one was a world beater. This guy, in say a year or two, will be ready to join the league of legends like Iker Casillas, Edwin van der Sar, Gianluigi Buffon. He deserves to stay No 1 at the club. I personally wouldn’t bring in anyone at this stage.

Anders Lindegaard is a solid back up to De Gea. Sam Johnstone, our third-choice keeper, is promising and we’ve got young Ben Amos as well. This area is well covered for now. And anyways, I’m pretty sure someone like Asmir Begovic won’t want to sit around being no 2 to De Gea.

Defence: United’s pool of defenders includes Rafael, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra, Jonny Evans, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Alexander Buttner. Young prospects like Will Keane and Scott Wootton most probably need a year or two of experience (Carling cup games or loan moves) before they can be drafted into the main squad.

Our pool of defenders is a good mix of experience and youth. Seniors like Vidic, Evra and Rio are good role models for the younger lot who can learn by training and playing games with these guys. Psychological reactions to situations would be a key area of learning. Someone like Smalling will learn a lot by seeing how Rio deals with various situations.

Quality wise United’s defence is well stocked. Fabio will be back after his loan spell at QPR ends. He will have learned quite a bit during his stay there. That makes it 9 defenders for 4 spots. Two backlines really! I personally wouldn’t buy a new defender. Our players are good enough to do the job for the team.

If Rio and Vidic are injured simultaneously, a combination of Evans and Jones/Smalling would be good enough. Going for a new CB like Angelo Ogbonna or Ezequiel Garay wouldn’t help that much. One CB I would like to see at United would be Raphael Varane, the French kid at Real Madrid. He is absolutely amazing. I would give £18m pounds for him easily, maybe 20m! He will be a legend as he grows older. What a defender.

Midfield: United’s midfield has been a happy hunting ground for critics. Bashing the current midfielders is a jolly past time for them. But the recent upsurge in form has shut quite a few of these critics. The current midfielders at the club are Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, Nani, Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Ashley Young, Anderson, Tom Cleverley, Shinji Kagawa and the soon to come Wilfried Zaha. That makes it 10 midfielders with four wingers (five if we put Ryan Giggs in here). A well-stocked area with a nice blend of experience and youth.

The presence of four good wingers is important for a club like United. On a day when Young and Valencia aren’t doing well, Sir Alex can call on Zaha and Nani to do the needful. Zaha is an exciting prospect and the fans would be eager to see him put on the United jersey and show them what he can do. 

By Yashasvee Prasad @yash647