Losing Rooney is not the end: Sir Alex’s seven potential saviours

By Darshan Joshi, writing from Sydney

Now that it has been a couple of days since Sir Alex Ferguson’s sympathy-inducing video regarding Wayne Rooney’s future has made its way into the heinous hands of the media, the time is right for the United gaffer to perhaps start dispersing his gaze towards replacements for the former Everton forward. While Sir Alex has insisted that the door remains ajar for Wazza should he decide to put his preposterous wage demands (or whatever else his qualms may allude to), it would only be prudent for the Scot to look at what he could indeed do with the funds the projected sale of United’s biggest asset could summon.

Of course, Manchester United’s shortcomings are not solely concentrated in the frontline, with or without Rooney. There is an impressive array of strikers at Old Trafford; Dimitar Berbatov, Federico Macheda, Javier Hernández, Michael Owen, Gabriel Obertan and Bébé are all waiting in the wings, while Danny Welbeck and Mame Diouf are highly regarded youngsters away on loan until the end of this campaign (Diouf himself is having a very fruitful spell at Blackburn, having scored 4 goals in six starts under Sam Allardyce’s guidance). Having said that, should the opportunity to sign up a replacement hitman arise, expect Ferguson to be involved in a transfer bid. The Red Devils could also look to fixing the other problems that currently mar the team’s progress up the league standings; a replacement for Edwin van der Sar, a top-class, experienced right-back, and a central midfielder – provided the sale of Rooney frees up sufficient funding.

Here we examine in no great depth seven possible signings that may help spark a post-Rooney Manchester United revival, in order of position:

(Source: philosofooty)