New striker talk returns as January sales begin...

Reports in the press are once again linking United with Berbatov, but the bad news is that it's thought any offer for the Spurs striker won't happen until the summer. Fergie has recently gone on record saying that January is problematic and he's hinted that Europe is uppermost in his thoughts and of course the Bulgarian is cup-tied. Ramos the Spurs manager has also said that Berbatov is going nowhere, but as we have seen in the past the North London club will sell to United if the price is right.

Despite Fergie's views about Europe, the Reds still need to sign a new forward for the domestic competitions, this was highlighted against West Ham at the weekend when United needed to change the game, but they had no striker on the bench - which is a ludicrous situation for a club of United's size.

While the Reds are in need of a new striker whoever comes in has to be the right player and the last thing United need to do now is to make a panic buy - that is the danger when you're short of numbers and once again Reds fans might wonder about the wisdom of allowing Rossi to move on last summer.

January is of course by tradition the time of year when retailers try to off-load old and unwanted stock. The January transfer window is football's equivalent in many ways and it only came into being a few seasons ago, but many managers believe that the old transfer system worked better for the clubs and the players.

The Reading manager Steve Coppell has today voiced his concerns about the January transfer window, hinting that some of his players have been tapped-up and at the same time he has insisted that Nicky Shorey who has been strongly linked to the Red Devils is going nowhere.