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Manchester United January transfer gossip

Sitting in sixth place in the Premier League as 2017 began, Manchester United have work on their hands to bridge the gap on leaders Chelsea, but they find themselves in some of the best form they’ve produced since the leave of Sir Alex Ferguson a few years ago.

The current Paddy Power football betting odds has The Red Devils as a tempting 16/1 chance to win the English Premier League. They are outsiders for sure, but the squad is starting to click and with the promise of bringing a new player or two on board, Jose Mourinho will be quietly confident of at least getting into the all important Top-4 places before the end of the season.

The charismatic Portuguese manager is looking to sign Monaco player Tiemoue Bakayoko, a powerful central midfielder, who has been capped by France at Under-21 level, and is also attracting interest from title rivals Chelsea and Manchester City.

Bakayoko has established himself as one of the most talented holding midfield players in Europe this season. Monaco will probably demand around £22m for the 22-year-old’s signature, which is unlikely to put off any of his potential Premier League suitors and he would be a natural choice to fill in for the likes of Michael Carrick; in that sort of role going forward.

United of course were willing to part with more than £35m up front to sign Anthony Martial from Monaco in September 2015 and it would be no surprise to see them dip their hand in the purse again for more French talent.

There has also been murmurings of Ivan Rakitic wanting away from Barcelona as his current contract comes is due to come to an end. The Croatian scored in the Champions League final two seasons ago and has been a key Barca player in midfield in recent seasons. But the likes of Man City and again Chelsea have expressed an interest, although Rakitic would be a real big name “spine” player for the Man.Utd midfield area, particularly when Michael Carrick decides to hang up his boots.

Elsewhere, The Mirror claims that James Rodriguez has issued a "come and get me plea" to Manchester United after falling down the pecking order at La Liga leaders Real Madrid.  The Colombian forward could cost United around £50m if the deal was to take shape, but is Jose Mourinho really short on striking talent at the moment?  If taking the trip to Manchester, Rodriguez could find himself warming the (slightly colder we daresay) bench once again with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Anthony Martial firing on all cylinders for United.

The top six in the Premier League are all within striking distance of Chelsea at the moment, and there is little doubt that all of the pressure is on the Blues to continue finding match winning form. It won’t be pretty at times but they’re in a very strong position, particularly with a fresh squad to hand owing to them not being involved in European duties this season.

But make no mistake about it, Jose and his charges will be drilled with confidence going into every game and rightly so, they have a squad to match any in Europe and they’re beginning to find their winning groove.

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