Big three eye window of opportunity

Many are expecting a quiet January when the transfer window re-opens in four days time but the Barclaycard Premiership’s big three should provide plenty of headlines as they search for the firepower which will deliver the title.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United may enjoy a stranglehold on the top three which no other club looks capable of breaking but the trio all need to strengthen up-front.

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Thierry Henry are saddled with the burden of providing the goals at Old Trafford and Highbury and have not let their managers down with both players in the top three scorers in the Premiership.

But United and Arsenal have little back-up for their prolific marksmen and desperately need to bolster their forward resources in case either player sustains a long-term injury.

United’s Uruguay striker Diego Forlan has not lived-up to expectations, finding the net just 16 times since his £7.5m (€10.7m) switch from Argentinian side Independiente last January.

With Alex Ferguson looking to fill the void left by Rio Ferdinand’s eight-month ban – providing the player does not appeal – Forlan has been touted as part of a straight swap for Middlesbrough’s reliable centre-back Gareth Southgate.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is injured and David Bellion has hardly set the red half of Manchester alight since his summer arrival from Sunderland, while there are few goals coming from midfield.

Australian Mark Viduka is thought to top Ferguson’s January wish-list and the Leeds striker would relish an escape route from his struggling Yorkshire club - and few would doubt he would jump ship at the first available opportunity.

Another target is Fulham’s in-form Louis Saha, whose 12 goals this season has catapulted him into the reckoning for a high-profile switch to Old Trafford, a move the player himself described as a “dream” just last weekend.

Pacy and sharp in front of goal, Saha would be the ideal replacement for van Nistelrooy and with Fulham playing a similar 4-5-1 formation to United, Ferguson knows the Frenchman is at home in his preferred system.

The sticking point comes in Fulham’s refusal to sell, with boss Chris Coleman declaring earlier in the week that his prized asset would leave south west London “over my dead body” – and he has the full backing of his board.

But it would be hard for Saha to resist the lure of Champions League football that United – who have already made a £7m (€10m) approach for the 25-year-old - can offer, so Coleman may be bracing himself for the worst.

Arsene Wenger has been vocal in his admiration for Saha but has yet to signal any intent in signing his fellow countryman as he looks to ease some of the burden on Henry’s shoulders.

With only £10-15m (€14.3-21.4m) to spend – a small sum compared to the transfer kitties handed to Ferguson and Claudio Ranieri – Wenger has to be careful and has already stated he will not splash out unless he spots a real bargain.

Jermain Defoe – another forward linked with United – is certain to be prized away from West Ham over the coming month and Wenger is sure to keep tabs on the situation at Upton Park.

If he declines to dip into the transfer market, Arsenal’s boss does have the luxury of a battery of young prospects waiting to prosper where the likes of Sylvain Wiltord, Kanu and Francis Jeffers have failed.

Jeremie Aliadiere, in particular, looks a class act as his appearances in the Carling Cup have proved, so if Wenger does fail to land a striker next month it will hardly be a disaster.

But south of the Thames, Chelsea’s enormous spending power means it is almost certain that there will be fresh faces at Stamford Bridge in January with a big-name forward at the top of Ranieri’s shopping list.

He has already failed in audacious bid to capture Henry, who Arsenal insist is not for sale at any price, prompting him to turn his attention to Juventus striker David Trezeguet and his club-mate and attacking midfielder Pavel Nedved.

Chelsea possess plenty of firepower in Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Adrian Mutu and Hernan Crespo but none are as prolific as van Nistelrooy or Henry, and Ranieri will be all too aware that it is goals which win titles.

What price a bid for Inter Milan’s Christian Vieri – or even Everton youngster Wayne Rooney?