Manchester United need reinforcements says Paul Ince

Nemanja Vidic is carried off with his knee injury against Basle (Reuters)

Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince believes the transfer window has come at the right time for the club.

United yesterday announced that midfielder Darren Fletcher is to take an extended break from the game because he is suffering from ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel condition.

The Old Trafford club had previously stated they did not intend doing much activity in the transfer window - but Ince believes the absence of the Scotland international means they may reverse that decision.

With fellow midfielders Anderson and Tom Cleverley sidelined and central defender Nemanja Vidic also injured, Ince believes Tottenham's Luka Modric may interest manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ince told BBC Radio Five Live: "I feel they need that creativity in midfield, losing Paul Scholes was a big loss obviously.

"You're not going to get players like Roy Keane or Bryan Robson, those players aren't around anymore.

"The game has changed since then and you don't get those type of characters, so he (Ferguson) has got to look at another way of controlling the midfield and I think that can come from creativity in someone like Luka Modric or Andres Iniesta, they are the players I would be looking at.

"I'm sure Sir Alex will take stock and he'll be looking at what type of player he will need in January and it won't just be in midfield, I'm sure he's looking at a centre-half with Vidic being out.

"But I'm sure he knows what to do, there's no point me telling him what to do because he's the greatest manager I've ever played under."

Former West Ham, Liverpool and United midfielder Ince also believes a goalscorer should be on Ferguson's wishlist, particularly with Javier Hernandez out for several weeks with an ankle injury.

He added: "There is a lot of pressure on Rooney and we saw what that did to him in the World Cup.

"If you are going to compete with the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea you need someone who is going to score you 20 goals a season and you can't just rely on Wayne Rooney to do it year in and year out.

"Nani has chipped in and Ashley Young was flying early on, but they have quietened down form-wise, so you wonder where the goals are going to come from.

"[Dimitar] Berbatov's not playing enough, Michael Owen is out injured again and Danny Welbeck is still a young lad but he will chip in with goals."

PA