The influential Manchester Evening News has urged Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to sign Tottenham star Luka Modric. The newspaper feels Modric has the creative edge Ferguson's midfield is lacking:

"Sir Alex Ferguson needs to make only one new year's resolution for 2012 - sign Luka Modric.

"The Manchester United manager spent the summer months trying and failing to land a replacement for Paul Scholes. Now he has four weeks in January to secure the midfield playmaker he so desperately requires.

"And few, if any, fit the bill better than Modric.

"Modric is arguably the closest fit there is to Scholes in the Premier League right now.

"Blessed with a wonderful, vision and range of passing, it is understandable why Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas was so determined to sign him in the summer."