To remain at the top, you can’t afford to rest on your laurels, and despite winning a fourth Premier League title in five seasons and advancing to a third Champions League final in four seasons, the expectation is that this year’s summer transfer window will be a relatively busy one for Manchester United, at least in comparison to the last couple of summers.

With the 2010/11 campaign nearing a close and the transfer window a mere couple of weeks away from opening, transfer rumors are already in high gear before the silly season even officially begins.

Aston Villa star Ashley Young is purportedly one of the names at the top of United’s summer shopping list, and while some might not see the logic in United splashing the cash to bring the former Watford man from the Midlands to Manchester, he has every chance to be a success at Old Trafford.

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It seems like forever ago now, but only a little over two months ago, Manchester United held a 15-point lead over Chelsea in the Premier League table.

Mathematically, Arsenal were United’s closest competition at the time, but even though they were fresh off of the most horrendous run of form in the Roman Abramovich era, many in these parts and elsewhere considered only Chelsea as a threat to United’s title hopes.

Looks like we were right, huh? Coming into tomorrow’s Manchester United-Chelsea at Old Trafford, Chelsea are well and truly nipping at United’s heels, only three points behind and level on goal difference with only three matches remaining. This latest clash of English titans is being pointed as ‘the’ title decider, and if red can trump blue for the third time in a month, United will be within a solitary point (or a Chelsea draw or defeat in either one of their last two matches) of reclaiming Premier League supremacy.

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Up until Tuesday, I hadn’t had an in-depth look at the keeper who, for quite a while, has been a heavy topic of conversation among Manchester United fans, including several who share their opinions on a regular basis on Red Rants.

Quite often, when it comes to an up-and-coming young stud, Mr. Next Big Thing, hype and potential can outweigh talent and present and future production.

However, it took me all of 45 minutes to see that Manuel Neuer is as good as advertised, and that if he isn’t already, he has every chance to be the best keeper in the world sooner rather than later. To a certain someone who knows who he is (or should, at least), take a bow and bask in your rightness.

As I mentioned in the Schalke match report, it’s rare for me to pay close attention to a keeper’s performance, but I couldn’t help but do so on Tuesday. Part of it certainly can be attributed to the fact that Neuer has been so heavily linked with United and I wanted to make the most of the opportunity to see why, but even if that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t have been able to help but take notice, because he commanded my attention like he commanded his area.

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Despite Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Everton that sees them move closer to a 19th league title (and Sir Alex Ferguson’s 12th Premier League title), fans have one eye on potential new recruits when the transfer window re-opens in the summer.

With Paul Scholes and the evergreen Ryan Giggs still having a part to play in the club’s future but not getting any younger and Owen Hargreaves crocked, Fergie will look to add some youthful exuberance to his midfield, with a number of transfer rumours turning into solid transfer targets.

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To say that Manchester United have a right to be in the Champions League quarterfinals might be going a bit too far, but a Champions League quarterfinal draw without United in the hat is an oddity and a rarity.

United are the only side to have reached at least the quarterfinals in each of the previous four seasons, and we’ve hit that mark in 11 of the last 14, so there’s tradition to uphold as we face Marseille tonight at Old Trafford.

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By now, I think most who frequent Red Rants know that I’m generally a positive person, even when the situation should dictate otherwise.

However, the only positive thing about Sunday’s…whatever that was…at that place…against that team was when Phil Dowd mercifully blew his whistle for full time to end it.

All that happening doesn’t bear repeating, because I’d rather not grit my teeth down to the gums, but it’s safe to say that anytime you allow Dirk Kuyt to notch the world’s easiest hat trick, the outcome more than likely won’t be a good one. I think I just threw up a little, excuse me for a minute.

As I watched Sunday, I fumed, cursed, and sent my mobile phone flying through the air on multiple occasions (I’d have preferred the remote, but that was not an option), all the while wondering if it could get any worse.

For much of the season, we’ve successfully skirted disaster, getting away with being unable to defend as well as we should have in key situations away from home and often playing some pretty unsightly football. I was going to insert ‘uninspired’ there, but while that has appeared to be true at times, inspiration has been the only thing that’s saved United from a draw or a defeat on more than one or two occasions, so it wouldn’t have been an entirely true statement.

But in our two toughest and most important trips of the season, those faults were truly brought to the forefront, most notably when Patrice Evra half-heartedly attempted to get a boot on a ball that Chelsea’s David Luiz subsequently deposited into the back of the net to erase United’s advantage at Stamford Bridge, and well, for the duration against Liverpool (cringe). If there was ever a reason for Nemanja Vidic to try to never be sent off or suspended again, what happened at Anfield (times two) was it.

So we stand at a very pivotal point of our season, with an advantage in the Premier League that is a lot more tenuous than it already was before the last couple of weeks and our fate in two competitions set to be decided in the next several days.

And we’ll have to do it without our most influential player, who’s the latest name added to an injury list that’s already seemingly a mile long.

So then, is it time to clench those cheeks and nibble our nails down to shreds, or is the outlook a lot rosier than it appears at the moment?

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Things are generally never quiet around Old Trafford and the last couple of days have been no different. Since the defeat against Chelsea the fallout continues to rain down in the media with Sir Alex Ferguson’s comments after the game attracting most attention.

After the loss Sir Alex said “You want a fair referee, or a strong referee anyway – and we didn’t get that. I must say, when I saw who the referee was I feared it. I feared the worst.”

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After taking a day to digest the narrow F.A. Cup win over Crawley Town, the match showed some clear deficiencies in the Manchester United side. Wes Brown’s header was enough to put us through to the quarter-finals of the competition but the performance can be classed as nothing short of woeful.

Many of you here commented after the game about Bebe and Gabriel Obertan being the two worst performers on the Old Trafford pitch, and I’m afraid I have to agree. Both had absolutely terrible games and it casts a shadow over their respective United careers.

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Reports have gathered pace over the last twenty-four hours that the Glazers are going to be bought out by the Qatar Royal family via Qatar Holdings.

A year since the Green and Gold campaign was at its height, it seems the Qataris are close to releasing the fund that will oust the current unpopular owners. Figures of £1.6 billion have been mooted and as such bonds of United have risen in value to record levels.

It is a move that has been rumoured for a while with United spending some time in the small oil rich state over the winter and Sir Alex Ferguson backing their World Cup bid, United may see new owners sooner rather than later. It must be added that both Qatar Holdings and United have denied any deal is or will take place.

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Still digesting the derby and watching that brilliant Wayne Rooney goal… over and over and over, there has been a few snippets of news to come out of Old Trafford in the past few days.

First we can start with the injury news both good and bad. It seems Ji-Sung Park will be out of action for about a month thanks to a hamstring injury. The South Korean has only just returned from the Asian Cup, but looking on the bright side he will be back for the title run in and – if we get there – the Champions League quarter finals.

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