Why we need to sign in winter transfer period

New Year has just began, past one has been successful for us, especially the second part when the new season kicked off, seeing as how we're occupying the 3rd place only 3 and 6 points behind Manchester United and City  respectively with a game against Everton in our hands.

Similar story to last year. Don't know how many of you recall, but we were considered title contenders at one point, having gotten off to a great start with a new big-name signing Van der Vaart alongside Modric and Bale, we were looking a sure thing for the Champions League spot. Then after a quiet January transfer window with only 1 notable signing that never did anything for us, really (yes, Pienaar), our form quickly dropped, injuries started hitting hard and we began dropping points, that not only did we not challenge for the title, we even lost that 4th spot and barely got to 5th in the last game against Liverpool. This season we at least won't be having any European distractions.

But, I fear that our team needs some fresh blood, at least to add some excitement. Honestly, think about it, don't you just love hearing about new arrivals? It's one of the most exciting parts of football. There, I said it. Italian giants, Inter, team we trashed and destroyed at White Hart Lane, are the example of 'not keeping it fresh'. Their president concluded, after the team dominated the whole Europe, that he does not need to reinvest in his squad and kept his squad mostly the same as it was. That proved to be a fatal mistake. In short period, he changed 4 coaches. From Benitez, to Leonardo, Gasperini, and now Ranieri, who knows how long he will last.

We made quite a profit in the summer by selling Crouch and Palacios to Stoke, 18M pounds if I recall. We made £30M that summer, spent around 8 on Parker and Adebayor's fee. So now it would be nice to show some real ambition and spend £20M on a player. We need to send out a message about our ambitions. Signing Doumbia would be the perfect fit in my opinion. CSKA would be interested in Pavlyuchenko, so a cash+player deal would be perfect for us, as much as it would be for them, though we should probably get more cover for our fragile defence, now with Gallas also being injured. Samba could be what is needed.