codespyder said:One reliable back-up for Silva I think can think of is Renato Augusto. Either we sign him in the summer, or we wait until Michael Johnson is fully fit. He's not the same type of player as Silva, obviously, but his passing and movement can feed the strikers from midfield.
There's also Gai Assulin, impressed for the EDS - seems to be match fit, though an awkward time of the season to bed him in.
Our priority in the summer window should be pace and/or skill, be it full-backs (Alves/Van Der Wiel/Coentrao), attacking/creative midfielders (Sneijder/Gourcuff/Pastore), or wingers (Bale/Sanchez/Mata/Elia). Enough of the "disciplined" cloggers we're so overstocked on, the lack of ingenuity is costing us dearly.