Yes, I agree with you. It seems that there are a few
cheapish options out there, but no need to buy for the sake of it.

I think we could do with a striker, a centre back and a keeper in this window ideally, but my point is that players in these positions that are better than what we have already got seem to be in short supply.

I'm shocked in a post that suggests the sale of Lee and Mutch in the same window, for actual money, and it's the idea of loaning Wickham that initiates the longest argument.

Falcao played very little in England. He was only at big clubs where there was huge competition, so he only got a few minutes.

Gervinho did well in the PL. I'd love me some Gervinho right now. Ok, he wasn't a title winning player, but Gervinho surely is quality.

Angel di Maria....what can I say? He played about 20000 minutes with 20 goals and assists combined. There was absolutely no reason to sell him other than his own disagreements with the manager. And he was right to be angry. There was no reason for van Gaal to keep him as a substitute. He has proven himself time and time again. A manager's mistakes don't make the player is a flop.
About the others, I think I covered them up in a previous post

Ok, so with the winter transfer period wrapping up, the squad for the second part of the season looks like this:

....................Hennessey.................
....................(Speroni).................
................................................
TFM..........Tomkins.......Sakho............PVA
(Ward)......(Kelly).........(Jach).......(Souare)
...............................................
Zaha...........Cabaye.....Milivojevic....Townsend
(Chungy)....(Rekip)......(Riedewald).......(RLC)
.................................................
..................McArthur.......................
.................................................
....................Benteke....................
....................(Sorloth)...................

Maybe with Wickham providing an extra option up front from next month. IF RLC doesn't recover, then in March Schlupp should come back and PVA would go up and cover for left midfielder.

All of this with expenditures of over 10 million this winter (with add-ons in Sorloth's case that will surely rise to another 5 million if the team stays in the Premier League). So that's 15 million to have the squad looking like above.

Ok, now compare this with what I suggested:
................Diego Alves (1 mil.)..............
...............(Hennessey, Speroni)..............
.................................................
da Costa(1mil)...Tomkins....Sakho............PVA
(Ward).........(TFM, Kelly)(Riedewald)...(Schlupp)
...............................................
Zaha...........Cabaye.....Milivojevic....Townsend
(Ola John)....(RLC)......(McArthur)...(Hernani/Jony)
.(0 mil)................................(1-3 mil.)
..............Andone (13 mil.)....................
..............(Ezekiel, Sako)..................
...............................................
...............Nils Petersen(7 mil)...............
......(Asamoah Gyan/Martins/Emenike-free).........

Around 24 million spent, with the money coming from the sales of Benteke, Lee Chung Yeong and Mutch. Ok, maybe LCY and Mutch wouldn't have been sold for much money, but it wouldn't have been more than a 4 million expenditure supported by the club even in case they weren't.

In the first days of January, Andone was undesired in Deportivo. He had a tense relation with the manager and wanted to leave because he wasn't given enough playing time. Brighton tempted Deportivo big time with their 11 million bid. There was a lot of talk in Spain about whether they should sell or not. But they were holding out for 13 million. It would have been an easy transaction if done in the first month of January.
But, as time went on, Deportivo sent Andone in and he scored 4 goals in January, taking his total tally to 6 goals and 2 assists this season, in just 1000 minutes. And he's been constantly good the past 4 seasons.

Even Niasse would have been available on Januay 1st at 13 million. That's what Everton was asking before he started banging them in for them. He was 4th choice at the club. Just pay 13 million for an accomplished striker like Niasse, best player in Russia 2 years in a row and a great goals to minutes played stat in the Premier League. We ended up paying the same amount (with add-ons) for Sorloth, who is not that accomplished. While Niasse was a certainty, Sorloth may be the next Cornelius or Brock-Madsen.

Nils Petersen comes from probably the poorest team in the Bundesliga (financially speaking). Freiburg's winter transfer period consisted of buying a winger-striker from the German second division for 1 million. That's it. They would have sold Petersen for around 7 million on January 1st. This month, he scored twice against Borussia Dortmund. He has 8 goals in his last 6 Bundesliga matches. Of course they won't be selling for 7 million now. Ola John is still at Benfica. He's on 2 million a year and they're not using him at all, they've demoted him to Benfica B. They'd be happy to have someone else take over his salary (which is not far from Lee Chung Yeong's). Is LCY really a better option than what Ola John would be???

van der Wiel has just moved from Cagliari to Toronto in the MLS. I doubt they paid a lot of money for the right wingback (transfer fee is rumoured to have been less than a million). Why not keep TFM as a center back option and get a real wingback (very necessary) to complement Ward on that position?
I talked about Danny da Costa from Eintracht, but van der Wiel could have also been a great option too. Instead, the club decided to buy Jach and keep TFM as a right back.

In conclusion, you tell me if which of the above teams looks better for a top 10 finish in the PL? But please don't hold grudges from our past conversations or respond to me personally. Just be objective. Yes, as an argument against me, Benteke has also managed to up his game a bit and has scored or assisted the last games. A player which I would have sold to get 20 million, the money needed for transfers (I reckon Chelsea or Everton or a Chinese club would have offered that sum). But what he has done lately doesn't even compare to what Andone and Nils Peterson have been doing constantly the last seasons.

Surely you must have watched Asamoah Gyan or Emenike play at the World Cup or at the African Cup of Nations. Or even in the Premier League. Obafemi Martins too, he's that guy who used to be voted fastest in the world when at Inter Milan. Or from Levante a few years ago.

Nils Petersen was at Bayern, come on, you must know him. Ola John was in the UEFA Champions League with Twente and a little in the Netherlands national team. Make an effort and you'll remember. Or look them up.

Maybe Hernani from Porto or Jony or Alessandrini are a little less known, but they're from top football, not third tiers or something.