Ah the rumor mill. Such a crazy addictive hobby. And it’s always a load of rubbish.

The thing that will stir it up more than anything is a massive purchase. Due to the particularities of January and the desperation of clubs, there tend to be more ridiculous purchases than during the summer. This winter we have seen Edin Dzeko go to Manchester
City for €32 million, followed by Darren Bent moving from Sunderland to Aston Villa for a suggested £24 million.

And what do Wolfsburg and Sunderland have in common because of these transfers? They command a large amount of paper space, forum chat, agent talk and tweets discussing who they will buy next. After all, they both have a lot of money just burning a hole in their pocket. They have to spend it, right?

Wolfsburg have been linked to Eljero Elia, Mark van Bommel, Patrick Helmes, Amauri, Paul Konchesky, Milan Baros, Mirko Vucinic, Papiss Demba Cisse, Mario Gomez and Mark Arnautovic since selling Dzeko. That’s a lot of players. Considering how little movement there has been in the Bundesliga this January, possibility takes the place of happenings.

Wolfsburg don’t need most of these players. If they switch their tactics, they only need one or two players at most. If they stick to the 4-4-2 they only need a replacement for Dzeko at best. But any player that they possibly could forr, at this point, would cost them way more than they are worth, because every selling team would know they have so much cash on hand. It’s in their best interest to wait until the summer when they are removed from the giant price they were able to obtain for Dzeko. And even if they do decide to test the waters, are they going to stick with McClaren or make a managerial change. If they do, they could end up wasting a purchase. Maybe the new guy loves Ziani, who looks on the outs with McClaren, but could be a contributor for a new trainer.

Do they have enough to survive? Yes. Do they have enough to get into the top six? No. But even adding Messi might not give them the ability to jump 9 spots and catch up 10 points. They are probably better waiting it out, hoping that Diego start to find form and put some trust in the kids. There is too much talent not to start climbing the table. But they do need to break this streak of 7 straight draws.