Hardly a waif and stray if he's an England international. Let's face it, without his problems he would without a doubt be in the England squad on a fairly regular basis, if not always. He's got a bit of bite but also creativity, something we may miss for the first few months with Sandro out. As s short term solution he'd be fantastic, and if you want to scoff based on personal lives, then thank goodness we were never able to sign Ryan Giggs. After all we wouldn't want a 'waif and stray'.
As a squad member he would be more than good enough for assisting in reaching the Champions League. As Original said, we don;t have any other decent options past Modric, Sandro and Hudd, with Sandro out for two months. Our academy is improving drastically but the central midfielders are not. The sales of Jenas and Palacios would raise necessary funds for purchasing in positions elsewhere and give us a free player. Let's face it Harry wants to sign a central midfielder if reports are to be believed, and with the current quality we have there with Modric, Sandro and Huddlestone, i'd rather he didn't waste huge amounts of money on a transfer fee for a backup.