Though I like most of your options and agree should be some sales, Bailly has signed a new contract and I dont expect half of those players to move. Even if they do, that transfer list, signing the most expensive player in each position you name.....could probably add up to £400m+, even the cheapest options, if you take away Adrian SIlva who I think is a downgrade on Martial personally....would still be £300m+ potentially, unrealistic I feel even with sales unless DeGea/Pogba/Martial and maybe even Fred were all going in the same window
What do we still need? Aka The never ending story
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
Though I like most of your options and agree should be some sales, Bailly has signed a new contract and I dont expect half of those players to move. Even if they do, that transfer list, signing the most expensive player in each position you name.....could probably add up to £400m+, even the cheapest options, if you take away Adrian SIlva who I think is a downgrade on Martial personally....would still be £300m+ potentially, unrealistic I feel even with sales unless DeGea/Pogba/Martial and maybe even Fred were all going in the same window
An ever changing solution. Pogba is a liability at the double pivot and should play on the left alot more. Its his best position and the attack is better for it. This will increase the need for a midfielder as we already needed a DM when Pogba played in the double pivot. So with Pogba no longer in that position we would need a new midfielder in addition to a DM
I think we should realise the mistake we made with VdB. I do not think he's a bad signing I just think he is not the attacking midfielder that suits us. I think he will excel as an 8. Everything still falls apart when Bruno is not on the pitch so we clearly are still in need of a solid rotational 10.
Then we need to solidify our base. This would be key in challenging for a title. We have no DM (not counting Matic) and Lindelof needs to be improved on. Simple as.
My choices
DM - Rice. One of the best in the Pl in that position right now. Locatelli. Also one of the best in his league in this position.
CB - Varane. I'll be honest and say I haven't watched much of him for a while so I'm not sure if the bad performances is just on one CL game or looking for a new challenge or it has become the norm. Torres might also be an option. Doesn't look like much of an improvement but we seem to rate him highly and I don't know more than the scouts.
AM - Matheus Pereira. Don't watch West Brom often but he's their best player any time I see them. Should be cheap as they are on their way down. Can play both AM and RW.
We seem to want an RB but that should be the last thing after sorting out these positions.
Like I've said in another thread if we can make a 4-3-3 with a midfield of DM - Bruno - Pogba and attack of Rashford - Cavani - Sancho work then that would be perfect. If that's possible I'd put Sancho ahead of getting an AM
I think we should realise the mistake we made with VdB. I do not think he's a bad signing I just think he is not the attacking midfielder that suits us. I think he will excel as an 8. Everything still falls apart when Bruno is not on the pitch so we clearly are still in need of a solid rotational 10.
Then we need to solidify our base. This would be key in challenging for a title. We have no DM (not counting Matic) and Lindelof needs to be improved on. Simple as.
My choices
DM - Rice. One of the best in the Pl in that position right now. Locatelli. Also one of the best in his league in this position.
CB - Varane. I'll be honest and say I haven't watched much of him for a while so I'm not sure if the bad performances is just on one CL game or looking for a new challenge or it has become the norm. Torres might also be an option. Doesn't look like much of an improvement but we seem to rate him highly and I don't know more than the scouts.
AM - Matheus Pereira. Don't watch West Brom often but he's their best player any time I see them. Should be cheap as they are on their way down. Can play both AM and RW.
We seem to want an RB but that should be the last thing after sorting out these positions.
Like I've said in another thread if we can make a 4-3-3 with a midfield of DM - Bruno - Pogba and attack of Rashford - Cavani - Sancho work then that would be perfect. If that's possible I'd put Sancho ahead of getting an AM
RW, CB and CM.
That's my shopping list.
That's my shopping list.
We need a CB, especially if Maguire gets an injury which could last or niggle on. Do we really want to go into a season having to rely on Lindelof, Bailly and Tuanzebe? No, me either
Cdm (Rice if possible) a top drawer cb Varane or Kounde. and a Rw would be a good summer.
exits for Dalot,Mata, Matic, Pereira, Jones if possible
exits for Dalot,Mata, Matic, Pereira, Jones if possible
Considering West Ham would want 70m for Rice, I wonder what Barca would want for De Jong?
Presumably you are thinking a CM who can offer something in both an attacking and defensive sense
Yeah Varane/Torres have to come back into Ole's thinking if this Maguire injury could be an issue
No, I don't think we'll sell all of those players either. Nor that we'll get the most expensive options everywhere. But the potential for sales may be enough to really significantly bump up the amount available for transfers. Maybe something like 150m all told could be realistic. That could land us some serious reinforcement - f.e., Sancho, Kamara, Trippier.
Torres is to similar to Lindelof though
Pereira is an intriguing option, I didn't think about that. Surely he'd cost 30-40m though. Generally speaking, PL players (including from clubs going down) are more pricey than foreign imports, currently.
Good question, also how much for DeLigt from Juve whilst you’re at it
Varane would be my choice too hell maybe even Koulibaly if the price is reasonable which I doubt
Supposedly we asked again about him recently but his chairman is mad if he thinks he’s getting €70m for a 29 year old cb
Centre back, defensive midfielder, right winger, another right back. Striker when Cavani leaves. Not sure how many players are we going to sign this summer, it probably depends on if anyone is going to be sold (like De Gea, Martial).
My gut feeling is it's one of the first two (can't see both) maybe Sancho at RW & can see Trippier as backup RB
That would be a mistake as our one reliable cb has just been injured. The other 3 are erratic in either form or fitness, sometimes both. We need another reliable cb
Totally agree with you but will Ole see it the same way too
GK - De Gea/Henderson
FB - Shaw/AWB/Telles/Williams
CB - Maguire/Lindelof/Bailly/Axel
CM - Fred/McTominay/Matic
AM - Bruno/Van de Beek
WF - Pogba/Mason/Rashford/Amad/James/Mata
Strikers - Cavani/Martial
That's our current squad minus the on loan players and the medical experiment that is Phil Jones. Now I think Matic and Mata are done and are likely to move on or onto the coaching staff, and it seems De Gea will be sold as well. With fullbacks it's possible that Dalot or Laird are factored in and if Cavani stays then next summer we'll need to make a decision on the striker role, so it looks pretty clear to me where the least amount of depth and quality is.
FB - Shaw/AWB/Telles/Williams
CB - Maguire/Lindelof/Bailly/Axel
CM - Fred/McTominay/Matic
AM - Bruno/Van de Beek
WF - Pogba/Mason/Rashford/Amad/James/Mata
Strikers - Cavani/Martial
That's our current squad minus the on loan players and the medical experiment that is Phil Jones. Now I think Matic and Mata are done and are likely to move on or onto the coaching staff, and it seems De Gea will be sold as well. With fullbacks it's possible that Dalot or Laird are factored in and if Cavani stays then next summer we'll need to make a decision on the striker role, so it looks pretty clear to me where the least amount of depth and quality is.
I think your setup shows that there are questions to be answered in every department:
GK: Keep de Gea as no. 2 or get a cheaper back-up like Johnstone/Heaton?
FB: Buy a new back-up RB or go with one of Williams, Dalot or Laird?
CB: Upgrade on Lindelöf? Will Tuanzebe then stay on as fifth choice?
CM: If Matic is leaving and Pogba is playing wide, do we need two new players here? Could Garner be an option for one of the two spots?
AM: Will van de Beek stay? Could we try Pogba here to rest Bruno, since we have many wide options?
WF: Will Greenwood play more as a striker, and will there be enough game time for a big signing like Sancho?
Striker: Is Cavani staying on, and what happens to Martial?
It will be a summer with many big decisions, but if we get things right our squad could be properly good, in both starting quality and depth.
Agreed, very important summer. Get the squad right and we are challenging for the title.
The issue with the current market is every half decent player seems to cost 50m minimum. It's not realistic to get 4 or 5 quality players in one window anymore, particularly with the covid hit. The only way would be to raise significant funds in sales, but we tend to struggle to offload players due to the high wages and when we do sell them we get pittance fees.. Whilst some sales you can get away with not replacing directly, if for example we offload Martial to raise funds, we'll need to sign a striker to replace him which may leave you no better off in terms of available funding.
Let's imagine we start off with Sancho £80m and a CB £50m which is £130m already, we may be able to recoup a fraction of that in sales but realistically you wonder if we'll have much money to spend after that, we're not going to have net spend of anywhere near £150+m during covid.
We have a fair few problem positions
Centre back
Right wing
Striker
Central midfield
Right back
So you start to look at where we can get away with delaying for another season. If Cavani stays, maybe you put the need for a striker on the back burner? A technically strong central midfield who can play in the double pivot is becoming more evident, a new CB partner for Maguire seems like a must. The RW issue persists and it needs solving, you can't leave both the striker and RW position untouched for another year.
Let's imagine we start off with Sancho £80m and a CB £50m which is £130m already, we may be able to recoup a fraction of that in sales but realistically you wonder if we'll have much money to spend after that, we're not going to have net spend of anywhere near £150+m during covid.
We have a fair few problem positions
Centre back
Right wing
Striker
Central midfield
Right back
So you start to look at where we can get away with delaying for another season. If Cavani stays, maybe you put the need for a striker on the back burner? A technically strong central midfield who can play in the double pivot is becoming more evident, a new CB partner for Maguire seems like a must. The RW issue persists and it needs solving, you can't leave both the striker and RW position untouched for another year.
I think CDM has replaced RW as our priority for the summer. Hopefully we can get either Rice or Ndidi.
Yup, spot on. Exactly the questions I had in mind too
If Sancho is available, you've got to get him and fix our RW issue for the next 10 years. As for the CDM, I think we could still do without but getting a CB is very important.
If it's just 2 players, I would get Sancho and Kounde.
I still think we only get one of the defensive positions whether that is CB/CDM is up in the air right now, wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if it switches to CB IF Harry is going to be out for a little while now. Despite how well Mason has done my priority is Sancho on the RW and keep seeing talk that we could go back for Trippier to give AWB some competition. Personally if it was me I would want CB, CDM & RW if Cavani stays and bring back Dalot/Laird for backup RB but gut feeling is we are only getting ONE of those first two hugely key positions.
I think we'll sign 3.
My hope is Sancho, Rice and Varane. I'd back us to go far in the CL and challenge for the title with those additions.
I expect at least one of those 3, or if not then a marquee CB signing. Balancing the books will be tough though as the prices of players to improve us now is usually around 70m. For that end Sancho solves 2 problems in nailing down our RW whilst providing cover at AM when Bruno needs a rest.
My hope is Sancho, Rice and Varane. I'd back us to go far in the CL and challenge for the title with those additions.
I expect at least one of those 3, or if not then a marquee CB signing. Balancing the books will be tough though as the prices of players to improve us now is usually around 70m. For that end Sancho solves 2 problems in nailing down our RW whilst providing cover at AM when Bruno needs a rest.
GK: Cheap back-up as De Gea won't be #2.
FB: We haven't given Laird a chance yet and Dalot has had a decent loan, it's whether he wants to come back.
CB: If we get a new CB I feel Axel will unfortunately be the one to go.
CM: We need 2 top Midfielders.
AM: I think Van de Beek will give it one more season.
WF: Personally I think we should focus on Mason developing as our RWF.
Striker: They'll rotate the striker role next sesson.
GK - Keep both and let them fight for the place
Defence - CB and a backup RB. Jules Kounde and any decent RB from Dutch/French/Portuguese/Championship. Need a CB who is good at the opposition box (Ramos would be ideal for offensive part. But Kounde provides a balance here)
Midfield- Casemiro as CDM. swap with Pogba. Garner as an understudy. Play VDB/McFred right midfield, Bruno/VDB Left midfield, Casemiro CDM on 4-3-3. Use double pivot of McFred when required
Winger - Sancho. Rashford, Martial, Sancho, Greenwood, Amad and James can share winger duties
Striker - Cavani, Martial, Greenwood and Rashford
Let go - Mata, Matic, Romero, Pereira, Lingard, Dalot, Jones
Defence - CB and a backup RB. Jules Kounde and any decent RB from Dutch/French/Portuguese/Championship. Need a CB who is good at the opposition box (Ramos would be ideal for offensive part. But Kounde provides a balance here)
Midfield- Casemiro as CDM. swap with Pogba. Garner as an understudy. Play VDB/McFred right midfield, Bruno/VDB Left midfield, Casemiro CDM on 4-3-3. Use double pivot of McFred when required
Winger - Sancho. Rashford, Martial, Sancho, Greenwood, Amad and James can share winger duties
Striker - Cavani, Martial, Greenwood and Rashford
Let go - Mata, Matic, Romero, Pereira, Lingard, Dalot, Jones
There's always been those parallels with Klopps early years at Liverpool with Ole's Man Utd and I really think that's never been more evident right now, we go and get that CB and DM (in their case it was VVD and Fabinho) and I think it gives the attacking foundation we already have to flourish even more
The problem is I don't see an equivalent VVD or Fabinho out there, so may have to settle with a Torres (who admittedly I've never seen play but he's the one we're being linked with) and Rice and who knows if they'd have the same effect
The problem is I don't see an equivalent VVD or Fabinho out there, so may have to settle with a Torres (who admittedly I've never seen play but he's the one we're being linked with) and Rice and who knows if they'd have the same effect
We need to recognise that Martial and/or Rashford as our primary strikeforce will not win us the league.
I've been taking a look at the Premier League goal stats for both players over the years.
2020/21 Rashford 10 (still a few PL matches to go)
2019/20 Rashford 17 (possible high tide mark?)
2018/19 Rashford 10
2017/18 Rashford 7
2016/18 Rashford 5
2015/16 Rashford 5
2020/21 Martial 4 (been injured but still started 22 matches)
2019/20 Martial 17
2018/19 Martial 10
2017/18 Martial 9
2016/17 Martial 4
2015/16 Martial 11
Is it any wonder that we are not winning the Premiership???
I've been taking a look at the Premier League goal stats for both players over the years.
2020/21 Rashford 10 (still a few PL matches to go)
2019/20 Rashford 17 (possible high tide mark?)
2018/19 Rashford 10
2017/18 Rashford 7
2016/18 Rashford 5
2015/16 Rashford 5
2020/21 Martial 4 (been injured but still started 22 matches)
2019/20 Martial 17
2018/19 Martial 10
2017/18 Martial 9
2016/17 Martial 4
2015/16 Martial 11
Is it any wonder that we are not winning the Premiership???
Much as I want us to sign Sancho would take a Pereira/ASM/Raphinha IF we could get Varane & Rice but still absolutely convinced it will only be ONE marquee signing this summer whatever that yankee leech said in his letter
There are 2 players in Holland I would love us to sign.
Owen Wijndal who I think is the best left back to come out of Holland for a long time and would be great cover for Shaw ( who i think could become our Maldini and move to left Centre back)
Ryan Gravenberch. A natural talent and the long term replacement for Matic. This guy is so good, technically gifted and physically strong. Currently playing as an 8 but long term i think he will be a DM
Owen Wijndal who I think is the best left back to come out of Holland for a long time and would be great cover for Shaw ( who i think could become our Maldini and move to left Centre back)
Ryan Gravenberch. A natural talent and the long term replacement for Matic. This guy is so good, technically gifted and physically strong. Currently playing as an 8 but long term i think he will be a DM
Saw Gravenberch mentioned in the BBC transfer rumours this week
Midfielder and CB priority.
It will be interesting to see if we go after Sancho again this summer.
A covering RB as well.
It will be interesting to see if we go after Sancho again this summer.
A covering RB as well.
The Cavani news makes things clearer and simpler this summer, front 4 is looking a strong unit.
ST - Cavani/Martial
LW - Pogba/Rashford
RW - Mason/Amad/James
AM - Bruno/VdB/Mata
We know Cavani can't play back to back games so I expect Ole will try Martial, Mason and Rashford as a #9 throughout next season and then he can evaluate what to do with the attack next summer. Mata will probably go but Hannibal or Pellistri could plug in as 3rd choice AM.
ST - Cavani/Martial
LW - Pogba/Rashford
RW - Mason/Amad/James
AM - Bruno/VdB/Mata
We know Cavani can't play back to back games so I expect Ole will try Martial, Mason and Rashford as a #9 throughout next season and then he can evaluate what to do with the attack next summer. Mata will probably go but Hannibal or Pellistri could plug in as 3rd choice AM.
If we go after Sancho, then I can see us bidding for Declan Rice, he would mean DM position sorted out + can play CB when needed, so in a way he'd be a stop-gap signing for centre back position for one season, until we get another CB in 2022.
Henderson
AWB - Varane - Maguire - Shaw
Bruno - Rice - Pogba
Sancho - Cavani - Rashford
Those 3 will be a fantastic window and having Rice might finally allow us to stop having to play two CDM's and play a 4-3-3 where I think you can have both Rash and Pogba down that left hand side with a mix of shaw AWB - Varane - Maguire - Shaw
Bruno - Rice - Pogba
Sancho - Cavani - Rashford
I have a feeling Sancho will sign, Rice will be tried but we will see what can happen with Jesse as a bargaining chip but Varane will be slim, personally think he is angling for a new contract but either way a new CB is needed, if Maguire is injured we are screwed, no way Lindelof, Bailly or Axel is good enough to win titles.Why RW?
We signed Diallo and Pellistri because we couldn't get 1st choice Sancho done and Greenwood is flying there at the moment?
Seen Gravenberch a few times - looks a talent. For me, not what we need right now. We need instant quality in the midfield area.
We have Telles and Williams for cover for Shaw - LB is probably the most secure area in the squad right now