Isotope
Ten Years a Cafite
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2012
- Messages
- 24,219
Agreed that big purchase is long gone. We have so many positions to fill out, and then there's FPP restriction.
To be fair, there's a difference between spending big (presumably, on special players who will add an extra dimension to the team with their individual quality) and spending frivolously. The underperformance of Pogba, Maguire, Antony, Sancho calls for self-reflection, no doubt about that — but summarily giving up on all £70-100 million rated players, instead of addressing underlying issues, would be a short-sighted approach. What we really need need to do is implement a framework that rigorously assesses the players in this price bracket (to minimize the chance of costly underperformance, or worse yet, abject failure): are they good enough with regard to technical qualities, press-resistance, work rate and athleticism (data analysis goes a long way here), do they have the right age profile, mentality and appropriate drive/self-confidence, are they in line with the club's principles, are they what we really need or would the money be better spent elsewhere (Osimhen clearly doesn't qualify when we have a massively talented No. 9 in Højlund), are they appropriate fits for high-possession and high-press systems (which we should seek to implement), and things of that nature...
For reference, Gary Pallister's transfer fee was 16% of Manchester United's revenues in 1989, Roy Keane's transfer fee was 15% of Manchester United's revenues in 1993, Rio Ferdinand's transfer fee was 20% of Manchester United's revenues in 2002, and so forth. A £100 million signing would be between 12-15% of Manchester United's recent revenues, so it's not a massive departure from historical norms — this club has always spent big, Bryan Robson alone would be the equivalent of a £200 million transfer if you consider the club's revenues now!
Good post. I agree we should not completely distance ourselves from those signings if there is a player out there that has all the attributes you mention and in an area of need for the 1st XI. Players I think that are semi-realistic and in those brackets for this summer would be - Joao Neves, Tchouameni, Rodrygo (if Rashford is sold).
I do however think we could have a lot of gaps to fill in the squad if we do have a clearout, especially as our biggest issue this year has been depth and the sizeable drop off from our starting XI. So a mix of smart value buys in the £25-50m range (of which there seems to be quite a few great options this summer) paired with a more marquee signing to take us up a level makes sense to me.
Not really. The year Manchester United signed Bryan Robson (for example), the club also signed the likes of Frank Stapleton, Paul McGrath, Remi Moses. The year Manchester United signed Gary Pallister (another example), the club also signed the likes of Paul Ince, Mike Phelan, Neil Webb. It's far from some sort of zero-sum game where you foolhardily exhaust all resources on a certain individual, and it's perfectly possible for the club to maximize its budget, and procure a Galáctico (or a Galáctico-in-the-making) who is likely to make a genuine difference, on top a few players who won't cost as much — as long as we offload certain players to improve the balance sheets (and overall financial health of the instutition), and employ clever accounting tricks. Orthodox measures like austerity are oftentimes counterproductive in the sporting realm (much like in the “real world”), and might needlessly throttle the possibly rampant evolution of the project.It does make a lot of sense because we need to strengthen multiple positions, not just one or two. Saying player X cost Y amount and was Z% of the total revenue in the past, so it's okay to buy similarly ignores the fact that in the past our buying in those windows was mainly restricted to that marquee player. The overall spend in the window wasn't a lot more than Z% of the total revenue spent. However, in the next couple of windows we'd need to buy at the minimum 4-5 players per window. So, if we spend a huge chunk on a single player, it'll restrict our ability to buy and strengthen with good potential talents (For the ranges you mention) for the other positions. One £100m purchase plus four £30m-£50m purchases may be unfeasible given the financial constraints and restrictions.
Agreed that big purchase is long gone. We have so many positions to fill out, and then there's FPP restriction.
Agree with this, even though I see where @Invictus is coming from. We should be smarter with our money and where possible try and see if some players can be recovable or can grow organically, in a period of zero expectations we could take a risk on seeing how far a Jack Fletcher could go coming in as rotation for Bruno, we could also see if Sancho is salvageable under a different coach because let's be real unless he goes to the Saudi nobody is paying us anything worthwhile to sell him in Europe.It does make a lot of sense because we need to strengthen multiple positions, not just one or two. Saying player X cost Y amount and was Z% of the total revenue in the past, so it's okay to buy similarly ignores the fact that in the past our buying in those windows was mainly restricted to that marquee player. The overall spend in the window wasn't a lot more than Z% of the total revenue spent. However, in the next couple of windows we'd need to buy at the minimum 4-5 players per window. So, if we spend a huge chunk on a single player, it'll restrict our ability to buy and strengthen with good potential talents (For the ranges you mention) for the other positions. One £100m purchase plus four £30m-£50m purchases may be unfeasible given the financial constraints and restrictions.
Onana
RB/CB/Martinez/Shaw
CM
Mainoo/Bruno
RW/Hojlund/Garnacho
GK, Varane, Evans, LB, Dalot, Mount, McTominay, CF, LW/RW
Sell Bayindir, Wan Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Casemiro, Rashford, Martial, Sancho, Diallo, Antony
Tel won't leave Bayern. He just recently extended.2 GK:
Onana, Bayindir
8 Defenders:
Dalot, AWB, Silva, Martinez, Maguire, Lindelöf, Shaw, Malacia
6 Midfielders:
Mainoo, Varela, Neves, McTominay, Bruno, Mount
6 Attackers:
Amad, Antony, Höjlund, Tel, Garnacho, Rashford
In: Silva, Varela, Neves, Tel
Out: Varane, Casemiro, van de Beek, Mejbri, Pellistri, Sancho, Greenwood, Martial
Should probably get away with less than £200M net spend, and save a lot of wages.
Tel won't leave Bayern. He just recently extended.
2 GK:
Onana, Bayindir
8 Defenders:
Dalot, AWB, Silva, Martinez, Maguire, Lindelöf, Shaw, Malacia
6 Midfielders:
Mainoo, Varela, Neves, McTominay, Bruno, Mount
6 Attackers:
Amad, Antony, Höjlund, Tel, Garnacho, Rashford
In: Silva, Varela, Neves, Tel
Out: Varane, Casemiro, van de Beek, Mejbri, Pellistri, Sancho, Greenwood, Martial
Should probably get away with less than £200M net spend, and save a lot of wages.
Dalot? 30m? Wow.
Jonathan David, (ST)
Andre Onana (CM)
Rabiot (CM, free, replace Eriksen)
Olise (RW)
LB
Jonathan David, (ST)
Andre Onana (CM)
Rabiot (CM, free, replace Eriksen)
Olise (RW)
LB
Rabiot also wouldn't come to be backup to Mainoo and would want one of the highest salaries.Only trouble is that's missing a CB
Could do a lot worse than this to be fair.Jonathan David, (ST)
Andre Onana (CM)
Rabiot (CM, free, replace Eriksen)
Olise (RW)
LB
Could do a lot worse than this to be fair.
Rabiot also wouldn't come to be backup to Mainoo and would want one of the highest salaries.
Not sure. But on a free with no fee beyond wages etc it would be a sensible player. Good mix of physical and technical skills we are lacking.Didn't Rabiots mum want silly money last time?
Need to move away from working on single targets per position. We should be puchase funnelling the crap out of this. We let it be known we're only tracking one target we get taken to the cleaners by their agent and the selling club.
Whittle it down to five targets per position and actively approach each of them. Deal from a position of strength not weakness.
Has Olise really kicked on this season to become a real match winner ? Based on what I’ve seen he’s another who likes to slow things down and pop passes about and relies on a lot of movement. With Garnacho doing well there but him and Amad being kids, if we’re signing a right winger I think it needs to someone more explosive (as these two aren’t). Obviously we aren’t signing the brilliant Yamal but we need someone with that sort of electricity on the right imo. Is Bilbao’s Williams a RW or LW?Could do a lot worse than this to be fair.
Bare minimum I think is 5 signings.
I'm seeing this coming year as the 2nd rebuilding year, with this year really being the first as Mainoo, Hojlund, Onana and Dalot have joined Garnacho and Lisandro as building blocks going forward. It's not enough signings, as everyone needs to stay healthy which never happens, but can't sign 8 guys in one summer:
------------------------------------Hojlund(Striker)----------------------------------------------
Rashford(Garnacho)--------------------------Garnacho(Amad, Antony)
----------------Bruno(Mount)--------Mainoo(#8/6)----------------------------------
-----------------------------------DM(Mainoo)-------------------------------------------
Shaw(LCB/LB)-----Licha(LCB/LB)-----RCB(Maguire)-----Dalot(AWB)
-----------------------------------Onana(Bayindir)------------------------------------------
That's 22 guys, then McTominay probably sticks around as a 7th midfielder who gets a bunch of bench appearances, another attacker (Forson or Pellistri presumably) and Jonny Evans as a 5th CB and a 5th FB which is I guess Malacia unless Amass is ready to be promoted this early.
Then in the summer of 2025 we move on from McTominay and AWB and replace them with guys who can pass, probably sign a starting RW as our big purchase.
So:
Big money, first choice starters now and for the next 5+ years:
DM
RCB
Medium money, should be 2nd choice, nice if we can get guys with release clauses here too, or even a free in one of the spots :
LCB/LB
Striker
#8/6
I’m not the biggest fan of Olise because of his injuries but I like the profile there in terms of playmaking ability. We don’t really have a wide playmaker.Has Olise really kicked on this season to become a real match winner ? Based on what I’ve seen he’s another who likes to slow things down and pop passes about and relies on a lot of movement. With Garnacho doing well there but him and Amad being kids, if we’re signing a right winger I think it needs to someone more explosive (as these two aren’t). Obviously we aren’t signing the brilliant Yamal but we need someone with that sort of electricity on the right imo. Is Bilbao’s Williams a RW or LW?