A winger/attacking midifelder this summer

pocco

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Judging by the numerous reports and sightings, it seems that we are scouting some of the top young wingers right now. We seem to be ever present at Benfica games these days, apparently watching Gaitan, and we have also been watching James Rodriguez and Eden Hazard too. Fergie has even made personal visits to see the latter play for Lille.

Players like Gotze and Lucas will surely be within our thoughts too as they fit a similar criteria.

So, what do we think this will mean for our summer activity?

Has anyone got any preferences as to which one they'd like us to go for?

Could we be seeing one of our current wingers leave to accomodate this new winger?
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
I will be surprised if we will sale any wingers. i just see Park moving inside ala Giggs. With a new wing play maker likely to be brought to be Berbatov's straight replacement and the new option on the left to cater for Park's permanent move infield.

When it comes to preference I'd pick Goetze as the one I'd love to bag.
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Got I hope not, he's bad enough out wide at the moment and clearly hasn't got half the technical ability Giggs has.
 
I don't think Park is technically cut out in the same way Giggs was to play in central midfield. His role in the side has been diminished and you could see him leaving this summer, certainly wouldn't surprise me as we have to fit around a 25 man squad.
 
FlawlessThaw said:
I don't think Park is technically cut out in the same way Giggs was to play in central midfield. His role in the side has been diminished and you could see him leaving this summer, certainly wouldn't surprise me as we have to fit around a 25 man squad.
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I agree, he hasn't got the passing ability to make a similarly successful switch to the middle. His first touch is not good enough either tbh. Shame he has done a good job for us over the years, but if we want to kick on and improve then someone has to make way, and his contribution is currently less important than it has been in the past.

I think it would be difficult not to see the obvious benefits of signing someone like Hazard for our squad in place of Park.
 
I'd rather we got a CM to play alongside Carrick but would definitely be happy if we got a goetze or a hazard. Dont see it happening though.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
I will be surprised if we will sale any wingers. i just see Park moving inside ala Giggs. With a new wing play maker likely to be brought to be Berbatov's straight replacement and the new option on the left to cater for Park's permanent move infield.

When it comes to preference I'd pick Goetze as the one I'd love to bag.
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Think Young is more of a Park replacement (a hard working winger who can play across the front and either wing.) Think we should look for a Left winger who is actually left footed ala Bale (longevity but over priced) or Robben (in last year of contract but older) would be my choice.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
I will be surprised if we will sale any wingers. i just see Park moving inside ala Giggs. With a new wing play maker likely to be brought to be Berbatov's straight replacement and the new option on the left to cater for Park's permanent move infield.

When it comes to preference I'd pick Goetze as the one I'd love to bag.
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Yeah I'd go with Goetze too.

Would prefer a Javi Martinez type, if I had to choose.
 
Lawman said:
Think Young is more of a Park replacement (a hard working winger who can play across the front and either wing.) Think we should look for a Left winger who is actually left footed ala Bale (longevity but over priced) or Robben (in last year of contract but older) would be my choice.
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Robben plays on the right because he's left footed and likes to do stuff on his own. Do not want.
 
I hope for a player like M'villa or Javi Martinez. Don't expect to get either, but a similar type of player would be nice.

That will be it for our summer activities.
 
letranger0 said:
The advantage of Götze over the other names mentioned is that he could actually play in (a 2-man) midfield as well.
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Has he played there for Dortmund? I watched him quite a bit last season but he was mainly used further up the field. I thought myself that he could be turned into a midfielder that could play in a two. His game reminded me of Wilshere's in that he can be quite tenacious.

I remember hearing that Lucas previously played defensive midfield for Sao Paulo, perhaps just in a one off game. His speed is greater than the other listed players and his ability to take on multiple opponents in one move makes him my no.1 choice.
 
pocco said:
It looks like we are looking towards buying a winger that cuts inside and creates.
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It could be just rumors or Fergie could have been watching someone other than Hazard the other day. I see no sense in prioritizing such a player over an experienced, young and talented (but obviously further in his progress than Pogba, someone who would help us instantly) midfielder of the Martinez/M'villa ilk (midfielders with a presence+physique who read the game well and can defend, whilst being very good in possession as well).

We already have Nani and Young as wingers who cut inside regularly. Valencia is competing (successfully) for a spot on the wings as well, Giggs/Park/Welbeck can do a job when 2 out of those 3 are injured. Yeah they are not ideal options there, but then again, they're fecking fourth choice for that spot! Giggs has put in some delightful crosses in, a few were assists to important goals.

I really think we're well stocked there.
 
pocco said:
Has he played there for Dortmund? I watched him quite a bit last season but he was mainly used further up the field. I thought myself that he could be turned into a midfielder that could play in a two. His game reminded me of Wilshere's in that he can be quite tenacious.
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He played in a two-man midfield alongside Tony Da Silva against Eintracht Frankfurt on the last day of last season. He was also dropped into CM in the second half of one of the Europa League matches against either Karpaty Lviv or Qarabag Agdam.

Of course it's not just these two appearances that make me say he could play in central midfield; it's clear as day to anyone who has watched him play that he could play in central midfield if he wanted to.
 
Kevin said:
It could be just rumors or Fergie could have been watching someone other than Hazard the other day. I see no sense in prioritizing such a player over an experienced, young and talented (but obviously further in his progress than Pogba, someone who would help us instantly) midfielder of the Martinez/M'villa ilk (midfielders with a presence+physique who read the game well and can defend, whilst being very good in possession as well).

We already have Nani and Young as wingers who cut inside regularly. Valencia is competing (successfully) for a spot on the wings as well, Park/Welbeck can do a job when 2 out of those 3 are injured. Yeah Park/Welbeck are not ideal options there, but then again, they're fecking fourth choice for that spot!

I really think we're well stocked there.
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I'd say it is likely that we were watching Hazard as we have been watching Gaitan and James Rodriguez who are similar types of players too. It seems we have a few options and are weighing up which to go for.

I think Martinez will stay at CB and move to Real/Barca. I'm not sure about M'Villa. I wanted him last summer but having watched him this season he seems to have bulked up too much and it has affected his game. He was a bit slow on his feet and kept having to bring players down from behind because he couldn't recover when they beat him.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
I will be surprised if we will sale any wingers. i just see Park moving inside ala Giggs. With a new wing play maker likely to be brought to be Berbatov's straight replacement and the new option on the left to cater for Park's permanent move infield.

When it comes to preference I'd pick Goetze as the one I'd love to bag.
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That would be a disaster. With Park in center midfielder we would look like a relegation contender. Park should be moved on next summer, he's been a great servant for us, but he's not good enough anymore.

Fergie wants to win the Champions League before retiring, and if we are to mount a serious challenge in Europe next season, heavy investment is needed. I think we should move for Hazard/Muniain and Javi Martinez. Also, a left back is needed.
 
pocco said:
I'd say it is likely that we were watching Hazard as we have been watching Gaitan and James Rodriguez who are similar types of players too. It seems we have a few options and are weighing up which to go for.
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I hope not and it isn't far-fetched to keep the possibility open that they might be just rumors. We have been surprised before by signing completely different players than the newspapers had signed for us well before the transfer windows.
I see no sense in signed a winger who cuts inside, whilst we have 3 young top players on the wings, two of which doing that exact same job.
 
Kevin said:
I hope not and it isn't far-fetched to keep the possibility open that they might be just rumors. We have been surprised before by signing completely different players than the newspapers had signed for us well before the transfer windows.
I see no sense in signed a winger who cuts inside, whilst we have 3 young top players on the wings, two of which doing that exact same job.
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Of course, they could be rumours and we could be watching other Benfica/Porto/Lille players.

I've only watched Gaitan out of the three properly, but he's different from Young and Nani in that he's more of an Attacking Midfielder that plays from out wide. He comes inside and plays nice link up play and one-twos that cut defences apart. He's more of a David Silva than a winger.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
I will be surprised if we will sale any wingers. i just see Park moving inside ala Giggs. With a new wing play maker likely to be brought to be Berbatov's straight replacement and the new option on the left to cater for Park's permanent move infield.

When it comes to preference I'd pick Goetze as the one I'd love to bag.
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Wouldn't the best strategy to go with given we need a central midfielder who can defend and assert authority over a game more than any of those things.

And I'm not fancying seeing more of Park centrally. He's an all energy wide player who puts himself about and runs himself to the ground. Not really one for helping dictate a football match.
 
amolbhatia100 said:
Wouldn't the best strategy to go with given we need a central midfielder who can defend and assert authority over a game more than any of those things......
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We are going to sign a central midfielder, that is a given. We are talking in this thread however about the other player we will sign to be our next magic man in attack.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
I will be surprised if we will sale any wingers. i just see Park moving inside ala Giggs. With a new wing play maker likely to be brought to be Berbatov's straight replacement and the new option on the left to cater for Park's permanent move infield.

When it comes to preference I'd pick Goetze as the one I'd love to bag.
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Anyone comparing Park with Giggs should be first flogged and then shot to the head. Joking chief...but....erm no
 
I can't see us signing anyone this summer, i expect Fergie/Gill to come up with the following comments:

Fergie: "I'm satisfied with my squad, we will not be buying anyone"
Fergie" There is no value in the market"
Fergie: "we are looking at a couple of situations but nothing definite"
Gill: "The money is there should SAF need it"
And at the end of the summer and after being linked with 768 players, Fergie will come up with the following statement which will cause mass suicide on Redcafe:
Fergie: "No signings this summer".
 
Nate Dogg said:
I can't see us signing anyone this summer, i expect Fergie/Gill to come up with the following comments:

Fergie: "I'm satisfied with my squad, we will not be buying anyone"
Fergie" There is no value in the market"
Fergie: "we are looking at a couple of situations but nothing definite"
Gill: "The money is there should SAF need it"
And at the end of the summer and after being linked with 768 players, Fergie will come up with the following statement which will cause mass suicide on Redcafe:
Fergie: "No signings this summer".
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Nein:nono:
 
I think a couple of 'out and out' signings are required.

We have enough of the Parks, the Gigg's, the Valencia's, the Jones type players who can play a divided role in the team. I think with Fletchers absence we need one more out and out midfielder be it defensive or attacking. Possibly one more attacking signing with Berbatov gone. But we've got our fair share of those malleable players who can play everywhere. What we need is a few more natural positioned players imo.
 
We have too much excess in our squad now - players who we frankly don't need, luxury players. I think the time is right for a bit of a shakeup, out with the old and get in a couple of quality younger players to complement the youth we already have coming through.

The only two signings I would like are Modric and Martinez. Modric can play CM (where we need some quality), can cover Rooneys position (if we need to rest Rooney, or play him elsewhere, or he is injured) and provide some extra cover on the wings too (which given the next part of this post becomes more useful)

OUT;
PIG, Berba, Owen, Park, Anderson. The latter two are contentious, but Park I just don't think has a role to play anymore, he is 4th choice winger, and we have others who can fill that role if required (Cleverley, Giggs, Modric, Welbeck, Rooney). Anderson for me is simply out of time - but he is the one of those players who I am 50/50 on admittedly.

Scholes and Giggs might retire, Fletcher we can't rely upon to return, and given the development of Smalling, Jones and Evans I would even consider selling Rio (or at least trying to cut his wages), given that we would have Martinez to cover at CB when needed.

Those changes would generate a bit of money but more importantly cut our wage bill substantially, allowing the signings I listed above.

That would leave us in an incredibly strong position going into next season.


De Gea
Lindegaard
Amos

Rafael
Fabio
Evra
Vidic
Smalling
Evans
Jones

Cleverley
Martinez
Carrick
Modric
Pogba

Nani
Young
Valencia

Rooney
Hernandez
Welbeck
Macheda/Owen



That's a hell of a squad for me. Brimming with young talent and some experience, lots of players who can play in multiple positions meaning we have flexibility and strength in depth.
 
Nate Dogg said:
I can't see us signing anyone this summer, i expect Fergie/Gill to come up with the following comments:

Fergie: "I'm satisfied with my squad, we will not be buying anyone"
Fergie" There is no value in the market"
Fergie: "we are looking at a couple of situations but nothing definite"
Gill: "The money is there should SAF need it"
And at the end of the summer and after being linked with 768 players, Fergie will come up with the following statement which will cause mass suicide on Redcafe:
Fergie: "No signings this summer".
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It doesn't work like that you idiot. ;)

Gill: "Money will be spent next season. These are exciting times for Manchester United"
Fergie: "We're targeting 2-3 players we're wait and see"
MUTV minions: "It would be nice to strengthen CM"
Fergie "We're targeting one signing. Im comfortable with the side, 'insert injury prone player name' will be back and he'll be like a new signing"
Gill: "We'll wait and see. Im doing some negotiations with a top player. The money is there if SAF wants to spend it"
MUTV Minions "No one can replace Paul Scholes/Ryan Giggs/Bobby Charlton"
Ferguson: "No signings will be made. There's no value in the market at the moment and a new player will weaken the chances for Morrison/Pogba/Bebe"
MUTV Minions "Our team is great. No one can replace Paul Scholes and Bebe is actually a future star"
 
Transfer fees aren't so much the issue as wages, for us. We are in a position where we can comfortably free up a fair bit on the wage bill, by offloading our luxury players, and make room for some big signings if we want.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
After reading the comments of Berbtov's agent about the future direction of the squad, I'm now persuaded that Park will leave this summer.
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I would think so. We could give him a good send off on the Asia Tour before he either retires or goes back to play in Korea. Unless Fergie has seen something in his performances that nobody else has of course.
 
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