Alphonso Davies

Lentwood said:
The point is the focus will be on developing talent, not buying in established talent.

How many "no brainer" signings have we paid big money for to come in and make an impact on a massive deal?

How many have worked...?
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Bondi77 said:
And big money signings always seem to work out so well for us :rolleyes:
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Well it's just about options, isn't it? Having multiple players in a position that could pan out and be an integral part of the team is probably a good thing rather than putting all your eggs in one basket... I'm just saying that a lot of people here seem to be of the mind that Amass is nailed on as a sure thing and that you therefore don't need need to spend money on improving the position as a whole.

Given he's 17, there's a good chance he either might be out on a loan spell or two and/or have his minutes managed carefully over the next 2, 3, 4 seasons anyway and that's even if he manages the step up to a level he's never played at before and starts to fulfil his potential - in which case there is a quite obvious need for a more established option.

Yes United have made bad big money signings in recent years, but you can't then just blanket say 'well we shouldn't be spending big money on players'. End of the day Davies is one of the best players in the world in his position, would probably be a great fit if Amorim adopts his favoured 3-4-3 system as expected and is out of contract so it would be foolish to not at least consider him. Obviously there will be questions about his motives if he was indeed interested in joining which will need to be weighed-up, but overall I see fewer obvious red-flags than pretty much every other big money transfer United have completed in recent years.
 
HTG said:
... that a club like Bayern really wants to keep, while Real Madrid desperately want him to sign and even Barca is rumoured to be in the mix?
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Am I remembering things wrong or weren't the Bayern fans on here totally meh about him last season? Stuff like 'his only attribute is pace', 'he hasn't progressed at all since he's been here', 'not worth the money'.
 
icehole said:
Am I remembering things wrong or weren't the Bayern fans on here totally meh about him last season? Stuff like 'his only attribute is pace', 'he hasn't progressed at all since he's been here', 'not worth the money'.
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He was bad the last few seasons. But this season is completely different. Which is clearly down to the way Kompany plays. That style suits him much better and he’s back to his old self.
 
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DannyCAFC said:
Well it's just about options, isn't it? Having multiple players in a position that could pan out and be an integral part of the team is probably a good thing rather than putting all your eggs in one basket... I'm just saying that a lot of people here seem to be of the mind that Amass is nailed on as a sure thing and that you therefore don't need need to spend money on improving the position as a whole.

Given he's 17, there's a good chance he either might be out on a loan spell or two and/or have his minutes managed carefully over the next 2, 3, 4 seasons anyway and that's even if he manages the step up to a level he's never played at before and starts to fulfil his potential - in which case there is a quite obvious need for a more established option.

Yes United have made bad big money signings in recent years, but you can't then just blanket say 'well we shouldn't be spending big money on players'. End of the day Davies is one of the best players in the world in his position, would probably be a great fit if Amorim adopts his favoured 3-4-3 system as expected and is out of contract so it would be foolish to not at least consider him. Obviously there will be questions about his motives if he was indeed interested in joining which will need to be weighed-up, but overall I see fewer obvious red-flags than pretty much every other big money transfer United have completed in recent years.
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I'm not saying the plan is (or should be) to rely on Amass, I just doubt that we'll be giving a player tens of millions in signing fees and £300K per week.

Far more likely we look to spend smart money on another bargain like Mazraoui
 
Madridista2000 said:
We won La Liga and the Champions League last season. With Mbappe signing, on paper, it looked like a powerful squad. All these issues you're pointing out stem from the team's poor form. When you start losing, everything looks bad.

An urgent need for a right-back? We had Carvajal, the best right-back in the world (ranked 4th in the Ballon d'Or). No one could predict he’d suffer an ACL injury. Vasquez did a decent job whenever he was needed last season, but he’s not someone who can hold the position for a full season.

At left-back, we have Mendy and Garcia. They played well last season. While Davies would have been a luxury and a great addition, he wasn't an urgent need by any means.

The only position I agree we need is center-back. We should have signed another CB when Leny didn't come.

For midfield, we have Modric, Camavinga, Bellingham, Tchouameni, Valverde, and Ceballos, with Arda Güler as an option as well. There’s no other player like Kroos on the market.

At right wing, we have Rodrygo, Güler, and Brahim Diaz. Brahim was one of our best players last season and still plays very well this season. It would have been pointless to sign another winger—this isn’t Football Manager.

Whether Mbappe will be a success or not, only time will tell. He's been poor so far, but I’ve followed Madrid long enough to know not to rule someone out after just a few months. Vini looked like a Sunday league player in his first few seasons.

Whether Leny is a generational talent or not, only time will tell. However, he wasn’t generational enough for Madrid to go all the way for him.

United is by no means the Saudi League. My point was that United will have to pay much more than Madrid because, at the moment, United is not a top club. They're nowhere near a league title and nowhere to be seen in Europe.

Before criticizing Perez and his squad-building, take a look at the Champions League trophies Real Madrid has won during his tenure. 7!!!! That's same nr. as AC Milan at nr. 2.
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I agree with some things and disagree with some of the stuff you said, the only thing I want to say is that Madrid can obviously afford to basically "take their chances" both in La Liga and the CL, even though I do think there are big holes in the squad that need filling IMO.

So going into a season with not many reinforcements is fine, but the long-term planning could be better. Kroos might be irreplaceable, but there are definitely midfielders out there who can outpass your current choices that you have, as well as dictate the tempo of the game and controll the midfield better, and sort of provide a like for like solution to losing Kroos, but with a drop in quality, obviously. It seems like you ignored that issue. I think Mendy and García are decent but other top teams have way better LB options. The same thing can be said for the other side. Carvajal and Vázquez are alright but I don't think the former is anywhere near to being the best RB in the world. Great team achievements don't strictly make you the best in the world in your position. That's the type of thought process that renders the Ballon d'Or award meaningless for a lot of football fans.

You also haven't had a real #9 since Benzema left, except Joselu, but you let him leave too.

Tbh I think Madrid are the best cup team in the world who can afford to have gaping holes in the squad and to be often outplayed tactically, even in big games, because in the absolute worst case scenario, you'll often be bailed out by player quality, and you won't finish lower than 3rd in the league anyways, but Barca and Atletico have been self-sabotaging themselves in recent years so you managed to get a few easy league titles, add to that the Madrid juju in the CL and it managed to paper over a lot of cracks that were created by bad decision making IMO. The squad, the profile of manager (not a tactical genius but a good balancer and man-manager), and performances in the CL ever since Ancelotti re-joined you, all scream cup-team to me. I don't think you would be able to even come close to winning the Premier League, for example, in the last 5-7 years.

In my opinion, Madrid can easily maintain themselves as a great cup team with a real chance to win the CL every year, whilst also becoming an elite team over a 38 game league season as well, but you'd need a new manager and 4-5 new players to begin that process.
 
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I personally think we stand no chance against Real. I would send an inquiry to check out his willingness but wouldn't spend too much time on him if his priority is clear. There are plenty of other interesting LWBs.
 
Ali Dia said:
I think if we get him or Ait Nouri. A really good mobile central playmaker and a Rashford replacement like a Musiala we are are onto a total winner and it should be doable within FFP margins too.
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Still heavily relies upon a centre forward that ultimately proves to be of use, which is yet to happen with ours.
 
aeh1991 said:
I personally think we stand no chance against Real. I would send an inquiry to check out his willingness but wouldn't spend too much time on him if his priority is clear. There are plenty of other interesting LWBs.
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We got Yoro and they were after him as well.
 
GreatDane said:
We got Yoro and they were after him as well.
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That's because they were unwilling to pay what we did for Yoro, while A.Davies' contract is running out. That suits their transfer strategy better. They're very likely the favorites to sign him..
 
aeh1991 said:
That's because they were unwilling to pay what we did for Yoro, while A.Davies' contract is running out. That suits their transfer strategy better. They're very likely the favorites to sign him..
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We'll probably offer him better wages.
 
ManUnitedCanuck said:
Would be a dream signing for me, as a Canadian, but it isn’t going to happen.
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Same. To be honest, I was very underwhelmed with him during Copa America. His decision making was very bad in my opinion and he was often trying to do too much and ended up not doing the basics right. The team was great but our best two players were not (him and Jonathan).

His role would be different at United and I think he’d be fantastic as a wingback.

Maybe eventually Koné will be a beast at Marseille and we’ll buy him too :smirk:
 
redNATION said:
Davies and Frimpong as WBs in Amorims system would be ideal, no need for wingers.
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This would be a dream. Show Rashford the door, then have Garnacho, Bruno, Mount, and Amad rotating for the 2 inside forward roles.

Seems weird to think that we might then have a complete squad that actually plays to it's strengths. Not sure how to feel about it
 
GreatDane said:
We'll probably offer him better wages.
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Not sure how you came to that conclusion.

Madrid are way more likely to offer him higher wages, if you compare their wage bill to ours, and consider the first window we had under Ineos too.
 
The fact we will be playing wingbacks my entice him more than people realise.

With Amorim he could be playing a role that should suit him the best & that could really get his mind thinking whilst United are a very rich club that can compete financially against Real Madrid.
 
Bondi77 said:
Sounds like he has a great mentality then..we need another one of them.
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It’s not an issue of mentality. His style just didn’t fit Tuchel at all. Tuchel deprived him of all his strengths, even his speed. Davies was constantly playing in the middle of the field.
Kompany is utilising him to his strengths and especially utilises his speed in a tremendous way.
The best mentality doesn’t help, if the coach doesn’t know how or is unwilling, to play to your strengths.
 
HTG said:
It’s not an issue of mentality. His style just didn’t fit Tuchel at all. Tuchel deprived him of all his strengths, even his speed. Davies was constantly playing in the middle of the field.
Kompany is utilising him to his strengths and especially utilises his speed in a tremendous way.
The best mentality doesn’t help, if the coach doesn’t know how or is unwilling, to play to your strengths.
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I never liked Tuchel...a right boring cnut.
 
Players playing their best football on their last year of their contract is something I've become wary of after years of watching United tbh.
 
Don't think he fits the profile of an ideal signing under the new structure. Yes he'd be a free signing, but we'd still have to throw some Woodward-esque incentives at him and his agent to merely stand a chance of convincing him to pick us over Madrid, a very tall order.

We managed it with Yoro because we were willing to pay Lille a fee (something Madrid weren't willing to do), but it's an even playing field for Davies' signature which puts us on the backfoot.

Anyway I'd prefer our scouting team earn their mettle and start to unravel some gem we can sign for a fraction of what we'd be paying for superstar players.
 
Kaos said:
Don't think he fits the profile of an ideal signing under the new structure. Yes he'd be a free signing, but we'd still have to throw some Woodward-esque incentives at him and his agent to merely stand a chance of convincing him to pick us over Madrid, a very tall order.

We managed it with Yoro because we were willing to pay Lille a fee (something Madrid weren't willing to do), but it's an even playing field for Davies' signature which puts us on the backfoot.

Anyway I'd prefer our scouting team earn their mettle and start to unravel some gem we can sign for a fraction of what we'd be paying for superstar players.
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I think he'd be perfect if we could sign him.

One of the worlds best in his position, approaching/at the start of his peak years, a position we definitely need - if he's willing to sign, this is the exact sort of player we should be trying to sign. We did it in the past when we signed the likes of Yorke, Keane, Rio, Carrick, Berbatov, Veron, Cole. Apart from Veron, they all worked out splendidly.
 
Mainoonited said:
I think he'd be perfect if we could sign him.

One of the worlds best in his position, approaching/at the start of his peak years, a position we definitely need - if he's willing to sign, this is the exact sort of player we should be trying to sign. We did it in the past when we signed the likes of Yorke, Keane, Rio, Carrick, Berbatov, Veron, Cole. Apart from Veron, they all worked out splendidly.
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It’s a total no brainier but he’s obvously Madrids to lose. Can they match us after giving all that money for Mbappe? If they can’t I can see another Yoro situation coming about which would be fine with me as he’s in his prime as it’s really important to have creativity width and guile on that side. Something we miss when Shaw is out for his customary half a season
 
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