Alternative midfield targets

UpWithRivers said:
Mikel Merino for 30 mill is a bargain. Heading for Arsenal but we should keep at least try
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I'm surprised that we didn't persue him at all.

We are absolutely not ready for the new season. We've only made two signings to a team that finished 8th and one of them is a kid who is out for months. Aside from our attack which has been poor for a decade and lacking quality at CB and LB, our midfield is a terrible state which Mainoo and a bunch of mediocre to poor options.

Then of course is the manager who seemingly obsessed with transitions.
 
Someone else with physique please.
It’s an aggressive beast we need in the mould of Fabinho/Joelinton/Bruno Guimaraes.
 
I am surprised that there isn't more talk about Baleba from Brighton.
I see him as a monster of a DM already, and a potentially very good partner for Mainoo.

As Brighton have bought Wieffer from Feyenoord, there could be a deal to be made for Baleba...
 
Bastian said:
Why haven't we been linked with Fabian Ruiz - seems Arsenal are linked with him and he's not lived up to expectations at PSG. What a player.
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Him and Rabiot are both 8’s - so they’ll rotate with Mainoo and possibly even Mount, if that’s where EtH intends on playing him. Both would strengthen our squad and depth (& possible even our starting XI), but it’s clear why their types are not a priority right now, especially considering our financial constraints.
 
We need to sort our scouting out because we still seem incapable of pursuing non-obvious targets. I bet players like Mikel Merino weren't even on our radar.
 
I'd take a chance on someone like Hayden Hackney and supplement with experience in Rabiot.
 
Bastian said:
Yeah, I'm still hoping Eriksen will be moved on. But those recent quotes lead me to believe neither him nor Maguire have been told anything about the club wanting to move them on.



It's a bit similar to signing de Jong. I'd sign either of them in a heartbeat. And also a defensive midfielder. Having three midfielders who are all top class for two slots, or if we are playing Bruno - at times - in a false nine, going with all four. Ruiz is also more physical and robust than Mainoo, so not exactly the same sort of player really. Certainly don't want him at Arsenal.
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I mean if that was going to be the case then we would have contested for Neves far more than we did. I don’t disagree that we need more top class midfielders regardless of their specific role (I was very hopeful for Neves happening and thought him and Mainoo would be perfect as partners with a DM behind), just more so being realistic in that we are clearly looking at DM’s right now more than anything.
 
Éderson would probably be my preferred pick, but no idea what he'd cost or whether he's available at all. Sander Berge is not a bad option, actually.
 
I'm surprised we haven't gone for Edson Alvarez yet, considering we seem to be in the market for a defensive midfielder and he makes more sense than anyone else.
 
Sarni said:
I'm surprised we haven't gone for Edson Alvarez yet, considering we seem to be in the market for a defensive midfielder and he makes more sense than anyone else.
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I asked the same but he's just back from an injury and seemingly it might have pushed him down the list of prospects.
 
aeh1991 said:
Looks very interesting. Could be cheaper than the other targets, too. Haven't heard of him before tbh, but he seems to be rated highly by La Liga followers.

Pepelu is another player I like. Just had a great season with Valencia and reminds me a bit of Rodri.

Hugo Larsson at Frankfurt is another hidden gem. Is a profile that would fit us very well: https://totalfootballanalysis.com/a...023-24-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics

Lastly, Lucas-Gourna Douath (19) would be a talent I'd sign additionally as he would cost less than 20m.
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Hugo Larrson is an interesting player, not sure if he's going to develop into a box to box or DM but he could be someone that can play both 6 and 8 for us.

I still think a combo of Alan Varela and Lucas-Gourna Douth/Hugo Larsson would be better than buying Ugarte. We also shouldn't be forced to pay up for a DM if it's not the right fit now that the Ugarte deal doesn't look like coming off.

Another option is selling McT, bring in Rabiot on a free, tell him that he will be covering Mainoo and playing 6 predominantly where he's played before at PSG (as I don't think Case is up to it), then we can bring in a younger player like LGD as a wildcard to develop over the next 2 years.
 
I do reckon we’ve had a bit of a hard on for Fofana for a while tbh and would not be surprised if he ends up being our man.

Personally, if we can’t get an Ugarte deal done (perm or loan), I’d be happy with Rabbit or Berge with a view to revisiting next summer. And by revisiting, I mean signing Adam Wharton for the 80m odd it would likely take if he continues his rise next season.
 
What's going on with Kimmich at Bayern?
He's in the last year of his contract and doesn't look like he is renewing, is he one of the players Bayern are looking to move on to free up funds?

I know he does not fit the age profile of players we are looking at, and is 29, but he is still a brilliant player that can cover multiple roles, and is a born winner.

He would solve our problem of not having a proper passer at the base of midfield, and is defensively good, with the only question mark being how much does he have left in his legs.
Don't forget he is also great at set pieces.

Only thing is he normally plays better with a physical runner in midfield, that we don't have, so who knows, but it might be worth a punt?

Maybe offer Bayern a deal for all 3 players, and they might do a deal with heavy installments, say €100m, over 5 years at €20m a year.
 
Kimmich's future seems to be up in the air every summer.
Didn't he had issues with Tuchel or am I mistaken ? Because if so I don't know United would bring him over on account of... potential future managerial changes.
 
city win all the league titles because they sign the two best players available in each position

I think United should try that to get really good too

It’s actually incredibly simple

Or we can sign players like Berge and Amrabat to help us stay shite
 
amolbhatia50k said:
I'm surprised that we didn't persue him at all.

We are absolutely not ready for the new season. We've only made two signings to a team that finished 8th and one of them is a kid who is out for months. Aside from our attack which has been poor for a decade and lacking quality at CB and LB, our midfield is a terrible state which Mainoo and a bunch of mediocre to poor options.

Then of course is the manager who seemingly obsessed with transitions.
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We finished 8th because half our team was injured.
 
Have Arsenal signed Merino?
If not, we should hijack that deal.

Can play that tiki taka & great in the air too
 
LawCharltonBest said:
city win all the league titles because they sign the two best players available in each position

I think United should try that to get really good too

It’s actually incredibly simple

Or we can sign players like Berge and Amrabat to help us stay shite
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I think we should assume that the new footballing structure is competent enough to know this. Certainly not the people before them. Berrada is from there, so I think it's a safe bet. There is no way we'll buy two massively underwhelming midfielders for this season.

Schmeichels pinky said:
We’ve been rumored to be after Hjulmand from Sporting
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I think they just made him captain, so it's unlikely he'll leave.
 
Bring Scholes back out of retirement! Or Roy Keane
 
Happy with the Berge and Fofana links. Would take Johnny Cardoso as well. These 3 could all be real bargains for cheap. Have a feeling it will be Fofana but we’ll see.

Sarni said:
I'm surprised we haven't gone for Edson Alvarez yet, considering we seem to be in the market for a defensive midfielder and he makes more sense than anyone else.
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I think West Ham would ask for far more money than what we believe he is worth.
 
Escobar said:
And had a shit midfield
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Two thirds of our midfield were amongst the best performers in the team, if not the league. We had a shit DM. More to the point is we had our third or fourth choice back four for the majority of the season, and more than a shit midfield, we had a ‘shit’ centre forward for most of the season, which is an area we can expect realistic improvement this season.
 
Angelo Stiller looks a decent option. Good passer, decent under pressure, good tackling stats. A genuine cdm unlike other options. Wouldn't expect Stuttgart to want a massive fee for him either. Anyone watched him closely last season who could give a proper verdict on him?
 
dinostar77 said:
We've been mentioned as being interested in Andre (fluminese) at £30mil and joao gomes (wolves) at £60mil in a tweet about 30 minutes ago as alternatives to Ugarte.

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Very different players. Andre is a bit light on the ball winning but plays 70-80 passes a game and can have a dribble. No goals or assists but some decent general play and ball keeping

Joao Gomes loves a tackle but doesnt do much with the ball, a bit more like Ugarte but nowhere near as good
 
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Wrecking ralf said:
Angelo Stiller looks a decent option. Good passer, decent under pressure, good tackling stats. A genuine cdm unlike other options. Wouldn't expect Stuttgart to want a massive fee for him either. Anyone watched him closely last season who could give a proper verdict on him?
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Averages less than 2 a game

Very light on the ball winning, good with the ball. Pirlo and De Jong are more ball winners than he is so will likely need an honest ball winning midfielder around him
 
I like Varela and Hjulmand. Bergen could be good value, but I don't think he'd be anywhere near enough on his own.
 
Blood Mage said:
We need to sort our scouting out because we still seem incapable of pursuing non-obvious targets. I bet players like Mikel Merino weren't even on our radar.
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Nor should he be. He is more wasteful than Bruno, while being nowhere near as creative. We need better ball retention, he offers none.
 
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