Can we realistically sign the players we need to save our season in January?

RedRocket9908

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Can we realistically sign the players we need to save our season in January or do we need to wait until next summer?

I think we at least need a left sided CB, another DM, and another striker so If Casemiro, Sancho, and Varane leave for Saudi would we raise enough funds to fill those positions?
 
CB I would like to see in Jan if there are funds.. FFP could be a issue? Maybe a loan again don't know but CB I'd like to see..
 
We'll get a reject LB on loan and then buy some shite midfielder that doesn't fit any role we need. Oh, that was the summer.
 
This question entirely depends where we are come January, if we are still 6 points or less from the top then definitely we can. On the flip side if we are 8 points off top 4 it's going to be really tough.

We could do with having a fit squad first of all.
 
No, but only because no-one seems to have good judgement around selling players; if a proper SD had been put in place after the Summer TW, they'd be lining up the McT, VDB, (possibly) Varane, and Sancho sales right now at the very least...
 
"Save the season" really just means secure a CL place. And we're currently in 6th place, with 5th potentially being enough for said CL place.

So the answer is obviously yes, provided we don't kill our season over the immediate run of tough fixtures.

Because even before signing anyone, we'll have the likes of Martinez, Casemiro and Mount returning to the squad. If we actually manage to keep players fit across the second half of the season we could improve even without signing anyone. And realistically we are unlikely to continue to be as wildly injury plagued as we have been in the first half of this season.

The idea that we'd need three signings to save the season is wildly overestimating how far away that CL finish is. The teams we're competing with all have their own problems too.
 
No knockout round of CL will have hit any potential transfer funds. As will only 1 win in the group.
 
Not one player alone fixes that midfield. Never mind attacking or defending. I reckon we need at least 5 players.
 
@sullydnl Yeah I think this is basically correct. If we add Guirassy and he can score some goals (and him or Hojlund become a good bench option) and Mainoo and Casemiro form a decent partnership we should be better over the 2nd half of the season assuming Lisandro is back, Onana doesn't start making CL mistakes in the Prem. Maybe upgrade Lindelof too.

The most important things are Shaw and Lisandro coming back, everyone staying healthy and a passable midfield partnership (and I can't look past that being Mainoo-Casemiro since they should fit okay and I just don't rate anyone else who would play there).

We probably won't be particularly good, may come down more to Villa/Spurs/Newcastle form than our own.

We are at even goal differential in the Prem, so I'd expect us to improve a bit in that regard. On pace for 70 points, and I have no idea if Newcastle/Spurs/Villa will end up on 69 or 71.
 
You think signing a player in January will rescue our season when we have seen already just how bad ten hag is in recruitment, all that will happen is we would end up wasting money on another flop
 
If the club have somehow managed to line a lone signing of a good (not Weghorst) proven striker to help Hojlund (and replace the inevitably injured Martial) I'd be satisfied, beyond that I'd prefer to wait until we've got an improved infrastructure at the club when it comes to transfers, everything feels a bit wasteful. I don't have an issue with Mason Mount as a player, but as a signing it shows that the people behind it were/are not to be trusted with the chequebook.
 
By saving our season, assuming finishing top 4 which would mean finishing on 75 points and a decent FA Cup run and hopefully win it, let’s face it there’s no European football after Xmas so the maximum games we would play is 32 more matches with 24 of those in 2024 and 8 in the next 5 weeks including Bayern.

Let’s be realistic the best we can hope for in the next 8 games 3 win, 2 draws 3 defeats so in the PL we might look like P20 W11 D2 L7 which is 35 points assuming we get beat by Newcastle and Liverpool, Draw with Chelsea and villa and somehow fluke 3 more wins 1-0.

Thus really is the best we can hope for but it could easily be 33 points with a 4th defeat in those 8 games, so we would need 40-42 points from 18 Games to make top 4 or 2.2 to 2.3 points per Game. We would need to win 13-14 PL games.

Can’t see it think the club should write off the season and do a complete total reset including the coach, he can not be trusted with one pound more of the clubs money, only if a DOF like Paul Mitchell comes in and has a long term plan should the club look to recruit young prospects.


To save our season we would need ;
Mike Maignan, Todibo, Nicola Barella and Ivan Toney or V Osimhen and let’s face it, that’s never happening.

We might spend £25m maximum in January 24
 
What will save it is the question? We could finish top 4 with the current squad. We could spend £1bn and not challenge for the league, in fact we already have.
 
With Varane going just 6 months after we could have got that Kim fella from Bayern we really blew it. We need to spend big soon on a center back once again. And probably 20m on a goalkeeper to keep Onana on his toes. That way Onana really just cost us 75m. Bad scouting / bad business yet again.
 
We need to replace Varane with a starting quality CB who is young (Todibo?) And then either replace Casemiro or have him back fit and back firing.

Also I assume save our season refers to getting into CL places. The biggest problem with us is we don't control games, we can't defend as a team and we don't have composure, therefore every game is chaos and much more randomness comes on. Players alone won't fix that. System has to be the main thing. Ten Hags been here for 18 months and he hasn't been able to implement any control in us yet. The Prem is too strong to be successful without being able to control.
 
We'd need to break the bank to bring anyone transformative in midway through the season, and can't break the bank because of FFP, so we're not bringing anyone in.
 
No. We will have hundreds of rumours floating around. We will not sign anyone.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
Not one player alone fixes that midfield. Never mind attacking or defending. I reckon we need at least 5 players.
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If Mainoo is trusted, one quality midfield. The issue is where the fund would come from and who would sell/loan us that great midfield mid season? And even a good one may not hit the ground running mid season aka Evra, Vida.

Similar can be said about CB position. Only CF signing may make more impact given goal scoring based more on instinct more than structure.
 
Of course we can - it's not like our players have turned crap overnight. By january Martinez will probably be back and Shaw is back - this makes our defense much stronger. I would be shocked if Hojlund doesn't start scoring - and if Casemiro and Rashford regain some of their form from last season, we suddenly have a good side again.

If we sign 2 good players in the window and avoid a lot of injuries, we will do quite well. But the main issue is our goalkeeper, Casemiro and Rashford not the players we need to sign
 
Depends what on what we mean by “save”? At this point, all we can reasonably hope for is a top four finish. We have the tools already to get the job done, but I’m very worried about keeper. Fix that problem and we’re in at the finish.
 
No but we need to sign the best possible alternative otherwise its a sad statement forvthe club
 
No, we're not challenging in any way. Aiming for top 4 is a bit 'meh'. We were all hoping/expecting to see some good progress this season with the money spent, and I struggle to see a way that this season will meet those expectations now regardless of league finish.
 
Even if we sign players we'll still be playing a suicidal system so it won't make much difference.
 
I don't think so and it's also a big reason why I think selling Casemiro or Varane in January would be a mistake.
 
If INEOS completes the takeover in due course and provides additional funding, we would be eligable to make a three year aggregated financial loss of 90-105 m EUR (can't remember the exact, but check out @Messier1994 posts about the new financial sustainability rules) instead of the 15 m EUR. If liquidity allows, which I believe it could, we would be able to spend a fairly decent amount in January.
 
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Based on current track record, do people genuinely think ten hag will get it right even if he is giving funds in Jan, unless something drastic changes with who is in charge of recruitment I would rather leave it for January and not waste more money on another ten hag flop
 
I think a returning Martinez next to a fit Shaw, Casemiro, Mainoo and the shoots of life we're seeing in attackers (garnacho for example. even Antony has looked a bit better in his last 2 appearances) will be positive. Assuming they stay fit we will have a stronger second half to the season.

I do think an extra body can lift a dressing room though, even if it's just the likes of Werner on loan or the Iranian from Porto. First and foremost we need a relatively fit squad and an upward trajectory for our attacking players. I think Sancho should be the only bigger name sale in january.
 
Plant0x84 said:
Does our season need saving? We’ve gone about it in an odd way I grant you, but we’re not in too bad a position right now.
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Knocked out of the league cup early.
Potentially won't even qualify for Europa.

We basically have the FA Cup to aim for and that's it. Too early at this point to determine where we are in the PL, always think after the Christmas run tends to give you a good prediction as it's such a crucial time and you hit the 50% mark.

I guess it depends ultimately on what your expectations are.
 
Id rather we came 12th than buy in Jan. Never ever let Ten Haag near transfers again. First DOF, then plan, then structure - recruitment team changed if needed etc, then and only then transfers.
 
Mickeza said:
I think we need to replace Sancho - other than that the players we need to “save” our season are already at the club. We just need them fit.
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I agree but I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t get any January interest in Sancho due to his wage demands
 
RedSky said:
Knocked out of the league cup early.
Potentially won't even qualify for Europa.

We basically have the FA Cup to aim for and that's it. Too early at this point to determine where we are in the PL, always think after the Christmas run tends to give you a good prediction as it's such a crucial time and you hit the 50% mark.

I guess it depends ultimately on what your expectations are.
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Thing is though we are already out of the LC, more or less out of Europe and already only have the league and FA Cup left.

The cup is an anomaly- it’s a case of who you draw and what happens on the day.

We’re well placed in the league all things considered, City and Liverpool took points off each other, Villa and Spurs could do the same and we have games against top 4 rivals coming up. If we can get something from those games we’re set for a good run in. Who knows what could happen.
 
Even if we have the money, I'm not sure we could be confident if it being spent on a 'season-saving' type of player.
 
Save our season? We're six points off the top and injured and not in great form, the best record in the PL in like the last ten matches, Mainoo has strengthened our midfield considerably, Martinez will be back shortly, Garancho is kicking off, Fernandez looks to be as well, Shaw is back and will improve us, Maguire is playing well, Hojland is looking very promising . . . if Rashford bursts into form and Onana steadies his ship, we will be fighting for the title. What the fook is the OP on about?
 
Nobby style said:
Save our season? We're six points off the top and injured and not in great form, the best record in the PL in like the last ten matches, Mainoo has strengthened our midfield considerably, Martinez will be back shortly, Garancho is kicking off, Fernandez looks to be as well, Shaw is back and will improve us, Maguire is playing well, Hojland is looking very promising . . . if Rashford bursts into form and Onana steadies his ship, we will be fighting for the title. What the fook is the OP on about?
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You myst be the glass half-full type :p
 
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