Centre Back... Who do we go for?

We NEED an experienced centre-back, someone like Alderweireld or Boateng would be amazing. Proven world-class (in my opinion) defenders with excellent ball-playing abilities.

If I had to choose one then it would be Alderweireld because of his PL experience, Boateng did flop in the PL I have to mention. Alderweireld also seems to be more physically imposing.
 
do.ob said:
According to the (usually well informed regarding Dortmund and Schalke matters) Funke group, United has itensified their efforts to sign Sokratis, with Mourinho supposedly having called the player.
Click to expand...
Is he any good? If getting Toby proves difficult, would he be a good fall back option?
 
AgentP said:
Is he any good? If getting Toby proves difficult, would he be a good fall back option?
Click to expand...

I think he's too slow and unthreatening on the ball to be a top cb (opponents could really hurt Dortmund by forcing the build up onto him via their pressing) and he struggled a lot with Bosz's football, but I also think he could look quite good in a Mourinho team.
 
Last edited:
Smalling-Alderweireld looks like a great pairing on paper. Just hope signing Alderweireld doesn't mean other areas which should be higher priorities get neglected like last summer.
 
do.ob said:
According to the (usually well informed regarding Dortmund and Schalke matters) Funke group, United has itensified their efforts to sign Sokratis, with Mourinho supposedly having called the player.
Click to expand...
Let's hope it all ends with that, Sokratis is a very average CB and would be an awful signing.
 
Nytram Shakes said:
I do get your point on the center backs. I mean if you look at the last 4 years a lot of these players have had really good spells,
  • Smalling had a great 18 months but then his form went off a cliff when they brought in stricter laws on shirt holding and he has taken time to get back to performing well. An recently his performances have been solid if not spectacular.
  • Blind, despite all the crap he got, actually had a really good 9 months or so at centre back, and his partnership with Bailly at the start of last season looked like they had been playing together for years. Add to that no other player who can play centre back in our squad comes close to him in passing and on the ball skills. but there are big questions as to whether he is tall enough to play the role, especially for a manager so obsessed with height. And he is also prone to a lapse in concentration.
  • Bailly came in all guns blazing and looked like a great signing, but really since he first got injured 18 months ago he has never recaptured that form, he has been in and out of the team, and to be honest i'd say over the last 18 months his form has been in general below that of Jones and Smalling.
  • Jones i'd say un Mourinho has been the defender who has put in the most good performances, and his partnership with Rojo in the second half of last season was excellent, before that but as we saw in the FA cup final he is can at times be partial to a howler. Also his injury record in atrocious.
  • Rojo, 2 years ago I thought his days at the club were numbered, but last season his partnership with Jones changed alot of peoples opinions on him, and he had a really good season, but then he got an injury that has ended many careers and we havn't really seen him since. But we have given him a new 4 year contract which seems bizzare considering his injury and the fact really over the 4 years he has been here he has struggled for one reason or other for 3 and1/2 of them.
  • Lindelof, it's hard to no what to say about him, he has improved but still looks a million miles away from being a first choice centre back for a top 4 team.
So yes in an ideal world we would buy a left sided centre-back who could come in and make the position their own. but I just can't see how you do that this summer with all the other outlays we need. at least at centre back we have numbers and a large selection of players who have put in good performances. We don't have that in that in other areas so that has to be a priority. I know you like many others dream of us buying 6 players spending around 250mil or somthing, but honestly think that's a pipe dream. people went into last summer expecting the same and the one before that. and even then I think in this market it might be a struggle to bring in 6 players.
We have to be a bit realistic, because if that is your expectations this summer you are going to feel disappointed by the end of it.

So for me this summer spend the money we have on Area's we are physically short or players and look to upgrade centreback next summer.
Click to expand...

Sadly I think you are probably right regarding the outlay....more than possible if we sell too though with so much deadwood as I do disagree with your thoughts on our centre backs:

Smalling: Had one good season under Van Gall where he did really improve, maybe he should change his name to Mike by deed poll? Seriously, with the ball he is a liability against the high press, he is quick and strong and does some good things defensively, but he just doesnt have any football intelligence. A good squad player yes, a starting centre back he really shouldnt be. I know its SOuthgates judgement but if we have a centre back that cant get in the England side with the current competition (which is virtually zero) that says enough for me

Blind: Almost the opposite of Smalling, but not in a good way. For me his worst position is centre back. He is decent on the ball, has good football intelligence but he is awful in the air or long balls, flick ons, has no strength and not much pace either which means he gets bullied by strong strikers and outpace by quick ones, happened time and time again, as a centre back he is totally not suited to the premiership. A reasonable but again very average left back. I think he was at his best for us as a defensive midfielder and as a squad player with our shortages can be used there, as a centre back though, please no, he is the worst we have, why people rated him there I just dont udnerstand

Bailly: He has made a few silly mistakes since his injury and been rasher than normal, I would agree with that. Has he had a decent run of games the whole season though, I dont really think so. Hope he can stay injury free next season, he is by far and away our best centre back currently in terms of ability and even with the mistakes and loss of form, should be getting played above the others

JOnes: So dissapointing since we signed him. The JOnes we signed from Blackburn looked like a future England captain, leader and top quality centre back. He hasnt progressed barely at all since he came to the club SEVERAL years ago now. One of the pundits in the FA cup I thnk it may havev been Shearer said he always looks like he is defending desperately throwing himself in, so true. You talk about his best performances, there is always a mistake coming from him every single game waiting to happen with his positioning, that is why the desperate defending happens and he is always injured too.

Rojo: I would pretty much totally agree with what you say there. Though he was so poor at left back I think he has got a bit overhyped as he was good rather than spectacular in the middle, it was just such a shock he got overly praised

Lindelof: I thought exactly what you said before we signed him....that was a big mistake for me last summer as a signing as we need a real quality centre back, thats why I dont want us to do the same this summer.... I rally want us to keep Bailly, think we could quite easily sell three of the others and thats pretty much a new centre back paid for, then you still have three centre backs, a new centre back and Mensah and Tuanzabe as back up if need be, six centre backs and even worse case scenario you are getting £50m coming in and spending £100m on Koubilay, that would be £50m and Im sure a decrease in wages too, agsain thats the worst case scenario financially and a pairing of Khoubilay and Bailly is a million times better than waht we have now, you could quite easily sign other top centre backs and end up getting more money in from the sales, I wish we would show some balls cutting out the averageat best players littered all over our squad, we could comfortably sign six quality players if we did that
 
Manchester United centre back tier list:

1 - (Good enough for starting XI, deserves a place in starting XI)

Bailly: Immense and only 24, but he is becoming injury prone. I have no concerns over his ability but him being injury prone is certainly a big concern.

2 - (Good enough to be at least a backup or part of the rotation, deserves their place in the squad)

Rojo: Has struggled to get back to his form from last season. I still believe that he can though, he just needs to get a proper preseason under his belt imo.
Smalling: Has had a really good season this year, makes very few mistakes these days, great in the air too. Hes no Pique or Hummels but hes good enough on the ball imo.

3 - (Not good enough, we should try to sell/get rid of if the opportunity to do so arises)

Jones: Too mistake prone, still a bit injury prone, lacks pace also.
Blind: Slowest player in the squad, good on the ball but gets skinned way too easily, not good enough. Likeable guy but its time for him to leave.

TBD - (Needs time, don't want to judge just yet)

Lindelof: Has been crap this season, but has improved steadily, it was his first season in the premier league at at new club, United, hes not that old either, next season we can judge him more harshly.
Tuanzebe: Don't know enough about him to comment, has been on loan since January too. Played maybe once or twice earlier on in the season. Still a kid in football terms.

I'd prefer Umtiti or Koulibaly to Alderweireld btw, Toby nearly 30, and has been injured a lot recently. The other two are younger and wouldn't cost much more, no injury concerns also.
 
Suedesi said:
Him and Skriniar would be my top 2 choices
Click to expand...
Skriniar is a very interesting player and from what I´ve seen of him on TV last season he reminds me of a certain defender named Nemanja Vidic. Yes he would be a really interesting option also. Him and Koulibaly would make a very formidable partnership and I suspect strikers would not enjoy playing against those 2.
 
Kostov said:
Let's hope it all ends with that, Sokratis is a very average CB and would be an awful signing.
Click to expand...

I think average is a bit harsh. He's pretty good as far as "no nonsense" defending goes. What holds him back is his attacking potential and perhaps his ability to deal with the exposure of a dominant attacking team. So I think Mourinho's football will complement his profile nicely. €20m (the ballpark figure quoted in Germany) also would be fairly cheap for a United signing.
 
do.ob said:
I think average is a bit harsh. He's pretty good as far as "no nonsense" defending goes. What holds him back is his attacking potential and perhaps his ability to deal with the exposure of a dominant attacking team. So I think Mourinho's football will complement his profile nicely. €20m (the ballpark figure quoted in Germany) also would be fairly cheap for a United signing.
Click to expand...

Not sure what you mean by Jose's football as apart from 4-5 games, Manutd always plays attacking game in the league or at least plays on front foot and try to open up defensive teams.

Don't think he is better than what we already have.
 
do.ob said:
I think average is a bit harsh. He's pretty good as far as "no nonsense" defending goes. What holds him back is his attacking potential and perhaps his ability to deal with the exposure of a dominant attacking team. So I think Mourinho's football will complement his profile nicely. €20m (the ballpark figure quoted in Germany) also would be fairly cheap for a United signing.
Click to expand...
Whenever I've seen him he never looks like an assured defender, have seen him making blunders that would make Phil Jones look like Baresi. And Mourinho football as you say, has our CB parked at the half way line very often, Sokratis would struggle for pace and physicality in the PL and not to mention he would be bullied in the air. Dortmund's defense has been shambles and that is partly because of the system deployed by their manager, but also because of average defenders like Sokratis, Bartra and Toprak.
 
There is a big choice out there, but whoever Mourinho decides to bring in, it has to be the right one this time. I do think that bringing in 2 proper full backs ( this is our problem) will take more pressure off the CB's whoever they may be.

We must spend wisely this summer, and bring in players for the areas we are weakest in, and not just throw it all at Marquee players.
2 full backs, a midfielder, and a right winger, should be first priorities. IMO
 
Skriniar would be my first pick IF we are looking to get more than a backup. Like a weird hybrid of stam & Vidic he looks like he’s got the lot and will be one of the top 3cbs in the world very soon
 
golden_blunder said:
Skriniar would be my first pick IF we are looking to get more than a backup. Like a weird hybrid of stam & Vidic he looks like he’s got the lot and will be one of the top 3cbs in the world very soon
Click to expand...

Yeah, he is arguably the best in Serie A this season, had wonderful season.
 
Levy is asking 75m for Alderweireld, so it would be better to look for other options. So, who would be the best CB we could get for 50m or less?
 
Looks like we're walking away from the Alderweireld deal and rightly so. I just hope we've got a solid target in mind, although I wasn't one of those who thought a CB was essential this summer despite not massively rating our options.

Full-backs were far more crucial this summer. Smalling/Bailly could have formed a doable partnership this season if both can stay fit.
 
Kostas manolas is great option imo. He is one of the reason roma in semifinal. He is 26 and his release clause is €37M.

Manolas bailly will make such an amazing pair at the back IMo.

For left back I prefer max. And he is only cost €35M

We also can take advantage of sporting situation and steal bruno fernandez and save money for RW pos
 
I'd play for minimum wage. My left knee is a bit dodgy and I can't head the ball for s*** despite being tall. Very slow as well but, hey, as someone famously said once: either the ball or the player gets past me, never both.
 
I am not that flustered about our Cb options. We are fine there unless someone excellent becomes available.

Fullbacks should be focus for me.
 
Fer said:
Levy is asking 75m for Alderweireld, so it would be better to look for other options. So, who would be the best CB we could get for 50m or less?
Click to expand...
If Tottenham fans are appreciating Levy then he is doing more harm to the club than protecting interest. Tottenham is not even level of Atletico M. They are not Madrid or Barca or Man Utd to sell players only when they want. Many good promising players see clubs like Tottenham as stepping stone. No good player will want to join them if they create a black hole for incomings. What worse, they are not even pay masters! No matter how big club is, people have ambitions and reasons for leaving and if owner seem to be unreasonable and blocking path then good luck doing business.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Based on reputation:
Varane, Umtiti, Pavard, Lenglet, Manolas, Koulibaly, Alderweireld & Skriniar. De Ligt if we go for 2.
 
Alderweireld would have been a good transfer to pursue if Levy wasn't the boss at the selling club. This is why I would want us to look elsewhere quickly if we cannot agree on a reasonable price.

Boateng is very experienced at the highest levels but the issue of fitness is one that we can't afford to take lightly. If Bayern is willing to offload a player, it speaks volumes.

Personally I have been very impressed with Koulibaly and I'd love to see him here.
 
Last edited:
We don't just need a CB we need a leader someone who can organise the back line. So this chap De Ligt I'm sure he has alot of potential but the timing just isn't right for us to buy him.
 
Fer said:
What's Fosu-Mensah best position?
Click to expand...

He'll be either a right back or box-to-box midfielder. He's not quite big enough or good enough in the air (or disciplined enough) to be a centre back.

My pick would be Lenglet, I think he'll be top drawer and is already good enough to be a regular.

Pavard also looks like he'll be quality, but it seems unclear still whether he'll eventually end up at centre back, and even if he does then I don't think he'll be ready to be a first choice starter for United for another few seasons.

De Ligt is also clearly a very good prospect, but needs a few years before he'd be ready. There's also something about him which makes me wonder if he's basically just the Dutch John Stones.

P.S. I made my thoughts on Alderweireld clear in this Transfer thread.

I'm also amazed at Ødegaard a few posts above still mentioning Manolas after his absolute horror shows against Liverpool - he looked slow, clumsy and lazy.
 
My first choice is Toby premier league proven quality ball playing defender, butif levy is asking for 75 million then no chance! Might get slated for this but maybe Harry Maguire impressive couple of seasons
 
The-Mezzala said:
My first choice is Toby premier league proven quality ball playing defender, butif levy is asking for 75 million then no chance! Might get slated for this but maybe Harry Maguire impressive couple of seasons
Click to expand...

I doubt he is. What I imagine he's asking for is some kind of exchange deal with Martial, in which event his valuation of Toby will be reasonable provided a similar approach is taken to United's valuation of Martial.

But in any absence of United being willing to sell a want-away player to Spurs, I imagine Levy wonders why he should sell a want-away player to United for a reasonable price.
 
GlastonSpur said:
I doubt he is. What I imagine he's asking for is some kind of exchange deal with Martial, in which event his valuation of Toby will be reasonable provided a similar approach is taken to United's valuation of Martial.

But in any absence of United being willing to sell a want-away player to Spurs, I imagine Levy wonders why he should sell a want-away player to United for a reasonable price.
Click to expand...
You think Spurs will sell Alderweireld for about 40m to us as long as we let you buy Martial for around 75? I certainly don't think so. You don't have the money or balls for that exchange and Levy knows it, hence him lowballing every target. If you think anyone except us will pay more than 40m for Alderweireld you are mistaken, so you are not going to get Martial in exchange unless you pay up and let us have the belgian at a fair price. I think thats the only possibility of us signing him.

I hope we stay clear unless they are interested in Lindelof, Rojo or Jones, then we can make a deal.
 
MikeKing said:
You think Spurs will sell Alderweireld for about 40m to us as long as we let you buy Martial for around 75? I certainly don't think so. You don't have the money or balls for that exchange and Levy knows it, hence him lowballing every target. If you think anyone except us will pay more than 40m for Alderweireld you are mistaken, so you are not going to get Martial in exchange unless you pay up and let us have the belgian at a fair price. I think thats the only possibility of us signing him.

I hope we stay clear unless they are interested in Lindelof, Rojo or Jones, then we can make a deal.
Click to expand...

No, I don't think that. I think if United knock £20m off Martial's asking price - making it £55m - and then we might have a deal for Toby at £40m ... because no club is ever going to offer £75m for Martial, but another club might well offer us more than £40m for Toby.

In the meantime, Toby is in the shop window at the WC and Martial isn't. So the clock is ticking: unless United make a deal soon the chances are Toby will impress in the WC and another club will strike a deal with Spurs. And that will leave United scrambling for an inferior CB from elsewhere at a higher price.
 
GlastonSpur said:
No, I don't think that. I think if United knock £20m off Martial's asking price - making it £55m - and then we might have a deal for Toby at £40m ... because no club is ever going to offer £75m for Martial, but another club might well offer us more than £40m for Toby.

In the meantime, Toby is in the shop window at the WC and Martial isn't. So the clock is ticking: unless United make a deal soon the chances are Toby will impress in the WC and another club will strike a deal with Spurs. And that will leave United scrambling for an inferior CB from elsewhere at a higher price.
Click to expand...

I have to say this is a fair point. Should Toby have a good showing at the WC I could see a deal like this happening.

Not bothered if Martial stays or goes but I feel like Mourinho would prefer to keep him if he could.
 
GlastonSpur said:
No, I don't think that. I think if United knock £20m off Martial's asking price - making it £55m - and then we might have a deal for Toby at £40m ... because no club is ever going to offer £75m for Martial, but another club might well offer us more than £40m for Toby.

In the meantime, Toby is in the shop window at the WC and Martial isn't. So the clock is ticking: unless United make a deal soon the chances are Toby will impress in the WC and another club will strike a deal with Spurs. And that will leave United scrambling for an inferior CB from elsewhere at a higher price.
Click to expand...

I would rather stick with our current cbs and just grab Alderweireld for 25m the next window.
 
slir32 said:
I would rather stick with our current cbs and just grab Alderweireld for 25m the next window.
Click to expand...

OK, but this assumes that Toby is still available next summer and hasn't either signed a new contract with Spurs or been sold elsewhere.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.