Centre Back... Who do we go for?

[MikeKing]

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.

Jeez. You can just as well flip that and say if Alderweireld has a terrible WC or get injured again you will lose out yourselves, on whatever imaginary self-gratifying scenario you come up with. The clock is ticking It seems you really want to sell him to us, you don't rate him or what?

 

[MUFC OK]

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.

Toby is available for £25m next summer, why do you think you have a strong bargaining position. As for Martial if we are to sell him at all, I highly doubt it would be to a direct rival. I know you would love to have him and I don't blame you but the valuation of a player who is 29 and has a very reasonable release clause next summer is not at all comparable with a player that doesn't have such a clause, is 22 years old and one of the best attacking prospects in Europe.

 

[GlastonSpur]

Jeez. You can just as well flip that and say if Alderweireld has a terrible WC or get injured again you will lose out yourselves, on whatever imaginary self-gratifying scenario you come up with. The clock is ticking It seems you really want to sell him to us, you don't rate him or what?

Spurs would have preferred he sign the new contract on offer, as he originally agreed to do, because obviously Spurs do rate him highly.

But he then went back on his word, so I'm not sure there's any coming back from that as far as Poch is concerned, even if Toby is having a change of heart, as perhaps appears to be case, because Poch highly values integrity and commitment. But who knows, if Toby does now want to sign the contract as originally offered then perhaps Poch will make an exception.

 

[GlastonSpur]

Toby is available for £25m next summer, why do you think you have a strong bargaining position. As for Martial if we are to sell him at all, I highly doubt it would be to a direct rival. I know you would love to have him and I don't blame you but the valuation of a player who is 29 and has a very reasonable release clause next summer is not at all comparable with a player that doesn't have such a clause, is 22 years old and one of the best attacking prospects in Europe.

Well, the contractual effect is similar for Martial because next summer his price drops significantly due to his then only having 1 year left on his contract, assuming you optionally extend it this summer.

This is another reason why no club anywhere is going to offer £75m for Martial.

 

[MUFC OK]

Well, the contractual effect is similar for Martial because next summer his price drops significantly due to his then only having 1 year left on his contract, assuming you optionally extend it this summer.

This is another reason why no club anywhere is going to offer £75m for Martial.

In absence of simply saying 'dream on', here are my thoughts. You'd be very luck to get AM, even at the price quoted due to his age, ceiling and fact we will not want to sell to a rival club, not to mention he would need replacing at a sizable expense. So to think you could pull United trousers down in the process is a bit ignorant really.

 

[golden_blunder]

@GlastonSpur you’re mad if you think united will knock 15m off the price just so spurs can afford him. Spurs -‘fecking gypsies

 

[manunited1919]

We should swap phil Jones for Alderweider. As long as we don’t spend any $$ on centerbacks. We need to reinforce other positions much more urgently than centerback.

 

[GlastonSpur]

@GlastonSpur you’re mad if you think united will knock 15m off the price just so spurs can afford him. Spurs -‘fecking gypsies

It's not a question of whether or not we can afford him. It's a question of how much United want Alderweireld, how much they want Spurs to drop our asking price for him (in return for United doing the same with Martial) and whether United think any club is going to offer £75m for Martial.

 

[Cassidy]

It's not a question of whether or not we can afford him. It's a question of how much United want Alderweireld, how much they want Spurs to drop our asking price for him (in return for United doing the same with Martial) and whether United think any other club is going to offer £75m for Martial.

Probably not as much as you think, I would hazard a guess that we would rather sell Martial abroad than sign Alderweireld

 

[GlastonSpur]

Probably not as much as you think, I would hazard a guess that we would rather sell Martial abroad than sign Alderweireld

Well, if United are that scared of selling Martial to Spurs …

Out of interest, which clubs abroad have been credibly linked to Martial?

 

[golden_blunder]

Well, if United are that scared of selling Martial to Spurs …

Out of interest, which clubs abroad have been credibly linked to Martial?

Juve for a start
Have also seen psg, inter, Bayern, Madrid all mentioned amongst others. We don’t need to sell domestically, a player like martial will be in demand if he’s available.
It’s not a question of being scared, it’s a question of not strengthening others. Probably a bit of playing Levy at his own game too. Guess what we can play hardball too

Tell you what straight swap, martial for eriksen

 

[MikeKing]

Yes. Kane for Martial or we wont budge. Times ticking for Spurs

On topic: I'd like us to sign Bonucci. He is the only one i think would make sense right now and i don't know why we haven't been linked to him. If we are not actively just replacing talents with other talents then he should be the next signing.

 

[The-Mezzala]

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. 75 seemed a lot but levy managed to get 25 plus for Wimmer didn’t he? So never know when it comes to dealing with him. I would love him in a United shirt been a fan since he was at Ajax. But think he will stay with you another year. Maguire or maybe even Lenglet is probably more reasltic at this stage

75 million seemed a lot but levy managed to get 25 plus for Wimmer didn’t he? So never know when it comes to dealing with him. I would love to see Toby in a United shirt been a fan since he was at Ajax. But think he will stay with you another year. Maguire or maybe even Lenglet is probably more realistic at this stage.

 

[slir32]

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.

That is a possibility but we are not desperate for a CB so we can take that risk and if he goes elsewhere then we will buy another CB.

 

[roonster09]

Well, if United are that scared of selling Martial to Spurs …

Out of interest, which clubs abroad have been credibly linked to Martial?

Says the guy who spent at least last 2 years arguing how Spurs won't sell their "key" or "star" players to premier league clubs.

 

[GlastonSpur]

Says the guy who spent at least last 2 years arguing how Spurs won't sell their "key" or "star" players to premier league clubs.

Time moves on. We now have Sanchez, one of the most promising young CBs in Europe and our record-fee signing. And Toby turns 30 during next season. Couple all this with what is perhaps a growing propensity to get injured and the result is that's he's no longer as key a player as he once was before Sanchez arrived.

Besides, he hasn't yet even been sold to a Prem. club.

 

[roonster09]

Time moves on. We now have Sanchez, one of the most promising young CBs in Europe and our record-fee signing. And Toby turns 30 during next season. Couple all this with what is perhaps a growing propensity to get injured and the result is that's he's no longer as key a player as he once was before Sanchez arrived.

Besides, he hasn't yet even been sold to a Prem. club.

I wasn't talking about Toby, I was talking about Spurs' "policy" of not selling key players to PL rivals.

 

[RoyTrenneman]

If you ask me they're after the wrong Spurs CB anyway. Vertonghen is actually in the last year of his contract and is better than Alderweireld, and more reliably available. He's a little older, but definitely would still be a quality defender through the duration of another contract.

Very strange to me that more teams -- not just Man Utd -- aren't showing interest.

 

[Okey]

Erm...anyone else like Harry Maguire? I like him even more after watching England play. Better on the ball than any of those we're linked with. Experience is all he lacks, but I can't help feeling there's a world class defender in there. I hear Inter are tying up Skriniar. If we was gettable and we had to break the bank for a CB he'd be my first choice.

 

[MikeKing]

Erm...anyone else like Harry Maguire? I like him even more after watching England play. Better on the ball than any of those we're linked with. Experience is all he lacks, but I can't help feeling there's a world class defender in there. I hear Inter are tying up Skriniar. If we was gettable and we had to break the bank for a CB he'd be my first choice.

You want us to break the bank for him even? I wouldn't go as far as that but. Wouldn't be a bad player to have at our ranks. He would compliment both Bailly and Smalling relatively good I think and be a much better option than Jones and Rojo. He probably could be third choice next season and play more games than they have combined this season. So yeah, would be a decent alternative if we can get rid of those 2, but if we can't then we shouldn't break the bank for such a small upgrade in our squad, not in that position.

 

[Leftback99]

Erm...anyone else like Harry Maguire? I like him even more after watching England play. Better on the ball than any of those we're linked with. Experience is all he lacks, but I can't help feeling there's a world class defender in there. I hear Inter are tying up Skriniar. If we was gettable and we had to break the bank for a CB he'd be my first choice.

He was a far better option than Lindelof last summer at a bargain price.

 

[Okey]

He was a far better option than Lindelof last summer at a bargain price.

Yep. I totally agree. And just to clarify, I mean break the bank for Skriniar if it came to that (I agree it's by no means our most pressing need). Dude is all kinds of class. Maguire I like, but won't put in the break the bank category just yet...

 

[Judas]

I was shocked to see how comfortable and confident Maguire was last night, especially when carrying the ball forward, he was great. If a deal could be done cheaply, he'd be a good option.

 

[Nick.]

I was shocked to see how comfortable and confident Maguire was last night, especially when carrying the ball forward, he was great. If a deal could be done cheaply, he'd be a good option.

I thought Maguire looked very shaky last night, I'm not sure I'd go for him personally.

 

[Judas]

Think he looked comfortably the least shaky of the three CBs personally.

 

[RoyTrenneman]

Time moves on. We now have Sanchez, one of the most promising young CBs in Europe and our record-fee signing. And Toby turns 30 during next season. Couple all this with what is perhaps a growing propensity to get injured and the result is that's he's no longer as key a player as he once was before Sanchez arrived.

Besides, he hasn't yet even been sold to a Prem. club.

Yeah, he looks great. I'm sure Carlos Sanchez agrees.

 

[sunama]

I am not that flustered about our Cb options. We are fine there unless someone excellent becomes available.

Fullbacks should be focus for me.

Agreed!

 

[Fer]

Who would you prefer between Alderweireld, Koulibaly, Skriniar and De Light?

 

[arnie_ni]

Who would you prefer between Alderweireld, Koulibaly, Skriniar and De Light?

None set the world on fire.

Anyone worth buying isn't attainable for various reasons... Ramos, Godin, Cheillini etc.

Everyone isnt that much of an approvement compared to their cost.

While shortage of quality cbs and fullbacks for that matter atm.

Id throw tuanzabe into the fire tbh

 

[ravi2]

Koulibaly or Skriniar (or Toby) would be a real upgrade on any CB we currently have.
Surely one of them is attainable

 

[Kostov]

Who would you prefer between Alderweireld, Koulibaly, Skriniar and De Light?

Koulibaly and Skriniar are obvious choices for me.
If we persist to develop our own young CB, than Koulibaly is a quality CB at the right age who I rate as a better player than Skriniar currently. If we sell/loan Lindelof for example Skriniar would be an immediate upgrade with lots of potential also.

Personally with future thinking I would prefer the second option, but maybe that's harsh of Lindelof.

 

[roonster09]

We are linked with so many week.

According to Kicker we are interested in Boateng.
http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/2018-19/1/tm-news--24931-8760-.html

According to La Republica we are interested in Bonucci
http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubb...bonucci-tentato-da-mourinho34.html?ref=search

According to Telegraph we are interested in Maguire.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...prepare-transfer-battle-leicester-determined/

All are Tier 2 according to reddit.

Looks like there is a common theme.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Several questionable sources saying we've had a 100 million bid rejected for Koulibaly

 

[MetoTTT]

Several questionable sources saying we've had a 100 million bid rejected for Koulibaly

Wow! He could be perfect for United.

 

[SSSSnake]

Several questionable sources saying we've had a 100 million bid rejected for Koulibaly

I hope this is true. This guy is made for the Prem!

 

[Infra-red]

I hope this is true. This guy is made for the Prem!

You hope it's true that we had a bid rejected? How would failing to sign a player be good news for United?

 

[SSSSnake]

You hope it's true that we had a bid rejected? How would failing to sign a player be good news for United?

As in true we bidded and showed interest. Not the rejection part

 

[El-Manos]

Ya koulibaly looks great but that fee is insane.

 

[MetoTTT]

Koulibaly, please. The only CB we could buy who will improve the team.

 

[Andycoleno9]

Bonucci bonucci bonucci. That guy is class.