Centre Back... Who do we go for?

Freak said:
Galactico type signings have never really worked for us to be honest. Veron, Di Maria, Falcao, Basti, Sanchez to name a few. The only one that worked that comes to mind is Van Persie.

Fergie usually looked for players at lesser clubs with potential and hunger to step to a bigger one. And that’s the way we should go.

I would definitely prefer Koulibaly over Varane. How do you motivate a player who’s won everything there is to win in the game to come to Manchester United and do it when he has no real ties to the club.

Koulibaly is at a lesser club with the potential to step up in a much bigger one.
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I don't mean Galactico signings and I agree with the rest of your post. United spent big money on Keane, Rooney, Ferdinand, Carrick, Van Nistelrooy, Stam, etc. They weren't Galacticos but the club were happy to spend what was necessary because they wanted those players. Not a profile or position but those particular players.

They didn't go for David Batty instead of Keane or Vassell instead of Rooney because they were cheaper. If Koulibaly has the talent, mentality and personality the club wants, then he's worth the money.

I really hate the stories of "I want a centre back and have given a list of 5 to the board". With that type of recruitment strategy, if you end up with a top class centre back partnership it will be pure luck.
 
De Ligt will be the centre back in 5 years time at Madrid/City/Barca where we'll all sit around and say "why can't we buy a player like that" just like we did with Varane.

Koulibaly is a good option but agree with previous statements that he's going to cost a bomb and will only have one big contract left in him.
 
Rozay said:
They have had a disappointing season collectively, and Varane by all accounts has had a disappointing one personally. I imagine they would want to spend a lot of money this summer, and £100m for a centre half, a non-Spanish centre half, will be seriously considered I think. I just can’t see Real being that attached to a defender. They are all about fantasy forward players. Come to think of it, I doubt many teams would turn down £100m for a defender. And as he hasn’t been that great just lately, I personally think they would take it.
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I value Varana but should we be really offering 100 million for a player who's having a disappointing season and as one other poster had mentioned, he's won it all, bar EURO. His motivation could be a suspect.
 
It will be a big mistake if we pay 100m for CB and don't strength other weak areas.
 
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I would absolutely go for Kostas Manolas. 36 million euro release clause, has experience from Serie A where the defensive focus is brilliant, as well as experience from later stages of CL. With his pace and fighting mentality, I think he will be the perfect partner for Lindelöf.
 
Ruben Dias from Benfica has looked really good every time I have seen him play. Any Portuguese fans have more info about his abilities?
 
I think we more need a rightback if we are going to spend big on getting a defender. Matic replacement and another winger could be needed too. I expect Valencia, Rojo, Sanchez to leave.
 
The Sun coming out with a story on us scouting Benfica's Ruben Dias, saying he's a holding midfielder but from the looks of it he's more of a ball playing CB. Can't say I've watched him (other than a YouTube video), though I like that he's already a captain at 21. Can anyone that watches Benfica regularly shed some light on him?
 
I don't think the club would prioritize a CB purchase at this point of time. They are only likely to look in that direction if RB and RW are sorted within time and budget .
 
It's a tricky one isn't it? I mean Smalling and Lindelof are doing pretty well together and IMO they compliment each other very well. But I still feel we should upgrade on Smalling mainly because he's poor on the ball plus his shirt pulling.
And if we are thinking of buying someone I hope it's someone who is a top player or someone who will reach there soon, preferably Koulibaly or De Ligt.

I've no idea how Axel is doing, but if he's not doing great, I wouldn't mind us selling Rojo, Jones and even Bailly, then buying two CBs, a starter and one with potential. We won't be selling all three, I think we will probably keep Jones since he's English.
Lindelof, Koulibaly / De Ligt, Smalling, Jones, Axel is a pretty good group of CBs and there's space for a young CB there too.
Wouldn't actually mind Alderweireld (as our second CB) , but he'll be on high wages and won't be happy to sit on the bench
 
If the club has any sense (and I think it does) then it would be going all in on that kid at Ajax. He looks like the tits, to be fair.

It’s why the club were quite rightly reticent to spunk silly money on the likes of Boateng, Mina, Maguire and Alderweireld. It makes signing genuine top tier talent all the more difficult. This was something Mourinho’s supporters couldn’t get into their heads last summer - the club doing the right thing, of course.

Alderweireld as an experienced option for £25 million wouldn’t be a bad fall back option, mind you. He and Lindelof would work well together, I feel.
 
Kag said:
If the club has any sense (and I think it does) then it would be going all in on that kid at Ajax. He looks like the tits, to be fair.

It’s why the club were quite rightly reticent to spunk silly money on the likes of Boateng, Mina, Maguire and Alderweireld. It makes signing genuine top tier talent all the more difficult. This was something Mourinho’s supporters couldn’t get into their heads last summer - the club doing the right thing, of course.

Alderweireld as an experienced option for £25 million wouldn’t be a bad fall back option, mind you. He and Lindelof would work well together, I feel.
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I think we'll be in for him, but his preference is to move to Barcelona. So if Barcelona want him, they'll probably sign him.

If they don't, then I can see us having a decent chance of tempting him.
 
Cliche Guevara said:
Romagnoli who can also cover left-back if needed.

Strong, quick, good technique. Just turned 24.
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He always seems hit and miss when I see him, when he plays well he is a classy centre back I think though. One we have been linke dwith in the past, bags of experience now and only must be about 24, what about Giminez? I know we probably want a ball playing centre back, but in terms of an out an out centre back, apart from Chillieni and Godin who are both old now, cant think of many better
 
Having seen a couple of "Sanchez / Bale swap" stories, starting to wonder whether a swap could be done for Varane?
 
Joachim Andersen, Sampdoria, 22 years old, 192cm, 90kg, $22m price tag at Transfermarkt in his first season as a regular starter in Serie A. Andersen is a large, athletic CB with good ball skills and appears comfortable playing left CB. Looks to be an emerging talent.

At WhoScored, Andersen's passing and defensive stats (other than aerials won) in Serie A matches compare favorably with Virgil van Dyke's passing and defensive stats in EPL matches. Manchester United need CBs that can pass accurately from deep to trigger their counter attack. Andersen connects on 5.7 long passes/game in Serie A compared to van Dyke at 4.7 per game in the EPL, Alderweireld at 7.4 per game in the EPL and Laporte at 4.8 per game in the EPL. Smalling and Lindelof each average 2.1 per game in the EPL.
 
We either sign Koulibaly or we sign Alderweireld+De Ligt with Jones/Rojo leaving and Bailly on loan. According to the papers Ole wants a RW, DM, LB and RB and is happy with our current CBs to prove themselves. That cant be true.
 
jesperjaap said:
I know we probably want a ball playing centre back, but in terms of an out an out centre back, apart from Chillieni and Godin who are both old now, cant think of many better
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I don’t know about ball playing, but he needs to be able to pass the ball. Smalling just can’t. Other than that, he needs all of Smalling’s skills, and hopefully have some temper about him.
 

Darren Lewis: "Tottenham are resigned to losing Toby Alderweireld to Manchester United in the summer for just £26million. United are set to push their way to the front of the queue for 30-year-old Alderweireld with Juventus and Barcelona also keen....
United are set to listen to offers for Eric Bailly, bought by Jose Mourinho in 2016, this summer."
 
I feel the time to get Aldewereild has passed. He was the best in the league afew years ago but we should look to the long term or sign Koulibaly now.
 
Adnan said:
I feel the time to get Aldewereild has passed. He was the best in the league afew years ago but we should look to the long term or sign Koulibaly now.
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Agreed, he's past his best and doesn't compliment Lindelof at all as he's not particularly fast or good in the air.
 
Alderweireld would be like signing Sanchez again. Even if we got him for free his wages would be big and he would barely improve us, if at all, and in the very short term before he declines further. 26m is a robbery imo, Juventus can have him.
 
I would go for Umtiti if there is a slight chance. If he plays on the left it would compliment both our best CB's, and that is very important for the next CB we sign.
 
Guess I’m in minority but Alderweireld is still quality and would improve our defence. At 26mil in this market even at 30 is a very good deal.
 
Rooney1987 said:
Guess I’m in minority but Alderweireld is still quality and would improve our defence. At 26mil in this market even at 30 is a very good deal.
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Compared to defenders in the top 5 leagues, he has played amongst the most long balls out of defence, has a very high number of average passes per game, has played a lot of matches this season & still has a very good pass completion percentage.

In terms of ball-playing (passing the ball out of defence or carrying it out), I agree with you. He's quality & worth the fee.

It's just that he's so poor in the air. Meaning we'd have to pair him with Smalling/Jones. So Alderweireld becomes an upgrade on Lindelof. Is that what we're looking for?
 
yo@Kirk said:
Joachim Andersen, Sampdoria, 22 years old, 192cm, 90kg, $22m price tag at Transfermarkt in his first season as a regular starter in Serie A. Andersen is a large, athletic CB with good ball skills and appears comfortable playing left CB. Looks to be an emerging talent.

At WhoScored, Andersen's passing and defensive stats (other than aerials won) in Serie A matches compare favorably with Virgil van Dyke's passing and defensive stats in EPL matches. Manchester United need CBs that can pass accurately from deep to trigger their counter attack. Andersen connects on 5.7 long passes/game in Serie A compared to van Dyke at 4.7 per game in the EPL, Alderweireld at 7.4 per game in the EPL and Laporte at 4.8 per game in the EPL. Smalling and Lindelof each average 2.1 per game in the EPL.
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Rumors are we should be ousting 2 CBs in Rojo & Bailly. Ideally we replace them with Koulibaly & De Ligt. But that's just too good to be true.

Think a duo of Andersen and Maguire (as much as I can't stand his slabface) will be a partnership that has all bases covered:
- long passes that break the lines
- high pass completion
- capable of dribbling out of defence a little
- super strong in the air, set-piece threat
- young
- one Englishman for quota
- both look like leaders
 
Alderweireld would be another pure United signing post SAF. a massive mistake.

Way past his best. Wouldn't touch with a bargepole.
 
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