To me, if we do that it’s a sign that we’ve exhausted all of our preferred targets and come up short. Depressing.
Luckily DeLigt is already in the bag
Centre Back... Who do we go for?
- Thread starter Macern
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Luckily DeLigt is already in the bag
We could probably do with 2 CDs though. It's difficult to argue that Alderweireld for 25 is a very good deal.
Id get him alongside a younger one. He can help steady the ship with a younger CB and Lindelof learning from him and eventually taking over as our CB partnership in the future.
We could sign Milenkovic ( 45Million Clause) and play him alongside Lindelof and we would have a partnership for years.
But then you have two relatively young players there. I feel experience counts for something, which Toby has in the league and in Europe.
We need mobility and a commanding player in the air also, which Milenkovic is. Plus both will have plenty of time to grow together which would be perfect for a team wanting to rebuild.
Yes, too old and clearly on the wane. We must do better. 25m is not cheap if we only get two decent years out of him, not to mention the wages.
Yes, seeing that we want to rebuild over the next few years, we should be going for younger players that him.
Speaking of Milenkovic, stumbled across this January opinion piece.
https://www.calciomercato.com/en/ne...er-united-s-possible-deal-for-nikola-mi-98748
Pros and Cons of Manchester United's possible deal for Nikola Milenkovic
https://www.calciomercato.com/en/ne...er-united-s-possible-deal-for-nikola-mi-98748
Pros and Cons of Manchester United's possible deal for Nikola Milenkovic
There was a takeover at Fiorentina earlier this month. The new owner seem determined to keep the best players
Does the player have a release clause in his contract?
If so, and a club offers the clause fee, does it then come down to the player accepting to go or stay?
If so, and a club offers the clause fee, does it then come down to the player accepting to go or stay?
Why we all have different opinions, even journos. IMO this guy is going to be one of the best CBs in a couple of years.
We are rebuilding, and we have the time to play him with Lindelof and they will grow into the best CB pairing and will play over the next 10 years.
45million is his release clause.
Who ever we sign needs to dominante the air, preferably play on the left side, and be able to carry the ball.
Like it or not, but Harry Maguire is a great fit.
Like it or not, but Harry Maguire is a great fit.
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I really don't think we'll sign a new CB now.
As far as I know, we've been knocked back with our first four choices, (Koulibaly, De Ligt, Varane, Skriniar) and the 5th and 6th choices are actually not that much cheaper. (Maguire, Diop)
Added to that, we haven't managed to shift any of Smalling, Jones, Rojo, or Bailly and we probably have Tuanzebe coming back, so I feel 90% sure we will make do with what we've got.
As far as I know, we've been knocked back with our first four choices, (Koulibaly, De Ligt, Varane, Skriniar) and the 5th and 6th choices are actually not that much cheaper. (Maguire, Diop)
Added to that, we haven't managed to shift any of Smalling, Jones, Rojo, or Bailly and we probably have Tuanzebe coming back, so I feel 90% sure we will make do with what we've got.
This is my thinking as we’re not getting Koulibaly, Skriniar, Varane or De Ligt and Maguire is proven in the Premier League as one the best centre backs already. Yes he lacks pace which is why I’d keep Tuanzebe at the club for the upcoming season as Tuanzebe is very quick and looks to have all the attributes needed to play alongside Maguire.
Lindelof and Smalling would be back up although Lindelof and Maguire could be a perfect partnership against teams with slower attackers, like or not we need to pay the required fees to stop the decline or risk going further backwards to the point our riches mean nothing at all.
Could Luke Shaw play LCB? I mean if we buy a new LB in Junior Firpo (attacking LB), could it be because our defensive LB will be played as LCB and a LB backup?
If we can't sign De Ligt, Koulibaly or even Maguire. Who would be your choice?
Who do you rate as the better defender between Alderweireld, Diaz and Diop?
Who do you rate as the better defender between Alderweireld, Diaz and Diop?
Would rather have AWB there.
Alderweireld but he’s also the oldest. Diaz is average and Diop is not a ball playing defender. I would just pay up for Koulibaly to be honest, we’re not getting De Ligt and Maguire is just as overpriced. Even though he would improve us no doubt.
I fear that Maguire is Sanchez/Fred all over again. And that we will end up with the old maid.
Alderweireld is the safest short term option.
Long term Diop.
Diaz is overrated.
Why you keep saying Skriniar isn't coming? If they are so desperate for Lukaku, then a swap deal is possible. They could add Sanchez, Rojo and Darmian in the deal in order to achieve that. Combined price of Darmian and Rojo 15m max and Sanchez of course will be our gift to them (you can't charge someone on taking this gem out of your hands). I don't value Lukaku at 80m, maybe 60m. So they will be paying a fee close to VVD's, if not more to get him.
I don't want Maguire because i think that he is not that good. I mean, he is good defender but nothing else. Especially for that money.
We need world class leader defender to pair with Lindelof. If Varane is out of reach i would go all in for Koulibaly. If not him than Toby. He is 30y old but that guy is pure class
We need world class leader defender to pair with Lindelof. If Varane is out of reach i would go all in for Koulibaly. If not him than Toby. He is 30y old but that guy is pure class
Firpo-Shaw-Lindelof-AWB-Dalot does actually look like a back 5 that could play attacking football, though probably get bullied in the air since we don't have the midfield or attacking players to keep the ball and thereby limit attacks.
Exactly this - I don't get the Maguire hype at all. Good defender but there's a world of difference between him and the top CBs we could go for.
Unless a truly top level CB is available we should work with what we have. Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Bailly...
Our issue, even with our rubbish clean sheet record last season was not about having a weak defensive unit, it was that we could only break teams down on the counter. More pressing than a CB are an attacker and a top level CM.
Big question is who will be sold? Currently we have one class defender( Lindelof), 2 ticking bombs in Bailly and Rojo, one average defender in Smalling who is good to be backup option and one awful defender in Jones.
Jones and Rojo have new contracts, Smalling has new contract and Ole rates him, Lindelof is no1 option. So Bailly?
Jones and Rojo have new contracts, Smalling has new contract and Ole rates him, Lindelof is no1 option. So Bailly?
I think we need to understand the state of our defence
The good news
We're signing AWB whose an excellent defender, while Dalot and Lindelof will be 1 year older
The bad news
DDG might be leaving, Matic is one year older and Young is pretty much shot at this level
Now lets have a look at our CBs
Lindelof offers decent defending and some great distribution of the ball but he's not fast
Smalling he's relatively fast, is decent in defence, he's good in air but he's distribution of the ball is crap
Rojo and Jones are pretty average. The former has a decent distribution of the ball but he's not a good defender, the latter is always injured, same as Bailly is
Tuanzebe - he's fast, he's got good distribution of the ball, he's relatively strong but he's not good in air
So now we have a good picture of things
Fast: Smalling and Tuanzebe
Good distribution of the ball: Tuanzebe, Rojo and Lindelof
Good 'traditional' defending: Smalling, Tuanzebe, Jones??? Bailly???
Good air prowess: Smalling
So what we need is an aggressive tall defender whose good in air. As Lindelof/Tuanzebe would probably be his long term partner then he should also be rapid if possible. Finally he must also have decent distribution of the ball like any other modern CB.
Now here's my list
Joachim Andersen - he's tall, he's got great distribution of the ball, he's solid at the back but he's not exactly Bolt
Jonathan Tah - another 6.4ft+ defender. From the little I've seen of him he's more rapid then Andersen but his distribution of the ball isn't as great
Ibrahima Konate - another giant of a defender. He's fast and good in air. He has to work on his distribution of the ball though
The good news
We're signing AWB whose an excellent defender, while Dalot and Lindelof will be 1 year older
The bad news
DDG might be leaving, Matic is one year older and Young is pretty much shot at this level
Now lets have a look at our CBs
Lindelof offers decent defending and some great distribution of the ball but he's not fast
Smalling he's relatively fast, is decent in defence, he's good in air but he's distribution of the ball is crap
Rojo and Jones are pretty average. The former has a decent distribution of the ball but he's not a good defender, the latter is always injured, same as Bailly is
Tuanzebe - he's fast, he's got good distribution of the ball, he's relatively strong but he's not good in air
So now we have a good picture of things
Fast: Smalling and Tuanzebe
Good distribution of the ball: Tuanzebe, Rojo and Lindelof
Good 'traditional' defending: Smalling, Tuanzebe, Jones??? Bailly???
Good air prowess: Smalling
So what we need is an aggressive tall defender whose good in air. As Lindelof/Tuanzebe would probably be his long term partner then he should also be rapid if possible. Finally he must also have decent distribution of the ball like any other modern CB.
Now here's my list
Joachim Andersen - he's tall, he's got great distribution of the ball, he's solid at the back but he's not exactly Bolt
Jonathan Tah - another 6.4ft+ defender. From the little I've seen of him he's more rapid then Andersen but his distribution of the ball isn't as great
Ibrahima Konate - another giant of a defender. He's fast and good in air. He has to work on his distribution of the ball though
Skriniar, give inter Lukaku and Bailey. I'd put Martial down the middle and get two wingers as opposed to a link up striker. Between Rashford and Martial they could amount 40 goals if Carrick / Mkenna are any good as coaches.
Rojo should be the easy sell, contract til 2021 is not a big deal, Bailly as well as he has value but probably should just cut from United. Jones, Smalling and Tuanzebe can be back up 3 CBs, but 1 starter to partner Lindelof as the group of 5.
If we do not sign a CB I think it will be the downfall for Solkjaer. You cannot keep going on with the Sam back 4 that leaked so many goals, injury prone and inconsistent. Lindelof and smalling likely to start but if either is injured, Jones is useless and Bailly doesn’t fill anyone with confidence.
Just hope we dont end up spunking 90 million on a CB.
We must sign a CB.
Yep, sounds like another Matic signing wherein we get a year or two out of them and them we are back in the transfer market having to spend another 25-50 Mil for a replacement. We've done this far too many times.
I think the point about Skriniar not coming is less about the club although I doubt Milan would trade him. The player himself just signed a new deal and made it clear he does not want to move anywhere, he is a boyhood Inter fan who feels his dreams have come true so he is never going to agree to come here even if Milan are daft enough to want to trade him.
Maguire or Diop is perfect. Buy that Nathan Collins bloke too and loan him out for a few seasons.
I really like the idea of Maguire. I think he's top class. My only concern is the price and I think we should have signed him a couple years ago from Hull before Leicester did. He was the only bright spot on their team and it was clear to most how good he was. But since we didn't sign him then, I think we should look for other players who have proven to be good options at lower EPL teams that haven't made a move to a better club yet. Someone like Tarkowski who is a full international and has been a consistant player in a weak Burnley side. And at 27 he's the right age to step right into the central defense and would probably come at a reasonable price...
Because we live in the real world where deals like this never happen?
If only football were that simple.
In reality, every modern day CB would be ideally in the Varane, VVD, Ramos bucket but they're not. Our issue isn't that we lack a tall CB who will come in and miraculously sort out our defensive unit, it's that we leave our CBs exposed constantly and that DDG's style of goal keeping is to stay on his line and so for every 5 headers a Lindelof or Jones makes, chances are the ones they lose will be from dangerous positions.
For me, if you can find a really top calibre CB then of course we try and bring him in but more importantly we should find a vastly more dynamic DM and have DDG act as more of a sweeper keeper to allow for a higher line and therefore (theoretically) less crosses into dangerous areas/ time spent around our box.
A 90 million pound question????
A more dynamic DM is of course needed. DDG should stay though IF he signs a new contract.