De Ligt | €45+5m agreement reached pending medical | Signed!

[Pronewbie]

Nah De Ligt will still be moving - as a rotation option he's on too high a wage and we seem the only ones willing to pay an inflated transfer fee. Tah was always his replacement anyway.

 

[Fox outside the box]

Absolutely nothing wrong with the way it forces us to set up and finishing 8th, you are correct.

Better players = better finish. If people want to keep hold of Maguire and McTominey, don’t complain when we stay out of the CL places.

This is such a bad faith comment. He also finished second and third with us.

Having Maguire as a third/fourth option isn't the reason we finished eighth. In fact, he played pretty well last season and we'd likely have finished lower without him.

 

[ROFLUTION]

Surely just play down the Yoro injury if we dont want to get rinsed for De Ligt?

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

Surely just play down the Yoro injury if we dont want to get rinsed for De Ligt?

No need for any of that, Bayern is desperate to sell so they will negotiate and will not stick to their price if they are intent on getting rid of De Ligt due to his high wages.

 

[ROFLUTION]

No need for any of that, Bayern is desperate to sell so they will negotiate and will not stick to their price if they are intent on getting rid of De Ligt due to his high wages.

Yeah 263k gbp a week is excessive to say at least for a squad player.

I'd assume he gets a relatively big sign on bonus to sign for us to make up for his previous high wage, so we can say he doesn't get a super high weekly wage like that.

 

[BaguetteBoy]

Got excited with the change of thread title but seems like nothing much has changed still waiting for him to come back from holidays before anything is announced

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

Yeah 263k gbp a week is excessive to say at least for a squad player.

I'd assume he gets a relatively big sign on bonus to sign for us to make up for his previous high wage, so we can say he doesn't get a super high weekly wage like that.

indeed, that would be a good way to make up his salary if there is a wage structure here.

 

[andersj]

indeed, that would be a good way to make up his salary if there is a wage structure here.

Probably. And that is why Bayern probably accept letting him go for a fee of £40 mill. A fee similar to a player like Max Kilman, way below someone like Guehi.

 

[BrilliantOrange]

Is he here yet?

 

[Rojofiam]

@Maluco

What is de Ligt better at than, Maguire?

I consider them to be very, very similar profiles. Similar playing levels as well, so I would be interested to know your thoughts.

Also, your assessment on Maguire is way off and very harsh. He was arguably the best defender in the league when van Dijk was out for the whole season and we finished second. One of the best in the league as well in the season before that, his first one at the club.

P.S: I'm not against signing a 25 year old de Ligt for what would be good value at around £42m (€50m), whilst shifting a 31 year old Maguire for probably half of MdL's fee...but having both of them in the squad makes no sense for me. Probably would be a bad pairing as well if they played together.

 

[Lash]

@Maluco

What is de Ligt better at than, Maguire?

I consider them to be very, very similar profiles. Similar playing levels as well, so I would be interested to know your thoughts.

Also, your assessment on Maguire is way off and very harsh. He was arguably the best defender in the league when van Dijk was out for the whole season and we finished second. One of the best in the league as well in the season before that, his first one at the club.

P.S: I'm not against signing a 25 year old de Ligt for what would be good value at around £42m (€50m), whilst shifting a 31 year old Maguire for probably half of MdL's fee...but having both of them in the squad makes no sense for me. Probably would be a bad pairing as well if they played together.

Covering large spaces and playing in a high line. Other than that they're pretty similar, but the space between our midfield and CBs was one of our biggest problems last year.

 

[Insanity]

Covering large spaces and playing in a high line. Other than that they're pretty similar, but the space between our midfield and CBs was one of our biggest problems last year.

Did you see that gap close in the preseason with Yoro or other youngsters in the line-up? I would like to see the stats and maps to get an idea. To me it didn't look much different, if anything, the midfield looked deeper than what we saw last season.

 

[MadDogg]

Also, your assessment on Maguire is way off and very harsh. He was arguably the best defender in the league when van Dijk was out for the whole season and we finished second.

Maguire was arguably the second best defender in the league (Dias was clearly the best) in the second half of that season only. His first half of the season wasn't good, and indeed he was absolutely atrocious for the first month or two (which was somewhat understandable since it came directly after the Greece incident).

One of the best in the league as well in the season before that, his first one at the club.

Not even close. He was quite inconsistent in his first season, with some very good games but roughly the same amount of bad games.

The second half of his second season is the only time in his career here (probably his career in general to honest) where he was truly very good and one of the best around. At that time we were all hopeful that he'd finally stepped up and was going to become the defender that we thought we were getting when we spent 80m on him, but unfortunately he immediately followed that up with the worst season of his career when he basically became a meme.

 

[croadyman]

Got excited with the change of thread title but seems like nothing much has changed still waiting for him to come back from holidays before anything is announced

Felt like we were doing that in 2019 too before he decided to sign for Juventus

 

[moses]

If we start the season with the likes of Maguire and McTominey starting games, we are done before it starts.

Can’t do the same thing and expect the results to be any different.

de Ligt and Ugarte are absolutely necessary transfers.

I think we should keep playing Scott until you learn to spell his name.

 

[Rojofiam]

Covering large spaces and playing in a high line. Other than that they're pretty similar, but the space between our midfield and CBs was one of our biggest problems last year.

Maguire can play in a high line. This myth just won't go away, will it?

I don't see how de Ligt eats up large spaces better than him either, considering neither of them are lightning fast.

 

[Prodigal7]

Maguire can play in a high line. This myth just won't go away, will it?

I don't see how de Ligt eats up large spaces better than him either, considering neither of them are lightning fast.

It’s not just about pace to cover the ground though. You need to be a front foot defender cutting out passes to play a high line. De Ligt is that, even if he’s not the fastest. His better positioning means he doesn’t have to rely on pace so much in any case.

Maguire is a basic behind last line behind the ball defender, no chance he succeeds in an effective high line defence.

 

[Rojofiam]

It’s not just about pace to cover the ground though. You need to be a front foot defender cutting out passes to play a high line. De Ligt is that, even if he’s not the fastest. His better positioning means he doesn’t have to rely on pace so much in any case.

Maguire is a basic behind last line behind the ball defender, no chance he succeeds in an effective high line defence.

He has already succeeded in one under Ole. We had one of the highest defensive lines in the league in both of his two full seasons.

 

[Prodigal7]

He has already succeeded in one under Ole. We had one of the highest defensive lines in the league in both of his two full seasons.

Not sure what stats you are referring to but it’s common knowledge we were a sit back and counter attack side under ole. Once the opposition sussed that out we got screwed.

 

[Rojofiam]

Not sure what stats you are referring to but it’s common knowledge we were a sit back and counter attack side under ole. Once the opposition sussed that out we got screwed.

That's another myth but go on...



It was actually Varane who was unsuited to the high line

 

[Prodigal7]

That's another myth but go on...



It was actually Varane who was unsuited to the high line

Those figures can be distorted by a number of things. How high the defence is at goal kicks from either side etc. in open play we sat back, that’s not a myth. Playing out from the back rather than booting a goal kick long would also massively impact those stats. Watch any of our matches where we don’t have the ball under Ole and you will see our defence deep

 

[Rolaholic]

 

[croadyman]

Starring to think there is divided views on this guy now too, would people rather we go and sign Chalobah or call Everton bluff on Branthwaite then?

 

[Blood Mage]

Worried that a panic buy fee will be submitted if Yoro is confirmed to be out for a while.

 

[Prodigal7]

Starring to think there is divided views on this guy now too, would people rather we go and sign Chalobah or call Everton bluff on Branthwaite then?

Branthwaite is the best pick for a high line. Pace, reads the game well, smart. The best long term option IMO and feels more of a committee signing than De Ligt, despite ETHs comments. I’d still be happy with De Ligt though. The important thing is that we sign one of them because Maguire and Lindelof are not fit for our purpose.

 

[croadyman]

Branthwaite is the best pick for a high line. Pace, reads the game well, smart. The best long term option IMO and feels more of a committee signing than De Ligt, despite ETHs comments. I’d still be happy with De Ligt though. The important thing is that we sign one of them because Maguire and Lindelof are not fit for our purpose.

He can cover LB too, however don't see us going back for him again this summer. Maybe we will sign next year with a year less on deal

 

[AfonsoAlves]

Maguire can play in a high line. This myth just won't go away, will it?

I don't see how de Ligt eats up large spaces better than him either, considering neither of them are lightning fast.

De Ligt is much more agile and physically more proficient, Maguire's turning radius is pretty big and he isn't the most flexible of defenders.

He is also much better at 1 v 1 defending than Maguire.

 

[Lash]

Did you see that gap close in the preseason with Yoro or other youngsters in the line-up? I would like to see the stats and maps to get an idea. To me it didn't look much different, if anything, the midfield looked deeper than what we saw last season.

Couldn't say for certain, but I wouldn't be surprised if we were a bit deeper just on account of it being pre-season and bit leggy. I do think that would be a principle in that we will look to tighten up this season.

Maguire can play in a high line. This myth just won't go away, will it?

I don't see how de Ligt eats up large spaces better than him either, considering neither of them are lightning fast.

You asked what they were better at. Maguire can play in a high line as he can be proactive and his passing/carrying through the lines is good, but he has also been obviously exposed in a high line too. De Ligt has better anticipation in my opinion and is faster than Maguire.

Is it a massive improvement? No, but is it an improvement? Yes. Is Maguire a good player? Yes. So swapping a good player for a good player (who I think is better, albeit not by much), 6 years his junior, on similar wages seems like a wise move if we are trying to plan for the future.

 

[pascell]

Worried that a panic buy fee will be submitted if Yoro is confirmed to be out for a while.

We don't have money to panic buy.

 

[Marcus]

Bayern's new Japanese defender just broke his foot. Is this still on?

 

[Leftback99]

Bayern's new Japanese defender just broke his foot. Is this still on?

Doubt it's on unless we sell Lindelof.

 

[Maluco]

@Maluco

What is de Ligt better at than, Maguire?

I consider them to be very, very similar profiles. Similar playing levels as well, so I would be interested to know your thoughts.

Also, your assessment on Maguire is way off and very harsh. He was arguably the best defender in the league when van Dijk was out for the whole season and we finished second. One of the best in the league as well in the season before that, his first one at the club.

P.S: I'm not against signing a 25 year old de Ligt for what would be good value at around £42m (€50m), whilst shifting a 31 year old Maguire for probably half of MdL's fee...but having both of them in the squad makes no sense for me. Probably would be a bad pairing as well if they played together.

Apart from being much younger with potential to grow, he is vastly more experienced in terms of winning trophies and playing in teams that dominate possession. He has already won so much and that sort of experience at the very top level is invaluable, for one.

He is more athletic and agile than Maguire, although people appear to be playing that down. He also combines better with those midfielders in front of him. Maguire dwells on the ball and slows play down. de Ligt can move and play short passes and keep play going.

I think he is also stronger than Maguire one on one and is much more accustomed to playing in high lines and has vast experience playing in teams that do just that.

Basically, would I prefer to start the season with Bayern’s best defender or Harry Maguire?

He is quicker (although not lightning fast), more agile, stronger one on one, more experienced playing in top teams, better at playing quickly and combining with midfielders, a better leader, more aggressive etc…

Maguire is a decent CB, but he shouldn’t be starting for Man Utd. We need better players and he is a better player for a decent price.

 

[Rolaholic]

Hmm why are they selling? Must be a crock or damaged goods...







/s

 

[croadyman]

Doubt it's on unless we sell Lindelof.

Yeah and I'm confident that we will

 

[Acrobat7]

Hmm why are they selling? Must be a crock or damaged goods...







/s

There are about 20m reasons (I saw your white text.)

 

[BorisManUtd]

How can United get another 100 million in for transfers? What can Ineos do to comply with the rules so we can sign De Ligt and Ugarte? I think with these 2 joining, our transfer window will be over. I can look forward to the season with some optimism. I might still end out of the top 4, but the squad's quality looks a lot better than the previous year.

Sell Lindelof, Eriksen, McTominay and Sancho if possible. I know we wouldn't earn that much from those players (except Sancho and McTominay to extent) but do hope it would be enough to get de Ligt and Ugarte. Then possibly get Rabiot as a free agent and backup option in midfield.

 

[The Irish Connection]

For me, De Ligt is similar stylistically but slightly better at everything than Maguire apart from heading. He is faster, more agile and a better all round passer.

 

[Giggsy13]

Hold on tight this will be done at or close to the transfer deadline. This will be a painful ride of rehashing and recycling old transfer tweets.

 

[theklr]

Seems abit desperate

 

[Telsim]

Going into the new season with Martinez, Yoro, Maguire and Lindelof is just not serious. That being said, I sincerely hope the alternative is not Chalobah, if there's an alternative, that is.