I can understand your view, for me even leaving every other position for the time being the striker position also has to be taken into account into the budget in addition to DM though, with the Ronaldo situation uncertain enough and his age even if he stays. I do not trust our other choices right now.
Declan Rice
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The options aren't "Declan Rice" or "deadwood".
Almost every single footballer in the world who plays in Declan Rice's position costs less than 100m. If we can't pick another top level midfielder out of that massive swathe of options then we might as well give up all hope.
Almost every single footballer in the world who plays in Declan Rice's position costs less than 100m. If we can't pick another top level midfielder out of that massive swathe of options then we might as well give up all hope.
This is exactly the type of desperate signing Ole would have made. If we're supposedly improving our club structure surely we're busy scouting a wide range of top quality midfielders who won't cost £100m?
Also, 'United looking for the new Ince'
if there's any truth to that, has any club ever been more stuck in the past than us? Liverpool in the 90's maybe.
Also, 'United looking for the new Ince'
if there's any truth to that, has any club ever been more stuck in the past than us? Liverpool in the 90's maybe.We do need a striker for sure, could also give Martial a year if we had to along with Ronaldo and Rashford if it meant strengthen other areas also.
Maybe it's also time to bring in Garner and Levitt to our midfield and have Fred Rice and we are sorted for this season.
Midfield though has to be the key area though this summer
I simply refuse to believe there are no better value for money signinsg than Rice for fecking £100m. Its simply not possible.
This is exactly the type of desperate signing Ole would have made. If we're supposedly improving our club structure surely we're busy scouting a wide range of top quality midfielders who won't cost £100m?
Also, 'United looking for the new Ince'
But he didn't, neither did he sign Haaland
Anything above 60 mill is a no no.
No player on the market aside from mbappe and maybe halland is worth that much.
Pass.
No player on the market aside from mbappe and maybe halland is worth that much.
Pass.
He tried to sign the latter, Dortmund confirmed it themselves. He chose them instead though
Our big purchases in the £70-90m category have been so successful haven't they?
Guess we have to avoid deals in the £70-90m in the future then and only buy under/over that price range.
We should if they are english , and under a rebuild 80-90m players its a big no for me
This is exactly the type of desperate signing Ole would have made. If we're supposedly improving our club structure surely we're busy scouting a wide range of top quality midfielders who won't cost £100m?
Also, 'United looking for the new Ince'
That’s just a lazy headline as we would be signing a midfielder from West Ham.
Rice is a good player but we can do better with 100m than top up the Dildo brothers’ pension fund.
Rice for 100m or Tchoameni for 60m
To be fair Tchouameni probably wants CL football.
Just watched the extended replay of yesterday's match and was happy to see his pass for Bowen's goal.
I always thought he didn't have it in him so I'm glad when he reminds me that he occasionally can.
The goals were aerial/mostly from corners too so Rice seemed to have centrally protected his defenders like he generally does by cutting off the central lines.
I always thought he didn't have it in him so I'm glad when he reminds me that he occasionally can.
The goals were aerial/mostly from corners too so Rice seemed to have centrally protected his defenders like he generally does by cutting off the central lines.
No but there should be massive scrutiny on any transfer that falls in that range.
Because obviously a bad transfer for 70m+ does much more damage than a bad transfer that costs 50m, both financially and in terms of opportunity cost. And the higher the price, the lower the chances that a player actually justifies that extra spend over cheaper alternatives.
Liverpool and City have each signed one player for £70m+. We've signed four. This immediately offers insight into how we've spent so much money without getting anywhere near the same value in return. You need to be able to identify quality players without moving into that upper bracket of cost, as Liverpool and City regularly do.
Yeah I like him but he's not the only option
I've come around to liking Rice but trust me, we will be rinsed 80 Mil plus for him.
Ideally we could get someone like him and a CM capable of controlling the tempo and passes that break the lines
and rice wouldnt?
Not if we're the only the club in for him due to the price. He's eager to leave West Ham.
80M is probably fair considering no CL plus the obligatory ManUtd tax.
why are we the only club in for him due to price? makes you wonder
What do you think of him under Ten Hag?
I've been thinking lately - Ten Hag's possesion football seem to be very heavily reliant on things like constant free space movement and positioning. This is what Rice does but arguably defensively off the ball than exactly anything on the ball where he is more likely to go on a run.
Then I hear that Ajax can go on an attack on 7/8 players at a time.
That's basically leaving 2 CB'S and the GK open to counter attacks. With the way Rice repositions himself to protect the central defenders- this could lead 7/8 players to go much more free on an attack no?
Do you see him as a player that Ten Hag might like? Whilst I'm unsure - if you are attacking on a level high in numbers then I don't think people should exactly right off what Rice might bring to such a team.
This is the defensive midfield version of 80m for Maguire. He’s becoming quite overrated because you always see clips of him carrying the ball long distances and dribbling past a player or two on the way. Which is a great ability and he’s clearly an amazing athlete, but that’s not really the most important attribute for a defensive midfielder in a possession based team. He’s always looked pretty average at progressing the ball for England and that’s how he’ll look in a team that dominates possession. Hard pass, let Chelsea have him.
I like Rice but at those fees quoted and the fact we have so many positions needed this summer i think it's better looking for other targets. West Ham are well within their right to ask for that amount because that's how much he's worth to them given his importance. But he's not worth that much to us as £100m could be half or a third of our budget and the scouts should be able to come up with better valued targets who are still good enough for us.
Thankfully his price-tag means we'll never sign him. Good player but incredibly overrated on this forum, £100m
I'd been terrified we'd go actually go ahead and spunk that much on him if we had Ole, but I have more faith in current management. They are not this stupid.
I'd been terrified we'd go actually go ahead and spunk that much on him if we had Ole, but I have more faith in current management. They are not this stupid.
ESPN
".....Sources have told ESPN that United want Rice to become a modern-day version of Ince by adding tenacity, determination and leadership to a midfield desperately lacking in depth and quality.
The 23-year-old is seen as having the character required to thrive at United under incoming manager Erik ten Hag and also be a statement signing that would prove to other potential targets that the club are ready to build for success again...."
".....Sources have told ESPN that United want Rice to become a modern-day version of Ince by adding tenacity, determination and leadership to a midfield desperately lacking in depth and quality.
The 23-year-old is seen as having the character required to thrive at United under incoming manager Erik ten Hag and also be a statement signing that would prove to other potential targets that the club are ready to build for success again...."
This club's obsession with overhyped English players isn't going away huh? He's not suited to Ten Hag's football and once again the board are going above the manager's head to pursue a player they personally want.
Interesting. Explain what Declan Rice is unable to do that Alvarez can? How precisely is he unsuited to ETH football?
Curious how you come to that conclusion
I’d agree with arguments about price but not stuff that’s utterly opinion
they play 2 very different positions, and Ajax does not have the options that United have.
His close control is not that good, not good in tight spaces/against the press, usually will abandon the midfield rather than be able to control it.
Rice or De Jong if available?
De Jong is the type of player we should be going for, more modern and the type you can build your whole team around. We need lots of players of that kind of technical ability.
You could get both though, they would suit each other.
I'm a big fan of Rice but it would have to be De Jong because he is the more technical passing version of a CB/CDM hybrid player.
Rice is the more defensively protective type of player.
However, whilst it couldn't happen in 1 season - those 2 together would give almost a balance in midfield similar to how Rio and Vidic played - where De Jong can focus on bringing the ball forward and making passes whilst Rice can focus on repositioning himself on to the most dangerous areas lettting the rest of the team go all "gung-ho" on attacks.
Also someone said that Rice isn't good getting pressed alongside his first touch, I've actually watched him and found that he is actually good at making small dribbles away from a press and it is what leads him to make more box to box runs.
Yeah that would be the one
This is nonsense.
The club is not obsessed with any English player. When you buy from the PL, thats what you get.
Also, Pogba, Fred, Lukaku are all players the club have bought that are over hyped and not English.
I'm guessing the club thinks that its easier to persuade top level British talent to want to join United than elite players from other countries.
This isn't true. Rice is actually very good in tight spaces and often emerges with the ball against all odds. His pass completion is the highest in the league for midfielders this season. His ball retention (not losing the ball through dispossessions, bad passing etc) is the second highest in the league this season. I think only Rodri is ahead of him on this count. If he couldn't cope with being pressed then he'd lose the ball a lot more.
Rice averages 59 passes a game this season and De Jong 50 so there's not much to support your idea that he abandons midfield.
It is true that De Jong is better against the press but to say that Rice isn't good in tight spaces or against the press is nonsense.
I do agree that they'd compliment each other.
You can see plenty of examples on here
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I agree with this.
Somehow Rice has become underrated on this forum and, in comparison, players like Tchouameni (who I like a lot, but isn't some generational prospect guaranteed to be an elite player) overrated.
Rice is also pretty two-footed (only 83% of passes with his dominant foot) which is a really valuable quality for a CDM playing alone in the middle in these kind of 4-3-3 systems.
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