I hope to god we get another Maguire style signing. A top class player who is largely underrated by opposition and many Utd fans. Dependable, leadership, professional and a talented player too
Declan Rice
- Thread starter roonster09
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Because priority should be a centre back, then it would have to be the latter.
Rice, however, does play in the EPL and he's been an ever present in a team that are 4th place.
I think he would naturally be the successor to the role Matic/Fred plays for us.
Imo we don't have a defensive midfielder at all, so have to play 2 box to box mids behind Pogba just to be able to use Pogba. If we had an actual defensive midfielder like a young Matic, or Ndidi, then we could easily do a 3 of Pogba/Bruno and that defensive mid. We just don't have one so we can't. Rice is one, so I'm all for it, especially with his age. He has a way to go to get to the level we would want of course, but he's shown good potential.
I remember we were linked to Diop under Mourinho.
How has he been this season? He doesn't seem to be their first choice, with Dawson and Ogbonna being the preferred options.
Me too.
The key thing there is that Declan Rice is 22. Even if he does turn out to be a good-but-not-great signing, you've still brought in someone who will be a regular starter for club and country for the next decade, which makes it easier to justify the fee over the long run.
You could make a comparison with someone like Jordan Henderson. A good but not great player Liverpool overpayed for but I doubt they perceive it that way nearly 400 appearances and several major trophies later. There's more than one way to ultimately justify a big fee.
And Rice is a hell of a lot more highly rated than Henderson was when Liverpool signed him. He could quite easily go on to be a lot better than "good".
If Ole does get a CB and CM, then it will be:
An established CB + cheap CM with potential i.e. Caicedo
Or
An established CM + a cheap CB i.e. Milenkovic
An established CB + cheap CM with potential i.e. Caicedo
Or
An established CM + a cheap CB i.e. Milenkovic
I think if we sign a CM it’s because one of Pogba or DVB is being sold.
100% this. Maguire’s been great and fits the clubs ethos so well.
PL proven
Taller/Stronger
Better Shot
I can only think of dribbling where Kounde surpasses Rice. Maybe short passing.
If West Ham make top 4 it will be because of Lingard, which should be reflected in his value.
We should be looking elsewhere for a midfielder. Rice is overpriced as is.
Kounde isn't going to be cheap and is a massively more risky signing than Rice.
Sign him up!! 
Watching the latest insurgence of Lindelof, I would say CDM along with ST or RW is more imporant.
Whilst I don’t mind Rice, I like Ben White from Brighton, can operate in both defence and holding midfield, he just comes with less hype because he doesn’t play for West Ham
Now this is a tweet that interests me. There has been so much talk about Roy Keane err.... sorry Declan Rice, not wanting to leave London.
I wouldn't mind having the two as our starting centre backs next season, however, its clear we need cover. There's no way we can go into the next season relying on Bailly and Tuanzebe. They are too injury prone.
I think the Lingard factor puts us in good position with this one. I’m sure both clubs would want to get the respective deals done without having to throw much money around in the current climate so it makes a lot of sense.
Yeah, its a no brainer really. We must use Lingard as part of the deal if we are to pursue Rice.
I'd be very happy with Declan Rice as a replacement for an ageing Matic. I like both McTominay and Fred, especially as a pair, but neither are indispensable so stocking up in that position makes sense. Ordinarily Rice would be too expensive to bother with, but when you factor in Lingard I'm sure a decent deal could be done.
That said, Rice is not the difference between second and first place, so I wouldn't want it to be a priority.
That said, Rice is not the difference between second and first place, so I wouldn't want it to be a priority.
Is Rice that good though? Maybe I don't see enough of him but I genuinely can't see that much between him and what we have. I did a whoscored.com comparison vs say Ndidi/Hojberg/Fred and it's all a much of a muchness. Of course stats aren't everything and I get that.
Is Kounde 'that' good?
Its all subjective. Ultimately, it will be down to the staff at United to make that decision.
The ultimate signing would be an Ndidi with the passing range of Carrick. Unfortunately there's no one like that around although Bissouma could possibly become? I think Rice is the safest bet although his pace and positioning as a lone DM in an attacking team slightly worries me.
Kounde is a player who's profile we do not have in our squad. He is a very good player just like Rice is, but he offers pace in the centre back position which is of a greater incremental impact. Rice on the other hand, I'm not sure what extra he offers to what we currently have.
Then it's back to square one really. No point buying Rice if we still need to have 2 DMs, because I don't see what he offers over say Fred.
So if I gave you a time machine and asked you before we signed Maguire from Leicester if you wanted him at £80m or Dias at £60m, you'd still pick Maguire (regardless any allegiance you feel to him now he plays for us)? My point is Maguire is clearly a good player and was better than what we had, in the same way Rice is a good player and probably better than what we have but that doesn't mean they should be the first priority.
I like Maguire, he's a solid defender and his injury record is excellent but I think there are a few better CBs out there in the same way I think there are better CMs with Rice (probably more so with Rice although the flip side is Rice is much younger than Maguire was when he came whereas Maguire at).
Yep, this is what's in Rice's favour for me. I actually thought he was a little older but at 22 he's a prospect that's for sure. Henderson is a good comparison.
I think he starts all their games now - was 3rd choice and I think has fought his way back in. I only really started watching WHUM since Lingard but I think he's started all those games and looked decent.
His pace worries you? As far as I've seen he's very fast, he really covers the ground well. He's faster than McFred, 100 %.
I think an underrated facet is his height in set piece situations defensively. How many goals have we shipped to set pieces this season? Hopefully he'd really help in that regard too.
Same!
I dont think we need this sitter anymore. Camavinga would cost a lot less and he actually slots in with how we play nowadays.
Does seem to be a bit of typical because he's English snobbery against Rice. I think I'd understand if it was worry about his cost, but as a 22 year old talent, he's very promising and has all the ingredients to be a top player in a league where he's already playing and looking good.
If it means getting Rice, and a budget option like Milenkovic as a CB for example it would be very very good window, on top of a RW imo.
I really hope he isn't our Pogba replacement. You can criticisize Matic as you want but he is the only one DM who is competent on the ball. I have seen nothing in Rice related to that.
I don't see why a completely different type of player in Rice would be bought as a replacement for Pogba? I get people think we're run by idiots, but I think a bit of credit needs to be given sometimes.
Ideal player for us, hardworking, plays with passion and aggression, technically good and at a great age. Lingard plus cash seals the deal.
Would love us to sign Grealish and Rice, 2 players with huge futures in the game and both IMHO would flourish at our club.
Would love us to sign Grealish and Rice, 2 players with huge futures in the game and both IMHO would flourish at our club.
I think Rice would be a brilliant signing.
He's exactly what we need.
He's exactly what we need.
Surely the scouts would pick up that they're not even remotely similar. The thing I'm worried about is I don't know who we'll be able to identify as our Pogba replacement.
Replacement from a position standpoint not player standpoint. We prefer to line-up 4231 and we have always tried to play Pogba there. Now that you have an actual player who would fit that midfield 2, I am just assuming the plan is to go with Scott and Rice as 2 DMs with Bruno ahead.
Yeah , really hope we keep him though.
Me too, he adds so much to our team which I already think is very good, if we can keep him plus make a few quality additions over summer there's really no reason we can't challenge for big trophies next year.
Alot depends on what Edison Cavani will do. It he signs then we do not need a striker.
Midfielder, CB and RW should be added regardless of the Cavani situation. I suspect Bailly is leaving so would not mind if got two CBs at all.
Seems you are right
Happy to be proved wrong! I trust the scouts opinion far more than mine!
@VP89 I agree with your Kounde point, but they're likely to be very similar in price and as much as I'm not sold on Rice for the potential price tag, I'd probably lean towards Rice.
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