Denis Zakaria / signed for Juventus

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golden_blunder said:
The MEN article is nothing, it just throws our name out there for no apparent reason other than that the fans want a new midfield

the sky sports article is not much better, it makes United, City, Liverpool etc but goes on to say that they are looking for players “off that profile”. No specific link to bissouma. I stand by my original stance, common sense says no one will (rightly in my opinion) go near him until the allegations are cleared up.
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He was never likely to leave on Jan anyhow, due to being picked for the AFCON (despite the ongoing investigation)
Having already been bailed twice I don't think any team would be bothered with the outcome of the investigation, especially considering he has no travel restrictions and is released 'under investigation' which essentially means he's not even bailed.
Anyhow, I fear I have derailed this thread. Apologies.
 
Champ said:
He was never likely to leave on Jan anyhow, due to being picked for the AFCON (despite the ongoing investigation)
Having already been bailed twice I don't think any team would be bothered with the outcome of the investigation, especially considering he has no travel restrictions and is released 'under investigation' which essentially means he's not even bailed.
Anyhow, I fear I have derailed this thread. Apologies.
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Strange take on it fella. But you’re right that’s for a different thread
 
Zakaria / Fabian Ruiz / Haidara / Kamara / Toucameni...... looks like all good options ....why the wait ?

some of them are for free in May means we can get 2 of these for around 40M range(10+30)...it would be smart business
 
sp_107 said:
Zakaria / Fabian Ruiz / Haidara / Kamara / Toucameni...... looks like all good options ....why the wait ?

some of them are for free in May means we can get 2 of these for around 40M range(10+30)...it would be smart business
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We will wait until the summer then fail in bids for Rice and Bellingham claim there's no value in the market and go into 2023, panic and extend Matic and Fred's contracts.
 
MiracleInMadrid said:
Couldn't agree more. We've already tried this type of 6/8-type of player. Fred, McTominay and Herrera has played a ton of games for us and none of them has been convincing. Of course there's a question of whether they have been coached well enough both individually and as a team for our midfielders to take control of a match. But the two of those three who still are with us, are just not the calm and composed presence we need in there.

I think the need for a deep playmaker is bigger than the need of a tackler/physical presence. McTominay and/or Fred can be coached to fill that hole with the right partner besides them. We need someone in the mould of Carrick, Rodri, Kroos, Busquets and so on. Someone who is tactically strong, and has the skills to employ his tactical qualities.
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Yeah a player like Busquettes as Kroos have been the dream for us for years and years.

It’s crazy to think we used to have a midfield of Beckham, Scholes, Keane, Giggs with Veron etc on the bench in the 4-4-2 days.

It’s criminal really when you look at City’s midfield options in that time. Pogba was a good start but we never built a side to compliment him so he’s been wasted totally.

Why didn’t we try and move the Earth for Kante before he went to Chelsea for example. There’s just zero planning. We spend the money to be one of the best but it’s shockingly wasted at times.

The wingback scenario too was just so poorly thought out considering modern football is built so heavily on those players. Wan Bissaka for £50 million was just crazy spending looking at his limitations etc
 
ToToMarshall said:
He’s not very good and he isn’t a natural DM. He’d be a bit-part player at City, Chelsea and Liverpool, but he’d be a guaranteed starter for us.

I understand that he’s a bargain and that he still represents improvement in that area for us, but by the summer I’d want us to buy yet another midfielder to replace Pogba & Matic (and maybe Donny if we ever let that boy leave).
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Right now, it's far better to cash in with a Donny sale right now when he is on a mission to salvage his own chances to make the Dutch squad. It should be that obvious if that's the kind of one-for-one change we need in our squad from this month onwards. Rangnick basically said that Martial's behavior has made him persona non grata, so we can count on booting him out as well.

We still have a Champions League knockout stage to play, and the last thing we need is to go in there with too many unmotivated players and without a beginning to an overdue purge.
 
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Another bundesliga players, sigh. Bundesliga is only good for defenders since they are coached how to play very high line and playing from the back. He’s bundesliga defensive midfielder, I guess it makes it less risk signing than the attackers.
 
ToToMarshall said:
He’s not very good and he isn’t a natural DM. He’d be a bit-part player at City, Chelsea and Liverpool, but he’d be a guaranteed starter for us.

I understand that he’s a bargain and that he still represents improvement in that area for us, but by the summer I’d want us to buy yet another midfielder to replace Pogba & Matic (and maybe Donny if we ever let that boy leave).
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Even if that’s true, we need depth in CM.

Pogba & VdB will go in the summer. I’d imagine Matic will too. Leaving us with only Fred & McTominay.
 
Red_toad said:
Straight to moaning and whinging constantly. Most content is just media bollocks rehashed. Terrible terrible channel, some people must lead very sad lives if that’s entertaining to them.
If you’re him by the way your channel is turd.
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You can have your opinion mate and I respect it but some things has to be said, and he is straight to the point. IMO. If we had more like him instead of YES men we would be a better club.
 
Bestietom said:
You can have your opinion mate and I respect it but some things has to be said, and he is straight to the point. IMO. If we had more like him instead of YES men we would be a better club.
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He’s a moaning fan (allegedly), we have heaps of them. He has zero influence on the club, so what he does or says has zero impact. Enjoying watching him moan and whinge.
 
I've never watched this lad so no idea. Is he a DM and can run for 90'?

If yes bloody sign him already.
 
Red_toad said:
He’s a moaning fan (allegedly), we have heaps of them. He has zero influence on the club, so what he does or says has zero impact. Enjoying watching him moan and whinge.
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Ah we are all guilty of moaning and whingeing when our team lose. All fans are the same. But he is straight and names the players whose fault it is, and doesn't hold back on manager either. I only started looking at his videos lately, so I will not judge on him yet, but if I feel he is wrong, I will stop watching.
 
Bestietom said:
Ah we are all guilty of moaning and whingeing when our team lose. All fans are the same. But he is straight and names the players whose fault it is, and doesn't hold back on manager either. I only started looking at his videos lately, so I will not judge on him yet, but if I feel he is wrong, I will stop watching.
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So basically you're looking for someone's videos who agrees with you?
 
Bestietom said:
Stats show he is the best accurate passer of the ball of all CDMs..Goldridge of United Stand has just said it on latest video...
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The stats he gave were just pass completion, that doesn't tell us the length of a pass, the direction of a pass, whether a pass led to a goal scoring chance...
 
DavelinaJolie said:
The stats he gave were just pass completion, that doesn't tell us the length of a pass, the direction of a pass, whether a pass led to a goal scoring chance...
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Ok don't watch him play every week so cannot comment. When I have seen him play on TV I have been impressed most times, and he is definitely worth 6 million, imo. Big improvement on Matic and Fred.
 
Bestietom said:
Ok don't watch him play every week so cannot comment. When I have seen him play on TV I have been impressed most times, and he is definitely worth 6 million, imo. Big improvement on Matic and Fred.
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He may well be, and I'm not arguing whether he is or isn't, but Goldbridge didn't really give much of a picture about any qualities he possesses, he just put out a stat with no context to support his viewpoint that Zakaria would be an improvement. If he was genuinely convinced and had spent time watching him I would have thought he would give more detail.
 
DavelinaJolie said:
He may well be, and I'm not arguing whether he is or isn't, but Goldbridge didn't really give much of a picture about any qualities he possesses, he just put out a stat with no context to support his viewpoint that Zakaria would be an improvement. If he was genuinely convinced and had spent time watching him I would have thought he would give more detail.
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I am not particularly going on what Goldridge said. Please don't get me wrong here. I have seen him play on TV and just then looked at his stats and followed up by looking at videos of him. I know this don't mean nothing at the end of the day as they show best parts. But what I have seen live on TV I was impressed and this is my own judgement. I just used Goldridge video to make a point. Sorry if it has annoyed you so much.
 
Bestietom said:
I am not particularly going on what Goldridge said. Please don't get me wrong here. I have seen him play on TV and just then looked at his stats and followed up by looking at videos of him. I know this don't mean nothing at the end of the day as they show best parts. But what I have seen live on TV I was impressed and this is my own judgement. I just used Goldridge video to make a point. Sorry if it has annoyed you so much.
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If he is better than what we have, and he's attainable for £5-6m then hell, I'm all for it! I'm concerned about the squad bloat if players aren't shipped out, and I don't think you buy players just because they're cheap, but if he's good I hope we go for it.
 
DavelinaJolie said:
If he is better than what we have, and he's attainable for £5-6m then hell, I'm all for it! I'm concerned about the squad bloat if players aren't shipped out, and I don't think you buy players just because they're cheap, but if he's good I hope we go for it.
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Yep, so do I. But don't know if they will back Rangnick or wait until summer. Whilst we are still in 2 cups and still a chance for a 4th place finish we need more midfielders where we are losing out to most teams now, I feel we should sell a few players and bring in 2 midfielders. That's just my opinion.
 
I wish we didn't struggle to offload players so often. You'd be able to bring in someone like Zakaria on the basis that he's cheap and better than what we have right now, while knowing that you could happily sell him on again in a few seasons' time if we need to upgrade further at that point.

Sort of like the Dan James signing. Bring him in because he'll be useful to have around in the immediate term (even as a squad player) and then sell him on once you don't need him any more. More of that would be great.

But because of our unfortunate tendency to hoard players, I'm wary of bringing in anyone who doesn't look certain to be brilliant in case they end up being more unshiftable deadwood in the long run.
 
To be honest, the United scouts have hardly convinced the United fans of their own suitability for their roles.
 
We have a desperate need in midfield, but we dont want to spend too much because we dont know who the new manager will be in summer.

Zakaria at 5 mil is hardly waste, and would offer something different for the rest of the season. If he’s that bad, give him the DVB and sell him later.
 
It's 5 mil. Peanuts. 5 mil is okay deal for trying to boost the midfield situation. I understand 20+ mil, but 5... it's like buying a no-name Chinese tyres for drifting - they are great - amazing; they break easily - okay then, so what?
 
He from what I've observed online was good before an injury and since returning his form has totally been derailed which doesn't help because Gladbach have been dreadful ?

I feel there's no need to rush this signing especially given that there are other talented players operating in the defensive midfield positions around Europe. Tchouameni I feel would be a very good purchase, good in the tackle but also has a good range of pass. It's important to get a player positionally who understands being a sole 6.

I know Rice would cost a king's ransom but positionally he's very very effective knows how to identify where to be a presence in-between spaces. He showed this particularly at the Euros an underrated aspect of his play. This is where Fred falls short, he does lack technically but his biggest shortfall is his footballing intelligence.
 
Lash said:
To be honest, probably the right choice. I just want anyone at the moment, lowering our standards won't help.
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I'm in the same boat, I'm thinking far too short term when it comes to targets. I suspect we haven't signed a midfielder cause the good ones don't want to move in January.
 
He should’ve been here two weeks ago. More legs than Matic and at least as good on the ball as Mctominay.
We might have got the win against Villa if he was there.
 
So he's good enough for Bayern but not for United? Right... This, from the same geniuses that brought you Wan-Bissaka, Maguire and Fred at a snip.
 
AltiUn said:
I'm in the same boat, I'm thinking far too short term when it comes to targets. I suspect we haven't signed a midfielder cause the good ones don't want to move in January.
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Yeah, it's tough. Trying to remain somewhat rational is difficult after obvious gaps in our squad after so long!
 
PoTMS said:
So he's good enough for Bayern but not for United? Right... This, from the same geniuses that brought you Wan-Bissaka, Maguire and Fred at a snip.
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Who says he is good enough for Bayern, just because some newspapers have linked him there? Bayern get linked with loads of different players just like United do. Also it's kinda funny that you mention Maguire there, weren't City interested in him? That must be mean he is good enough for United then going by your logic.
 
NoLogo said:
What are you saying? Aren't you satisfied that they picked AWB as the most promising candidate out of hundreds of FBs scouted?
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Tbh, I don't blame them for AWB. Pretty much every top RB in the league came through Chelsea's academy, or their own.

Maguire has got to be a huge mistake on every level, when you think of who was available.
 
If he's better than any of Matic, Fred or Mctominay then sell one of them in the summer and get Zakaria now to replace them.
 
So obvious, we're losing or drawing games because of our midfield. We need 2 midfielders in window. Those scouts opposing the Zakaria acquisition should be shipped out of the club. Terrible decisions overall....
 
Zakaria still hasn't recovered from the bad injury he suffered from what I've read. It would be a risky move to bring him in in the current window imo. I was for this signing in the past, but post injury, I think we should swerve.

 
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