We need a striker and a right-back - we do not badly need a midfielder right now - so we wont spend that kind of money on him. In the summer maybe - in january, never!
Enzo Fernández | signs for Chelsea
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I am not sure we will want a RB now. Looks like it will be Dalot with AWB deputizing. Will not be surprised if we get a midfielder this January. If it's for big money, then new owners are on their way.
Rather pay that for De Jong, De Jong is twice the player, O think we get him in the summer.
Ah, yes they guy who doesn't want to join.
I always think we need to be careful of knee jerk responses towards players in major tournaments. It’s only a handful of games and players can easily look like stars if they have a good tournament. Poborsky and Kleberson are the two that spring to mind. Both pulled on a UTD shirt after a tournament and did very little for us. Poborsky looked like the next big thing before we signed him and we let Vernon go to take Kleberson, granted Veron hadn’t fulfilled his potential either.
I don't disagree with the rest you say, but why do we need a right back? We got Dalot who is performing very well, and Wan-Bissaka and Brandon Williams as second and third choice with Ethan Laird coming back in the summer. I can't think of any good right backs available that would actually be an upgrade on Wan-Bissaka. I would agree if Hakimi was available, but the likes of Jeremie Frimpong would be a hard pass.
Dalot is good enough and if AWB finds some form he is a good back up. Quality in midfield is so badly needed like we need a striker. Case and to some extend Eriksen are good, but thats it. An injury to one of them and we are royally fecked
Would be a quality signing for years to come imo. Only negative is the enormous price they want for him.
I think ETH might be going for Enzo and Gakpo at this point, and going for De Gea on lowered wages to getting a GK immediately
Would make us really strong for the last half of this season. I hope you are right.
I'm not sure if Enzo would be a January transfer unless the board are desperate
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We don’t have the money or good enough reason to go for both this winter window.
Summer I’d be all for it.
It is always possible to strike a deal now and structure the payment into instalments. Let’s see what happens.
Don’t want de jong. His mentality is weak. Would rather play sub at Barca than first team football elsewhere. Fernandez is a mentality monster as well as a brilliant footballer. The exact type of player we need.
Fernandez's ceilings is higher i think assume he continues his development.
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It’s possible but our transfer strategy hasn’t ever been to spend on several first team players in January.
100% I can see Gakpo coming but Enzo at the reported fees I think we’re in dream land if we’re thinking both are possible.
Yeah don't see him moving until the summer
Agree that it'd be daydreaming to envisage a move for him in January, that's not how we operate at all but if we did he could be to us what Bruno was in the winter of 2020. A truly transformative player that elevates us a level or two above where we currently are.
Yes the fee being touted is outrageous but it also prices out other credible competitors and gives us a clear run to his signature. If he settles and gives us 8 to 10 seasons of top central midfield performances that evens out at the end but more importantly we then have a solid base in him, Martinez, Dalot Rashford, Antony and Sancho on which to build the next team.
So there are both short term and long term benefits to this signing but we won't do it primarily because we are broke but also because football isn't really high on the agenda of this rotten ownership.
Yes the fee being touted is outrageous but it also prices out other credible competitors and gives us a clear run to his signature. If he settles and gives us 8 to 10 seasons of top central midfield performances that evens out at the end but more importantly we then have a solid base in him, Martinez, Dalot Rashford, Antony and Sancho on which to build the next team.
So there are both short term and long term benefits to this signing but we won't do it primarily because we are broke but also because football isn't really high on the agenda of this rotten ownership.
I like this thought process. We need guys with attitudes like Licha, etc...
Because he isn't twice the player at this stage.Didn't look like it when they faced each other
Fernandez has also got a higher ceiling being 4 years younger and still developing while FDJ is entering his prime.
It’s been reported several times that whatever we spend in Jan will be taken out of the summer budget, so it wouldn’t really make a difference if we go for top targets now or then
Only difference is that we will have a better chance to get top 4. Even win a cup.
All that reporting is irrelevant because when the club is sold, all of that changes.
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I don’t see any incentive for the glazers to invest €100m on Enzo in January if they are considering selling the club.
It would burden us with additional debt, not be bringing in a player with the ability to start over Casemiro and Eriksen right away and just isn’t a priority at this point.
If it happens I’ll eat my words but I’d say very confidently it’s no happening this window if at all.
Casemiro, Eriksen, Fred and McTominay will be deemed enough to take us to the summer. Fred has just had his contract extended too which further suggests no recruitment in midfield this window.
It absolutely makes a difference from an accounting point of view depending of fee structure of course but as far as I’m concerned it’s a pointless discussion as it’s not going to happen.
Gakpo and at a push a RB maybe.
I think there's something to this, we're not going for gapko and de jong will probably never join us so why not blow the cash away here.
Wonder how ten hag rates him.
Wonder how ten hag rates him.
The Glazers have never invested their own money though so what would be the difference. The only thing is that it might help the club achieve Champions league places which would make it more valuable in a sale.
I'd also dispute that Fernandez wouldn't start over Eriksen as I think he would instantly give us more control in that midfield because he's better at winning balls back and has massive ball retention in addition to excellent distribution. Even if you don't think he would supplant Eriksen, he would provide us with a rotational option for virtually all our midfielders without a significant drop in performance levels and so would get a very high number of games. Not sure how mf isn't a priority either - the drop from any of our midfield three to Fred/Scottie is huge.
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I agree the drop in quality is massive and also that Enzo would add a huge amount of quality but I don’t see us spending on a CF and him this window.
But I also don’t think that the United board will look at Fred and McTominay and be pushing in January to replace two players who are happy being squad rotation CMs for a €100m man.
Id love it to happen but we’ve never operated like that in January.
Waiting for Jürgen to pip us to this guy as well grrrrrr
He’s brilliant and I doubt he stays in Benfica passed this season to be honest.
My point of view is that we have three really pressing recruitment concerns 1. Striker, 2. CM and 3 Goalkeeper. Of the three positions, there is an outstanding candidate available right now in one of the positions we need to fill and that is Enzo for the midfield. He's a player that could be the foundation of the team for the next decade. While we probably need a forward more urgently, there are simply no forwards of the required quality attainable in the market right now so I think we choose one of the cheap options to tide us to the summer and hopefully some wonder kid is unearthed/breaks out before next summer or alternatively we splash out on Osimhen/Ramos.
I mean I don't disagree that its unlikely for us to make such a huge signing in January but I do think it is the rational way to allocate resources given our needs. The alternative is to buy compromise players for each of the positions of need which just isn't going to push the needle for us in terms of the team's goals.
That's a given at this point, his cl performances and the world cup has skyrockets his profile.
I wonder how far he'll make it, seems to have the tools to be the standout midfielder of his gen.
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I’d argue it’s:
- ST
- RB
- CM
- GK
I understand what you’re saying but I think we need to see what happens with the ST target before we spend summer budget.
I think that's where you may be wrong, we have to look for the future assuming he fulfills his potential he'd be worth every penny, the key to sustained competitiveness for titles is the presence of good midfield or spine for example just look at how real is hoarding midfielders right now.
Also we could as well lose out on him in the summer if other teams enter the fray and cm prospects with such high ceiling don't easily come around.
Casemiro Enzo
Bruno/Eriksen
Bruno/Eriksen
Assuming casemiro ages nicely we'd be set for years!
At this moment it’s not about displacing anyone. This season is very much a squad game. Games are going to come thick and fast and we cannot have Casemiro Bruno and Eriksen play every single game. We need to rotate heavily and I would rather rotate with this guy in it rather than rotate with Fred/Scott.
Everytime this gets bump I half expect to see Liverpool signed him at a bargain price. we can't get new owners in fast enough.
This is Benfica we're talking about, they bent them over a barrel for Nunez.
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Perhaps I should make myself clearer I don’t think from the club’s perspective that they will consider the outlay desperate enough to act on. I absolutely believe Enzo would be a good option for us to have and that he has a high enough ceiling to be a PL winning midfielder in the right set up but I think the club has short term ambitions this window especially given a sale is being touted. I could be wrong but I would be amazed if we do anything big in January.
My hesitation is more a reflection of what I believe will happen over what I’d hope to happen. I think we need to upgrade Fred and McTominay to seriously compete for titles but I don’t think that’s a this January problem in the eyes of the club. I think they will see the ST problem as absolute priority and be a lot more relaxed about the rest until the summer.
I understand that but I’m not looking at this from a purely footballing perspective nor from what I’d personally want because of course I’d be delighted with Enzo coming in and I think he’d fit in well.
I feel the club will not allow significant funds to move for a midfielder this window because they will deem Fred and McTominay good enough to get us through this season for a top 4 push. I particularly feel the Fred contract renewal to be compelling evidence that this is their thinking.
I also believe that the Glazers will look at their potential sale and not want to make too many final changes. From their point of view they backed ETH heavily in the summer and will likely only now allow a ST signing to come in to replace Ronaldo.
In the summer I expect something to happen though and I just hope players like Enzo are still in the conversation.
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