I think we need three, if Kagawa is used as bait, it allows for United to play narrower football with wing backs, or play wider with wingers.
Not only that but United doesn't have a good balance, 3 in midfield would be the best balance there is, none of the players we have currently fit the bill.
I think that ship's sailed mucker. It was then, Jan or never in my opinion & there's been no links with him to any other club - nevermind ours either. I'd say the whole fiasco we went through & the same as Bayern went through has put clubs off Athletic players...
Could anyone see us signing both Coentrao and Shaw?
As ridiculous (and unlikely...and expensive) as it sounds, I'd love both of them. Shaw is my slight preference due to his age and the fact he'll be England's left back for the next 10 years, but I think Coentrao would be brilliant.
I'd had them both on my wishlist. Considering Evra needs a replacement & he might move on, and Buttner was on his way out in the summer - that means we most likely need 2 LB's. Shaw for around £30m & Coentrao for £8-10m. Thats friggin great business for 2 fantastic players...
Koke said that, but maybe Herrera said it aswell. I'd say his life has been hell since the fiasco & him askin to leave - then havin to apologise or something like that...
We need 1 or 2 CM's, LB and CB. These are actual areas of need for us and need to be filled or we'll have a shortage in the squad. We could withstand the loss of a winger and Hernandez without replacing them and be perfectly fine going into next season.
Central Midfielders:
1. Carvalho. We should sign him but with his young age, there's a good chance he won't be at the level we want right away. He's definitely a long term investment which is a huge step in the right direction because I believe one of Sir Alex's biggest mistakes was not signing a bunch of young midfielders with potential like he did with central defenders and strikers where he had a pretty good success rate.
2. Gundogan/Kroos. One of these are the world class signings we all hope for and I actually think they might be doable. Clubs that can rival us for Gundogan's signature, will probably be leery of signing him because of his back issues and the fact that they could probably sign someone else that doesn't come with question marks surrounding him. To me he's worth the risk and on top of that we could get him at a reasonable fee considering he has a year left on his current contract.
With Kroos, if we're willing to offer what is being rumored, that may be enough to land him. I doubt any other clubs would offer him the same amount and he'll soon find out that he could probably walk into our first team. I'm sure playing time wll be a huge factor and we can guarantee it to him and not many clubs could do the same. Players have left good clubs before searching for playing time as we know from Pogba and Barcelona could tell you with Thiago.
LB:
3. Shaw/Coentrao: I'd prefer Shaw over Coentrao personally but Coentrao makes more sense financially. Either way we get what we need. Shaw's a tricky one because he allegdly prefers Chelsea. If we sign Shaw it will take alot of money to do it and despite their deep pockets I don't think Chelsea would be willing to spend as heavily as would for Shaw considering Azpilicueta has done great for them and is only 24.
CB:
Ginter: I believe any combination of Jones, Evans and Smalling is good enough to be our starting Center backs and will be even better if we actually get a good midfield in front of them. The issue is we are short on numbers with Vidic leaving and Ferdinand likely retiring. Despite his young age Ginter has played quite a bit of top flight football already so it's very likely he could contribute if need be from the day he signs. He'd probably cost around 10-17 million which is reasonable. I don't see the point in spunking 30+ Million for someone like Mangala when we already have good center halves and can find someone of similar situation much cheaper. Like Ginter, there's no guarantees Mangala will become a top CB, but the difference is one will cost a third of the price and it doesn't change the fact that we already got 3 CB's on our books who are currently better and still young.
I think that ship's sailed mucker. It was then, Jan or never in my opinion & there's been no links with him to any other club - nevermind ours either. I'd say the whole fiasco we went through & the same as Bayern went through has put clubs off Athletic players...
I've watched Dortmund constantly with a long time and I think he's average "defensively", very talented footballer with great technique but not an out and out defender. Al about opinions though at the end of the day.
I've watched Dortmund constantly with a long time and I think he's average "defensively", very talented footballer with great technique but not an out and out defender. Al about opinions though at the end of the day.
Usually yes, don't think it's that easy in the English league though. Like you said earlier I think Ginter would be a better option also, much cheaper too.
Usually yes, don't think it's that easy in the English league though. Like you said earlier I think Ginter would be a better option also, much cheaper too.
I couldnt give a shite how much we pay for a player, as long as he's top-notch & we get all our other targets in.. There's plenty in the kitty man.
You only have to look at the new Nike deal at £65m per year (£600m+ long term) & the shirt sponsorship with Chevrolet at £53m per year.. We're feckin minted & we can spunk a few 100m no sweat..
"There's gonna be an unprecedented level of spending by the club this Summer..." Ed Woodward..
I couldnt give a shite how much we pay for a player, as long as he's top-notch & we get all our other targets in.. There's plenty in the kitty man.
You only have to look at the new Nike deal at £65m per year (£600m+ long term) & the shirt sponsorship with Chevrolet at £53m per year.. We're feckin minted & we can spunk a few 100m no sweat.. "There's gonna be an unprecedented level of spending by the club this Summer..." Ed Woodward..
Hey bud, I only worry about the price if I don't think the player in question is good enough and I have serious doubts about Hummels. Otherwise I wouldn't give a feck!
Reus is more or less the perfect winger to exploit RVP, Rooney and Mata that Moyes wants to play.
Gundogan or Kroos would boss our midfield
Carvalho would be a very good alternative to Fellaini. Stronger and a better passer.
Shaw will be the best left back in the league
It wont happen because we'd be lucky to get 2 of those listed. But if it did we'd need 4 not 5
Hey bud, I only worry about the price if I don't think the player in question is good enough and I have serious doubts about Hummels. Otherwise I wouldn't give a feck!
We've been down that "he's not worth that sort of money so we didnt buy him" road with Fergie & said player ends up at vastly improving our rivals, whether it be domestically or in Europe.
We're up against it big time, so we cant not afford to overspend for top-class players that will end up somewhere else anyway & make them even further ahead of us than they are already are..
We've been down that "he's not worth that sort of money so we didnt buy him" road with Fergie & said player ends up at vastly improving our rivals, whether it be domestically or in Europe.
We're up against it big time, so we cant not afford to overspend for top-class players that will end up somewhere else anyway & make them even further ahead of us than they are already are..
Based on all the games I have seen them play at any level they can get, what the feck is the point in a youth system if you ignore players who do well within the set up ?
Sorry Lem, you did say "Bud" though - proper Dub is that.... bud
Are United even that sweet on Hummels though? I'm not so sweet on him either. He isnt havin the best of seasons from what i've heard & i've read a few times he's been "found out" whatever that means. Havent seen much of him this season to be honest.
Realistic signings that won't cost us loads of money:
Ander Herrera - Carrick replacement.
Fabio Coentrao - Evra replacement.
Matthias Ginter - New talented defender.
Davide Santon - Backup/rotation for both Coentrao and Rafael
I didn't list Kroos, Gundogan or any other big names because i don't want to day-dream.
To leave:
Buttner, Anderson, Ferdinand, Fabio, Vidic Evra, Hernandez, Giggs, Bebe & Valencia.
Carrick to leave after next season.
GK:
David De Gea
Anders Lindegaard
(Ben Amos)
Fullbacks:
Rafael da Silva
Fabio Coentrao
Davide Santon
(Guillermo Varela)
Central-defenders:
Smalling
Evans
Jones
Ginter
(Michael Keane)
Central-midfielders:
Michael Carrick
Ander Herrera
Marouane Fellaini
Darren Fletcher
Tom Cleverley
Nick Powell
Wide-players/attacking-midfielders:
Nani
Adnan Januzaj
Juan Mata
Shinji Kagawa
(Wilfried Zaha)
Strikers:
Robin Van Persie
Wayne Rooney
Danny Welbeck
(Angelo Henriquez)
David De Gea
Rafael - Jones - Evans - Coentrao
Herrera - Fellaini
Mata - Rooney - Kagawa
Van Persie
Quality in central-defense. I'm hoping two of the four at least will step up to be quality players. This is where I'd spend big (instead of Ginter) if i was to change anything.
Injury issues for Rafael and Coentrao, if they both are out then we are left with only Santon as a first-team quality fullback. That is however better than we are doing today.
Realistic signings that won't cost us loads of money:
Ander Herrera - Carrick replacement.
Fabio Coentrao - Evra replacement.
Matthias Ginter - New talented defender.
Davide Santon - Backup/rotation for both Coentrao and Rafael
I didn't list Kroos, Gundogan or any other big names because i don't want to day-dream.
To leave:
Buttner, Anderson, Ferdinand, Fabio, Vidic Evra, Hernandez, Giggs, Bebe & Valencia.
Carrick to leave after next season.
GK:
David De Gea
Anders Lindegaard
(Ben Amos)
Fullbacks:
Rafael da Silva
Fabio Coentrao
Davide Santon
(Guillermo Varela)
Central-defenders:
Smalling
Evans
Jones
Ginter
(Michael Keane)
Central-midfielders:
Michael Carrick
Ander Herrera
Marouane Fellaini
Darren Fletcher
Tom Cleverley
Nick Powell
Wide-players/attacking-midfielders:
Nani
Adnan Januzaj
Juan Mata
Shinji Kagawa
(Wilfried Zaha)
Strikers:
Robin Van Persie
Wayne Rooney
Danny Welbeck
(Angelo Henriquez)
David De Gea
Rafael - Jones - Evans - Coentrao
Herrera - Fellaini
Mata - Rooney - Kagawa
Van Persie
Quality in central-defense. I'm hoping two of the four at least will step up to be quality players. This is where I'd spend big (instead of Ginter) if i was to change anything.
Injury issues for Rafael and Coentrao, if they both are out then we are left with only Santon as a first-team quality fullback. That is however better than we are doing today.
I agree, but i would want to give Fellaini a year to settle before buying him into a backup-situation, and i think Herrera at the very least would be an upgrade on all our midfielders on current form. With Carrick being let go after next season (as i mentioned) it does leave space for evaluation and adjusting on eventual lack of quality in the midfield.
I don't think Kroos will leave Bayern Munchen at all, and i don't think we would be able to capture Gundogan in front of the competition out there without being able to offer Champions League football.
After next season we could sell Tom Cleverley (if he hasn't upped his performance level) and start looking to move from having Tom Cleverley in the squad to a quality played, moving Fellaini/Herrera down in the pecking order and by that, up our "lower level" central midfielders.
I really think that one of the issues in the squad is the lower-quality players. We need to up our lowest level, and by these signings we can get players who can turn out to be the quality we want, or the rotation/backup quality we need.
That being said I do not think it's unrealistic that we will spend big on big targets this summer, but i wanted it to stay as realistic as possible.
