Final Signing

I don't understand advocating for a long term LB signing right now so long as we have Shaw and Malacia on the books.

It won't happen until we move off at least one.

100% something we should revisit next summer but for now a stop-gap is the most feasible and prudent option for this coming season unless Amass proves to be a revelation.
 
I'm not interested in us signing a left back on loan or as a short term permanent transfer. I'd much rather stick with what we have and allow Amass to pick up the odd game if necessary. (Eg: An injury to Mazraoui/Shaw still out etc).

So for that reason, after Ugarte, I'd like us to pursue some quality cover for Mainoo. Then we can look at the left back position properly next summer, as well as potential replacements for Maguire/Casemiro/Sancho.
 
Rolaholic said:
LB, as much as Dalot can do a job there, we don't need any extra load on him. I also don't want the Martinez experiment to last more than a week either, he's much more valuable to us as our marshall at the back.

Would be negligent going past deadline day without bringing in another with the well documented injury history of our 2 LB's by trade.

Shaw only seems to care to be fit for England and I honestly don't remember how Malacia looks like as a footballer it's been so long since he's actually played :lol:

Wouldn't even be against bringing back Reguilon on loan just to have another LB body there as an option.
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I thought Reguilon did pretty well when he was here.
 
Rolaholic said:
I don't understand advocating for a long term LB signing right now so long as we have Shaw and Malacia on the books.

It won't happen until we move off at least one.

100% something we should revisit next summer but for now a stop-gap is the most feasible and prudent option for this coming season unless Amass proves to be a revelation.
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It depends: does any club need a paperweight or 2?
 
devilish said:
Shaw is decent but best LB in the planet? seriously? Its not that long ago when Mourinho was pushing to have him replaced. It seems that Shaw had enjoyed the Fabio Da Silva effect were he keeps getting better the more time he spends in the treatment room. That's because once back all bad performances will be labeled as 'still recovering from his injury' which leaves the focus only on the good games.

With that out of the way let's now focus on what truly matter. Shaw had lost more games then Martial (19 games from Martial, 15 games from Shaw). He's 29, his career had been plagued with injury and he's got a history of not taking care of himself. So seriously I can't see how you can be so confident about him returning and be useful for enough time to be reliable. Malacia seems a goner as well. That leaves us with a 17 year old Amass and a RB who can play as LB but was brought to be cover to Dalot. What happens if Dalot gets injured? Exactly!

We need a LB more then we needed Zirkzee. In the STK position we had Rashford and Bruno (we're well stocked in both the LW and the no 10 role) who could cover the role. We don't have that 'luxury' as LB.
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Invoking Mourinho does not impress me, but the argument that Shaw may be done is persuasive. May be done. He put his boots on for England and was fantastic. But he’s out injured again, which frustrates the crap out of us. However, we’ve already brought in Mazraoui and Amass is a serious prospect. I’m writing off Malacia but there are reports that he’ll be back soon.

But in CM we have Mainoo, Casemiro, Eriksen and McTominay. Eriksen is done and McTominay never has been a CM. We need two CMs, not one, as a higher priority over a LB. Do all three of we can, but the question is which is the higher priority and it’s clear as crystal what it is, which is why we’re hearing about Ugarte 24/7.
 
lex talionis said:
Invoking Mourinho does not impress me, but the argument that Shaw may be done is persuasive. May be done. He put his boots on for England and was fantastic. But he’s out injured again, which frustrates the crap out of us. However, we’ve already brought in Mazraoui and Amass is a serious prospect. I’m writing off Malacia but there are reports that he’ll be back soon.

But in CM we have Mainoo, Casemiro, Eriksen and McTominay. Eriksen is done and McTominay never has been a CM. We need two CMs, not one, as a higher priority over a LB. Do all three of we can, but the question is which is the higher priority and it’s clear as crystal what it is, which is why we’re hearing about Ugarte 24/7.
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The trouble analyzing Shaw's performance is twofold. First of all both England and ourselves lack a decent alternative for him. That means that whenever he's out then the performance drops in a substantial way. Secondly he's so injury prone that its almost impossible to point his bad performance to him rather then to his physical condition (he's still not match fit, he might still be recovering from an injury, he might be carrying a niggling injury etc). Thus if you take the bad performances out of the picture then what you're left is the good ones. I am old enough to remember some WC LBs (Irwin, Evra, Cole etc) and living legends (Maldini for example). Shaw is nowhere near to them. If Maldini or Irwin had Shaw's career then they themselves wouldn't rate themselves as good enough. That's because WC LBs are judged on two things ie 7/10 performances on a week in week out basis in a period measured in years. Shaw doesn't have that.

Mazraoui and Dalot can play LB and RB but the trouble is that they are just 2 players. That means if Dalot is playing as RB and Mazzy as LB and one picks an injury then you can't play Dalot on the right and on the left. In that circumstances we're left with a 17 year old LB who barely ever played first team football + Shaw/Malacia who, most probably, would be in the treatment room.

We spent last season without a LB and we know the result of that. Let's learn from our mistakes for once.
 
LB, but I am seriously worried about cover for Mainoo. If he needs resting, or even worse picks up an injury, we don’t have too many options. LB and CM are our weakest back-up points right now. I would definitely not go for an ST until those positions are resolved.
 
Rolaholic said:
I don't understand advocating for a long term LB signing right now so long as we have Shaw and Malacia on the books.
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Malacia will probably never play again. And Shaw is Shaw, he needs cover by virtue of being Shaw :)
 
George The Best said:
LB, but I am seriously worried about cover for Mainoo. If he needs resting, or even worse picks up an injury, we don’t have too many options. LB and CM are our weakest back-up points right now. I would definitely not go for an ST until those positions are resolved.
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Casemiro and Ugarte can play together. I mean, I think Casemiro is higher up the pitch more than ever.
 
I might be in the minority but I would like to get another CM after Ugarte. Rabiot if he agrees on a reasonable wage. Casemiro Mainoo Ugarte and Rabiot could be a tremendous midfield.

I don’t see Bruno or Mount as CMs.
 
ayushreddevil9 said:
I might be in the minority but I would like to get another CM after Ugarte. Rabiot if he agrees on a reasonable wage. Casemiro Mainoo Ugarte and Rabiot could be a tremendous midfield.

I don’t see Bruno or Mount as CMs.
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Or Manū Kone (Monchengladbach) as late Transfer for 20 mio if we can get rid of Eriksen
 
I don't think we are going to get Ugarte. The loan with the obligation makes sense if we have cash flow problems, but if it is FFP/PSR issues than it won't help as the amortization would have to be counted from this year's books itself.

My guess is that Amrabat will be our final signing this window. Another loan with an option to buy type deal or a direct buy if we are able to raise money by selling McTominay.
 
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ayushreddevil9 said:
I might be in the minority but I would like to get another CM after Ugarte. Rabiot if he agrees on a reasonable wage. Casemiro Mainoo Ugarte and Rabiot could be a tremendous midfield.

I don’t see Bruno or Mount as CMs.
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What’s the deal with Rabiot?

Does he still need to be signed within the deadline? If so, he seems a cert as a deadline day deal for someone who missed their main target
 
LawCharltonBest said:
What’s the deal with Rabiot?

Does he still need to be signed within the deadline? If so, he seems a cert as a deadline day deal for someone who missed their main target
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Pretty sure it can be done after deadline as he's a free agent but could be wrong on that
 
I know it's a week left, but I feel like Ugarte will be the last signing for now. The rest of the window will be about outgoings (hopefully!). Can't see a deadline day panic buy from the new people in charge.
 
I've been saying since May that we don't need an expensive traditional left-back, we either need a versatile player who can play there or a cheap option to play a rotational squad role, someone like Reguilón...and it's basically what happened with us getting Mazraoui who can cover at LB. We definitely don't need another player there now IMO...or if we do, let's get Reguilón.

I think we could do with another central midfielder. Rabiot would be a good signing in my opinion.
 
Rojofiam said:
I've been saying since May that we don't need an expensive traditional left-back, we either need a versatile player who can play there or a cheap option to play a rotational squad role, someone like Reguilón...and it's basically what happened with us getting Mazraoui who can cover at LB. We definitely don't need another player there now IMO...or if we do, let's get Reguilón.

I think we could do with another central midfielder. Rabiot would be a good signing in my opinion.
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Needs to drop demands if he wants a move, maybe then we come back into consideration. Mind you do think his age might also be factoring into the decision
 
We 100% need a left back, even if it's just a loan for back-up.

Having two fit full-backs going into the season is asking for trouble, especially when one of them is meant to not have a great injury record himself.

I'd try get in Mario Hermoso if it were up to me (probably a good job it isn't) - he's missed 10 games through injury in the last 3 years.
 
croadyman said:
Needs to drop demands if he wants a move, maybe then we come back into consideration. Mind you do think his age might also be factoring into the decision
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If he wants a 5 year contract, then probably. It will probably be a 3 year contract no matter where he goes IMO.
 
I think hoping for an additional player beyond Ugarte is a pipedream; that being said, if we could take Reguilon on loan again I'd be pretty happy with that. True left-sided back and did a very serviceable job for us last summer. In fact it was a really bad decision ending his loan in January.
 
Todd said:
I think hoping for an additional player beyond Ugarte is a pipedream; that being said, if we could take Reguilon on loan again I'd be pretty happy with that. True left-sided back and did a very serviceable job for us last summer. In fact it was a really bad decision ending his loan in January.
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Yeah wasn't Erik supposedly told by medical staff that Shaw/Reguilon would be back so not needed
 
Eriksen goes, McTominay goes, Ugarte in and maybe Rabiot on a free?
 
Ugarte and a controlling midfielder who has a high progressive pass count, can spread the play, press resistant basically FDJ MK.II
 
I believe Ugarte will be the final signing. I'd be very surprised if we got anyone in after him.
 
It's bit risky but club will probably decide to go with Mazraoui/Dalot/Shaw/Amass/Malacia as fullback options. At least until January. So Dalot on LB until Shaw is back while Mazraoui plays at RB. If there are many injuries, they'll buy/loan a LB in January.

We probably won't get another striker either unless we sell Sancho and get the funds. Finally, another midfielder probably won't happen unless Eriksen leaves and even then it'll probably be Rabiot as he's on a free.
 
Manù Kone. A top midfielder. Incredibile engine and very good feets. And you can buy him for cheap. If you sell Mc Tominay you need another midfielder (plus Ugarte) box to box.
 
TheReligion said:
Wide player? Sancho looks gone
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I think that's next window, defenders should be solved now with players like Lindelof leaving next year.

An extra midfielder and top class wingers next window I'm assuming
 
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