Like him but hoping we don’t pay over 50mil for him.
Jarrad Branthwaite
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Guéhi would definitely be a floor-raiser signing for this current United side, but there are a few things that should put us off about getting him.
I don't think you can put a 182cm tall centre back next to a 175cm tall Martínez if we're going to play a back 4. Not enough height at all. And then, I'm not sure Guéhi's ceiling is high enough either to justify a 60-70m fee which Palace will likely ask for. I'm also skeptical whether he has enough pace to partner with Martínez.
Plus point is that he does seem like a leader and a good organizer in the back...but his long-term role at the club plus clear deficiencies should mean that he's nothing more than one of the many backup plans, in case we fail in the pursuits of several other targets ahead of him.
Edit: I would welcome his signing if our current undisputed starting CB was at least 1.90m tall, and had pace, whilst Guéhi could be attainable for around 35-50m pounds. But that's not the case so we should steer clear IMO.
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Make a 50m offer. Take it or leave it. They need to sell someone anyway at some point to balance the books.
My money is on this one being dead. Everton see Branthwaite as a Gvardiol-level talent and we've offered about half of what they want. I can't see that kind of gap being bridged. Honestly I'm hoping we've already moved on, although I'd guess our other targets are all involved in the Euros.
If they get derisory offers like ours - they will simply take the points hit surely.
It cannot be dead yet. It's impossible that our ceiling for this is 35+8 million. We'll probably slowly reach 50-55m in the next ~10 days and if Everton are unwilling to do a deal, we move on, but not yet IMO.
Or their confident of getting over 60m for Onana
I think if they decide to sell Onana instead of Branthwaite, we will be in for him as well, so that would be a win-win for us. Probably not for 60m but his real value is not that far off that amount. Perfect partner for Mainoo as well.
We always brief the media that we're ready to walk away, and then the other club calls our bluff and we end up paying them what they want.
Hopefully this time with the new leadership it's different.
“Tenner”
“70 million”
“10 million”
“70 million”
“35 million”
“70 million”
*BRANTHWAITE SIGNS FOR UNITED IN 80 MILLION POUND DEAL*
“70 million”
“10 million”
“70 million”
“35 million”
“70 million”
*BRANTHWAITE SIGNS FOR UNITED IN 80 MILLION POUND DEAL*
We should go no higher than a deal worth 45m and 5-10m in add ons. If not then we walk away. We can't afford obscene wages and fees anymore, especially when we need to buy 7/8 first team players. Id rather we scout europe and bring in someone else at a less extortionate price.
Yep I think the initial bid (35m+8m) was a bit random and was never going to work, but maybe it did the trick to reset some expectations. If the sellers can claim 70-80m for a guy with one good season, we're well within our rights to laugh.
Let's go in with maybe 1-2 improved bids before June 30 while working on other deals to see if it even brings them to the negotiating table. If they still say 70m because he's as good as Gvardiol, they're welcome to keep him.
I’m not sure he’s what we need though. Is he even a number 6? Watching this Belgium game the commentators think he’s best as an 8. We need a solid 6
I'd like to think we'll still pursue the other targets even if we do sign Branthwaite.
Don’t think this is going to happen….Everton will think that we will pay their price……if we give them a take it or leave it and move on and sign someone else then we know that we have finally learnt!
Think this negotiation could be smoke and mirrors, set up to fail strategically. We will not go up too much in our bid from here, and will walk away early at the second or third bid being being rejected.
Lets our next target definitively know that United can and will walk away now instead of paying up absurd fees.
Lets our next target definitively know that United can and will walk away now instead of paying up absurd fees.
He's excellent defensively, very good in the air, very good duel winner, ball winner and tackler, incredible physical level, incredible athleticism, really good on set pieces. Decent passer but that isn't one of his main strengths. Very good at defending transitions too, which seems to be one of our biggest issues with neither Amrabat or Casemiro great at that. Him and Mainoo could dominate most midfields. I don't think he's a lone #6 in a 4-3-3, but he's a profile we lack IMO and gives us a lot of variety in the middle. He could play #6 with a guy like Mainoo next to / slightly ahead of him, but also play #8 ahead of a Rice/Rodri/Tchouameni type in certain games/game states.
EDIT: He's also turning 23 soon, with one season in France and two seasons in England under his belt already. Should be approaching his peak years soon. The timing seems perfect, if Everton have to let him go, and he's a profile we need, like I said.
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my baseless guess is that we might just get branthwaite, then every other signing will have to be matched by sales. So maybe calculate the exits of sancho, greenwood, and any number from lindelof, maguire, van de beek, pellistri. The wages from varane and martial might help a little over time, but realistically we need to try offload one more player that would get a half decent fee.
There are some really good defenders on the market for cheaper prices at the moment so yeah, it makes little sense. Tobido, Inacio and Yoro are better on the ball and would suit our build-up play better.
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Yoro is never coming, Tobido seems overrated from a bunch of fans here. Inacio I think we were chasing for LB not really RCB so that might still happen. De Ligt, the less said the better. It'd be like getting Casemiro instead of FdJ all over again.
There are others like Guehi etc. but this guy seems like he'd pair perfectly with Martinez, so let's see. I still want us to get him.
If we won't pay up for Branthwaite and threaten to look elsewhere, we're not then going to pay 60-70m for Guehi!
It feels like people are terrified of making a mistake in the market in here. I don't want us paying 70m for JB, but he's an excellent prospect and I'd still happily take him for a decent fee somewhere in the middle. This isn't shelling 80m for Maguire as much as people want to make that comparison.
Schneiderlin wasn't young when we signed him - he was close to 26 as I recall
Tapsoba would be better than all these alternatives IMO. Maybe even better than Branthwaite himself. Been waiting for months now for us to seriously consider him.
Great height at 1,94m, has pace, right-footed, good organizer, good ball progressor, good passer. I think he could play right back in some setups too. Perfect age as well. To me he's a better option even at 60-65m than these reported alternatives for Branthwaite. I feel like all of them have something missing that makes it not ideal for them to partner Martínez. And until we have another CB we are planning for the future with, he's the one I'm planning around. If we already had Branthwaite, then yeah, Todibo Guehi etc. would be good signings, but not yet.
That won't happen, of course. If 60m is overpaying for Branthwaite, it's comically overpaying for Guehi.
We aren’t buying 7/8 first team ready players. Dial down your expectations or you’re going to be very disappointed
Sure, I can see us going in with another offer, but I just can't see us agreeing with Everton when the gulf in valuation is so huge. It seems a fruitless pursuit considering the compromises required from one or either side.
You'd think people would realise this, unless they're 12 years old. It's going to be a slow rebuilding process.
They’re very excitable children at this time of year.
What's with these valuations? Buying from the uber rich in the PL is going to be a struggle this summer it seems. There has to be someone on the continent (say a Ruben Dias type) that we can sign here instead. All we want is a tall, fast, aggressive CB. A fit Eric Bailly or a right sided Rojo would do the trick. They can't be that hard to find.
I read that as us buying seven-eighths of a first-team player.
Exactly. Weirdly made me think of Martial for a sec
If the budget stretches
65 and 70 million for very promising English talents or 30- 40 million for Jean Clair-todibo or De ligt, all 24 years old or under. There are arguments for and against in both. AwB and Maguire were mistakes for their price tags and what they've contributed but you look at Declan Rice who seems worth what Arsenal paid and will probably be part of their midfield for 5 or 6 years to come.
We probably wouldn't buy 7-8 first-team players even if we could afford it - we don't need it.
Realistically we need 4-5 - as long as they are the right kind of players
Realistically we need 4-5 - as long as they are the right kind of players
Because us and Chelsea (mostly) have fecked the market. Look at the Maguire and Fofana signings and is there any surprise English clubs are pricing the best centre backs in that region?
You could argue it started with VVD but at least he was worth it.
Of course, but we do need 7/8 new first team players over the next 2/3 seasons. That's my point. We can't spend £80m plus on every position, and getting Branthwaite for under 45m would be a good start.
We 100% need a left back, centre back, right back, bruno's replacement, casemiro's replacement, a new right winger and striker over the next 2 windows. Even if you want to state Hoijlund's the striker, he does not look capable as much as id love to sugar coat the signing. We need an experienced goal scorer to lead the line over the next few years while he matures, and that will not be cheap.
It's not like Branthwaite needs both his arms to play for us.