Jean-Clair Todibo | signs for West Ham on loan with option to buy

Disagree. Buying footballer is like buying a gas station sushi. The older they are, the cheaper they would be. His reputation might has grown but he's a year older and as we know 30+ is pretty ancient in football. He would sell for 30m at most even then I cant really see it

No one is buying Maguire for 30m, no one, are they mad, the DOF of that club would have to be an idiota for that to happen.
 
And we don't have any supper talented defender ready for the big step up like Mainoo has in midfield??

For years we've not had a defender come out of the Academy, with any sort of potential we might hope on.

The club needs to look into that, we can't be spending 80m on flops like Maguire or 35m on the likes of Lindeløf

If we had invested £80m into searching for the next Rio or Vida, instead of signing Maguire, by now we would have found at least two to four young defenders with high potentials.
It's incredible that you think you know better than coaches and scouts who do this as their profession. I agree it's disappointing we don't have better luck with defenders, but we have had many who looked the part and all hit ceilings. Keane, Blackett, Fosu Mensah, Tuanzebe looked good but hit walls.

At one point Mengi looked like he was going to be a star but struggled after injury and now seems to be building a good career for himself for Luton. Fish looked a genuine prospect for a while but he really shat the bed when he went on loan and somehow came back poor.

Sadly we just lost our best young CB prospect to City, but at the same time we signed a top LB prospect in Amass.

We have a few genuine prospects at fullback, on the wing and in central midfield. So we will have to buy CBs and strikers. That's still better than most academies on earth.
 
Disagree. Buying footballer is like buying a gas station sushi. The older they are, the cheaper they would be. His reputation might has grown but he's a year older and as we know 30+ is pretty ancient in football. He would sell for 30m at most even then I cant really see it
Strange analogy. The valuation of a footballer can increase from one transfer window to the next, despite the fact that they have a year less on their contract. There are countless examples of this - the most extreme example being but the €100m Madrid spent on Hazard. It goes without saying that Maguire and Hazard are incomparable in terms of ability, but to counter your point - if a club is interested in a player then they may end up paying the asking price.

I agree that 30m is probably the maximum fee we can get for Maguire but I reckon it's feasible to get the same amount this summer that West Ham submitted last summer, especially when considering his upturn in form since then.
 
And we don't have any supper talented defender ready for the big step up like Mainoo has in midfield??

For years we've not had a defender come out of the Academy, with any sort of potential we might hope on.

The club needs to look into that, we can't be spending 80m on flops like Maguire or 35m on the likes of Lindeløf

If we had invested £80m into searching for the next Rio or Vida, instead of signing Maguire, by now we would have found at least two to four young defenders with high potentials.
We've had a few come through that people had high hopes for, but they all seemed to get destroyed by injuries at a vital period of their development which they never recovered from. Tuanzebe most notably, but also Fosu-Mensah and more recently Mengi. Pretty sure there was another that I'm forgetting as well. Same thing happened to Laird at rightback, who I know plenty of people felt was close to Greenwood in terms of likelihood to make it.

Whether any of these players would ultimately have been good enough we'll never know for sure (well, Mengi and Laird are still young enough that they might work their way back to the top), but missing a significant amount of playing and training time between the ages of 16 and 20 really made it difficult for them.
 
We've had a few come through that people had high hopes for, but they all seemed to get destroyed by injuries at a vital period of their development which they never recovered from. Tuanzebe most notably, but also Fosu-Mensah and more recently Mengi. Pretty sure there was another that I'm forgetting as well. Same thing happened to Laird at rightback, who I know plenty of people felt was close to Greenwood in terms of likelihood to make it.

Whether any of these players would ultimately have been good enough we'll never know for sure (well, Mengi and Laird are still young enough that they might work their way back to the top), but missing a significant amount of playing and training time between the ages of 16 and 20 really made it difficult for them.
Laird was the most promising his ability to ball carry up the pitch was fantastic.

However as you’ve pointed out his injur him at key development points.
 
Yoro is great, but I wouldn't be too bothered about him going to Madrid if we were seriously looking at Diomande. He would be my number 1 option if we have no chance at Yoro, but it doesn't seem like he's high on our list of CBs.


Are you higher on Diomande than Yoro? I like Diomande as well, he has higher upside than Todibo, even though not as experienced. I agree, it does seem odd that we've not been linked to him at all and allowing Chelsea and Arsenal a free run at him. According to some sources, he is gettable for less than his release clause, so a bid of 50m is likely to be accepted. We should honestly be all over it. He could be world class in a few years and would really improve our defensive play. I would keep Varane for one year to rotate with him and go after a LCB such as Lucumi or Branthwaite.
 
Are you higher on Diomande than Yoro? I like Diomande as well, he has higher upside than Todibo, even though not as experienced. I agree, it does seem odd that we've not been linked to him at all and allowing Chelsea and Arsenal a free run at him. According to some sources, he is gettable for less than his release clause, so a bid of 50m is likely to be accepted. We should honestly be all over it. He could be world class in a few years and would really improve our defensive play. I would keep Varane for one year to rotate with him and go after a LCB such as Lucumi or Branthwaite.

I'm not sure. Both of them seem like physical monsters with plenty of pace as well. Both of them seem to have the tools to become one of the best defenders of their generation.

I'd be very happy with Todibo as well, but if Diomande wouldn't be much more expensive, the latter would be my choice, without a doubt.
 
definition of athleticism = Pepe from Porto. 41 years of age and still a beast. Still really fast in the first metres. At that age. I still might rate Pepe as one of the best CB out there.

And i am more impressed of his CB partner. Dante. Another over 40. A lot faster and cover more area than Tobido.

Others athleticism = Run a lot, easy on the toes, robust and strong. Last really long. More of marathon player than a 100 m sprinter that will gas out really quick.

Both of Pepe and Dante. Both over 40. And you know why they are still do really good job as CB.
Special with Pepe. 180 minutes against Arsenal, only concede 1 goal and not give away many chances.

Just look at Pepe's physical attributes. I am looking for a new Pepe. A CB that has everything on top level.

Tobido is just a very good CB at this moment, not top level CB. Clearly a level under Pepe and others top CBs in the game.

The young Leny Yoro is more easy on the toes and better on the ball than Tobido. United shall go for Yoro from Lille instead.

Leny Yoro, Lille and France 18 years of age. Nov,2005 > Tobido, 24 years of age. Dec, 1999

Yoro 6 years younger than Tobido. And more skill ful on the ball. Faster than Tobido in the first metres. Reasons United shall go for Yoro instead of Tobido.

It just a matter of time Leny Yoro will be call up to the France nation team.

United future central spine.

CB, right foot = Leny Yoro, 18 years of age
CM, right foot = Mainoo, 18 years of age
CF = Rasmus Højlund, 21 years of age

Build the around those central spine and those 3. Bring in top talents around 18-21. Let the gel together, understand each others movement and thoughts. Be patient and let them gel together as a Unit over a time.

Leny Yoro is ball player CB. And his quickness in the first metres is a advantage too.


That was right foot CB

Left foot CB:

+ Otavio, Porto and Brazil. Born April 2002
+ Jarrad Paul Branthwaite. Born June 2002


Sum up:

Right foot CB Leny Yoro + Left foot CB, Otavio or Branthwaite. Leny Yoro and one of those 2 left foot CB shall be good, for the next 10 years.
 
Needs to be on the shortlist surely, we need a back four that can play 90% of a season together.

Too many injury prone players right now.
 
We should secure this deal before the transfer season starts. No reason to waste time as we have other positions to fix too.
 
We should secure this deal before the transfer season starts. No reason to waste time as we have other positions to fix too.
Ahh long gone are the days when we were efficient.

I agree entirely though. It would be great to have a few deals lined up

Could remember wrong…but wasnt Stam announced early and even a guest at a home game at the back end of the season
 
40 million is a great deal. Not to at I believe it. Didn’t he have some type of release clause?
 
40 million is a great deal. Not to at I believe it. Didn’t he have some type of release clause?
The release clause is our new part owner, owns the club he plays for. If we can't get this done then lord help us.
 
No champions league football puts us at a disadvantage, our huge name and a starting slot helps but he could have a host of offers.
He was referring to Nice being owned by Ineos. If we want him we should get him.
 
If we don't get him, then we must be getting Yoro or Diomande because in no fecking way should we not have first option to decline.
 
You'd think that if we can't get this deal done, then we should probably just give up.

100% In one of the photos attached to transfer rumours the guy is wearing a shirt with INEOS sponsored across the front.

It's an open net. If United can't send the email to the right person then just pack it in, let's turn Old Trafford into a cinema or something.
 
Todibo alongside of Diomande and we would be set for years to come. €120m for the pair is money well spent.
 
What if he doesn't want to come to us? Maybe he fancies the weather in Spain or taking a punt on Chelsea when they sign a manager next week?
 
What if he doesn't want to come to us? Maybe he fancies the weather in Spain or taking a punt on Chelsea when they sign a manager next week?
This. I hate when people act like players are cattle. He’ll go where he wants to go if there are multiple matches offers
 
If we want him, and we fail to get this over the line it would be baffling, given everything in our favour, in theory.

Well, negotiations with the selling club shouldn't be too difficult, but ultimately it comes down to the player. If he fancies going to a CL level club and PSG, Atletico, Juve, and Inter are all in for him, then there might not be much United or Ineos can do about it.
 
I'm really impressed with what I have seen of this lad, I really hope that the INEOS factor can get this signing done.
 
If we can sell Maguire and Lindelof, replace them with Todibo and Branthwaite, it’ll be massive upgrade in the defense. Both of them have great injury record. This season, Branthwaite has 0 days missing from injury, while Todibo only injured for 7 days.

Martinez
Todibo
Branthwaite
Kambwala and Evans
 
If we can sell Maguire and Lindelof, replace them with Todibo and Branthwaite, it’ll be massive upgrade in the defense. Both of them have great injury record. This season, Branthwaite has 0 days missing from injury, while Todibo only injured for 7 days.

Martinez
Todibo
Branthwaite
Kambwala and Evans
Has to be at least 100m alone there in CB signings though, with what, maybe 40 coming back from Lindelof and Maguire? I think we'd be wise to shop the free / loan market for one CB at least, with a definite starter signed at RCB alongside (Todibo makes sense).