So he might have another 4-5 years of top level left. Perfect age. He might grab the position from Varane gradually during next season, if he signs for us.
Kim Min-jae | signed for Bayern
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So he might have another 4-5 years of top level left. Perfect age. He might grab the position from Varane gradually during next season, if he signs for us.
That works for a large bulk of players. I'm not sure if it works when you know your competition is one of the best CBs of the past decade. City would never be able to sign a player like Alvarez at his current reputation if he knew Haaland was in front of him. They are unlikely to keep hold of him for too long for the same reason. Spurs were never able to get a solid backup for Kane. Signing a backup for Bruno at United has been pretty pointless and just resulted in someone like Van de Beek getting no minutes. Signing a backup for Casemiro makes sense from a young player perspective, not a Declan rice perspective. Unless they can play together regularly, it just won't happen. Martinez is LCB, so it's between Kim and Varane for RCB. Maybe I just rate Varane higher than others, but a 350k per week CB with his stature and quality just means that I just doubt United actually try to replace him right away.
I think KMJ would come in to replace Varane. Varane has a contract until 2025 and if I'm being honest, I don't think he'll renew, so the smart thing for the club to do would be to get Kim Min-jae in and look to sell Varane next season, so we can at least get some money for him.
I absolutely love Varane and think he is class, but it is very evident that he's lost some of his pace, and his ball playing abilities have gotten worse, especially when you consider how good he used to be in that aspect. There were many this season where he genuinely looked clueless as with what to do with the ball, and ended up passing it back to De Gea, as opposed to how Martinez progresses it forward with ease.
KMJ is similar to Martinez, and also a magnificent ball carrier so I believe we'd actually be more of a possession team, and more comfortable building from the back. That's not to say Varane is bad at it, he really isn't, but he has gotten worse due to his injuries and will very likely gradually get even worse.
Varane has done really well this season, but relying on him when he's as injury prone and only having Lindelof and buying some random young CB is a very bad strategy if we want to compete at the top.
When an excellent CB like KMJ, who can play on both left and right CB, is available for that fee and in his prime, we simply have to go for him.
Yeah, look, what you’re saying is quite understandable but my issue is that you think we are replacing him if we sign a very good CB. My view is that we need a very good CB to compete with him and, yeah, he should hope and believe he will get in ahead of Varane but (and this is the beauty of it) Varane is bloody brilliant so the standard required for selection is pushed ever higher.
There would be a fluid hierarchy based on form and fitness and there will be plenty of games to go around, surely.
Not too old. Too old to be a normal succession for Varane who is just 2 years older. It's an instant replacement if we sign him, and I don't think we replace Varane just yet (or would be very surprised).
It is actually three years. Almost four. Not two. And their injury record is very different. The amount of football they have played is very different.
I love Varane but you can't rely on him for a full season at this stage of his career unfortunately. He's missed probably 20 or more games since joining. With KMJ in you could manage Varane's game time as and when you need it without relying on a Maquire or Lindelof coming in.
It's 3 1/2 years
And given how Varane's minutes have to be managed surely it makes sense to have a centre back of a similar to level to come in when he's unfit/needing rest?
Ah fair enough mixed that up. Thought it was 2.5.It's 3 1/2 years
And given how Varane's minutes have to be managed surely it makes sense to have a centre back of a similar to level to come in when he's unfit/needing rest?
I'm just saying that I think it'll be very hard to agree on the basis of he has Varane ahead of him, but of course if it does happen then it'll be great. But it just seems like an unrealistic rumor as we have much bigger fish to fry this summer and it's not like replacing Varane is urgent (and Lindelof is a very able deputy). It's a weird situation with our CB's though, same with our midfield. They're all 29/30 basically bar Lisandro. It wouldn't be a bad idea to replace Varane now if we can do it smoothly, I just don't think it's that high on the priority to address it this summer given other issues.
Good post! Sums up the situation very well. If the reported release clause fee is true, this is a shrewd piece of business, especially if we can sell Maguire for around 30mil
Napoli probably knows that KMJ is certain to leave. So it's better for them to get the money earlier.
It's actually KMJ that losing out if he agrees earlier. As there are probably better offers coming in when the clause kicks in with more bidders.
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Username checks out. Good post.
Aside from his injury issues, and aside from the fact the City side we're trying to compete with have multiple starter-quality CBs competing with each other, the reality is that brilliant though Varane generally is he isn't particularly strong on the ball, something ETH obviously likes in his CBs. Having an alternative who is better on the ball would be no bad thing, especially if we want to set up with the sort of double advanced #8s system where the defenders have to contribute a lot in possession.
Please get this done. No more Shaw at CB. We need him at LB.
Well I think it’s smart move if we can get him this summer:
- best CB in Serie A last season
- at good age (26)
- ETH type of player with highest passing stat in Serie A last season, also good in progressive carries
- Varane being injury prone, plus we will definitely need a good backup or squad rotation CB
- Flexibility to go with 3CB system if needed
- good height and won ariel duels
- his clause this summer means should we miss the chance to sign him this summer, other clubs could get him instead
The 3 CB thing is kind of a non factor for me as Ten Hag just doesn't use that system
KMJ is significantly better on the ball than Varane at this stage, as Varane had regressed a lot due to his multiple injuries. This means that he will suit ETH's game more and allows ETH to develop his team without too much setback. Martinez just had a season ending injury, with a projected return date of mid July. Even if there is no delay to his return from injury, he still has a lot of catching up to do as he had missed several months of training and conditioning. Signing KMJ actually means that there is no need to rush Martinez back until he is fully fit without hampering our chances of having a good start to the season.
Varane is also quite injury prone and at this stage of his career, it is likely that his injury problems will worsen. Signing KMJ as a contingency plan is a great move IMO and nowhere near as bad as some posters here made it out to be. He is fast (or even rapid), strong, huge aerial threat, aggressive, good with passing (though not on Martinez's level), good at running with the ball and has great positioning. He will actually improve us significantly, as ETH no longer has to worry about injuries or overplaying his preferred starting CBs. We no longer have to dread looking at the starting XI when one of our CBs is out injured.
Other than that, it is not an everyday occurrence that a world class CB entering his prime is available for 50m. KMJ is also eager to join us as he is a Man Utd fan who idolized Park growing up. We had a good connection with Korea since Park and this is another opportunity for us to continue that. This signing really isn't anywhere near as bad as posters here made it sound.
Varane is also quite injury prone and at this stage of his career, it is likely that his injury problems will worsen. Signing KMJ as a contingency plan is a great move IMO and nowhere near as bad as some posters here made it out to be. He is fast (or even rapid), strong, huge aerial threat, aggressive, good with passing (though not on Martinez's level), good at running with the ball and has great positioning. He will actually improve us significantly, as ETH no longer has to worry about injuries or overplaying his preferred starting CBs. We no longer have to dread looking at the starting XI when one of our CBs is out injured.
Other than that, it is not an everyday occurrence that a world class CB entering his prime is available for 50m. KMJ is also eager to join us as he is a Man Utd fan who idolized Park growing up. We had a good connection with Korea since Park and this is another opportunity for us to continue that. This signing really isn't anywhere near as bad as posters here made it sound.
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It struck me it must be more than 20 games. So I researched it.
In 46 matches in all competitions for United he has missed (both injury and just being on the bench - I assume here that he wouldnt be on the bench if completely fit as he's first choice)
That's 23 matches a season alone for Kim Min Jae, and you also need to rest Martinez. Plus he could straight up just replace Varane if he plays well.
That's nonsense. You don't lose the ability to pass just because of injury. Neither has Varane when looking at him. He's fine on the ball, and has the same qualities as Kim Min Jae really. And I like KMJ.
I thought I was being generous as his first season he was missing a lot but didn’t realise it was that many games!
I think KMJ is actually better on the ball than Varane full stop. Regardless of injuries ( which I agree, wouldn’t make much of a impact in that regard)
It is evident he's regressed in terms of passing ability and possession. Whether that's due to his injuries or something else is hard to say, but his passing stats speak for themselves. He's no longer as impressive as he used to be in that area.
Jones featured against Wolves at OT in January.
It only makes sense to sell him at the release clause valuation if United are the only team interested. If there's a bunch of clubs interested they'd be better of sitting on him and hoping that one of them gets desperate enough to offer more than the release clause now.
Yes. I don't even need passing stats to tell me this, the eye test tells me he's lost a fair bit of his agility, he can't turn his way out of trouble the way he used to before, he looks stiff. The Gakpo goal at Anfield never happens 4 years ago, no way a 100 % Varane is turned that easily, he just couldn't change direction fast enough due to lost agility.
That was Jan 2022. Jones didn't play a single minute this season.
Was that last season? No way, felt like this one
Edging closer - Closest - nearly there etc etc etc
Yes. Think we lost 1-0
He’ll go Liverpool/Newcastle whilst we struggle to sell Maguire before making a move.
He’s already agreed to join us. There’s pessimistic and then there’s thisLeague minutes is a pointless stat given how many other games we've played and will have to play.
There was plenty of game time for CBs who weren't Martinez and Varane this season, and there will be more next season as Varane needs to be protected.
He'd just be such a great option at the price available, a no brainer really aside from whether we start phasing varane out or not.
Can you blame me, it’s United under the Glazers in the transfer market
I don’t mate, but I think we’ll be fine to be honest. The recruitment seems to be smarter for the most part, if you ignore the Kane, Rice and Mount rumoursCan you blame me, it’s United under the Glazers in the transfer market
I actually think you're spot on.
I have very little confidence that we will do a deal for Kim, given the way this club is run.
We did manage to do better business last summer albeit paying United tax in most cases but this transfer just makes too much sense. World class CB, decent price in today's market and would no doubt improve us.
Yet I can't help think we'll fumble around trying to shift Maguire for £30million, miss out on Kim and end up selling Maguire in the final week of the window for about £10million and his replacement will be rushed through, overpriced and ultimately not good enough.
We always see clubs do great deals for top players, see Liverpool and Mcallister for one, this is our chance to have a bit of that action, I hope history doesn't repeat itself.
We did manage to do better business last summer albeit paying United tax in most cases but this transfer just makes too much sense. World class CB, decent price in today's market and would no doubt improve us.
Yet I can't help think we'll fumble around trying to shift Maguire for £30million, miss out on Kim and end up selling Maguire in the final week of the window for about £10million and his replacement will be rushed through, overpriced and ultimately not good enough.
We always see clubs do great deals for top players, see Liverpool and Mcallister for one, this is our chance to have a bit of that action, I hope history doesn't repeat itself.
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