Manchester United Summer Transfer Window 2015: What do we still need?

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Kag said:
There seems to be a consensus forming that we should be pursuing a right back, centre half, central midfielder, winger and striker this summer. I agree with that, too. Hopefully our manager sees it that way.

Summer should be fun again. Even more so if we bag Champions League football.
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I'm not fully convinced about signing a striker. If we opt for the preferred 4-3-3, hook RvP and not sign Falcao, we're left with Rooney and Wilson as his understudy. That does seem light but signing another striker would cause him to play a lot and leave Rooney playing as the #10 - he is still great there but it leads to more constant tinkering as opposed to keeping required continuity in the squad. But then again, we should hopefully be in Europe with more games. A forward capable of playing wide would be excellent. Dybala, or the likes in to replace RvP and I'd swoon.

Should be good. Reading recent comments, interviews, articles etc. by LvG instills the confidence I once had in him.
 
finneh said:
Bizarre that the likes of Barcelona don't get battered every week with their lack of lace and power in midfield (not comparing, just highlighted the flaw to your argument), likewise Atletico Madrid. Both my examples have Di Maria in midfield who has lots of pace, so I don't see that as a problem and Mata is a quality player who in all likelihood would be better than the players we've been linked with. Bring Nani back and you have extra pace also.
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Barca play in another league that requires a very different style of play, they are also fairly unique and have the best front 3 in the world which means teams are afraid to push onto their midfield. Atletico's midfield is full of big, strong CM's like Mario Suarez, Raul Garcia, Saul, Tiago and Gabi, plus Koke is a quick, aggressive CM. Di Maria is one quick player who loses thew ball way too often for LvG to play him in midfield, we could only compensate for him as one of the 3 CM's if we went back in time and signed Keane or Davids. In the case of Mata he is too slow and easily outmuscled, it's been seen time and again this season.

I also don't agree with your assessment of Smalling, apart from the City mistake he's looked pretty solid throughout, as has Rojo. Also De Gea has been great this season, but lets not act like he's saved 15 goals that someone like Valdes wouldn't have saved, a few definitely but not a goal every other game. Even taking this into account our defence is no worse than Arsenal. Jones is still a working progress, but I'd probably keep him as a squad option since he's only just turned 23 (where was Vidic at that age?)
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We'll just have to agree to disagree on the first part, as for it being as good as Arsenal's defense, I personally don't consider that a benchmark for a good defense. Jones problem is between his ears, he constantly gets rushes of blood when under pressure and does stupid things and there has been no sign in his time here of him getting a leesh on that.

Again a central midfielder would be great, if the right one came available. Likewise replacing Evans with a top defender like Godin I'd agree with. Nani has had his shot here and for 2 seasons he was a great player, this season he looks back to his best so it seems ludicrous to go out and spend £25m on an unproven foreign import, when if Nani were not a United player already half the forum would be salivating over his performances (ask our resident Sporting fans).
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The problem is you only seem to think that proven big names can improve a team, and that is not always the case, there are players on the cusp ready to step up all over Europe. Nani has also had a number of poor seasons as soon as he gets sulky, plus him and Di Maria share many of the same traits as Di Maria, one player who is that frustrating is enough. Buying a younger wide player ready to take the step up is how we have always done it at United.

I'm not comparing Dybala with Hernandez, my point was that people are advocating buying a potentially quality player to essentially sit on the bench. If Rooney is up front, a new winger is on one wing and Di Maria is on the other where is this space for yet another squad player? If we wanted a wide player or forward to sit on the bench why not utilise the forwards we already have? Selling Mata, Nani, Hernandez & Jones and buying Laporte, Dybala, Depay and Firmino would be stupid.
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You are looking at this from the concept that no one gets injured and there is no such thing as form. Dybala is the type of player that can compete with Di Maria, Depay and Januzaj for the two wider spots in the front 3 and is a better cover for Rooney than Hernandez. Mata isn't being replaced by anyone really, he simply isn't quick enough to play in the front 3 and too weak to play in the midfield 3.

Overall I'd prefer: Bale, Danilo, Pogba, Lacazette & Godin over the next 2 seasons, rather than 5 player's this Summer (e.g. Clyne, Depay, Firmino, Dybala & Laporte) and another 3-4 next Summer, causing us to be in constant transition.

I dread to think if this forum were Liverpool fans. They'd be asking for everyone apart from Henderson, Sterling and Sturridge to be replaced.
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You are acting like bringing in 5 players is some kind of rarity for a big club, and your list has the virtually unobtainable Pogba, the overpriced Bale and a CB who is nearly 30, and you are turning your nose up at excellent young talent in favour of players who are not getting it done here for some reason, I guess we just see things differently and that's cool.
 
DWelbz19 said:
I'm not fully convinced about signing a striker. If we opt for the preferred 4-3-3, hook RvP and not sign Falcao, we're left with Rooney and Wilson as his understudy. That does seem light but signing another striker would cause him to play a lot and leave Rooney playing as the #10 - he is still great there but it leads to more constant tinkering as opposed to keeping required continuity in the squad. But then again, we should hopefully be in Europe with more games. A forward capable of playing wide would be excellent. Dybala, or the likes in to replace RvP and I'd swoon.

Should be good. Reading recent comments, interviews, articles etc. by LvG instills the confidence I once had in him.
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I agree. We've needed a dynamic forward for a good while now. Ideally somebody young, with something to prove, yet happy and capable to play wider in support of Rooney. I've never seen the guy play, but if this Dybala fella' is that kind of fit then we best give it a go.
 
finneh said:
My focus is on getting the right player's, rather than quantity. We've gone down the road in the past of signing 5-6 player's most of whom strengthen the squad, but none of whom particularly strengthen the first team and it hasn't proven particularly successful.

If Pogba & Bale came available I agree we must push the boat out to sign them. Likewise if a young striker who Van Gaal thinks will turn into a world beater (Lacazette possibly?) I would agree with the signing. I also think we definitely need a first choice right back and first choice centre back. The problem is if all the player's that I mentioned came available we'd be looking at around £225m (£65m+£65m+£35m+£35m+£25m) investment for 5 player's., which is completely unrealistic.

Therefore the people who are suggesting buying 5-6 player's for say £150m are basically saying we need a couple of first choice player's and 3-4 squad players, which I hugely disagree with. We already have a strong squad and are basically a couple of top, top player's away from a very strong first XI.

I'd prefer 2 World Class player's this Summer (e.g. Godin, Bale someone like Danilo), followed by 2 next Summer to replace Carrick/RVP (e.g. Pogba, Lacazette), rather than 5-6 player's the majority of which will just end up replacing player's like Blind, Fellaini & Young that we already have.

TL;DR It seems people are either in dream world and think we'll spend £225m on Pogba, Clyne, Bale, Lacazette & Hummels OR they think we'll spend £150m on 5-6 squad player's who aren't any better than the likes of Young, Nani, Hernandez, Fellaini, Rojo and Blind. My opinion is 2 great player's is better than 5 squad player's and 5 great player's won't be available, certainly not within around £150m.
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We don’t have the luxury of signing just 2 players though unless our aim is to compete for the top 4 and that is it, if the aim is to get back to competing for the title we need new players it’s as simple as that. I don’t see why the only option is either top class players or settling for what we have, there are plenty of players in between who could come in and improve us and plenty who will develop into top class players. One thing is certain the likes of Nani, Young and Fellaini aren’t going to be top players replacing those level of players is exactly what we need to do, players like Depay and Dybala etc might be squad players now but in 6 months or 1-2 years they could much more than that.

Our issue has been over paying for players who are 25+ who are either over rated and/or don’t actually address issues that need to be sorted, that is what we need to avoid, Otamendi being a prime example. It’s all about our scouts and the management identifying and signing the right players, whether they cost £5m or £50m.

What 2 realistic signings give us a top starting 11? Don’t see it myself, especially with LVG as manager it’s easily 3-4 and with players likely to be sold and some key players ageing another 1-2 squad players are needed as well.
 
Roboc7 said:
We don’t have the luxury of signing just 2 players though unless our aim is to compete for the top 4 and that is it, if the aim is to get back to competing for the title we need new players it’s as simple as that. I don’t see why the only option is either top class players or settling for what we have, there are plenty of players in between who could come in and improve us and plenty who will develop into top class players. One thing is certain the likes of Nani, Young and Fellaini aren’t going to be top players replacing those level of players is exactly what we need to do, players like Depay and Dybala etc might be squad players now but in 6 months or 1-2 years they could much more than that.

Our issue has been over paying for players who are 25+ who are either over rated and/or don’t actually address issues that need to be sorted, that is what we need to avoid, Otamendi being a prime example. It’s all about our scouts and the management identifying and signing the right players, whether they cost £5m or £50m.

What 2 realistic signings give us a top starting 11? Don’t see it myself, especially with LVG as manager it’s easily 3-4 and with players likely to be sold and some key players ageing another 1-2 squad players are needed as well.
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Since November we've been showing title winning form regardless. 43 points in 20 games has a projected total of 82 points over the course of the season. That amount could very well win the title this season and if not would certainly push the winner to the final game or two. A couple of World Class player's would turn a couple of our losses into draws and couple of our draws into wins which would have us up there with Chelsea.

Yes there are player's who could come in and slightly improve us who aren't top class, but are they any better than the current squad players they'd be replacing? Are these player's going to provide a better contribution than Mata, Nani & Smalling/Rojo? I'd argue that it would be a gamble, particularly as most of the names I see are young, unproven players from inferior leagues, playing for small clubs where they aren't playing in front of 70,000 expectant fans every week. Is it really worth splurging £100m to basically replace squad player's with other squad player's? I don't think so.

I want us to take an approach similar to Chelsea. Mourinho identified 4 key positions that he needed to win the League: winger, striker, defensive midfielder, offensive midfielder. It took him 3 transfer windows but he found the perfect player for his tactics to fill each of these positions. He could have easily signed a striker like Bony and a midfielder like Fellaini in his first Summer, or even Fernandinho before Matic. But he realised that if he waited a season players like Matic, Costa and Fabregas, who were all the right player's and the right age, would become available and actually be effective. None of his four purchases were completely unproven youngsters, they were all very proven (to different degrees).

If it were up to this forum before July was half way through we'd have signed Depay, Dybala, Laporte, Firmino and Lacazette. Then when a truly world class player becomes available (see Sanchez, Di Maria last Summer), we wouldn't have the squad space and wouldn't want to spend even more money to accommodate them. I'd rather we pick 2-3 key player's each Summer that will improve our first XI, than run a trial and error program with 5-6 unproven young uns every season.
 
I dont think we need to make many signings in the summer, but the ones we make must be the right ones - quality over quantity.

RB should be the top priority - in line with what I said above, I would go all out for Coleman or Clyne. My preference would be Coleman as he has more experience playing at a higher level.

Next should be a wide forward/winger type - again the two options I would be looking for would be Sterling and Bale. Im not interested in buying another bunch of "the next Messi" type prospects (unless they actually ARE the next Messi) - for every one who turns out like Hazard, there are half a dozen who simply fall short of the quality required for a top PL side (Jovetic, Negredo, Soldado, Kagawa, Chadli, Lamela, Markovic, Aspas are some of the ones I would put in this category off the top of my head). Reading the above post I see this is pretty much what @finneh is saying, and I agree wholeheartedly.

Finally, we can look at strengthening the central areas - CB, CM, ST. Assuming we get one of Bale or Sterling, they can provide backup to Rooney as the main striker, with RVP and Wilson also options.
In CM we have a great set of players in Carrick, Blind, Herrera, Fellaini (and if his form picks up, Di Maria) so again, this is an area where we can look for a prospect perhaps. The only big name CM I would really want us to consider would be Pogba - and that is simply a case of "too good to pass up".
At CB I expect Evans to leave, and there is space for one more alongside Smalling. Again the key here is to buy experience though. For all the whinging about Smalling/Jones/Evans/Rojo, none of them are actually that bad, and they would walk into any non-top team. Again I see people talking about prospects that look solid in the Dutch league (or whatever), and instantly assuming they are going to be the next Vidic & Rio rolled into one. I would be highly surprised if any of those prospects turned out better than what we already have. We need quality and experience here - Hummels is a decent should, perhaps Varane, but in truth there seems to be a shortage of really good CBs at the moment.
 
go for pace upfront. give falcao a pass, unfortunately. reduce RVP to bench role. get bale and depay.

one midfielder is enough. one world class midfielder that is.

one world class CB. a RB.

------------------------------------de gea/valdes-----------------------------

new RB/valencia-----smalling/jones---------new CB/rojo-------------shaw

------------------------------------carrick/blind---------------------------------

------------------new CM/herrera-------------------di maria/fellaini------------

--------bale/mata/nani----------rooney/rvp/wilson--------depay/januzaj/young

nice and strong 24 man list up there.
 
septic said:
finneh, part of our problems this season have been going forward, creating chances -- not just defensively. You seem to think we're completely fine attacking wise which is kinda strange if you've been watching most of our games. We have no real pace going forward at all, and a definite lack of quality out wide.

Di Maria, Nani, Young and Januzaj is in no way 'sorted' as wing options if we're trying to build a team worthy of winning the leage and CL.

And Herrera, Fellaini, Blind and Carrick is in no way sorted as a midfield. Its good enough for a top 4, just, but it pales in comparison to other team's midfields. We should not be resting on our laurels.
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I think we'll buy a winger (Depay if we can't get a massive name), but I am starting to wonder if maybe Van Gaal will give Mata a chance central and we won't buy a veteran CM with Strootman being hurt, Fellaini's form and Carrick's one year extension, though it would leave Herrera without a backup.

------------Rooney/RVP/Wilson------
Depay/Young---------------DiMaria/Januzaj
------------Mata/Fellaini--------------
--------------Herrera/Blind/Pereira-------
----------Carrick/Blind--------------------
Shaw/Blind---------------RB/Rafael or Valencia
--------CB/Rojo--Smalling/Jones--------
------------DeGea/Valdes-----------------

Maybe try to survive a year with that midfield rotation then Carrick leaves in the summer of 2016 and a proper partner for Herrera is signed, with Blind and a youth product like Pereira or Pearson (or a touted young Dutch CM like the one with the crazy name at Ajax) backing them up.
 
SammyUnited_83 said:
Well we bought a fancy foreign striker and he was shite.

I would still like to see us maintain interest in talented English youngsters.
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You mean the no brainer loan signing Falcao? Indeed it didnt work out but I'm also bored of being the laughing stock for having the likes of clevs at a club like ours. We have our very own Wilson if you want to take a punt.
 
ricky-romeo said:
go for pace upfront. give falcao a pass, unfortunately. reduce RVP to bench role. get bale and depay.

one midfielder is enough. one world class midfielder that is.

one world class CB. a RB.

------------------------------------de gea/valdes-----------------------------

new RB/valencia-----smalling/jones---------new CB/rojo-------------shaw

------------------------------------carrick/blind---------------------------------

------------------new CM/herrera-------------------di maria/fellaini------------

--------bale/mata/nani----------rooney/rvp/wilson--------depay/januzaj/young

nice and strong 24 man list up there.
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Apart from the fact that we obviously won't sign Bale that's absolutely spot on.
 
KingMinger22 said:
Clyne, Bale, Pogba, a CB.

Just £180-200m

:)
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Thats what a muppet list is for ;)

Seriously though, quality over quantity. If we could get just one of those players then it would be preferably to signing half a dozen 'prospects' who will probably become decent PL players but little more.
 
Don't want loads and loads of signings as I think having a settled unit without ten new players who'll need a season to bed in is often just as valuable as additions. Also as I suspected at the start of the season, we're starting to see that a lot of our players are much better than they appeared last season and at first under Van Gaal. Central defence, for example, is clearly not the horrorshow that some suggest - the main issue was the injuries, not the quality.

So for me it's still quite simple. In order of importance:

- Falcao gone, RVP either let go or kept on the understanding that he will no longer be our main man up front. A £30m striker added, a true #9 with pace to burn and a decent all-round game, who likes to run onto the ball rather than always taking it to feet. Again, someone with some room to grow but not inexperienced or unproven.
- A quality box-to-box central midfielder who brings technical ability and physicality. Clearly a player like that is central to Van Gaal's 'philosophy', so we should get one. There are lots of options out there, some more realistic than others. Personally at the moment I really like Nainngolan.
- Evans out, someone better in. Doesn't need to be a superstar, but should be someone with quality, potential for improvement but not an actual youngster. Ideally 25ish.
- Maybe a new RB, although I'm not especially fussed. Rafael is as quality as anyone we could hope to bring in, but you can certainly argue that we'd be better off with less talented and less injury-prone. Either way, Valencia is a superb alternative option at the moment.

What I don't want:

- Depay. It's pure opinion, but I don't see what the fuss is about, I don't think he's that special, and I'd really rather just stick with Januzaj and Young as the options on that wing.
- Bale. I don't want us to become another Madrid, looking for Galacticos all the time. Real don't need to let him go cheap (and wouldn't want to after the absurd amount they spent on him), so we'd have to pay way more than he's worth.
- More than three or four additions, or more than two signings of >£30m. We've seen how good our players can look when the team as a whole is playing well, so I'd definitely prefer to err on the side of continuing to bed in last summer's signings and improve our cohesion as a unit within LVG's system, rather than chucking another load of new players in and then getting mad when they have unimpressive first seasons (see Di Maria).
 
Bring Nani back, sign defensive box to box mid, and a ball playing center half and we're in the title race imo and could cause havoc in europe.
In:
Schneijderlin
Stones


------------------Rooney-------------------
Nani-------------Mata-----------DiMaria
------Schneijderlin-Hererra-------------
Shaw---Stones---Smalling---Valencia
-----------------DDG----------------------

Physically, we'd be better than most teams in the league, technically we'd be up there. The question would be could our manager set up the tactics correctly for us to get back on our perch.
 
In:

1. Absolute top drawer CM, someone capable of coupling Fellaini's physicality with Blind's ability on the ball and Carrick's passing range.

2. Fast, tricky winger. If we bring back Nani, this could be him. If ADM leaves, we need two.

3. A top class CB, if one is available. I dont want to panic buy here as Smalling and Rojo are improving.

4. Another 'if one is available', a world class striker. Rooney cant do it on his own.

Out:

Evans
Lindegaard
Falcao
RVP
 
11101 said:
In:

1. Absolute top drawer CM, someone capable of coupling Fellaini's physicality with Blind's ability on the ball and Carrick's passing range.
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This isn't reasonable. I've been thinking a lot about what kind of midfielder to get and there's not a lot of candidates out there. There isn't a player who fits your description in world football.
 
Bale
Depay/De Bruyne
Pogba/Verratti
Godin

.............De Gea.....
Raf...Smailling...Godin....Shaw
.............Carrick................
.......Herrara Pogba/Verratti
Bale.......................De Bruyne/Depay
...............Rooney....................

:drool::drool::drool:
 
I am expecting Hummels to be the key CB signing but I do think we will be looking at the best young CB's as well like Varane/Marquinhos/Stones/Gimmenez/Laporte. Personally with the new rules the FA are about to hamstring PL teams with I think Stones makes the most sense.
 
Iron Stove said:
This isn't reasonable. I've been thinking a lot about what kind of midfielder to get and there's not a lot of candidates out there. There isn't a player who fits your description in world football.
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Possibly not, but its the one player we need the most.
 
I think we need a centre back who is good on the ball, plenty of experience under his belt but is still young with plenty of potential - Smalling.
I think we need a young centre back to replace Vida who is young but shows plenty of his courage to put his head where you wouldnt put your foot - Rojo
Young quick full backs who could almost play as wingers - Shaw, Valencia, Rafa
I give up.
 
I don't feel we don't need that many players but two positions need improvement for sure:

No6/defensive minded No8 . (Schneiderlin, Rabiot..) or Pogba

Winger-Striker/Striker-Winger (Depay, Bale, Reus, Dybala, Vietto, Lacazette..)
 
RedorDead21 said:
I think we need a centre back who is good on the ball, plenty of experience under his belt but is still young with plenty of potential - Smalling.
I think we need a young centre back to replace Vida who is young but shows plenty of his courage to put his head where you wouldnt put your foot - Rojo
Young quick full backs who could almost play as wingers - Shaw, Valencia, Rafa
I give up.
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Dont give up yet, you were almost there too.
We need a seasoned CB who can pass the ball out there and hold the line -- Hummels/Godin (I think we have Hummels wrapped up already)
 
yeah I guess thats what going to happen but then Smalling and or Rojo/Jones spend the majority of time on the bench. This season we have the 3rd best defence in the league despite constant changes to it. We have conceded 2 more than Chelsea I believe who's back 4 hardly changes. Our defenders are still all relatively young players. I just think we could have rewarded their efforts this season (if we get top 4) with the chance to do even better together next year and naturally I'd expect them to be better. Thats not to say I wouldnt replace Evans....I would with John Stones or Varanne/Marquinhos if possible. I think we'd have a cracking group of young defenders and keeper with that approach for the next 7-8 years. But anyway I can see the appeal of a Hummels also I just dont see much point in all the chances we have given these young lads to lose faith when they are actually starting to justify it.
 
If we could get Depay, Lacazette, one of Pogba or Schneiderlin, and a good CB....it would be a fantastic summer.
 
With no international football this summer, our transfer business is going to be very drawn out. With nothing else to talk about muppets will crawl out the woodwork in their hundreds.

Including me
 
Browniee said:
With no international football this summer, our transfer business is going to be very drawn out. With nothing else to talk about muppets will crawl out the woodwork in their hundreds.

Including me
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There again, no international tournaments so easier to get access to players as soon as season ends.
 
DomesticTadpole said:
There again, no international tournaments so easier to get access to players as soon as season ends.
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One would like to think.
Hopefully we have identified out targets and talks are happening as we speak.
Wonder who'll be our sneijder/Vidal/Thiago this summer?
I reckon Bale
 
septic said:
finneh, part of our problems this season have been going forward, creating chances -- not just defensively. You seem to think we're completely fine attacking wise which is kinda strange if you've been watching most of our games. We have no real pace going forward at all, and a definite lack of quality out wide.

Di Maria, Nani, Young and Januzaj is in no way 'sorted' as wing options if we're trying to build a team worthy of winning the leage and CL.

And Herrera, Fellaini, Blind and Carrick is in no way sorted as a midfield. Its good enough for a top 4, just, but it pales in comparison to other team's midfields. We should not be resting on our laurels.
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I definitely agree with you about the wings, its been so obvious in some games that we lack pace in attack. Nani is not the answer and its better for both parties if he moves on. Young is good cover and not much more. Di Maria hasnt settled. Januzaj should have a big future here but isn't reliable enough yet and isn't nearly as quick as those 3 anyway. I'm far more in favour of adding pace to our attack in the form of a winger than a striker. Rooney, RvP and Wilson seems adequate for 1 position if we're sticking with the 4-3-3.

I disagree about midfield though. I think most people would agree we're only "just" in the top 4 because we've spent far too long pissing about playing Rooney in midfield, leaving out Herrera and trying to fit RvP and Falcao in. Carrick, Herrera and Fellaini looks like a really good trio and Blind is excellent back up and potential successor to Carrick. And I don't think I'm just saying this purely because we've had a couple good games, I think all 4 have been great for most of the season. Di Maria still has to be considered in tbis position too unkess of course he is adamant he wants to go. The obvious problem is, blind can't cover for the other 2, him and Carrick both in MF obviously doesnt work. Herrara unless a truly world class or potentially world class midfielder like Verratti or Pogba was available I'd rather prioritise a CB, RB and winger and give Pereira a chance as cover.

This isnt directed at anyone in particular- some people seem to think we're going to, or even need to spend another £150m+ and sign five or six first teamers. Signing two of Pogba, Hummels and Bale AND several other additions just isn't going to happen, we need to let out new signings settle then overhauling the whole fecking squad 2 years in a row.
 
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Depay, Bale, Clyne, Hummels and Schneiderlin would do me. Oh and a new contract for De Gea please. Get it done Woody.
 
Every summer since 2009 we've needed a world class midfielder or two, it's amazing how we still haven't got one. I'd say there is more chance of us not signing a top box to box midfielder than actually getting one.
 
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