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

[Macern]

Angel Di Maria is at 13 assists right now according to the stats in his thread. That means he tied Valencia's best season, Beckhams second best season in 97-98 and he's one behind Nani who is at second place with 14 assist in a season. Beckham 99-00 leads the charts with 15, so Di Maria would hold the Manchester United assist record if he makes two more until the end of the season.

This just shows how some of the criticism towards him is ridiculus. The expectations of him after his last season at Real Madrid and his unreal performances for us in the first couple of games has been way too high, and it's unbeleivable how some want us to sell him after only one season.

Give him time, he'll shine next season.

 

[2 man midfield]

Angel Di Maria is at 13 assists right now according to the stats in his thread. That means he tied Valencia's best season, Beckhams second best season in 97-98 and he's one behind Nani who is at second place with 14 assist in a season. Beckham 99-00 leads the charts with 15, so Di Maria would hold the Manchester United assist record if he makes two more until the end of the season.

That's actually pretty damn good, i didn't know that.

 

[Amadaeus]

I feel United needs to get Bale this summer if he becomes available. When you look at the top teams beside Barcelona, their is an emphasis of pace and power in their attack. At United we have to play Fellaini further forward to give us the power we lack uptop and we have benefited because of that. Bale will give us a combination of both and is more than a target man.

 

[Devil may care]

Formation isn't the only reason why a transfer will or won't work. Its just one factor. If it was just about buying big name players then surely the mighty Ashley Young wouldn't be matching (or even outperforming) Di Maria. It sounds wonderful when the grass is greener on the other side and we talk about buying the likes of Bale and others, but there are no guarantees that they will perform at a level as they were with their old club, which is why there's a lot of value in doing proper scouting and buying players in the Vidic/Evra type mold as well as looking at bigger names.

Ashely Young is in his own country, hasn't had his family terrorized, has been at United for years and has been in the PL for around a decade, yet Di Maria has none of the above luxury's and still has created and scored more than him and is on course for the United season assists record....For Vidic and Evra see the whole host of unproven dreck we have wasted money on, it's a far higher body count than our big buy failures.

Depends if Van Persie stays or goes. I'm guessing he will stay so 2016 would make more sense.

Even if RvP goes do you really think Kane would come here top play as Rooney's back-up?

 

[Raoul]

Ashely Young is in his own country, hasn't had his family terrorized, has been at United for years and has been in the PL for around a decade, yet Di Maria has none of the above luxury's and still has created and scored more than him and is on course for the United season assists record....For Vidic and Evra see the whole host of unproven dreck we have wasted money on, it's a far higher body count than our big buy failures.

Again that's my point. We don't know what will happen irrespective of who we buy, so there's really no logic to only buying expensive stars given our experience with Di Maria and Falcao, and to a lesser extent the likes of Veron a decade and a half earlier. Young is a good example of a good player who we didn't have to break the bank on, and I'm sure there are plenty of others out there who are significantly better than him.

Even if RvP goes do you really think Kane would come here top play as Rooney's back-up?

I doubt Rooney will start indefinitely. At some point in the future, hopefully years down the road, he will be fazed out much like Gerrard was at Liverpool.

 

[Devil may care]

Again that's my point. We don't know what will happen irrespective of who we buy, so there's really no logic to only buying expensive stars given our experience with Di Maria and Falcao, and to a lesser extent the likes of Veron a decade and a half earlier. Young is a good example of a good player who we didn't have to break the bank on, and I'm sure there are plenty of others out there who are significantly better than him.

That's not a correct point though, if we'd paid the agent fee and got Hazard we'd have won more than settling on an average player like Young, 9 times out of 10 when you buy the best players they deliver, and again what is the negative with Di Maria? he's had a rough time but still contributed plenty to our season despite all the difficulties and obstacles he's had. Are you really trying to say that we'd in any reality be better off taking a punt on an untested CM from the Ukraine than buying Pogba or Verratti? Or buying Memphis over Muller should that be an option? I'd say that answer is a resounding no, we'd be foolish and regret it.

I doubt Rooney will start indefinitely. At some point in the future, hopefully years down the road, he will be fazed out much like Gerrard was at Liverpool.

Years down the road? I doubt Kane fancies waiting years to be our week in week out starting #9, nor would we pay the undoubted £50M fee for him unless he was in the first 11 plans.

 

[Raoul]

That's not a correct point though, if we'd paid the agent fee and got Hazard we'd have won more than settling on an average player like Young, 9 times out of 10 when you buy the best players they deliver, and again what is the negative with Di Maria? he's had a rough time but still contributed plenty to our season despite all the difficulties and obstacles he's had. Are you really trying to say that we'd in any reality be better off taking a punt on an untested CM from the Ukraine than buying Pogba or Verratti? Or buying Memphis over Muller should that be an option? I'd say that answer is a resounding no, we'd be foolish and regret it.



Years down the road? I doubt Kane fancies waiting years to be our week in week out starting #9, nor would we pay the undoubted £50M fee for him unless he was in the first 11 plans.

What fee ? He wanted to join the reigning European champs.

 

[Devil may care]

What fee ? He wanted to join the reigning European champs.

The £6M agents fee Fergie vetoed paying.

 

[Raoul]

The £6M agents fee Fergie vetoed paying.

Well that's that if he didn't want to pay off his agent. Slippery slope once that becomes the norm.

 

[Devil may care]

Well that's that if he didn't want to pay off his agent. Slippery slope once that becomes the norm.

It is the norm everywhere, Fergie and Wenger just took longer to accept it, or in Fergie's case retired before accepting it. Even a club like Sunderland spent £14M in total agents fees across the last 3 windows, and look how much we paid in agents fees to broker the Mata deal to avoid Woodward having to deal directly with Chelsea so they couldn't bring Rooney up.

 

[2 man midfield]

I really don't think we need to go mad. Depay, maybe a combative holding player and a CB. I think Van Gaal likes Valencia at right back, we're covered at left back, and if we're playing one up front i think Rooney, RvP and Wilson is enough. Obviously if De Gea wants out we'd have to look at that but a few tweaks is all that's needed imo.

 

[HabeasC]

I really don't think we need to go mad. Depay, maybe a combative holding player and a CB. I think Van Gaal likes Valencia at right back, we're covered at left back, and if we're playing one up front i think Rooney, RvP and Wilson is enough. Obviously if De Gea wants out we'd have to look at that but a few tweaks is all that's needed imo.

If Rafa is on his way out/remains injury prone a RB is a must. Valencia is not really good enough in either defending nor attacking.

We'll be much more effective on the right with a proper RB. Dream scenario would be that Rafael comes back into favour and can avoid injury for the foreseeable future. That's unlikely to happen, however.

 

[2 man midfield]

If Rafa is on his way out/remains injury prone a RB is a must. Valencia is not really good enough in either defending nor attacking.

We'll be much more effective on the right with a proper RB. Dream scenario would be that Rafael comes back into favour and can avoid injury for the foreseeable future. That's unlikely to happen, however.

The Valencia of last season at right back would worry me, but credit to him he's really turned it round this season and looks good. I'm not going to say we don't need to sign a new right back, it's certainly one of the weaker areas of the side but it would appear LvG trusts him, and i can't think of too many candidates. Coleman maybe?

 

[Castia]

In : Clyne, Hummels, Schneiderlin, Depay and Dybala.
Out: Rafael, Evans, Adnan (loan), Nani, V.Persie (although he's a LvG guy) Falcao (loan finished).

I think that would be a decent summer window for us.

 

[Devil may care]

How is Clyne in all of these dream summer lists? He's so average it can only be because there's such a shortage of RB's that no one can think of anyone else to list. If we must have an RB this summer then Coleman makes so much more sense, he's more experienced and a much better player and coming into his prime years.

 

[Rob Bowman]

Last year this place was raving about Carvalho, that seems to have gone quiet. He looked like a bit of a beast.

The thing is being a beast is just part of that role. I mean Carrick is no beast. In fact the biggest requisite of this position is the players intelligence. Carrick and Alonso who both play this position well have never been confused with beasts on the pitch or off. Sure being a beast ala Keano helps, but the truth is Keane was a very intelligent footballer. In fact most of the best CM/DCM in recent memory, Keane, Viera, Makelele, Busquets, and Gattatuso were both beasts and very intelligent.

As for Carvalho yes he is a beast, but I do not know enough to say if he is intelligent enough to be a top drawer DCM. Any else know the answer to that?

 

[Invictus]

Rather sign someone like Santiago Arias from PSV Eindhoven or Fabinho from Monaco than Clyne, who's as mediocre as they come and will likely cost a bomb in relation with his actual worth. Arias while not a world beater right now, could be exactly that one day and has a lot of room for development; and Fabinho just has monstrous potential from a skillset and physical tools standpoint. Atleast you won't get fleeced to the tune of £16-18 million (conservative estimate) for a consistent but rather pedestrian player in the long term. Plus, the displays of former Southampton players like Lallana, Lambert or Lovren at their new clubs makes my bottom twitchy.

Another scenario to consider, maybe we sign two good quality centerbacks in the summer, making the likes of Smalling (who I rate but sometimes you have to make sacrifices for he overall good) surplus to requirements. Arsene seems to be a massive fan of the lad, so send him to the Emirates in a FM swap deal for Bellerin. Last time I suggested this trade, cesc's_mullet shot the idea down, which can only be a good thing.

Also, Javi Manquillo is a quality talent (betraying his displays at Liverpool thus far) and is wasted under Rodgers the nincompoop. Reunite him with an age-old legend of his club, David de Gea. Maybe sign Oliver and Saul and Gimenez too, and we shall have a mini-Atletico muppet army.

 

[Devil may care]

@Invictus Fabinho is a good shout, I've been impressed by him when I've watched Monaco this season but never considered him because he looked about 30, but I see he's only 21.

 

[Invictus]

@Invictus Fabinho is a good shout, I've been impressed by him when I've watched Monaco this season but never considered him because he looked about 30, but I see he's only 21.

 

[RedRevongge]

How much do people think the transfer window will be affected by whether we get top 4?

 

[Kill 'em all]

How much do people think the transfer window will be affected by whether we get top 4?

I think it will make a huge difference for players that want to play in Europe with a great team. I think we would've had a better shout at signing Sanchez if we had Champions league football last summer.

 

[Igor Drefljak]

I think this is getting harder every week that we are dominating games and winning comfortably.
Villa yesterday could easily have been a lot more, we just didn't finish the job.

Mata has really caused a stir in my head. I really want a winger, but Mata has been playing well, and we need to either play Di Maria instead of Young, or sell him. If Depay comes in, does Di Maria take over Mata, or do we let Mata go. I know depth is a good thing, but not if you have so many quality players. Januzaj is seeing limited game time as it is.

For me, its got to be, bring in Depay, (Would rather Reus, but would cost more) and play Depay with Januzaj as a back up, and then on the right, switch between Di Maria and Mata.

Ashley Young, I would probably sell at this moment in time. He has had a good season, so its difficult to say this, but Januzaj is more the future than Young is, so lets sell him while his value is higher

 

[MikeUpNorth]

Less is more. The team is starting to find its feet now.

Schneiderlin, Hummels and a right back will do nicely. Though obviously we should be in for any genuinely world class players that become available, as always.

 

[ivaldo]

Less is more. The team is starting to find its feet now.

Schneiderlin, Hummels and a right back will do nicely. Though obviously we should be in for any genuinely world class players that become available, as always.

Agreed bring in those 2 plus a right back and we are set to be challenging on all fronts.

 

[Igor Drefljak]

My list is getting shorter, less costly each time

Clyne, Hummels, Schneiderlin (Pogba if avaliable), Depay and a striker
I'd actually rather give Rafael a chance over Clyne, but it seems like LvG doesn't like him, and I really don't know any other RBs that could be available.

I'd get rid of: Rafael (not by choice), Evans, Young, RvP, Falcao, Nani, Hernandez, Lindegaard

 

[shivab]

I feel United needs to get Bale this summer if he becomes available. When you look at the top teams beside Barcelona, their is an emphasis of pace and power in their attack. At United we have to play Fellaini further forward to give us the power we lack uptop and we have benefited because of that. Bale will give us a combination of both and is more than a target man.

couldnt agree more. but i doubt we'll get him without giving up de gea to them.

 

[Lawman]

This just shows how some of the criticism towards him is ridiculus. The expectations of him after his last season at Real Madrid and his unreal performances for us in the first couple of games has been way too high, and it's unbeleivable how some want us to sell him after only one season.

Give him time, he'll shine next season.

Ha ha couldn't agree more, his assists records are unbelievably high, we should be looking to add more quality around him not punt one of our best players.

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

RB: Valencia is a decent option but LvG clearly does not rate Rafael so a understudy/replacement for Valencia is required.

CB: I think one top class CB will do, and Hummels is the obvious candidate. I rate Varane higher but Real won't sell him.

CM: Will Carrick last another season? It is obvious that he is very important to us but when you consider the amount of games we will play next season (knock on wood) we need to invest. Schneiderlin is very solid defensively but he lacks Carrick's passing range but it might work out with Hummels in the team? Verratti might be a possibility if we sell di Maria, but it is not very likely.

AWM: Depay is the obvious candidate to replace Young.

Striker: Rooney can't play 55 games for us up front next season so we need a back-up. RvP and Wilson are not good enough in my opinion.

 

[Amadaeus]

couldnt agree more. but i doubt we'll get him without giving up de gea to them.

I am hoping that Madriad fans force him out and after getting their new shiny toy, he will become expendable. The idea of trading De Gea for Bale would not even be as bad as one taught if we manage to get a competent replacement.

gk
Rafael/Valencia - Hummels/Rojo - Smalling/Jone - Shaw/Blackett
Blind/Carrick
Mata/Fellaini - Herrera/Perrera
Bale/Januzaj - Rooney/Wilson - Di Maria/Depay
​

I would be more than satisfied if we went with the team above for next season. The attack has the perfect balance of pace and power, while the midfield has a good balance of creativity and work ethic. The defense is also well balance with more than enough depth to cover for each position.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

I'm struggling to persuade myself that we need a midfielder being completely honest.

Carrick, Herrera and Fellaini are working well and efficiently. Great balance. Signing Pogba or Verratti would be replacing Herrera, but is it really worth splashing that much cash to replace a player who is doing great for us?

From our starting eleven, the only areas I see a need to improve is RB and LW. If Di Maria can actually pick up form, then that LW is sorted.

Honestly now, I'd be surprised if we signed more than 2 players this Summer - unless Van Gaal decides to sell a few players and needs replacements.

 

[NL Max]

I'm struggling to persuade myself that we need a midfielder being completely honest.

Carrick, Herrera and Fellaini are working well and efficiently. Great balance. Signing Pogba or Verratti would be replacing Herrera, but is it really worth splashing that much cash to replace a player who is doing great for us?

From our starting eleven, the only areas I see a need to improve is RB and LW. If Di Maria can actually pick up form, then that LW is sorted.

Honestly now, I'd be surprised if we signed more than 2 players this Summer - unless Van Gaal decides to sell a few players and needs replacements.

Van Gaal confirmed he's buying a CM though, we only have 5 midfielders for 3 positions (including Mata). Carrick will be 34, Blind will sometimes be needed at LB and Fellaini-Herrera can't play every match either, especially if we got CL. Competition won't be a bad thing.

Also since we've shown interest in Marquinhos this tells me we're after a CB.

RB and LW I agree on.

 

[Pyroblazer]

I'm struggling to persuade myself that we need a midfielder being completely honest.

Carrick, Herrera and Fellaini are working well and efficiently. Great balance. Signing Pogba or Verratti would be replacing Herrera, but is it really worth splashing that much cash to replace a player who is doing great for us?

From our starting eleven, the only areas I see a need to improve is RB and LW. If Di Maria can actually pick up form, then that LW is sorted.

Honestly now, I'd be surprised if we signed more than 2 players this Summer - unless Van Gaal decides to sell a few players and needs replacements.

A midfielder is a priority and I am pretty sure we will sign one. You are only looking at our starting 11, but if one of the mentioned midfielders is injured, we have no cover. If Shaw is fit, then we have Blind, that's it. Also as good as Fellaini is doing this season, he is still very limited and we should look for a midfielder who adds his phsysical presence with skills on the ball and more dynamic play too. Carrick is not young anymore too, you can't rely on him for a whole season with CL games too. CB is also a must with the injury record there. Also we want to compete with the best in the Europe, the PL is weak right now, of course we could just sign 1 or 2 player and maybe that's good enough to compete for the league, but not good enough for the CL.

 

[Infra-red]

I'm struggling to persuade myself that we need a midfielder being completely honest.

Carrick, Herrera and Fellaini are working well and efficiently. Great balance. Signing Pogba or Verratti would be replacing Herrera, but is it really worth splashing that much cash to replace a player who is doing great for us?

From our starting eleven, the only areas I see a need to improve is RB and LW. If Di Maria can actually pick up form, then that LW is sorted.

Honestly now, I'd be surprised if we signed more than 2 players this Summer - unless Van Gaal decides to sell a few players and needs replacements.

I expect United will look to replace Fellaini with someone who is better on the ball, while still retaining a measure of his physicality. At some point it will be neccessary to bring in a #6 as a long-term Carrick replacement, but that may well be postponed beyond this summer.

In addition to a #8 to replace Fellaini, I'd expect a CB, a RB, a winger and a striker, and a backup goalkeeper if De Gea goes.

 

[Zoo]

Ideally just 4 positions: CB, RB, box to box midfielder, wing-forward. I think that would be perfect, too much turnover can be disruptive.

 

[settembrini]

From our starting eleven, the only areas I see a need to improve is RB and LW.

Those are the exact two positions that I think we need to focus on in the summer. If there are really special players available who would dramatically improve us in other areas then we should always consider them but if we were to go into next season with just adding two quality players to the below twenty names then I'll be very pleased.

De Gea, Valdes, Shaw, Blackett, Rojo, Jones, Smalling, McNair, Valencia, Blind, Carrick, Herrera, Fellaini, Young, Di Maria, Januzaj, Mata, Rooney, RvP, Wilson.

Add two good players, e.g. Coleman and Depay and that's a great 22 man squad imo.

 

[redsunited]

I'm struggling to persuade myself that we need a midfielder being completely honest.

Carrick, Herrera and Fellaini are working well and efficiently. Great balance. Signing Pogba or Verratti would be replacing Herrera, but is it really worth splashing that much cash to replace a player who is doing great for us?

From our starting eleven, the only areas I see a need to improve is RB and LW. If Di Maria can actually pick up form, then that LW is sorted.

Honestly now, I'd be surprised if we signed more than 2 players this Summer - unless Van Gaal decides to sell a few players and needs replacements.

Currently we play 433 or 4141 and we are using 3 proper midfielders(Carrick, Herrera and Fellaini) whose game has defensive contribution. We play a deep lying playmaker and two box to box players with great engine. No more Kagawa(Early season), Mata, DiMaria, Rooney playing there. We win the ball in the middle and are not overrun in midfield, which helps us in controlling the game.

1. DeGea Valdes
2. Valencia Rafael
3. Shaw (Blind) (Rojo)
4. Smalling Jones
5. Rojo Evans
6. Carrick Blind
7. Mata Januzaj
8. Herrera
9. Rooney RVP Wilson
10. Fellaini
11. Di Maria Young

If we are to continue the current system, We only have Blind as cover for the midfield 3. For certain games we will go back to playing a creative player without much defensive contribution as number 10 like Mata/DiMaria, and the system will be more like a 2 man central midfield which Fellaini is not suitable for, leaving 3 players(Carrick, Herrera & Blind) for 2 positions.

In terms of improving the quality of the team we need CB, RB and Winger. Where as in terms of numbers we definitely need a central midfielder for extra games in Europe.

 

[Oneunited26]

I think we have a very good midfield, defiantly the best midfield we have had in a long time, probably since the axis we had in 99, and midfield of 08. The current midfield that does dominate games these days, and a combination of carrick herrera mata fellaini and di maria is pretty damn strong and hopefully getting that top 4. Now there are doubts about di maria, everyone knows it. But if we lost di maria, and Bale became available, it would be a straight replacement, di maria for bale. I have never really rated fellaini, but he has given us that bite we have missed in a long time, and he has given us the height and he does chip with a few goals, so I do not see why we should look to replace fellaini all of a sudden. Rooney is still in his prime, so I do not think we should look to the forward line so easily, maybe a CM.

I say for the summer, VG should look to strengthen the defense, and add a creative wide player if we lost di maria, Bale would be perfect in that position in a midfield 5 of carrick herrera fellaini and mata, with bale given the free role if he ever decides to leave, and Madrid cashing in on him. But do we really need to throw away so much money in the summer for a CM? the current system of carrick herrera fellaini mata and di maria looks pretty water tight to me, with a combination of different set skills these guys offer the midfield, with rooney leading the line. The worry is? DDG, and hopefully strengthening the defense.

But I look at our midfield
Carrick - a top 3 Deep lying midfielder that is the brain that holds it all together
herrera - our most mobile midfielder who creates and scores
mata -also scores and creates, and a combination of both are dominating the engine room
fellaini - he has given us height and physicality that we have not had in a long time, he also can score goals, and his size which helps carrick herrera and mata
di maria - once settled is our most driving attacking midfielder, in terms of carrying the ball with RAW pace

So while we could do with a midfielder, I think this midfield is pretty damn good for next season, who knows if they keep this level up. But if VG is preparing for a replacement for carrick long term, I can see why buying a CM is a must. But the only 2 area's in midfield should be looked at, is a long term carrick replacement, blind could be that player, and what to do with Di Maria if he wants to leave. But for that nasty physical player, moyes buying fellaini has given us that

 

[Rob Bowman]

I think this is getting harder every week that we are dominating games and winning comfortably.
Villa yesterday could easily have been a lot more, we just didn't finish the job.

Mata has really caused a stir in my head. I really want a winger, but Mata has been playing well, and we need to either play Di Maria instead of Young, or sell him. If Depay comes in, does Di Maria take over Mata, or do we let Mata go. I know depth is a good thing, but not if you have so many quality players. Januzaj is seeing limited game time as it is.

For me, its got to be, bring in Depay, (Would rather Reus, but would cost more) and play Depay with Januzaj as a back up, and then on the right, switch between Di Maria and Mata.

Ashley Young, I would probably sell at this moment in time. He has had a good season, so its difficult to say this, but Januzaj is more the future than Young is, so lets sell him while his value is higher

Here is my issue with that... it is too much like FIFA. The truth is real life is very dependent on locker room chemistry and intangibles. I think Yound is our new John O'Shea. he never complains and will slot in where ever whenever. team's need players like that. Also at least some of the players have been quoted saying Ashley is the funniest player at United.

Here is one just real quick...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ester-United-promotion-Wing-s-Restaurant.html

So trust me I get you want quality, but more important for a team to reach for all the silverware you need balance and a unified locker room. if ADM stays, I think we should pass on a winger and go with ADM, Young, Mata, Januzaj. If you want Depay, I think one of 4 has to go... .

 

[Oneunited26]

Here is my issue with that... it is too much like FIFA. The truth is real life is very dependent on locker room chemistry and intangibles. I think Yound is our new John O'Shea. he never complains and will slot in where ever whenever. team's need players like that. Also at least some of the players have been quoted saying Ashley is the funniest player at United.

Here is one just real quick...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ester-United-promotion-Wing-s-Restaurant.html

So trust me I get you want quality, but more important for a team to reach for all the silverware you need balance and a unified locker room. if ADM stays, I think we should pass on a winger and go with ADM, Young, Mata, Januzaj. If you want Depay, I think one of 4 has to go... .

I think we should prepare for carricks long term replacement, we can get by next season upfront and build the attack around rooney, and just strengthen the defence, and hope to god we do not have to replace DDG. It depends on di Maria's long term future here, both DDG and di Maria.

 

[Rob Bowman]

I think we should prepare for carricks long term replacement, we can get by next season upfront and build the attack around rooney, and just strengthen the defence, and hope to god we do not have to replace DDG. It depends on di Maria's long term future here, both DDG and di Maria.

I might have mentioned a few other things we need in this thread. That was just my thoughts on the winger...

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/man...do-we-still-need.399380/page-26#post-17322300