Varatti - Blind - Herrera, aggression, workrate and creativity, a few goals in there too.
Marco Verratti
- Thread starter Keltoi
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Jamie (@Vault Dweller) are here to celebrate rare back-to-back victories for Manchester United! They analyse the late win in the Europa League vs. Rangers and then try and find things to analyse in a pretty dour game vs. Fulham. They also chat about the latest Marcus Rashford news, and look at the latest transfer news.
No strength or height for the manager.
Yep he's a future Barca or Madrid player I'm afraid. I think Madrid may have the upper hand in getting him with Barca's transfer ban and also the fact that Modric has been struggling with injury and is 30 this year
He has just turned 22? Somehow I thought he was older!
Was a bit lucky to stay on the pitch yesterday, but that was more than deserved after Chelsea got away with murder.
Was a bit lucky to stay on the pitch yesterday, but that was more than deserved after Chelsea got away with murder.
For all the hundreds of millions that PSG has spent since the takeover, yesterday was a perfect reminder of how having a detailed plan, an extensive scouting department and knack for opportunistic bargain deals is just as effective as spending gargantuan amounts on player acquisitions.
The combined transfer fee for their starting midfield 3 was :
Thiago Motta : ~€10 million.
Blaise Matuidi : ~€8 million.
Marco Verratti : ~€12 million.
€30 million in total. Quite amazing really. Especially considering how a midfielder who cost €28 million in Cabaye can't supplant either of those payers for a significant amount of time. Verratti and Matuidi were both especially shrewd pieces of business in terms of how they were under the radar signings plucked from Serie B club Pescara and Saint-Etienne respectively, and are now among the most highly touted midfielders in the world. Rabiot is another one who cost them peanuts and has progressed into a quality young player with much more to offer in the future. Love these types of deals, much more gratifying and sustainable than spending €40 or €50 million on established stars just because they have a bigger brand name and then struggling to fit them into your plans.
The combined transfer fee for their starting midfield 3 was :
Thiago Motta : ~€10 million.
Blaise Matuidi : ~€8 million.
Marco Verratti : ~€12 million.
€30 million in total. Quite amazing really. Especially considering how a midfielder who cost €28 million in Cabaye can't supplant either of those payers for a significant amount of time. Verratti and Matuidi were both especially shrewd pieces of business in terms of how they were under the radar signings plucked from Serie B club Pescara and Saint-Etienne respectively, and are now among the most highly touted midfielders in the world. Rabiot is another one who cost them peanuts and has progressed into a quality young player with much more to offer in the future. Love these types of deals, much more gratifying and sustainable than spending €40 or €50 million on established stars just because they have a bigger brand name and then struggling to fit them into your plans.
Wow, I had no idea Verratti was so cheap. He's a wonderful young player, I love watching him play football.
We're not getting this guy. Big player for PSG and it's not like they need the money.
He's very very good.
Could see him at Juve replacing Pogba.
Could see him at Juve replacing Pogba.
That'll be made up in the rest of the side.
Why exactly would PSG sell him to Juve?
Their best and most consistent player this season at 22. He's ridiculous and in my book, even better than Pogba.
Completely agree and while they'll never want him to leave I think his ambitions will outweigh the French league
Wasn't there rumours he wanted to go back to italy at some point?
At some point, maybe, but he's 22, and he'll make far more money at PSG than Juve.
Yeah, Di Maria on one wing...
He wants strength through the middle to match the physicality of the league. It's why Rooney was so frequenly used there, and why Fellaini is now a mainstay.
Liam Miller?
He's what Herrera should aspire to be.
Whilst I agree with your general point, Matuidi and Verratti were hardly under the radar. Everyone who had watched Verratti play at Pescara knew he would go on to be a star and Matuidi was linked to Arsenal and had already been called up to the France squad before he joined PSG.
They're not under the radar signings but rather clever signings which we just don't do. I'd say Blind is probably the one we've done in a long long time. We don't have to spunk £50m on a player, there's plenty of players around the continent who are not quite the finished article but could more than hold their own in the Premier League. We need to be making more of those types of signings rather than paying extortionate fees for players that are surplus to requirements at their current team.
Yep, a physically imposing box to box player rather than a creative midget.
I see no point in having this in the Transfer Forum. Moved.
Look, stop shitting on my point!
I would take Matuidi & Verratti to replace our midfielders, even Motta if he was younger.
Sorry I cannot see your post. Whom did you mention?
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Certainly debatable at this point. Different players who contribute different things to their team in a special way. Him, Pogba and Modric are currently at the very top of the midfielders chart. It'd be great to see Pogba and Verratti on the same pitch on opposition sides.
I'd absolutely love to see such a midfield, btw. Herrera and Verratti are excellent under pressure and their agility to change direction is fantastic.
It can still be a creative player, I think he just wants one with legs and a bit more muscle. Gundogan, Nainggolan are a few examples of players in that sort of ilk.
Fair enough mate but allow me to elaborate :
Matuidi was viewed as a decent player at that stage but hardly anything special, especially compared to what he is now. France churns a lot of midfield talent every couple of seasons but not a lot of them progress into the elite. Someone like Moussa Sissoko was linked with Arsenal and Manchester United from a very young age too, is capped for France and yet I'm not sure United fans would be thrilled to have him in the squad when compared with Matuidi. Someone like Imbula at Marseille is comparable to the stature of footballer Matuidi was at Saint-Etienne but would most of the fans have him or an established named like maybe Lars Bender ?
Therein lied my point, PSG had the insight to target one player out of several others, he even paled in comparison to some of the other more expensive and highly rated midfielder they could have bid for, yet he is now equivocally considered as one of the best midfielders in Europe. It is very easy to claim that Verratti or Matuidi were destined to be stars retrospectively, but every such move is fraught with risks and fairplay to PSG for having the cojones to stick by both players than dipping excessively into the transfer market.
I do agree with your premise of United not buying sensibly and having a general personnel blueprint these days though. For all the talk of our midfield and defense needing major investment, a lot of the problems could be alleviated for relatively small amounts of money. eg. Instead of targeting Pogba who will likely cost €60m or thereabouts, we could activate Saul's buyout clause which is somewhere in the region of €25m. Infact we could double-dip for both him and Oliver Torres, strengthen two central midfield spots and still end up saving €10m. Throw in Tielemans and we'd have acquired 3 talented young midfielders for the price of one Pogba. That would be extremely smart business and give us a core of talented young players to build upon when they start entering their prime.
Looks more Italian than an Italian.
EDIT: I know he's Italian! I mean, when you think of an Italian person, he's what you picture, but in reality not that many Italians look like him nowadays. He's like an Ancient Italian.
EDIT: I know he's Italian! I mean, when you think of an Italian person, he's what you picture, but in reality not that many Italians look like him nowadays. He's like an Ancient Italian.
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He's looks like a prototypical Italian. Like someone from Caesar's time.
He is Italian.
Not what I meant.
Only saw your other post after I posted. Understand what you meant now. Kind of.
I think he is Italian mate
Yeah, the more I think about what I meant, the more I'm not sure I know what I meant.
Shit. But yeah, there's a meaning in there somewhere. Italians, Rome, Caesar, Romulus and Remus... I dunno.
I know! See my edit, it was an attempt at humour. I shall put my joke stick away for a while.
Verratti is Italian.
He's definitely Italian.
Not for me, they are still quality players, playing in a team without shape and void of confidence doesn't make them bad players. I feel we devalue players too quickly here.