Yeah Ugarte is critical because Casemiro will need to be managed and his one good game yesterday doesn't mean last season is completely forgotten or has to be overlooked. We need a couple of midfield reinforcements because the worst case scenario could strike - Casemiro showing that yesterday was a blip and Mainoo getting injured or losing form, then what? Rely on Collyer and Eriksen?
Mario Hermoso - Free Agent
- Thread starter RedRocket9908
- Start date
Yeah I was hoping so but Rabiot isn't coming, if he was then would have happened when contract expired
Bringing in a player like Hermoso on a free transfer shouldn't really be too prohibitive for the midfield plans. The bigger question mark will likely be whether we can sell the likes of Casemiro, McTominay or Sancho to fund further signings.
Even players like Lindelof or Eriksen should be sold for nominal fees if it's a straight choice. They've outlasted their usefulness for us.
Think the club only see us needing one and will promote Collyer as the second midfielder, personally think it doesn't give us enough options. Would take Hermoso as a free agent and has the flexibility to play two positions too
Why would you need to spend again at CB if we end up bringing in 3 this window?
Makes sense too and I like the look of Collyer, even if some have doubt about his on the ball skills. I think he has enough to play in our second midfield with Eriksen and Mount for manageable EL matches then if he can perform in those then maybe he will be fully integrated into the PL rotation.
What I find strange is the paucity of young defenders from the academy pushing for first team consideration. Ideally those are the ones we would be blooding into the side at RB and not having to spend 15m on a crock from Bayern. Can't complain too much because the depth issues that hurt us in seasons gone by have been duly addressed.
We simply have to sell the last two before deadline
I think Mazraoui might do the unthinkable and actually stay relatively fit despite recent issues
He will be ok because we aren't relying on him to be a starter and Dalot is pretty reliable himself. I am just praying that this latest batch of signings is more successful than the ones we made from 2020 which have taken ages to recover from whilst we kept on adding more expensive garbage.
What I would give for us to go through the season without obvious weaknesses holding us back and enter the summer stalking a real game changing marquee signing that turns us from a 3rd/4th/5th team to a real title contender having addressed the stability issues this window.
Because Hermoso doesn't seem to be one of our top CB targets otherwise we would have pulled the trigger earlier, so we may be better holding off for better profiles to become available next year when we have the funds, since we're already decently stocked in CB. Just conjecture though. Maybe we really do want him to cover the LB and CB role.
Even if we get Hermoso, we'll probably need to bring another CB in next season considering Evans and Maguire will be leaving, to bring the total back to 5:
Martinez
Yoro
De Ligt
Hermoso
??
I'm pessimistic on that front, hence my concerns on budget. On a personal note, I'm unconvinced about having Hermoso as our 3rd/4th choice CB. He'd be a bit pricey for a 5th choice but obviously I'll go along with the club's plans.
Could see us going for Branthwaite next year
Had this in the back of my head while typing all that. He still hasn't signed a new contract has he. Hopefully Everton get relegated.
We will definitely keep tabs I am certain
I'd be surprised if signing a free agent made a significant difference to the club's budgets for a midfielder, whether those players get sold or not.
I'm less bothered by Hermoso's ability to play CB, if I'm honest. We need a LB who can stay fit and this is an easy avenue to getting that without having to pay a transfer fee. The fitness records of Shaw, Malacia and even Mazraoui don't fill me with confidence and we can't afford a repeat of last season in defence.
Makes sense innit. 2 senior CBs (De Ligt and Martinez) and 2 younger ones to share the load and learn from them.
This seems to be the squad-building strategy for each position and I'd prioritise the 6 and 8 roles. Ugarte as the younger one to rotate with Casemiro is the most pressing, and if possible someone like Rabiot with Mainoo.
I can see that train of thought as long as the signing on fee isn't sizable.
It's cover at LB we need him for.
I'm guessing you mean CM instead of CB?
Except Eriksen has confirmed he simply doesn't want to leave.
By all accounts Lindelof is on £120k per week. Yeah, I’d take Hermoso for £100k per week instead. Lindelof’s wages will make him tough to move but his book value should be zero so we could afford to let him go for a cut price and may need to since no one’s going to pay him close to what we are. Hope we get this done.
Hes out of contract next year, 10m or less for Lindelof is enough especially signing a free agent in his place.
We can also afford to pay Lindelof off a little with a small fee coming our way for him
I think this would be a wise move.
I don’t think Shaw can be relied upon. feck knows what’s going on with Malacia, if he’ll ever get back to a decent level.
Let Lindelof go and get Hermoso in on similar wages.
I don’t think Shaw can be relied upon. feck knows what’s going on with Malacia, if he’ll ever get back to a decent level.
Let Lindelof go and get Hermoso in on similar wages.
I have zero idea if he is any good, but any warm body who recently played at a top league club, sounds better than having the handicap Luke Shaw, ghost of Malacia and a kid Amas as our only LB options
We cannot keep playing Dalot on the left, like we did last year. We need Dalot on the right
So any strengthening on the LB would be welcome. Obviously, we want the best in the world and he is not it, but we have too many positions to cover and I can see how LB is not our top priority
If real, would be a welcome addition for depth
We cannot keep playing Dalot on the left, like we did last year. We need Dalot on the right
So any strengthening on the LB would be welcome. Obviously, we want the best in the world and he is not it, but we have too many positions to cover and I can see how LB is not our top priority
If real, would be a welcome addition for depth
De Ligt and Yoro are replacing Varane and Lindelof.
Signing another centre back is odd as it would leave us with 6 first team players - Martinez, De Ligt, Yoro, Maguire, Evans and Hermoso.
I was hoping we'd offload Maguire but that doesn't seem likely given the lack of rumours.
I am aware he can play left back, which I guess makes a bit of sense, but still if we ever find ourselves where we don't have an absurd injury crisis, we'll be well overstocked.
Who is realistically going to pay 25-30m for our 4th choice centre back who's 31 years old, who has 1 year left on his deal.
We hit the jackpot when we got a 30m offer last summer and we failed to get him out the door, that ship has sailed now we're never getting an offer anywhere close.
Kambwala left too and Evans is probably leaving after this season. Maguire could leave next year as well unless we trigger the extension. Makes sense to sign this guy on a free with relatively low wages if Lindelof leaves in my opinion.
I’d argue that someone like Dier, a little more experienced, cheap and can play multiple positions would be fine as 5th spot. Unless off course a youngster makes the step up before then
We really need to keep Maguire. Yoro is already out for 3 months and we seem to pick up injuries at CB at a high rate. De Ligt and Licha can’t play every game for 3 months given the amount of fixtures.
Kambwala was not considered a first team player who could expect to get minutes at the start of the season, we just got very desperate due to a rare extreme injury crisis.
5 senior centre backs + calling on youth if needed is pretty standard. Plus Shaw can play CB while Mazrauoi and Malacia can cover LB.
Not sure on the strategy of overstocking ourselves now in preparation for departures next year.
It feels like if we planned on keeping Maguire and signing 3 new centre backs, extending Jonny Evans was a bit of a strange move.
We're basically hoping for an injury crisis here to justify us stockpiling 6 centre backs.
I wouldn't suggest letting Maguire go unless we're signing another CB, like Hermoso.
I suspect we will keep him
I think Evans was signed as major emergency option. As if we don't have injury crises, he won't play at all.
Don't count Evans, hopefully he will not play at all this season. Maguire will also leave after this season hopefully. Lindelof needs to go now.
Can play LB well or just one of those who can play there? Another primarily CB seems like overkill when LB needs a starter and midfield needs a total revamp.
My thoughts entirely.
I'd honestly just wing it at LB. Shaw, Amass, Martinez, Malacia, Mazraoui got it covered. Focus on DM.