Michael Keane| signed to Everton.

[ovoxo]

A solid PL defender. He's not exactly fleet footed on the ground but he's relatively comfortable on the ball and at defending. I don't think there's anything to suggest he is any better than Jones or Smalling, but it seems like he'd probably replace one of those as a first team option seeing as they're not relentless warriors.

So I assume our starting CBs will be Bailly and Rojo (when he comes back). I guess if we can't find a real top class upgrade, we may as well upgrade our back ups especially considering they aren't the most reliable due to injuries. Who knows, Mourinho might make Keane into a top defender.

 

[Mr Smith]

So I assume our starting CBs will be Bailly and Rojo (when he comes back). I guess if we can't find a real top class upgrade, we may as well upgrade our back ups especially considering they aren't the most reliable due to injuries. Who knows, Mourinho might make Keane into a top defender.

Yeah for me that's the thing. I've always liked Keane, and I think he's good enough to be here, but I'm not the expert. Mourinho is, and always seems to get the best out of defenders. For me, if Mourinho thinks he's good enough, he's good enough, and if not, he won't be signed.

 

[cheeky_backheel]

So I assume our starting CBs will be Bailly and Rojo (when he comes back). I guess if we can't find a real top class upgrade, we may as well upgrade our back ups especially considering they aren't the most reliable due to injuries. Who knows, Mourinho might make Keane into a top defender.

Dont forget that we will likely not have Rojo till January and we dont know in what form he will return. That would leave us Partnering Bailly with one of Blind, Smalling or Jones. I will take Keane over any of those 3.

Some say keane is slow, but he was fast enough to keep up with Martial. Also he would improve our aerial defense, which as teams have more film on Bailly, they will likely try to exploit more.

He is not some elite defender, but there is not much of such available in the market, particularly at that price point. He will come reasonably cheap and can potentially get better under Mourinho (like Rojo did). Next summer we can still look to upgrade further at CB, but we need to conserve funds and strengthen other areas this summer.

 

[OohAahMartial]

Wouldn't this be buying deadwood to replace deadwood? I'd rather use Axel and TFM.

 

[Flytan]

Buying Pogba back was one thing because we didn't want him to go, but Keane? He was offloaded for essentially being useless. Sure, he's improved to be a decent mid-table CB but bringing him back would just be adding more mediocre CBs to our ranks. We have enough of those already.

 

[Keeps It tidy]

I have always liked Keane but, he will not be a massive upgrade on Jones or Smalling would not be an upgrade at all. If we can not find another top level CB we would better just standing pat.

 

[Hojoon]

Wouldn't this be buying deadwood to replace deadwood? I'd rather use Axel and TFM.

He's a more reliable deadwood. From Wikipedia, 44 games in Championship last season and 35 games in PL so far this season.

 

[K2K]

There was a time when people wanted us to buy Shawcross.

This too will pass.

 

[cheeky_backheel]

I have always liked Keane but, he will not be a massive upgrade on Jones or Smalling would not be an upgrade at all. If we can not find another top level CB we would better just standing pat.

While standing pat, who would be our starting CBs for at least the first part of the season (and potentially the entire season)?

 

[Keeps It tidy]

While standing pat, who would be our starting CBs for at least the first part of the season (and potentially the entire season)?

Bailly/Rojo

Edit do not know how long Rojo is out for

 

[Rob Bowman]

I am sadly agreeing somewhat. He might be a bit more reliable but i do not see him as a massive upgrade. Bailly is definitely starting. i love Blind as a squad player due to his versatility. Rojo is out for a long time and no guarantees what condition he returns. So for my money I want another top flite CB.

 

[cheeky_backheel]

Bailly/Rojo

Edit do not know how long Rojo is out for

Independent of when he comes back (probably out till January), there are no assurances of in what condition or form Rojo would return from a major knee ligament injury and surgery.

That leaves Bailly to partner one of Blind, Smalling or Jones
- Blind is too weak physically and poor in the air
- Smalling always seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Often has poor positioning and slow reaction
- Jones is too injury prone to be made first choice

Also if Bailly misses any games, we will be stuck with 2 of those 3 - not good if we want to compete enough both for the league and CL.

So we need at least one good CB reinforcement and I think Keane is ok for that role and is better than any of Blind, Smalling or Jones.

For those that think Keane is not good enough, they can at least suggest available options that are of same quality and cheaper or better at same price point.

 

[KM]

There was a time when people wanted us to buy Shawcross.

This too will pass.

Yet, we never had a solid interest in him. There have been numerous reports from different newspapers(Right from The Sun to ESPN) which have credited us with an interest in him. So yeah, it doesn't really matter to the club what the supporters want to buy, if the Mourinho, scouting team and coaching staff have deemed him good enough then they'll buy him.

 

[K2K]

Yet, we never had a solid interest in him. There have been numerous reports from different newspapers(Right from The Sun to ESPN) which have credited us with an interest in him. So yeah, it doesn't really matter to the club what the supporters want to buy, if the Mourinho, scouting team and coaching staff have deemed him good enough then they'll buy him.

Those are terrible sources to be honest.

Especially Delaney's ESPN.

The media are usually clueless about who we buy most of the time, and I doubt Jose has any serious interest in him. Its most likely a case of former United youth player, United needing to sign defenders, make up a transfer story.

 

[ZupZup]

Those are terrible sources to be honest.

Especially Delaney's ESPN.

The media are usually clueless about who we buy most of the time, and I doubt Jose has any serious interest in him. Its most likely a case of former United youth player, United needing to sign defenders, make up a transfer story.

I think you'll find this summer that you're wrong about this and we do re-sign Keane...

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

I'd gladly have he and say Gibson replace Jones and Smalling....

 

[KM]

Those are terrible sources to be honest.

Especially Delaney's ESPN.

The media are usually clueless about who we buy most of the time, and I doubt Jose has any serious interest in him. Its most likely a case of former United youth player, United needing to sign defenders, make up a transfer story.

This is a myth which seems to have propagated on here for no reason. Bailly was a shock yes. But apart from that Mkhitaryan, Ibra and Pogba were all rumored to be signing for us even before it's confirmed.

The Sun, ESPN, Telegraph, Mirror, MEN and Times have all credited us with an interest in him. The Sun and Mirror are terrible but the rest are moderately reliable.

 

[KM]

I think you'll find this summer that you're wrong about this and we do re-sign Keane...

I'm confident about this too. Pretty sure that we'll sign him.

 

[LonelyFire]

Those are terrible sources to be honest.

Especially Delaney's ESPN.

The media are usually clueless about who we buy most of the time, and I doubt Jose has any serious interest in him. Its most likely a case of former United youth player, United needing to sign defenders, make up a transfer story.

There is no doubt that some of the transfer stories you see are nonsense, however, it's quite easy too pick out stories that clearly have an element of truth - every paper credits Utd with an active interest in Keane. They're not all wrong despite the opinion of many on here. It's also a very realistic deal considering the history he has with the club.

As an aside, Delaney writes for The Independent

 

[davidmichael]

Local lad, proven himself as a premiership grade defender in a relegation threatened team, broke into the England team, supports the club, rarely injured and is likely to play hurt as he's a bit of a warrior which Jose loves so I'd be all for it.

I read somewhere that Jose sees Keane as a new version of John Terry although I'm not saying either Jose or myself are saying Keane is that good or even potentially that good, think Jose likes his defenders to defend and be warriors and also don't we only pay 75% of whatever fee is agreed as we have a 25% sell on clause ? So if we agreed £20 million we'd only pay £15 million or is that not how it works ?

 

[Adisa]

Jose knows a CB when he sees one.

 

[KM]

Local lad, proven himself as a premiership grade defender in a relegation threatened team, broke into the England team, supports the club, rarely injured and is likely to play hurt as he's a bit of a warrior which Jose loves so I'd be all for it.

I read somewhere that Jose sees Keane as a new version of John Terry although I'm not saying either Jose or myself are saying Keane is that good or even potentially that good, think Jose likes his defenders to defend and be warriors and also don't we only pay 75% of whatever fee is agreed as we have a 25% sell on clause ? So if we agreed £20 million we'd only pay £15 million or is that not how it works ?

Yes, we're effectively getting a 25% discount.

 

[Leftback99]

Another LVG masterstroke. It's a signing that would make sense. Bolster the defence for a reasonable fee in a market lacking other obvious candidates. Spend the big money elsewhere where we have bigger problems.

 

[Wan]

There was a time when people wanted us to buy Shawcross.

This too will pass.

This.
Hope Jose use Tuanzebe more.

 

[khoazany]

Local lad, proven himself as a premiership grade defender in a relegation threatened team, broke into the England team, supports the club, rarely injured and is likely to play hurt as he's a bit of a warrior which Jose loves so I'd be all for it.

I read somewhere that Jose sees Keane as a new version of John Terry although I'm not saying either Jose or myself are saying Keane is that good or even potentially that good, think Jose likes his defenders to defend and be warriors and also don't we only pay 75% of whatever fee is agreed as we have a 25% sell on clause ? So if we agreed £20 million we'd only pay £15 million or is that not how it works ?

This doesn't matter because Keane is 100% moving to a new club this summer so regardless of who buy him (including us) we will still get 25% of that fee so not extra financial benefit of buying him.

I would welcome Keane back with open arms, but I also suspect this is a move to try to increase his transfer fee so that we can get a healthy cut of the sell on clause.

 

[Sultan]

He's likely to improve further

Stays fit

Premiership proven

Decent purchase price/won't command a massive salary

United academy trained

Ideal squad player. He may not be an elite defender but could easily do a job over the course of the season.

* I'm a sentimentalist. I may be saying all this due to him being an ex-United kid. I probably would not be batting an eyelid if he was an ex-anyother team player.

 

[Insanity]

This doesn't matter because Keane is 100% moving to a new club this summer so regardless of who buy him we will still get 25% of that fee.

I would welcome Keane back with open arms, but I also suspect this is a move to try to increase his transfer fee so that we can get a healthy cut of the sell on clause.

We will get paid this summer with Keane and Zaha both moving clubs. Nice to be receiving money for a change.

 

[K2K]

This is a myth which seems to have propagated on here for no reason. Bailly was a shock yes. But apart from that Mkhitaryan, Ibra and Pogba were all rumored to be signing for us even before it's confirmed.

The Sun, ESPN, Telegraph, Mirror, MEN and Times have all credited us with an interest in him. The Sun and Mirror are terrible but the rest are moderately reliable.

This are stories that have picked up traction within the foreign media before being reported in England.

When they are media sources close to the selling clubs, then yes, its more believeable.

The Telegraph is probably as bad as the sun to be honest. Mirror too.

I am not saying that all that media are unreliable. But what they tend to do is run stories using the other as a source.

The most reliable stories that you will find are when proper journalists are willing to put their names behind a story, like the time Martin Sameul did with Shaw

Most transfer rumours are usually just that. Only rumours.

I have picked a random transfer thread from years gone past. Just see how little of those are so far off base.

https://www.redcafe.net/threads/tra...ng-discussion-should-relate-to-tweets.405098/

I this story will go the same way.

I doubt he will be a United player on Sept 1, and you are welcome to remind me if it turns out otherwise.

 

[K2K]

There is no doubt that some of the transfer stories you see are nonsense, however, it's quite easy too pick out stories that clearly have an element of truth - every paper credits Utd with an active interest in Keane. They're not all wrong despite the opinion of many on here. It's also a very realistic deal considering the history he has with the club.

As an aside, Delaney writes for The Independent

Pretty sure he was on ESPN though

Writes for both.

I dont trust this rumours imo. I have seen us linked us with plenty of former youth team players in the past. Its an easy rumour to start as a transfer journalist.

 

[Donut]

Ship out Jones. Get in Keane. Promote Tuanzebe.

Bailly, Rojo, Smalling, Keane, Tuanzabe

That's a very good collection of CBs.

 

[Insanity]

Ship out Jones. Get in Keane. Promote Tuanzebe.

Bailly, Rojo, Smalling, Keane, Tuanzabe

That's a very good collection of CBs.

I don't think it is. We need another one in there with world class potential (Jose has said Tuanzebe will play mostly as a RB initially). Also, I have read Rojo will only be back in 2018.

Keane can make sense if we sell one of Smalling or Jones for decent money and get him for under 20m (with our 25% discount); but we still would need another top CB in order to compete for big honors.

Bailly, Bonnuci/Marquinous/Varane/Gimenez, Keane and Jones - now that looks a decent set.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

United need two things in central defence right now:
1. A world class long term partner for Bailly.
2. Phyically reliable, competent back up to Bailly and his new partner, to join Rojo as back up to the starting two.

The idea we should only target starting material is naive indeed. A big part of our problem this season has been having back up as physically unreliable as Smalling and Jones. That is the main reason why folks would like to see Keane replace them. Over a season you can trust a Keane-Rojo partnership backed up by a Tuanzebe to give Bailly and his partner a rest through out a season, and not have any really worries.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

He's likely to improve further

Stays fit

Premiership proven

Decent purchase price/won't command a massive salary

United academy trained

Ideal squad player. He may not be an elite defender but could easily do a job over the course of the season.

* I'm a sentimentalist. I may be saying all this due to him being an ex-United kid. I probably would not be batting an eyelid if he was an ex-anyother team player.

With experience and the right training he could also become top draw. People forget the likes of Berzagli and Bonucci, plus Glik of Monaco were not stellar players at that age.

 

[pocco]

It's one of them signings where everybody is a bit lukewarm but in a few months they'll be praising him and saying he's better than John Stones and at a fraction of the price etc etc.

He's a good, solid defender and will get better. Who knows how good he'll get.

 

[Adam-Utd]

He's good on the ball, pretty big and fairly quick. Seems a good defender and I haven't seen him make many errors. He will be a good squad player if he's happy to accept not being 100% first choice.

Does he play LCB or RCB?

 

[devilish]

Is he worse then Rojo, Smalling and Blind?

 

[Sassy Colin]

Can't help feeling this will be another overhyped, and over priced, English player. I suppose if Gary Cahill can make it, then anyone should be able to.

 

[Acole9]

I can definitely see him coming back. This is more clear cut to happen than Griezmann.

 

[Raoul]

I've changed my view on him. Would be a good idea to bring him back. Although he wouldn't by any measure be guaranteed to start, it would create some good competition for whoever backs up Bailly and Rojo.

 

[Orc]

Can't help feeling this will be another overhyped, and over priced, English player. I suppose if Gary Cahill can make it, then anyone should be able to.

You mean team of the season as voted on by his fellow pros Gary Cahill? I mean, he's not world class or anything but he's about to win his 2nd PL title in 3 seasons while being in the team of the year both times.