Nemanja Matic| BBC says deal agreed

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I'm sure with some good scouting you could get the same type of player for half the reported fee.

In this United team it's not a role that demands all that much. Screen the back four, get ball, keep it simple. A pretty boring role that allows others to play.
 
If it's for more than 25m-30m, i'd rather get someone younger even if it means more money. Don't think it is wise to pay that kind of money for a nearing 30 year old CDM unless there is someone already at the club that is viewed as a CDM of the future and needs a year or two. Which I don't really see right now. Because it's possible with Matic we are right back to the spot we are in now and instead of saying "Who is replacing Carrick", we'll be sitting here saying "Who is replacing Carrick and Matic"
 
If we got 50M for Matic that would be an obscenely good transfer from our perspective, whilst he's not the worst player in the world he is very very average. Hopefully we replace him with someone good and if not I would love to see Lewis Baker get a chance.
 
JustinC00 said:
If it's for more than 25m-30m, i'd rather get someone younger even if it means more money. Don't think it is wise to pay that kind of money for a nearing 30 year old CDM unless there is someone already at the club that is viewed as a CDM of the future and needs a year or two. Which I don't really see right now. Because it's possible with Matic we are right back to the spot we are in now and instead of saying "Who is replacing Carrick", we'll be sitting here saying "Who is replacing Carrick and Matic"
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Actually I suspect Matic's age (or more accurately his experience) is probably one of the big points in his favour from the manager's point of view.

We have a very young side, many of whom have relatively little experience when it comes to winning major titles. We've also just lost our ultra-experienced club captain & the ultra-experienced Zlatan. Carrick, our new captain, will also likely have limited gametime this season. If anything we're facing a deficit of experience, not a deficit of youth.

In that context signing a veteran of more than one PL-winning campaign for a key role in our team makes perfect sense to me. I don't think attempting to field a team of entirely young talent in the FM mold is a particularly wise idea if we're looking to win the title this year.
 
sullydnl said:
Actually I suspect Matic's age (or more accurately his experience) is probably one of the big points in his favour from the manager's point of view.

We have a very young side, many of whom have relatively little experience when it comes to winning major titles. We've also just lost our ultra-experienced club captain & the ultra-experienced Zlatan. Carrick, our new captain, will also likely have limited gametime this season. If anything we're facing a deficit of experience, not a deficit of youth.

In that context signing a veteran of more than one PL-winning campaign for a key role in our team makes perfect sense to me. I don't think attempting to field a team of entirely young talent in the FM mold is a particularly wise idea if we're looking to win the title this year.
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Unless the dm has crazy positioning then he requires plenty of fuel in his tank. I am all in favour of us signing a dm but matic stinks of bastian (lvg) and failini (moyes)
 
Would be a really good buy but Chelsea aren't going to let him go lightly.
 
We're not paying £50m for a bench warmer and the midfield is shaping up nicely with Pogba, Herrera and Mkhitaryan in front, I really don't like the idea of slowing everything down and Mkhitaryan being shifted out wide again.
 
Dobbs said:
I'm sure with some good scouting you could get the same type of player for half the reported fee.

In this United team it's not a role that demands all that much. Screen the back four, get ball, keep it simple. A pretty boring role that allows others to play.
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I don't think this is a scouting issue. It's an issue that's caused by a new manager who's unfamiliar with the scouting team preferring to rely on his judgement. It's perfectly normal...we saw it with Moyes and LVG too.
 
Blind said:
We're not paying £50m for a bench warmer and the midfield is shaping up nicely with Pogba, Herrera and Mkhitaryan in front, I really don't like the idea of slowing everything down and Mkhitaryan being shifted out wide again.
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Oh please you're basing that on what? 1 or 2 pre season friendlies?

Plus Mkhitaryan's career best season came with him playing from the right
 
Blaeourughghhhhh this transfer would be worse than £50m for Perisic ffs :wenger: :mad:
 
devilish said:
Unless the dm has crazy positioning then he requires plenty of fuel in his tank. I am all in favour of us signing a dm but matic stinks of bastian (lvg) and failini (moyes)
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I don't believe he can be described either as "damaged goods", which was the main concern with Bastian, or as useless as a Fellaini. That's too harsh on him, to be fair.

My opinion is that we discuss about him like he'll be an unmovable player from the starting xi when Mourinho is looking for a ready made solution to rotate with Herrera in the deeper midfielder role in his 4231. It's a fact that Herrera had run out of gas towards the end of last season and it's also a fact that Jose doesn't want to try Fellaini in that role after the Watford game. This leaves us with a 36 yo Carrick and, as much as i love Carrick, it would be a sign of failure if we resort to him again to sort out the midfield.

Matic is good for the 4231, so that Herrera and Pogba can get some rest, and he will be fine option to have in the games we'll have to revert to 433 with Pogba being the most advanced midfielder.
 
If we pay £40m for Matic, I genuinely think he'll be the worst buy of the summer in the PL. He's not much more mobile than Carrick these days and has forgotten how to tackle. Chelsea will be laughing all the way to the bank.
 
charlenefan said:
Oh please you're basing that on what? 1 or 2 pre season friendlies?

Plus Mkhitaryan's career best season came with him playing from the right
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Having said that he's looking red hot playing through the middle, i'd love for that to continue into the season.
 
Von Mistelroum said:
If we pay £40m for Matic, I genuinely think he'll be the worst buy of the summer in the PL. He's not much more mobile than Carrick these days and has forgotten how to tackle. Chelsea will be laughing all the way to the bank.
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The fact that the manager \ board would be willing to sell to a PL rival should be enough to warn us off really.
 
Joseunited said:
Having said that he's looking red hot playing through the middle, i'd love for that to continue into the season.
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Again pre season friendlies against poor opposition (including the team City put out last night which was their first game of pre season)
 
charlenefan said:
Oh please you're basing that on what? 1 or 2 pre season friendlies?

Plus Mkhitaryan's career best season came with him playing from the right
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And he was invisible for most of last season. We played slow, tepid football for large parts of last season, Mkhitaryan is hit and miss and prone to losing the ball but I'd much rather see him attempting things and running forward than Matic consistently starting, especially against the smaller teams when there's no need for a holding midfielder, definitely not one as limited as Matic.
 
TheRedDevil'sAdvocate said:
I don't believe he can be described either as "damaged goods", which was the main concern with Bastian, or as useless as a Fellaini. That's too harsh on him, to be fair.

My opinion is that we discuss about him like he'll be an unmovable player from the starting xi when Mourinho is looking for a ready made solution to rotate with Herrera in the deeper midfielder role in his 4231. It's a fact that Herrera had run out of gas towards the end of last season and it's also a fact that Jose doesn't want to try Fellaini in that role after the Watford game. This leaves us with a 36 yo Carrick and, as much as i love Carrick, it would be a sign of failure if we resort to him again to sort out the midfield.

Matic is good for the 4231, so that Herrera and Pogba can get some rest, and he will be fine option to have in the games we'll have to revert to 433 with Pogba being the most advanced midfielder.
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God only knows how much we need a dm. However i wished we added someone with more fuel left in his tank. This is a lazy signing from mou
 
AndyJ1985 said:
How does that make any sense?
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Because the guys that would know the player the best have figured him surplus to requirements?

You don't sell a vital cog or player not in decline to direct title rivals.

If they've decided they can get better elsewhere so can we.
 
SwansonsTache said:
The fact that the manager \ board would be willing to sell to a PL rival should be enough to warn us off really.
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I don't think it's that simple. Chelsea play in a midfield 2 and Conte prefers both Kante and the other midfielder to be able to play box to box (Bakayoko). Matic simply doesn't have the legs for that and never really did. If we bring in Matic, it's likely to play the Carrick role in behind Pogba and Herrera, who will both be doing the leg work, while Matic shields the back four. Simply put, Matic doesn't fit in at Chelsea, but would likely fit in here (assuming we're playing a midfield 3).
 
Devil may care said:
If we are gonna get fleeced I'd rather it was for Dier, I don't want either but Dier is much younger, more mobile, English and more agressive with room to improve where as Matic has already declined substantially.
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Dier would be more expensive and difficult to acquire for those exact reasons though, and Dier's under contract for 2 years longer. I don't want either of them, but Matic for ~40 is more palatable than Dier for 60-70
 
Orc said:
He'll start the season injured for one, and more importantly, we need at least 4 CM's for a season where we could potentially play around 60 matches. One big injury to one of Kante/Cesc/Baka and we'd be in huge trouble.
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Chalobah? He's not a kid anymore, he's 22. And you just gave him a new contract.

If he's not ready to be 4th option now, he'll never be.
 
I got SSN on, they just said Abramovich has intervined and sanctioned Matic to United and they'll say more when they get more info

(not a wind up, dunno if anyone else saw it?)
 
MadMike said:
Chalobah? He's not a kid anymore, he's 22. And you just gave him a new contract.

If he's not ready to be 4th option now, he'll never be.
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Eh? We sold him to Watford.
 
Devil may care said:
He's a fading 29 year old lumberer who will put Herrera in the same role as Carrick, needing to be his legs and do his running for him, I hope this is just media bullshit brought on by Jose whining last night.
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I'm not a fan of him either, but I don't buy this at all. He was poor in 15/16 like all Chelsea players. In 16/17 he was actually quite good and one of Chelsea's most influential players on average (only Fabregas and Azpi had more passes per 90 min). That despite playing in a position and system that did not suit him particulary well.

In my opinion Matic is a type of player that provides perfect cover for the central defenders. He is great when he gets to sit deep and use his positional sense. Either in a 4231 or as the midfielder that provides balance in a 433. In Chelsea last year Luiz and Kante made him less valuable. His biggest strenghts was excessive to the team. Furthermore, as one of two midfielders in a 343 he had to move up and down the pitch a lot. For a rather big and heavy player that is not ideal. I would not be surprised if all this was part of the reason he wants to move.

And although big and heavy Nemanja Matic looks very fit! He is of similar build as Zlatan, and appears to be a model professional. Michael Carrick, a similar player, was at his peak in 2012/2013. In my opinion, the same was the case for Xabi Alonso, a similar player. Both of them was in 12/13 three years older than Matic at this time.

All in all, a boring player, way to expensive. But I actually believe the best is yet to come from him. And I also believe the qualities he would bring to the table would be perfect for us.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
I got SSN on, they just said Abramovich has intervined and sanctioned Matic to United and they'll say more when they get more info

(not a wind up, dunno if anyone else saw it?)
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Quoting the Sun:

MATIC MOVE ON?

Remember when Roman Abramovich stepped in to help Petr Cech move to Arsenal? Reports suggest a similar thing might have happened, with the Chelsea owner apparently sanctioning NemanjaMatic's move to Manchester United.

The Sun are reporting Abramovich has given the green light for Matic to join United in a £50m transfer. The midfielder is said to be "desperate" for a reunion with his former boss Jose Mourinho.
 
United Pro said:
I don't think it's that simple. Chelsea play in a midfield 2 and Conte prefers both Kante and the other midfielder to be able to play box to box (Bakayoko). Matic simply doesn't have the legs for that and never really did. If we bring in Matic, it's likely to play the Carrick role in behind Pogba and Herrera, who will both be doing the leg work, while Matic shields the back four. Simply put, Matic doesn't fit in at Chelsea, but would likely fit in here (assuming we're playing a midfield 3).
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That would certainly be my hope.
 
duffer said:
You seriously think Matic is being signed as backup? If he signs for you'll he'll be starting.
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We he certainly isn't better than Herrera or Pogba so the obvious hint would be a change in formation
 
duffer said:
You seriously think Matic is being signed as backup? If he signs for you'll he'll be starting.
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Yes, I think so, since Herrera and Pogba are better players. He'll start if we stick with a 4-3-3.
 
bucky said:
Rotation, with Herrera being first choice.
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50 million for a rotational player?

This is what baffles me.

Only thing I can think of is moving to a permanent 433, but as we know, Jose likes to change things up every now and then, and although it's only pre season, we looked pretty damn good in a 4231 system against City today.
 
Walters_19_MuFc said:
My question is, what happens to Herrera if we buy Matic and Mourinho wants to play his favoured 4231 formation?
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Thing is, there are so many games this season. I just see it as less Fellaini. In big matches I'd bet we'd play Pogba, Ander, and Matic, with Micky missing out. I just think it gives us more opportunity for rotation, which we desperately need. Especially don't need to have Pogba playing 60 games a season. Will be massive for the CL run.
 
If this guy is our third and final signing at anything like £30m+ this will place will go into meltdown....

From my perspective there must be far better players available probably for less money.
 
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