Our transfers beyond Pogba

Frank Grimes said:
Pogba (or another mid) will be our last signing. Jose said as much.
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No he didn't. He said we had four priority transfers and, once they're finished, he'll take a breath and look at what other positions can be strengthened in the market.
 
A starting quality right winger would be a start, followed by another centerhalf. Rooney is simply not good enough for the #10 position. I would play Mkhitaryan there and sign a right winger.
 
Pogba - Pjanić
Carrick - Khedira
Herrera - Marchisio
Schneiderlin! - Hernanes
Fellaini - Sturaro
Schweinsteiger

Pogba Replacements *Axel Witsel, Blaise Matuidi or Matic

I think we need one more CM
 
We still need a RB, CB & a RW. If we sign them, I'd be less concerned about us missing out on top 4, and maybe even expect a title challenge. Without them, I think we'll struggle and could well miss out on finishing in the top 4.
Raoul said:
Its not expensive - he's a quality player, an established France international. We are looking at spending 100m on Pogba and just dropped over 30 on Mkhitaryan.
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He really isn't.
 
The managerial changes are sure taking their toll. Players bought under Moyes and LVG now don't fit Mourinho's plans and we are faced with having to offload players and buy new ones at the same time.
 
Yagami said:
We still need a RB, CB & a RW. If we sign them, I'd be less concerned about us missing out on top 4, and maybe even expect a title challenge. Without them, I think we'll struggle and could well miss out on finishing in the top 4.

He really isn't.
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If Mourinho's interest is confirmed then yes he actually is. He's put in about 50 appearances a year for a very good PSG side, is a full France international starter etc.
 
I'd like us to go for a CM or a RB. Someone who will compete with Smalling or Bailly for the starting CM spot. Bailly can play RB so we could be covered there if we sign a CM. Otherwise, we're still playing a winger as our starting RB.
I've got no confidence that Jones will play more than 180 minutes this season.
 
Yagami said:
We still need a RB, CB & a RW. If we sign them, I'd be less concerned about us missing out on top 4, and maybe even expect a title challenge. Without them, I think we'll struggle and could well miss out on finishing in the top 4.

He really isn't.
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He's looked quality whenever I've seen PSG play in the CL.

We need another CB and Winger. RB too would be nice
 
Any player who can upgrade the team (currently there are not many of them available on the market but still) and increase title chances should be on the list. Assuming this based on Mou's quotes about desire to win and just not settle for top 4 like the one in charge before him who couldn't even guarantee a plan minimum.

Players like Memphis, Januzaj, Young or Lingard should be given a chance in first squad only if they'll show they can live up to a standard of a title challenging club and shouldn't block potential hunt for a cracking player like it was in Mkhitaryan's case.

...but first, let's get the 4th one before assuming too much.
 
Several players will have to go, and we will still need a couple of players (RB & CB). I imagine a lot of our players are on the market, but with their wages it will be very difficult to move them on.

Rojo, Fellaini, Bastian, Darmian and to a lesser extent Young, Depay, Mata and Januzaj are all in danger.
 
Jig1234 said:
... What people fail to realise with Pogba is he needs world class players around him. He has never ran a midfield ...
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Yet despite this you're proposing to shell out a world record fee + massive wages for Pogba?

Modric didn't require world-class players around him at Spurs, nor did he have any problem running the midfield.

When you keep hearing what about Pogba needs and what he has never done, and when you hear that the supposed reason why he didn't play that well at the recent European Championships was because he was being played "out of position" - despite it still being in the midfield - doesn't all this give you the tiniest pause for thought?
 
Jig1234 said:
Pogba - Pjanić
Carrick - Khedira
Herrera - Marchisio
Schneiderlin! - Lemina
Fellaini - Sturaro
Schweinsteiger- Hernanes

Pogba Replacements *Axel Witsel, Blaise Matuidi or Matic

I think we need one more CM
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FTFY
and I prefer Pereya over Hernanes.
 
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Pacey right winger and an attacking right back would be my priorities. A right winger with express pace would be a terrific addition and a right bank who is actually good on the ball would provide the support our right flank needs.

Basically I think our right side is a weak link.
 
It seems unwise not to strengthen the right flank in some way. We looked very weak there last season with right back filled by Darmian (who was unable to perform consistently), youth players filling in (at least one of whom - Varela - is going out on loan) and wingers playing out of position (with which Mourinho has expressed his dissatisfaction), and right wing mostly filled by a succession of forwards who are more comfortable playing elsewhere (i.e. more centrally). Without improvements in this area I think we'll struggle to be competitive.

In the medium term (i.e. by the end of next summer) we should really look to improve our first choice option at both right back and right wing/right forward, but for now we might be able to make do by upgrading just one: a right back who was a real threat going forward might compensate for playing forwards more suitable for central positions on the right wing. Conversely, a pacy forward who was truly comfortable playing wide on the right might enable us to field, say, Darmian, and allow him to concentrate on defensive responsibilities without having to try to contribute too much in an attacking capacity.

Whether or not it's realistic to expect more signings in this area is a different matter. If the Pogba move goes through for the sums being reported we will probably have spent over £150 this summer, so substantial further outlay may be unlikely.
 
sun_tzu said:
If we do spend the £100m-£140m on Pogba or whatever the figure is being plucked out of the air today then I suspect we will see our activities focus more on shipping players out as we will have quite a bloated squad and some good young prospects.

If somebody becomes available we are tracking (like martial) then Im sure we will be involved and no doubt there will be talk of last minute deals and messi / ronaldo being sighted at Manchester airport come deadline day but I think our main focus (after pogba - or whatever our back up options are (saul please!)) will be shifting on a couple out of Fellaini, Herrera, Mata, Schweinstiger,
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How will the squad be bloated? Last season people were complaining about too few players.
 
I'd get Stones and Matuidi in that's the only two I'd bring in I rate stones very highly and I laugh at everyone saying city are crazy paying 50 Mill for stones but he'll be there for years to come and will develope into one of the best although I can't see us spending 100Mill on Pogba then 50mill on stones and I don't rate any other centre half that's getable. Matuidi won't be expensive and would improve our squad massively. I think we're fine at RB Darmain needs a run of games and a manger that believes in him and he'll be fine!

I'd get rid of jones,Bastian,Fellaini and that would be me but I think who we buy will have a lot to do with who we get rid of.
 
roseguy64 said:
How will the squad be bloated? Last season people were complaining about too few players.
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I don't think our squad is bloated in general, but I guess you could argue that we have an excess of players for one particular position: we currently have Rooney, Mata, Mkhitaryan, Januzaj and Fellaini (plus arguably Herrera, Lingard and Pereira) who are most effective playing behind a striker. I don't know the exact figures but we must be paying out the best part of 3/4 of a million quid every week just on wages for "Number 10s". So maybe it wouldn't be too surprising if Mourinho chose to slim down in this area, especially given his general preference for smaller squads.
 
Pogba saga is getting boring. Sign someone to keep the madness going.
Signing an experienced Center back would be a good start.
 
Raoul said:
If Mourinho's interest is confirmed then yes he actually is. He's put in about 50 appearances a year for a very good PSG side, is a full France international starter etc.
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If Mourinho had a perfect track record when it came to tansfers I'd agree with you, but he doesn't, so I'm going from what I've seen. He's bang average and, having watched a lot of PSG in Ligue 1, he's never stood out. We have enough average players in midfield in Herrera, Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Schweisteiger, etc, we don't need more.

He may be a regular starter for both club and country, but so have many average players over the years.

Attila said:
He's looked quality whenever I've seen PSG play in the CL.

We need another CB and Winger. RB too would be nice
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Yes, he's been good in the CL but, on average, his performances in Ligue 1 have never looked anything other than "meh". I mean, in some of our biggest games in the CL over the past few years, Kagawa was our best player away to Munich, and Welbeck was arguably our best player home and away to Madrid. I think I'm right in saying neither were good enough for us despite, me personally, loving them both.
 
roseguy64 said:
How will the squad be bloated? Last season people were complaining about too few players.
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Didnt Jose say he wants a first team squad of 23
De Gea, Romero, Johnson
Shaw, Darmain, Rojo, Valencia, Borthwick Jackson
Smalling, Jones, Bailly, Blind, Mcnair, TFM
Schneiderlin, Schweinstiger, Herrera, Carrick (Pogba assuming the transfer happens which is the basis of the thread)
Rooney, Mata, Fellaini, Janauzj, Periera
Depay, Young, Lingaard, Mkhitaryn
Zlatan, Martial, Rashford,

Thats 31 players and even if you discount the players in bold as they are u21 thats 26 players i.e. over the maximum allowed under PL rules
 
Yagami said:
If Mourinho had a perfect track record when it came to tansfers I'd agree with you, but he doesn't, so I'm going from what I've seen. He's bang average and, having watched a lot of PSG in Ligue 1, he's never stood out. We have enough average players in midfield in Herrera, Schneiderlin, Fellaini, Schweisteiger, etc, we don't need more.

He may be a regular starter for both club and country, but so have many average players over the years.
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That's great, but i'll take the opinions of professional managers over your average internet punters. Clearly, if he were average, he wouldn't have cut it for the past 4 years at PSG when they could've bought any midfielder in the world
 
Raoul said:
If I'm Jose, I'm offering every player under the sun to Juve for a cash plus deal for Bonucci - as in £50 plus Mata, Fellaini, Rojo, Darmian, Schweinsteiger etc. Removing the wages of those five alone would lower the fee and clean up the squad for a few youngsters.
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I think we might have to pay a bit more than that.
 
Raoul said:
That's great, but i'll take the opinions of professional managers over your average internet punters. Clearly, if he were average, he wouldn't have cut it for the past 4 years at PSG when they could've bought any midfielder in the world
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That's fine - I'm not saying I know more than José. I'm just giving my opinion in a thread that's asked for it, so I'm not sure why you're getting so snarky.

Though, just because he's played 4 years at a very good club doesn't mean he's a good player who'd instantly improve us. We as a club have had our fair share of average players, even in our golden years, be regulars for us just because they fit in here where they wouldn't elsewhere.
 
Raoul said:
That's great, but i'll take the opinions of professional managers over your average internet punters. Clearly, if he were average, he wouldn't have cut it for the past 4 years at PSG when they could've bought any midfielder in the world
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So you think they could've bought Iniesta, Modric, Busquets?
 
sun_tzu said:
Didnt Jose say he wants a first team squad of 23
De Gea, Romero, Johnson
Shaw, Darmain, Rojo, Valencia, Borthwick Jackson
Smalling, Jones, Bailly, Blind, Mcnair, TFM
Schneiderlin, Schweinstiger, Herrera, Carrick (Pogba assuming the transfer happens which is the basis of the thread)
Rooney, Mata, Fellaini, Janauzj, Periera
Depay, Young, Lingaard, Mkhitaryn
Zlatan, Martial, Rashford,

Thats 31 players and even if you discount the players in bold as they are u21 thats 26 players i.e. over the maximum allowed under PL rules
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Think Paddy and Luke Shaw are OK as well, thinks it's 21 or under players born 1st January 1996
 
I expect we'll sign two, possibly three more players once the Pogba deal goes through. We desperately need a DM so hopefully that's the priority but it sounds like it'll be another CB from what's being said in the media.
 
CM10 said:
I expect we'll sign two, possibly three more players once the Pogba deal goes through. We desperately need a DM so hopefully that's the priority but it sounds like it'll be another CB from what's being said in the media.
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I think we'll possibly sign one more but that's about it.

Don't think we need a defensive midfielder either; not when we have Schneiderlin and Carrick here.
 
We have numbers in center mid and center back but I think we need to improve quality in both.

Fellaini, Schweinsteiger and Carrick just aren't good enough. The jury is still out for me on whether Herrera and Schniederlin can turn it around. Even with Pogba I'd think we need to add someone else.

At center back Jones and Rojo aren't good enough and probably not even reliable enough to count on as backup with their injury problems. Even if Smalling and Bailley form a great partnership we'd need someone we can rely on as backup.
 
Raoul said:
Its not expensive - he's a quality player, an established France international. We are looking at spending 100m on Pogba and just dropped over 30 on Mkhitaryan.
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I'd say spending 30 million on a tricky attacking midfielder and Bundesliga player of the year is more value for money, than for an older, less talented central midfielder. We need quality not quantity, and I doubt Matuidi would be a lot better than Schneiderlin.
 
sun_tzu said:
Didnt Jose say he wants a first team squad of 23
De Gea, Romero, Johnson
Shaw, Darmain, Rojo, Valencia, Borthwick Jackson
Smalling, Jones, Bailly, Blind, Mcnair, TFM
Schneiderlin, Schweinstiger, Herrera, Carrick (Pogba assuming the transfer happens which is the basis of the thread)
Rooney, Mata, Fellaini, Janauzj, Periera
Depay, Young, Lingaard, Mkhitaryn
Zlatan, Martial, Rashford,

Thats 31 players and even if you discount the players in bold as they are u21 thats 26 players i.e. over the maximum allowed under PL rules
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Yeah, the squad was 'small' due to too many injuries, especially the defense, hence the multiple starts for the youngsters. Plus Rooney was basically the only go-to striker going into the season (selling Chicharito was imbecilic). LVG probably expected Memphis to chip in more goals, but he was found wanting, so Lingaard stepped into his spot (where Nani could've been more useful).

Now, as pointed out above, it is relatively bloated and it's apparent someone will have to be shipped out, while other signings basically require more players to be shipped out. Although I figure Rojo will be shipped out, I'm not sure Jose will necessarily need another CB, as he's brought in Bailly, plus has cover in the form of Blind, TFM, Jones, McNair, & Tuanzebe. I like the Fabinho move as Darmian is also probably on the move and it also provides cover for DM (for Schweinsteiger?). If Fabinho does come with Darmian & BFS going the other way, Jose would probably get rid of either Young, Januzaj, or McNair to get to 23 (not counting the U21's).
 
Seven Seas Sardines said:
I'd say spending 30 million on a tricky attacking midfielder and Bundesliga player of the year is more value for money, than for an older, less talented central midfielder. We need quality not quantity, and I doubt Matuidi would be a lot better than Schneiderlin.
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He seems to be better regarded than Morgan at the NT level. Not saying we should buy him, just making the argument that he's underrated because he doesn't fit into standard muppet transfer logic of buying sexy players.
 
The squad isn't too small, but it does have a few too many crap players in it. They need weeding out and replacing with better quality squad players. I'm sure Mourinho will sell those players and attempt to bring in a couple more once Pogba is done.
 
I'd say that getting fecking rid of Jones or Rojo (although I'm inclined to give Rojo one more year) and getting a competent CB in is pretty much a must at the moment. Then you can think about a semiwinger/semistriker type of a player, perhaps a RB and a CM.
 
An Irish Red said:
I think we'll possibly sign one more but that's about it.

Don't think we need a defensive midfielder either; not when we have Schneiderlin and Carrick here.
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Schneiderlin isn't really a defensive midfielder and we can't solely rely on Carrick, who won't be here much longer either.

Also, the consensus seems to be that we'd play a 4-2-3-1 with Pogba as one of the deep midfielders. If that's the case, his midfield partner would have to pick up the slack and I don't think we've got anyone capable of doing that right now.
 
Raoul said:
He seems to be better regarded than Morgan at the NT level. Not saying we should buy him, just making the argument that he's underrated because he doesn't fit into standard muppet transfer logic of buying sexy players.
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I can assure you that's not the reason why I, and I'm sure most people, don't want him. I mean, I love sexy players who dribble past players for fun, pass teams to death and showboat to the heavens, but I know having a team full of them isn't likely, and sqaud players are needed.

Two of my favourite CMs ever in Keane and Scholes just went about their business without showing off, much like Matuidi; It's just that they were actually brilliant midfielders. I guess Scholes showed off with his excellent passing, but still. Blind is one of my favourite players at the moment and I wouldn't describe him as a sexy player (bar his looks) or a world class one either. Though, I think he could end up being one. Another example is Wes Brown who was one of my favourite players of all time. He was the exact opposite of a sexy player and just played for the team, which I loved.
 
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