That’s got West Ham written all over it.
Potential Centre-Back Signings
- Thread starter sullydnl
- Start date
That’s got West Ham written all over it.
Would be a great 3rd choice centre back but I dont think he is good enough to start here. He reminds me of Bremer from Juve, but I think Bremer is a better natural defender.
De Ligt and Lacroix would be nice with Lindelof and Maguire departing.
Mikhail Faye for the back-up LCB and LB role. He's very similar to Timber in a way, fast, agile and able to dribble upfield well. He's also good passing ability. Porto's bid of 15m ran into trouble, so he's gettable for 15-20m. Barca need the cash so he's expendable right now but he was previously on their untouchables list and they were looking to sell Andreas Christensen instead. He's one that could break out with some exposure but is probably happy to bide his time on the bench, whilst given minutes to develop.
15 million is a great price for him, but that price quoted to Porto was with a cheap buy-back clause for 2025 and 2026, and 50% sell-ons. That's a price for the Porto-sized clubs. I guess he'd be 25 million for United to buy him without all the clauses.
I haven't seen him play, but if the scouts like him, then I'd rather spend that than double ++ on Branthwaite.
West Ham sign him for cheap we then give them £70 million a few years later. I think he would a be good cover option. As Kambwala probably needs a loan and Lindelof and Maguire need to be moved on.
Yeah I think he'd cost between 25 and 30m for us. Looks a very interesting player for that LCB, LB hybrid - absolutely rapid, so aggressive he makes Licha look soft, decent on the ball, has a long-range strike on him.
If we got De Ligt + Faye I'd be very happy.
Good point, the 15m quoted for Porto did include all kind of clauses. For 25m, I still think its a good price for a player with his potential. That's similar to what Chelsea will end up paying for Anselmino. Plus Brailsford knows all about him as Nice put in a bid for him in the January window.
Definitely. Some of his coaches think he's even got the potential to be one of the best LBs in the game if he chose to focus on that position. I think we can afford to low ball Everton for Branthwaite as there's other players of high potential available for less than half the price Everton want. Even William Pacho at Frankfurt would be a better deal than Branthwaite.
I have actually seen him ringside two times, and was super impressed by him on both occasions. Looked absolutely massive in aerial duels, extremely quick for such a big guy, and had a very relaxed style of defending. I have no idea if he is good enough to be a starter for us, but I would love to see us going for a player with the same strengths as him. With Martinez being the aggressive Vidic-style CB, i feel we need a Ferdinand-style partner that can cover the space behind. Along with Lacroix, I really like some of the Red Bull CBs, Solet, Lukeba and Simakan.
We should bring in another left footed CB as well, and I can’t help thinking Calafiori would be the perfect option. He could provide competition for both Martinez and Shaw and allow us to mix our playing style, using a natural CB at LB.
If we are indeed going after 3 CBs surely one is a cheaper option? I’d be very surprised if we spend £150m or so solely on CBs. Signing Yoro (42m), De Ligt (42m) as well as Branthwaite (60m) would sort of be overkill. A cheaper signing instead of Branthwaite would make sense though, someone young like Mika Faye who would cost more like £25m and cover LCB and LB.
There is zero possibility of playing a high line with the defenders we have. Therefore we can't play possession or transition based football either and our whole formation falls apart again.
If you make the assumption that Slabhead and Lindelof are also toast we may well be in for all three. I would be surprised if we managed to shift both but it seems like the new team is cooking on gas.
When do the guys fly out on tour? That's the benchmark. You want over half of your signings on the plane I would guess.
If you make the assumption that Slabhead and Lindelof are also toast we may well be in for all three. I would be surprised if we managed to shift both but it seems like the new team is cooking on gas.
When do the guys fly out on tour? That's the benchmark. You want over half of your signings on the plane I would guess.
3 central defenders , 1 left back , 1 midfielder and 1 forward
That's already 6. I doubt it .
That's already 6. I doubt it .
Is Laporte that quick, for Spain able to play high-line?
Or we make a change of the system.
Martinez - De Ligt - Yoro
Shaw - Branthwaite - Kambwala/Evans
Could also be that we're now looking to play more like City/Arsenal and have 4 CBs starting for some games?
Branthwaite/Shaw - Martinez - Yoro - De Ligt
I doubt we’ll end up with even 2 of the linked CBs unless either Maguire or Lindelof are shipped out.
I’m hoping this is just demonstrating a sensible change in transfer policy. That being multiple viable options for a known need, and negotiating with all of them, playing them off against each other, and driving down price.
Hopefully this is the end of the all eggs in one basket methodology, a la de Jong, Fabregas, etc…
I’m hoping this is just demonstrating a sensible change in transfer policy. That being multiple viable options for a known need, and negotiating with all of them, playing them off against each other, and driving down price.
Hopefully this is the end of the all eggs in one basket methodology, a la de Jong, Fabregas, etc…
I think we will sign MDL regardless of other deals. Makes a lot of sense since he has a lot of experience whereas the other CBs (Jarrad and Leny) dont.
Lindelöf will definitely be shipped out, and I sincerely doubt INEOS would be stupid enough to keep that sissy around. Hopefully ends up at Fenerbache, otherwise she needs to be whored out around Europe.
I reckon we will spend north of £200m this window.
Greenwood out.
Vdb out.
Varane out (wages)
Sancho out.
Amrabat probably not getting taken on again.
Greenwood, sancho and vdb will fetch around £70m combined and wages on top of that.
Murmurs of Casemiro to saudi and potential for a player like Maguire to go, plus if we truly bring in 3 Lindelof would probably be solved.
Zirkzee around £35m
De ligt £40m
Yoro £50m
Branthwaite £55m
Ugarte £35m
We are talking not absurd money especially if Maguire and Lindelof are shipped off as part of that.
We would end up with a solid backline, and hopefully won't leak goals, the problem is I think we need more than one DM and although Ugarte is a terrier and will break up play we need a back up.
Greenwood out.
Vdb out.
Varane out (wages)
Sancho out.
Amrabat probably not getting taken on again.
Greenwood, sancho and vdb will fetch around £70m combined and wages on top of that.
Murmurs of Casemiro to saudi and potential for a player like Maguire to go, plus if we truly bring in 3 Lindelof would probably be solved.
Zirkzee around £35m
De ligt £40m
Yoro £50m
Branthwaite £55m
Ugarte £35m
We are talking not absurd money especially if Maguire and Lindelof are shipped off as part of that.
We would end up with a solid backline, and hopefully won't leak goals, the problem is I think we need more than one DM and although Ugarte is a terrier and will break up play we need a back up.
With all the midfield and scoring problem we have I think signing 3 CBs wouldn't be the greatest idea.
Two CBs considering Varane left and we'll likely ship out either Maguire or Lindelof is enough.
I think we only really have Mainoo and Fernandes as our options we have Mount but the jury is out with him, unless Casemiro stays.
Nobody else can be relied upon, also we are losing Martial (not a loss) and Sancho. We do have Garnacho, Rashford, Hojlund and Zirkzee if that deal is believed. I wouldn't mind Rashford leaving for good money.
Either way we need 2 midfielders in my eyes, and LB cover too.
I do think we can do more than people realise though but it depends on outs.
Better suited CBs will help solve the midfield problem. They need to be able to defend high so we remain compact, and to help progress the ball in possession – especially if Ugarte is our only CM signing this summer.
I agree, we need at least 2 midfielders. If Mainoo get injured we'd end up with god knows who running the midfield.
From what Ive seen of him I thought Willie Kambwala would develop into a very good CB but it seems, in yet more muddled transfer strategy as far as I can see, he doesnt suit the new regime and is being sold, and yet Johnny Evans, a great CB and United stalwart but now aged 37, has been given a new 12 month contract. I thought INEOS and Sir Jim were going to sort out the transfer mess we've laboured under since SAF retired!
It made more sense to sell Kambwala because he needs regular first team games at this stage of his career. Johnny Evans as a backup for now isn't the worst idea because it won't cost a lot to keep him, and he'll be happy being a squad player.
The only thing i'm a little disappointed in so far is the pursuits of Branthwaite and Yoro for differing reasons. Branthwaite is potentially a good CB without being anything special imo and it doesn't really make sense why the club have spent so long trying to sign a player from Everton who weren't going to let him go on the cheap. Leny Yoro wants Madrid according to reports and some reports even state he will even wait it out to join them next year. If that does turn out to be the case then why put in offers for him when he has his heart set upon joining Madrid.
If de Ligt is the first of 3 CBs that the club want, then there's alternatives to both Branthwaite and Yoro who may turn out to be even better. At LCB there's Hincapie, Lukeba, Hancko, Calafiori and even the young prospect Jorrel Hato who looks a player with big potential. At RCB there's even more names who fit the bill as alternatives to Yoro.
He won’t get enough playing time with what they have planned. He is showing ambition. He wants to play regularly. Fair play to him. We have also installed a buy back clause.. something we wouldn’t have done with the previous idiots.
Looks like Milan is signing Pavlovic. Too bad as I had hoped he would be the cheap alternative to Branthwaite.
How is Jorrel Hato developing? Surprised we're not linked to him. Could he be a good future partner to Yoro? Must be cheaper than De Ligt and Branthwaite.
He's definitely not cheaper than de Ligt with his contract until 2028. I read somewhere that they demanded 86m pounds for him.
Would be a really clever signing, but I guess we still don't have the recruitment structure/capabilities for that(at least not yet). He would cost half as much as Branthwaite(or even less) and I think he's a better player actually(or at least as good).
Yoro-Pavlo would give me young Rio-Vida vibes haha. what's Nemanja doing these days? can't he help us?
Any rumors on Diomande? Yoro and Diomande both have similar playing styles and would be the perfect pair.
Looks like Antonio Silva is back on. Would be an absolutely superb center back pairing.
https://sports.yahoo.com/man-united-now-eyeing-antonio-200000467.html
https://sports.yahoo.com/man-united-now-eyeing-antonio-200000467.html
Would be another incredible signing. Also Yoro, Lisandro and Silva in a back 3 playing out from the back would be immense
I just dont see it though after we spent so much on Yoro, to spend so much on another young CB. Doubt hes any cheaper than Yoro
After selling Joao Neves they don't have to and won't sell him either. Unless the release clause is met which is unrealistic for United at this stage.
I’d rather we focused elsewhere at the minute since we’ve signed Yoro. I’d rather keep Maguire/Lindelof as back ups and sign a world class FB. We need to get the FBs sorted out this window. Also DM is crucial aswell as another CM.