Neves if Pogba is sold and Zakaria if he isn't
Potential Matic Replacements
- Thread starter FootyGirl88
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what’s your thoughts on if Pogba leaves in the summer? We need a CDM like Zakaria but by removing Pogba you need depth again.
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To be honest I think in the absence of Pogba having a functional base of Fred and McTominay with Bruno in front would suffice given that we also have DVB at the club who could operate with Bruno well so the need to replace Pogba directly is less pressing.
I think we won’t be able to directly replace the quality he has so investing in CDM instead might allow DVB and Bruno to play together.
Whoever the club decides to go in for needs to have energy. I look at what McTominay and Fred have given us since coming back into the team, and their legs in midfielder have made us look much better as a unit.
Possible replacements:
Declan Rice
Calvin Phillips
Konrad Laimer
Denis Zakaria
Possible replacements:
Declan Rice
Calvin Phillips
Konrad Laimer
Denis Zakaria
We should’ve gone for Partey in the first place. That ship has sailed
Zakaria has a higher ceiling IMHO
Just can't get my head around why Arsenal had a free run for this guy. With such a low fee not sure why city didn't go for him either.
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We didn’t have room in the squad. Another player needs to be sold to make way for a new DM.
Hopefully we’ll get one more season out of Matic, Pogba will likely be shifted and then a DM brought in his stead.
It looks like Ole thinks that McTominay and Fred are the answer as we would have bought one in the summer otherwise, or at least made a good effort at doing so.
Frankly we need to sign another 2 midfielders.. Again.
Fred isn't good enough, but neither is Pogba, Matic or McTominay.
Fred isn't good enough, but neither is Pogba, Matic or McTominay.
That mindset is so depressing
We should have gotten Partey or a DM but we weren't even linked with one. If the issue was too many midfielders then send Mctominay on loan and sell Matic the next season. Terrible planning
I'd sign the rake that Sideshow Bob couldn't get past.
Not really. Had we bought Partey instead of Vdb, the midfield three could have been:
Bruno (Pogba)
Fred (McTominay) Partey (McTominay)
I thought Matic had improved from last season to this one and kinda earned a new contract ? Why the loss of form again ?
Rice would be great for us but likely won't come for anything less than 60m. CDM should be a top priority next transfer window cos our CBs are so unreliable, and Matic is good for another season at best.
Matic is MLS player for a long time, ha had good period/matches but overall he is not good enough, we should've replaced him before the season and that was a big mistake. This position is getting more and more crucial with every year.
I have hope that Fred and Mctominay will make a world class partnership one day... but not right now, unfortunately. Doesn't seem like the club is willing to spend big on a Matic replacement.
i hope so too, but at this point its uncertain if those two may become a tittle challenger partnership. Funny thing is that before the start of the season i said that Fred+McT might be our best partnership and next i read an article in "the athletic" with a few proposed "the best" United XI, Fred+McT together were never mentioned. Journalist's level is hilarious. ; )
Well, in the current Premier League, having a great midfield partnership is possibly the most important piece of a title challenging team. Back in the day, the Keanes and the Vieiras not only defended well, but started attacks...today the league is even faster and more physical. Obviously we need more signings, but I doubt there will be arrivals in January.
How is the league now more physical? You can’t touch anyone now.
It'll be interesting to see the type of midfielder Ole goes for presuming he's still here, I mean right now he is playing 2 dog soldiers to protect the CB's, if we get a more mobile CB or Axel establishes himself it might change. If Pogba goes to Juve or Real Madrid there could be an exchange involved, Camavinga and Bruno Guimares remain my top 2 choices.
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I’m not dealing in hypotheticals we bought DVB and so we would have needed to sell to buy.
DVB was a sensible signing given it solves the depth issue for Bruno but also lessens the pressure of us needing to keep Pogba next summer.
Partey is of course a very good midfielder but it wasn’t going to happen without allowing Pogba to leave.
Zakaria's knee is shot to pieces. They still do not know when he will be back next. This boy is going to need another 18 months before a big move.
Let's face it Rice, if he leaves West Ham, is going to Chelsea. That one is not even up for discussion.
A CDM that has a good passing range that can really move the ball forward for us.
A bonus would be someone to run our games in general but that's super rare.
A bonus would be someone to run our games in general but that's super rare.
I think it's because the plan was to play Pogba in that double pivot like end of last season and Pogba hasn't been good at all this season which makes people think it's terrible planning. If only Pogba was shocking during the post lockdown, I do believe we would be thinking to sign Partey or DM and push Pogba into Bruno's backup instead of having VDB as the Bruno's backup.
Now that Pogba is looking likely to be sold next summer (well, he should be since his contract is expired soon) and Matic is just to me game over at his age, it makes more sense to buy new one. We are monitoring Zakaria from what I read last month.
How about Douglas Luiz at Villa? I am not sure if he is still on loan from City, which would obviously put an end to this idea, but he is pretty good. His ball yesterday to Barkley for their second goal was Carrick-esque. And he gets around the pitch well, has a low center of gravity to really get stuck in and be annoying in one-on-one duals.
I like what I have seen from him.
City had an option to buy him which they didn't exercise. I think they still have first refusal but we are free to try. I like him a lot but I have my reservations to his utility in a dominating side. He is perfectly suited to Villa's counter-attacking style and he can screen the defence well for prolonged periods of time. But having to be focused for a whole game when the majority of time most of your teammates will be attacking in front of you is a whole different thing.
When Pogba is sold, I think we need to get Grealish and Zakaria. I would have like Aouar but we might get priced out.
I think Grealish will cost a lot more than Aouar.
What about Julian Weigl? He is struggling to find play time at Benfica and i think that he suits much more Premier League than the Portuguese League.
I don’t think we’re that desperate to be honest. His career trajectory isn’t a very positive one and our squad is a bit bloated as it is.
Camavinga or Valverde
Because he has his new contract and can take it easy again. Only this club hands out contracts to payers way past their sell by date. Jones Rojo Mata Matic....
- Wilfred Ndidi - knows the premier league
- Declan Rice - knows the premier league, a leader, room for improvement
- Denis Zakaria - great potential; will need time to adapt to Premier League
- Fed Valverde - great potential; will need time to adapt to Premier League; Cavani/Pellistri will make it easier for him to settle
My personal favourite is Valverde and would take him in a straight swap for Pogba but I don't think Madrid will let him go and I think he won't leave Madrid where he's been since academy days after being discovered by them. In which case, I'd go for Ndidi, who we know is a very safe choice having proven himself in the league
This guy is bossing CDM position at the moment, we should give him a "serious look"
Ndidi is probably the most attainable and risk-free of the 4, though Leicester will likely hang a Maguire-level price tag on him considering the difficulty of replacing him and how it's common knowledge that we're desperate for a competent CDM.