Potential Matic Replacements

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Juventus are offering €30m plus Radu Dragusin for Manuel Locatelli, lets say around €40m.
Not sure if he's the home sick type of player, but I'm sure we can scramble up €40m after the Sancho transfer.

Any news or rumors surrounding Locatelli?
 
Red_Orchestra said:
BUMP

Juventus are offering €30m plus Radu Dragusin for Manuel Locatelli, lets say around €40m.
Not sure if he's the home sick type of player, but I'm sure we can scramble up €40m after the Sancho transfer.

Any news or rumors surrounding Locatelli?
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We have given Matic a contract till 2023, he is going nowhere, just doing his savings for retirement here. United is the best club for that. Had Ramos achieved with United even one fifth of what he did with Madrid, he'd probably get awarded a 300k per week contract till 2026. Just look at de Gea.
 
#07 said:
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Well in De Gea, Romero, Dalot, Jones, Pereira, Lingard, Mata and Chong we’ve got close to £1 million a week in wages and could probably get £50-£60 million in transfer fees if we were competent in that department.

I’d personally look at throwing DVB in that group too who’ll bring in at least £25 million alone himself too and I’d throw Bailly in if we’re looking at bringing in a centre back as we’d have a new centre back, Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe and Mengi so that could be another £10-£15 million for Bailly so it’s doable but we’re incompetent in selling players on for decent fees.
 
I Like Neves but there is a few more I would rather have instead of him. Milenkovic Savic is one.
 
davidmichael said:
Well in De Gea, Romero, Dalot, Jones, Pereira, Lingard, Mata and Chong we’ve got close to £1 million a week in wages and could probably get £50-£60 million in transfer fees if we were competent in that department.

I’d personally look at throwing DVB in that group too who’ll bring in at least £25 million alone himself too and I’d throw Bailly in if we’re looking at bringing in a centre back as we’d have a new centre back, Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe and Mengi so that could be another £10-£15 million for Bailly so it’s doable but we’re incompetent in selling players on for decent fees.
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The crazy thing is the club is about to renew Mata's deal too. Half of the players you've listed we have been stuck with because we chose to give them new deals when we didn't have to.

I don't understand the logic of giving players new deals to 'protect value' if it stops you moving forward as a club. Bailly's another one. Why did we give him a new deal when we could've just let him go?

The people who defend this stuff always say its so we can get fees for those players. But how often has that worked out for us? Did we get fees for Rojo etc? All that happens is we waste millions over years on players who a) don't play for us and b) nobody wants to buy. Just don't get it.
 
davidmichael said:
Well in De Gea, Romero, Dalot, Jones, Pereira, Lingard, Mata and Chong we’ve got close to £1 million a week in wages and could probably get £50-£60 million in transfer fees if we were competent in that department.

I’d personally look at throwing DVB in that group too who’ll bring in at least £25 million alone himself too and I’d throw Bailly in if we’re looking at bringing in a centre back as we’d have a new centre back, Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe and Mengi so that could be another £10-£15 million for Bailly so it’s doable but we’re incompetent in selling players on for decent fees.
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We should be getting rid of all the bolded. Why we gave Jones a new contract only God knows.
 
#07 said:
The crazy thing is the club is about to renew Mata's deal too. Half of the players you've listed we have been stuck with because we chose to give them new deals when we didn't have to.

I don't understand the logic of giving players new deals to 'protect value' if it stops you moving forward as a club. Bailly's another one. Why did we give him a new deal when we could've just let him go?

The people who defend this stuff always say its so we can get fees for those players. But how often has that worked out for us? Did we get fees for Rojo etc? All that happens is we waste millions over years on players who a) don't play for us and b) nobody wants to buy. Just don't get it.
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Goes back to what I said about how poorly we are run as we re-sign players so they’re under contract in the hope someone will pay a fee and not play them, problem is other clubs know we don’t want the players so refuse to pay a fee and we end up stuck with them and paying £100K+ a week for the privilege.

FootyGirl88 said:
We should be getting rid of all the bolded. Why we gave Jones a new contract only God knows.
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Piss poorly run on that side of the club, personally I’d get rid of everyone I listed so we can move forward as a club and replace them with players that fit a certain style and fit an actual system that suits all instead of the scattergun approach we’ve seen over the years post Sir Alex.
 
Aurelien Tchouameni would be the perfect DM, he always impressed me whenever I watch him. His crossing is really good. In this case, opponents always try to mark tightly and pressure players fullbacks/winger or attacking midfielder so they don't give them more time to crosses but DM get more times on the ball and is unmasked most of the time but DM with world-class crossing is more dangerous.

Aurelien Tchouameni can cross so well in half-space, I think this is one of his strongest key in creating chances. Plus, he can pass well, a good dribbler and good defensively. He's the type of player I think is closest to Kimmch despite not being a good dribbler as Tchouameni.
 
Aouer-United said:
Aurelien Tchouameni would be the perfect DM, he always impressed me whenever I watch him. His crossing is really good. In this case, opponents always try to mark tightly and pressure players fullbacks/winger or attacking midfielder so they don't give them more time to crosses but DM get more times on the ball and is unmasked most of the time but DM with world-class crossing is more dangerous.

Aurelien Tchouameni can cross so well in half-space, I think this is one of his strongest key in creating chances. Plus, he can pass well, a good dribbler and good defensively. He's the type of player I think is closest to Kimmch despite not being a good dribbler as Tchouameni.
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Haven’t watched him tbh. Just YouTube clips that other posters have put up. I’ve checked out his stats too. His aerial stats are insane. Would be like having another too class CB for set pieces
 
Feels like this thread exists longer than the time Matic is actually a United player..
 
#07 said:
The crazy thing is the club is about to renew Mata's deal too. Half of the players you've listed we have been stuck with because we chose to give them new deals when we didn't have to.

I don't understand the logic of giving players new deals to 'protect value' if it stops you moving forward as a club. Bailly's another one. Why did we give him a new deal when we could've just let him go?

The people who defend this stuff always say its so we can get fees for those players. But how often has that worked out for us? Did we get fees for Rojo etc? All that happens is we waste millions over years on players who a) don't play for us and b) nobody wants to buy. Just don't get it.
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Bang on.

Probably only Barcelona was run worse than us. But at least they keep good players while we keep trash.
 
Red_Orchestra said:
BUMP

Juventus are offering €30m plus Radu Dragusin for Manuel Locatelli, lets say around €40m.
Not sure if he's the home sick type of player, but I'm sure we can scramble up €40m after the Sancho transfer.

Any news or rumors surrounding Locatelli?
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How many top Italian players leave Serie A when one of the two Milans or Juventus come in for them though, not many it seems
 
Matic was given extra time on a contract, is probably worth under £10m now and is only playing what 15-20 games a season, the vast majority of which are from the bench.

I was very concerned a year or so back his legs had totally gone when he had an awful spell, so still a concern, but generally he has done ok and streadied the ship when he has come off the bench the past season.

So for me people talking of the likes of Locatelli and Tchouameni etc etc as Matic replacements, I dont agree, they are Fred/McTiminay replacements and if we sign any of these players (Camavinga for me) then we dotn need to look at replacing Matic as he is likely to get less games and we already have somebody to monitor in preseason who is the potential Matic replacement already at the club in Garner, whether he is in the squad or not next season, Matic and his experience within the squad is still of benefit to me for another year
 
Rolaholic said:
feck yes, about damn time
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Could this be the position where we make a «surprise» signing? Remember OGS stating the following (back in April):

«Hopefully, I'll sit here with players nobody has written about and thought we were not going to go to. We conduct our recruitment business and scouting the players we are interested in, we do it the right way, I hope and feel.»

The interest in Camavinga came abit out of the blue. We obviously like players of this profile, and I would imagine we pay quite close attention to the french market (as we have been doing for years). Tchouameni is a name who has been mentioned a lot in here. Pape Sarr is another one who looks very exciting. Both of them could be signings at a cost north of Pellistri, but probably below Amad.
 
With Pogba hinting at leaving/letting his contract expire, I'm hoping we go for a DLP and not a destroyer.

With Barca's troubles we'd be crazy not to go for De Jong.
 
VanDeBank said:
With Barca's troubles we'd be crazy not to go for De Jong.
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Crazy not to see if there is a chance in hell. But there probably is not. Very slim chance of them selling. And if they were, even less of a chance of him wanting to come to Man Utd?
 
De Jong is on €400k/ week though. We will have to break our wage structure to sign him. I worry about the impact it has on other contract negotiations. Camavinga is the play here I prefer the most.
 
Rolaholic said:


feck yes, about damn time
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Be interesting to see who they choose to go for? An experienced player or a younger player with potential? A destroyer of a DM or a playmaker DM. If we get the right player in and Pogba leave we could field a midfield trio of bruno, VDB and the DM. However i think we need an athletic and strong DM with legs to cover ground rapidly. Sort of like Ndidi for example.
 
Tallis said:
De Jong is on €400k/ week though. We will have to break our wage structure to sign him. I worry about the impact it has on other contract negotiations. Camavinga is the play here I prefer the most.
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That’s about what De Gea is on, no?
 
Brozović seems a sensible option as a relatively short-term option. Only 1 year left on his contract and Inter appear to be in financial difficulty making it seem a very affordable deal.

If Matic and Pogba were to leave and we were to replace them with Brozović and a more well-rounded no.8 to compete with Fred (Camavinga, Locatelli etc.) we’d be set in midfield for next season imo.

Brozović - Fred
(McTominay) - (Camavinga)
Bruno
(VDB)
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Not the flashiest midfield but a very solid one that would allow the front 4 and fullbacks to focus on pushing forward.
 
Brozovic is 29 this november and a chain smoker. Thats alarm bells for me and a pass.
 
FootyGirl88 said:
That would just create a new problem, wheres the creativity going to come from?
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Of course we need another midfielder too.
That is why i would sell Fred for 15m too.

Van de Beek must improve.

If he stays then Hannibal should get chances too.

But hello Sancho will improve a lot our creativity.

DM: Ndidi + Matic
CM: Fernandes, new midfielder, Van de Beek, McTominay, Mata + Hannibal
 
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dinostar77 said:
Brozovic is 29 this november and a chain smoker. Thats alarm bells for me and a pass.
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I’ve seen a few people say this but couldn’t find a source for it, do you have one? His running stats are insane if it’s true.

Also Brozovic is only about 5 months older than Pogba as well. I don’t think his age/experience is a negative considering the potential price.
 
FootyGirl88 said:
That would just create a new problem, wheres the creativity going to come from?
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We have Bruno, Rashford, Sancho to feed the likes of Cavani/Greenwood/Martial. How much creativity do you want? Not every player needs to be creative across the middle. You need engines and functional players to allow the creative players more flexibility to do their thing.

Under SAF it wasn't that we needed to have creative midfield players all the way - we had Paul Scholes and he'd be with Keane or Fletcher etc. Liverpool is another example where a functional midfield gave the best environment for the full-backs to bomb forward and the likes of Salah & Mane to run havok. Chelsea right now don't exactly have more creativity than we would down the middle.
 
It's no coincidence we started dropping a lot of points when Pogba got injured. We drew and lost against teams from the bottom half of the table. We either shat ourselves at the back when pressed or we couldn't break down a parked bus. It's not necessarily a testament to how great Pogba is, but rather the niche he fills in our squad.

We don't need a small upgrade on our water carrier or another water carrier next to Fred or McTominay.
The only time one of our attacking players will receive the ball, is when we've all seen the pass 5 seconds in advance.

Our target should be:
  • Creative passer
  • Press resistant
  • Defensively sound
Tallis said:
De Jong is on €400k/ week though. We will have to break our wage structure to sign him. I worry about the impact it has on other contract negotiations. Camavinga is the play here I prefer the most.
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He's on 305k a week. De Gea is an 375k/w and Pogba 290k/w
Messi, Griezmann, Pique, Busquets Coutinho, Alba, Dembele earn more than him.

Maybe Griezmann can be sold on a free (or with a fee that subsidizing his wages). I don't see the others being able to be sold without taking a pay cut. All this makes them selling De Jong more likely, if the Spanish FA remains firm. It's also an easier sell to their fanbase than letting the academy lads go (who earn 30% of De Jong's salary)

andersj said:
Crazy not to see if there is a chance in hell. But there probably is not. Very slim chance of them selling. And if they were, even less of a chance of him wanting to come to Man Utd?
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It'll be between us, City and Bayern. PSG is already stacked in midfield and Juve could use him, but I don't see them upsetting their wage structure for him, like how they did with Ronnie.
 
AgentSmith said:
I’ve seen a few people say this but couldn’t find a source for it, do you have one? His running stats are insane if it’s true.

Also Brozovic is only about 5 months older than Pogba as well. I don’t think his age/experience is a negative considering the potential price.
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Pretty sure the BBC commentator mentioned it during a croatia game at euros and then there were a flood of comments about Brozovic on here and his smoking.
 
Crazy we are not in for Locatelli. If he considers moving to Arsenal, surely he wont say no to United. He would be a guaranteed starter here, and we can blow away Juventus's offer on both fee+wages.
 
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