Realistic Summer 2017: Ins & Outs

Out
All our attacking players

In
Players who can consistently score goals
 
To bring the thread back to reality, here's what I expect to happen in the main positions where there have been question marks...

GK: No change. I don't expect Real to move for De Gea.
LB: I hope/expect Mourinho to stick by his comments that Shaw is not leaving in the summer and Shaw's declaration that he will fight for his place. Shaw to fight with Blind for the starting spot. Young and Rojo will also be available to cover there if we are injury hit.
RB: Darmian to return to Italy for first team football. Valencia to retain his starting XI spot. Young to stay for his last year of contract as Valencia's cover with Jones as cover of last resort. Postpone signing a new, younger RB till 2018.
CB: I expect no changes. We have 4 good (if not exceptional) CBs. Bailly/Rojo or Bailly/Smalling to be the main partnerships. Higher priorities elsewhere.
CM/DM: We'll sign a new CM/DM, probably Fabinho. Carrick looks like getting an extension and Pereira will come back from loan. If Carrick renews, I expect Fellaini to be sold before his contract expires. Fosu-Mensah to go on loan for more games. I don't expect any other signings in CM.
AM/FW: Griezmann to come and play in various FW roles. As #10, Second/Support Striker, LW or RW depending or our needs. Playing behind the main CF will be his main duty though. Januzaj to be sold. Rooney to move either to America or to a lower ranked PL club with us likely to be picking up some of the bill.
CF: Rashford to go on loan to get experience as CF in a less pressurised environment. Ibra to renew for 1 more year. Dries Mertens (on his last year of contract) to be snatched from Napoli on a 2+1 year contract.

Ins
- Griezmann
- Fabinho
- Mertens
- Pereira (loan end)

Outs
- Darmian
- Fellaini
- Rooney
- Januzaj (sold)
- Rashford (loan)
- Fosu-Mensah (loan)

I expect the Griezmann, Fabinho, Mertens transfers to cost a combined £130-135m. Likely to recoup about £25m from the sales of Darmian, Fellaini, Januzaj. A transfer outlay of £110m to match our last summer's spending. No massive changes in the salary structure/outlay.
 
Zelalem said:
2 fullbacks (Semedo + LB),
1 CM (Fabinho),
FWD( Sanchez & Griezmann)
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Read the thread title please...Realistic Summer 2017: Ins & Outs
You've listed well over £200m worth of players. That's very far from realistic.
 
MadMike said:
Read the thread title please...Realistic Summer 2017: Ins & Outs
You've listed well over £200m worth of players. That's very far from realistic.
Click to expand...

What is the transfer fee threshold beyond which transfers are no longer deemed realistic enough for this thread, just so we all know?
 
MadMike said:
Read the thread title please...Realistic Summer 2017: Ins & Outs
You've listed well over £200m worth of players. That's very far from realistic.
Click to expand...
£200m isn't unrealistic. We have plenty of deadwood we can ship out; we've already sold 2 for nearly £50m. Fellaini, Smalling, Darmian, Blind and Rooney will go for a lot of money in today's market.
 
Infra-red said:
What is the transfer fee threshold beyond which transfers are no longer deemed realistic enough for this thread, just so we all know?
Click to expand...

We spent £110m net this season. You could argue it could go up or down by some margin next year (depending on CL qualification or not).

It's free to interpretation to some extent, but for me anything above £150m net spend is pretty ridiculous. £200m net is outlandish, that's doubling our spend of this season.
 
Outs :
De Gea ==>unfortunately to Madrid for 50/60M£ at least
Jones ==> To WBA or Stoke
Ibrahimovic ==> To LA Galaxy
Rooney ==> To New York Red Bulls
Januzaj ==> Where he wants
Young ==> To Crystal Palace or Watford
Darmian ==> To Napoli or AC Milan
CBJ
Varela

Loaned :
Fosu-Mensah
Wilson
Tuazebe
Johnstone
Pereira

Ins :
Donnarumma (1) for 40M
Pepe (4) for free
Fabinho (2) for 40M
Icardi (9) for 50M
Griezmann (7) for 100M


----------------------------------Donnarumma-----------------------------------
Valencia-----------------Bailly------------------Pepe------------------------Shaw
--------------------------------------Herrera----------------------------------------
Mkhitaryan--------------Fabinho---------------Pogba----------------Griezmann
---------------------------------------Icardi-----------------------------------------

--------------------------------------Rashford---------------------------------------
Martial---------------------------------Mata---------------------------------Lingard
-----------------------------Carrick------------Fellaini-------------------------------
Blind-----------------------Rojo---------------Smalling---------------------
---------------------------------------Romero----------------------------------------
 
Zelalem said:
£200m isn't unrealistic. We have plenty of deadwood we can ship out; we've already sold 2 for nearly £50m. Fellaini, Smalling, Darmian, Blind and Rooney will go for a lot of money in today's market.
Click to expand...

The two we sold were young, on long term contracts and generally desirable but we still took a loss on each one. Generally when big clubs offload unsuccessful players, they accept a loss.

Rooney is 31 and on huge wages (£15m a year), no one is going to pay us money to take him off our books, same as what happened to Bastian. Fellaini's is on his last year of contract. So is Blind and he only cost £15m in the first place. Darmian only cost £14m and he also has failed to claim a spot. Smalling's the only one in your list that could fetch some money but it's extremely unlikely he'll get sold.

We might get another £30m odd from these, but not much more.
 
Zelalem said:
£200m isn't unrealistic. We have plenty of deadwood we can ship out; we've already sold 2 for nearly £50m. Fellaini, Smalling, Darmian, Blind and Rooney will go for a lot of money in today's market.
Click to expand...

Why would we get rid of Blind?
 
MadMike said:
The two we sold were young, on long term contracts and generally desirable but we still took a loss on each one. Generally when big clubs offload unsuccessful players, they accept a loss.

Rooney is 31 and on huge wages (£15m a year), no one is going to pay us money to take him off our books, same as what happened to Bastian. Fellaini's is on his last year of contract. So is Blind and he only cost £15m in the first place. Darmian only cost £14m and he also has failed to claim a spot. Smalling's the only one in your list that could fetch some money but it's extremely unlikely he'll get sold.

We might get another £30m odd from these, but not much more.
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Could see De Gea going which would get a good fee and one of Mata/Martial which would get a decent fee (don't think Mata is on last year, could be wrong). If that were to happen we're looking at around 100M in sales? Of course some of that goes right back into a keeper which we wouldn't otherwise need.
 
I think we will certainly buy a leader type figure centre back. I don't expect both Jones and Smalling to stay.
 
I could see Pepe coming in on a free.

Pepe - Rojo or Pepe - Bailly would be decent.
 
Philadelphian said:
Could see De Gea going which would get a good fee and one of Mata/Martial which would get a decent fee (don't think Mata is on last year, could be wrong). If that were to happen we're looking at around 100M in sales? Of course some of that goes right back into a keeper which we wouldn't otherwise need.
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The more transfers, the less realistic it becomes. Jose did say "2-3 players" when talking about next summer, after all. We signed 3 players and a free agent last summer, I expect something similar.

As for De Gea, it's not impossible but it's very unlikely. He's got a contract until 2019 with a +1 year extension at our discretion. So 2020. My personal opinion here is that Madrid will come for him in 2 years, when he's at his peak (28) and with one year remaining so they'll only spend no more than £30m, which will look acceptable to both sides.

Mata is also entering his last year and we have no extension option either. He's 29 in a couple of weeks. We could get £20m for him, maybe slightly more but not much.
 
MadMike said:
The two we sold were young, on long term contracts and generally desirable but we still took a loss on each one. Generally when big clubs offload unsuccessful players, they accept a loss.

Rooney is 31 and on huge wages (£15m a year), no one is going to pay us money to take him off our books, same as what happened to Bastian. Fellaini's is on his last year of contract. So is Blind and he only cost £15m in the first place. Darmian only cost £14m and he also has failed to claim a spot. Smalling's the only one in your list that could fetch some money but it's extremely unlikely he'll get sold.


We might get another £30m odd from these, but not much more.
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£30m? that's a joke, right? I'm pretty sure we will get in excess of £50m.

Smalling - £20m
Darmian - £15m
Fellaini - £16m
Blind - £16m
Rooney - 0-£40m (depending on where he chooses to go)
 
Bwuk said:
I could see Pepe coming in on a free.

Pepe - Rojo or Pepe - Bailly would be decent.
Click to expand...

I always disliked Pepe intensely. He both a dirty player and very calamitous. But Mourinho might be tempted to add experience at the back so I can see it happening.
 
Zelalem said:
£30m? that's a joke, right? I'm pretty sure we will get in excess of £50m.

Smalling - £20m
Darmian - £15m
Fellaini - £16m
Blind - £16m
Rooney - 0-£40m (depending on where he chooses to go)
Click to expand...

It's not a joke because I did say I excluded Smalling. There's 0 chance him going, he's our starting CB and a captain. Jones, maybe. Smalling, no.

I don't see how anyone would spend more on Darmian and Blind than what we spent to buy them 2 years ago. Please name one player we sold at a profit, after he failed to nail a first team spot here. Yeah, I'll wait.

As for a team spending £40m on a 31yo Rooney who's on a £15m a year contract while playing no football.... The mere suggestion warrants psychiatric evaluation :wenger:
 
Last edited:
I don't think we need defenders. Look at our defensive record.

I am hopefully Shaw can kick on.

I would be happy to see Smalling and/or Jones leave.

Pepe on a free makes sense for a season.

We need attackers and a centre midfielder.

Griezmann
Sanchez/Mbappe/whoever
Fabinho

Would be a good place to start.
 
Man United 2017/18 squad:

GK: de Gea, Romero, J. Pereira

DF: Bailly, Lindelof, Smalling, Rojo, Tuanzebe, Valencia, Shaw, Young

MF: Fabinho, Pogba, Herrera, Carrick, Fellaini, Mkhitaryan, Perisic, Mata, A. Pereira, Lingard

FW: Ibrahimovic, Griezmann, Rashford, Martial

IN:
Victor Lindelof
Fabinho
Ivan Perisic
Antoine Griezmann

OUT:
Sam Johnstone
Phil Jones
Timothy Fosu-Mensah (loan)
Matteo Darmian
Guillermo Varela
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (loan)
Daley Blind
Adnan Januzaj
Wayne Rooney
James Wilson

Just a guess at what I expect Jose might do. I don't think the Lindelof rumours will die down after January, so I expect the interest to be very real.

Fabinho seems like the ideal Jose signing seeing as we need a midfield addition and he can also cover at right back. Perisic is a good player, but probably not good enough, but the rumours wont subside and he's very much a Jose player once more.

Griezmann.. let's just hope to Christ we sign him.

De Gea
Valencia - Bailly - Lindelof - Shaw
Fabinho - Pogba
Mkhitaryan - Griezmann - Martial
Ibrahimovic

Subs: Romero, Smalling; Herrera, Perisic, A. Pereira, Mata; Rashford
​
Expect Zlatan to stay one more year if we win the EL. Which we should do even if we are shite.

Pereira to have a breakthrough season if he's in the squad next season and Shaw to bounce back providing he has the right mentality/attitude.
 
I'd really love to see us sign a player or two with the character of a Sanchez, Tevez or Suarez

we are far too nice

Rojo, Bailly, Valencia and Herrera aside there isnt much aggression let alone the undying will to win that someone like Tevez had

the last few years have been about belief and psychology as well as ability
 
buckooo1978 said:
I'd really love to see us sign a player or two with the character of a Sanchez, Tevez or Suarez

we are far too nice

Rojo, Bailly, Valencia and Herrera aside there isnt much aggression let alone the undying will to win that someone like Tevez had

the last few years have been about belief and psychology as well as ability
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Couldn't agree more.
 
These are the players who would be available for prices below their market level due to various reasons. I wouldn't mind getting any of them so as to invest more in other positions.
Pepe(Free)
James Rodriguez(If Cheaper as he is forced out by Real)
Isco(Last Year)
Sanchez(Last Year)
 
OK let's play! Select one of my choices under each category.

Centre back:

Harry Maguire - £15-20m - I like the look of Maguire, athletic, imposing, strong and good on the ball. Punt in regards if he cannot cope with United pressure then its not £50m down the drain.

Pepe - £Free - despicable player, filthy, dirty, but free. Experienced, can lead, organise and battle. Epitome of "he's our b*stard"

Centre Mid:

Ndidi - £20m - I won't lie to you here, I don't know much about him but I'm hoping he is a Kante clone or at least a very energetic ball winning screen for our back line. I don't care if he cannot pass the ball like Carrick, can he give the ball to a better player quickly? Most likely. Can he run all day and tackle? Stereotyping says yes.

Steven N'Zonzi - £25m - Ready made DMC, athletic, quick, can retain the ball, knows the prem, mature, can pass a little but not going to Quarter Back the game but then who cares, Alonso, Pirlo have had their day.

Fabinho - £35m - Same as above but probably better on the ball and Brazilian so will probably blow up three stone and retire at 31, but a solid option.

Attackers:

Lukaku - £60m - I for one am sick of not dicking over the bottom ten teams anymore. Remember when Barnsley would roll into town and we'd batter them 6-0? We need a bulldozer to destroy these plucking game raisers. He is that bulldozer. (Just drop him for games against the top four until he asks for a transfer).

Griezou - £Feck Ton - Great player, might be a case of wrong system and struggle to get the best from him. A risk but a huge talent.

James - At €35m he is a bargain when compared to the players we have bought for those sums previously. Seems technically good but will either go the way of Falcao or the way of David Silva in my opinion.

So a brief overview, could see us spending around £100m and getting two new CB, a DMC and a cheap attacker.

Thoughts?
 
Murder on Zidane's Floor said:
Crazy the actual amount of young talent out there that can be targeted.

Where does the caf rate the following in order of desirability, obtainability and instant impact?

  • Mbappe
  • Ousmane Dembele
  • Douglas Costa
  • Fabinho
  • Lukaku
  • Greizmann
Click to expand...
Doubt mourinho cares about young players, would far rather 28-32 year olds that can do the business next year. Personally from that I like Dembele. Mbappe is very untested. Griezmann is obviously top class if he gets supply, has been for years
 
RedMaestro said:
Not that hard for me if I must choose from these:

Pepe
Fabinho
Griezmann

Oh, and Ndidi will surely cost a lot more than your estimation?
Click to expand...

Maybe but bear in mind Kante didn't cost much and Leicester will not be in a massive bargaining position.
 
Murder on Zidane's Floor said:
OK let's play! Select one of my choices under each category.

Centre back:

Harry Maguire - £15-20m - I like the look of Maguire, athletic, imposing, strong and good on the ball. Punt in regards if he cannot cope with United pressure then its not £50m down the drain.

Pepe - £Free - despicable player, filthy, dirty, but free. Experienced, can lead, organise and battle. Epitome of "he's our b*stard"

Centre Mid:

Ndidi - £20m - I won't lie to you here, I don't know much about him but I'm hoping he is a Kante clone or at least a very energetic ball winning screen for our back line. I don't care if he cannot pass the ball like Carrick, can he give the ball to a better player quickly? Most likely. Can he run all day and tackle? Stereotyping says yes.

Steven N'Zonzi - £25m - Ready made DMC, athletic, quick, can retain the ball, knows the prem, mature, can pass a little but not going to Quarter Back the game but then who cares, Alonso, Pirlo have had their day.

Fabinho - £35m - Same as above but probably better on the ball and Brazilian so will probably blow up three stone and retire at 31, but a solid option.

Attackers:

Lukaku - £60m - I for one am sick of not dicking over the bottom ten teams anymore. Remember when Barnsley would roll into town and we'd batter them 6-0? We need a bulldozer to destroy these plucking game raisers. He is that bulldozer. (Just drop him for games against the top four until he asks for a transfer).

Griezou - £Feck Ton - Great player, might be a case of wrong system and struggle to get the best from him. A risk but a huge talent.

James - At €35m he is a bargain when compared to the players we have bought for those sums previously. Seems technically good but will either go the way of Falcao or the way of David Silva in my opinion.

So a brief overview, could see us spending around £100m and getting two new CB, a DMC and a cheap attacker.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I'll take Griezmann out of that lot. He's not a bad suggestion at all.
 
buckooo1978 said:
I'd really love to see us sign a player or two with the character of a Sanchez, Tevez or Suarez

we are far too nice

Rojo, Bailly, Valencia and Herrera aside there isnt much aggression let alone the undying will to win that someone like Tevez had

the last few years have been about belief and psychology as well as ability
Click to expand...

Agreed. As such, i would like Icardi or Belotti rather than Grizzmann.
 
With all the quotes appearing about Chicharito, Mou had better sign him. I'd welcome him back with open arms.

I'd sell Martial, Darmian, Januzaj, and Rooney.

I'd bring in Chicharito, Griezmann, and a CB.
 
PeteManic said:
With all the quotes appearing about Chicharito, Mou had better sign him. I'd welcome him back with open arms.

I'd sell Martial, Darmian, Januzaj, and Rooney.

I'd bring in Chicharito, Griezmann, and a CB.
Click to expand...
Thank goodness you're not in charge.
 
Murder on Zidane's Floor said:
OK let's play! Select one of my choices under each category.

Centre back:

Harry Maguire - £15-20m - I like the look of Maguire, athletic, imposing, strong and good on the ball. Punt in regards if he cannot cope with United pressure then its not £50m down the drain.

Pepe - £Free - despicable player, filthy, dirty, but free. Experienced, can lead, organise and battle. Epitome of "he's our b*stard"

Centre Mid:

Ndidi - £20m - I won't lie to you here, I don't know much about him but I'm hoping he is a Kante clone or at least a very energetic ball winning screen for our back line. I don't care if he cannot pass the ball like Carrick, can he give the ball to a better player quickly? Most likely. Can he run all day and tackle? Stereotyping says yes.

Steven N'Zonzi - £25m - Ready made DMC, athletic, quick, can retain the ball, knows the prem, mature, can pass a little but not going to Quarter Back the game but then who cares, Alonso, Pirlo have had their day.

Fabinho - £35m - Same as above but probably better on the ball and Brazilian so will probably blow up three stone and retire at 31, but a solid option.

Attackers:

Lukaku - £60m - I for one am sick of not dicking over the bottom ten teams anymore. Remember when Barnsley would roll into town and we'd batter them 6-0? We need a bulldozer to destroy these plucking game raisers. He is that bulldozer. (Just drop him for games against the top four until he asks for a transfer).

Griezou - £Feck Ton - Great player, might be a case of wrong system and struggle to get the best from him. A risk but a huge talent.

James - At €35m he is a bargain when compared to the players we have bought for those sums previously. Seems technically good but will either go the way of Falcao or the way of David Silva in my opinion.

So a brief overview, could see us spending around £100m and getting two new CB, a DMC and a cheap attacker.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

That is a good list.

Especially your Midfield options of Ndidi or N'Zonzi. And the price you have quoted looks about right. Could be a bit more, but still cheap in today's day. Only problem is, we don't seem to like buying players cheap. We usually tend to go for players that cost £40m up irrespective of their quality.

So, I am afraid Liverpool, who have a tighter budget, may snatch these players.
 
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