What do you mean by him being old school in footballing priorities
Saúl Ñíguez \ Joins Chelsea on loan
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What do you mean by him being old school in footballing priorities
I don’t know if I would say that is the reason as it’s a position he’s played on occasion for the last few seasons. I think last season he maybe did it like 8 times. Twice this season. He does kinda get punted about. Lb,LM,DM,CM,CB and RM so maybe he is fed up being used as a utility man.
I’ve always wanted him but then I look at McT and kinda wonder do we really need Saúl. No doubt in my mind who is overall the better player but McT gives us something we’ve been missing for years and I’m somewhat intrigued to see if he can keep improving.
Simeone trying to reinvent himself and play round football with square pegs is abhorrent tbf.
I like the look of Fabian Ruiz, would he be a cheaper alternative?
I doubt it because of the Napoli President.
Whilst I love Saul, he's very much similar to what we've already got in midfield in McTominay and Fred. Sure he's better than both, but I wouldn't mind us having a different option for certain games.
No but he would be a more creative alternative. Expect he'd be expensive too
I think it's highly unlikely that the Utd board would be willing to pay his supposed £128m release clause, however there were reports in the last couple of days that if he made it clear he wanted to leave Atletico that they would be willing to accept around £85m.
I am not going to lie I found it a bit worrying when I saw posts that were comparing him to Fred & McTominay, personally I thought he would provide more creativity than that but maybe I don't fully understand the type of player that he is and what he could offer this team.
I am not going to lie I found it a bit worrying when I saw posts that were comparing him to Fred & McTominay, personally I thought he would provide more creativity than that but maybe I don't fully understand the type of player that he is and what he could offer this team.
I'd love him here. But I think it will be hard to get him to leave Spain.
Didnt see the match but he scored and had a man of the match performance helping Atletico to 4th
Play wherever the team wants him, loyal to a fault, runs an academy. Herrera always gave the same impression to me.
I look at him as less similar to McT and Fred, and more in the realm of Keane of the 90s before his knee troubles in terms of dictating the pace of the game, the ball retention, drive to move the game forward and ability to chip in with goals in big games.
Only way I could see Utd funding moves for Sancho & Saul would be if we sold Pogba in the summer. I did see someone say that Utd don't like playing with an actual DM like Kante/Partey but don't know how true that actually is at all.
That's still the same style of player, just done to different levels. If you look at everything you have listed there, it's what Mctominay thrives on with the ball retention. And (lately) for Fred but without the goals.
The good thing about Saul is he's so good at everything that he should be able to play in any formation or position really.
In principle he may be similar to McTominay and Fred, but he is just of a higher quality. He’s not a ‘creative midfielder’, but he can help a team retain possession much better than the aforementioned. I’m not into the ping pong football we seem to be trying to play, and I’m also not a fan of setting up a midfield with the main intention of stopping the other team. We should be controlling football matches, and to do that, you need a combination of hard work and quality on the ball in midfield. Saul has that combination.
I think if he’s genuinely available, we would try to get him. We’ve always spoken about ‘the ones we want’, and if one of those were available we would be on it. Saul seems to have been a long term target of the club.
Wouldn't buy him.
He would stopMartial's McTomminay's development.
He would stop
I have always had the vibe with Saul that he'll be a lifer in La Liga. Nothing to really base that on, just a hunch. He's very good but to be honest, I don't think he's worth the huge figures being touted. I would prefer to spend that kind of money on a defensive midfielder or a #10/CAM and Saul is neither.
Woody better call Saul!
We've never played with a DM though so I could see an all rounder like Saul being targeted as well as a Maddison in the number 10
I highly doubt Saul will be coming in either though
When players like longstaff are linked at £50m Saul for £85m would represent amazing value
Pogba and Saul with a good defencive midfielder would be a fantastic midfield... The versatility of Saul would be a huge bonus as well when it came to tactical or injury related changes
......pogba.............Saul.......
...............mctominy.............
Would be pretty awesome
A better and younger alternative in my opinion, but not necessarily cheaper.
Although, Napoli are having a terrible season in Serie A and most likely won't qualify for the Champions League.
If we somehow manage to qualify, it's possible he would want to come here which could put pressure on Napoli to sell and reduce the price. That's what I'm hoping for anyway
If given the choice of signing Saul vs McGinn and Bruno Guimaraes, which option would you guys pick? McGinn and Guimaraes would probably cost less than Saul combined and IMO would benefit us more in the short and longterm. Both players would also make our squad stronger.
Saul for me. I don't rate McGinn as highly as most though.
Would be a good addition, or someone of a similar ilk. We need more quality in midfield for sure.
In front of our back 4, I’d say everyone except Martial and Rashford of our current starting XI’s main attribute is ‘running’. That’s not enough quality.
In front of our back 4, I’d say everyone except Martial and Rashford of our current starting XI’s main attribute is ‘running’. That’s not enough quality.
Some bloke's take on it:
https://www.unitedinfocus.com/news/pay-the-85m-for-saul-niguez-itd-solve-3-united-problems/
https://www.unitedinfocus.com/news/pay-the-85m-for-saul-niguez-itd-solve-3-united-problems/
Half of you comparing Saul to Fred and Mctominay either have some form of visual impairment or don't understand how to assess a player. Saul is far superior technically to Fred / Scott in every aspect, he's not too dissimilar to Pogba in how he's variable across the midfield perhaps not to much to play a 10. He's comfortable running with the ball in close control, has a shot, works hard and is team orientated. He's nothing close to any of the midfielders we have at our disposal.
He’d be the perfect double 8 player with Pogba.
Looks to me like he plays a largely similar role to Pogba. If we sign Ñíguez I reckon Pogba is off.
He doesn’t.
Anything I have seen of him he operates mostly on the left hand side. Good going forward and making passes or sending in crosses, and coming back the way good at winning the ball mostly on the left.
In either a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 he looks like a left-midfielder. Left footed too. I can’t see how he and Pogba fit into the same side.
Edit: that said have just watched another video of him and he played a lot from the right. To be honest looks like he could play anywhere. Decent right foot too. Could be the perfect signing.
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Bingo.
Wow someone here knows his bit, thats really great to see in a sea of bullshit. Spot on mate, spot on.
Don’t look now, you might be describing McTominay
Jokes, I know Ñíguez is a better player, but he’s older and more experienced.
Would love him at United.
I would love him here but wasn’t he the one that signed like a 10 year deal with Atletico? Granted contracts aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on, but to me doing something unheard of like that mostly signals he has no intention of ever leaving even if they don’t challenge for trophies.
He'd certainly increase your depth in midfield as an injury to Fred or McT and Andreas is back in the central role, which he's clearly not suited to, if you got him along with another creative midfielder, it'd be a great buy, but if this is only the midfielder you pick up in Jan, then I think your priorities should be elsewhere.
EDIT: At 85 mill in todays market though, this does represent good value.
EDIT: At 85 mill in todays market though, this does represent good value.
Lambasts everyone for saying there are similarities but no doubt Saúl is the better footballer then goes on to describe McTominay.
Could only see this deal happening if Pogba left and he was actually available around the £85m mark.
The mentality that we should only be targeting a top class midfielder if Pogba leaves is off I think. Even with Pogba, the area has plenty of room for improvement. Saul with Pogba would make us much better than Saul replacing him.
You should add that Bruno Guimaraes have Spanish citizenship and so will be able to play in the EPL.
Would be a fantastic purchase and is reported to be available for a very reasonable sum. Also has spanish citizenship as you point out which makes signing him alot easier.
I completely agree with you on that but fear that our clueless board see things very differently to the fans. Will be gutted if we don't try and bring in a creative midfielder next month to help Pogba.
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