Sergej Milinkovic Savic

Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Not for Mourinho. He wont just replace Carrick with one player. What is bizarre is people finding it bizarre
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Why would we need two players to replace a guy that's not played all season? Genuine question, because i don't see your line of thinking. Bear in mind we have McTominay, who we didn't have at the start of the season.

What you're saying is sign three midfielders if Fellaini goes, plus we have Pogba, Matic, Herrera and McTominay. So 7 midfielders. That's a lot for 3 positions.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Not for Mourinho. He wont just replace Carrick with one player. What is bizarre is people finding it bizarre
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Why wouldn't he? Carrick has rarely featured for him. Why would a player who barely gets on the pitch be deemed so important as to require two players to replace him?

Anyway, Mourinho had already said "We need to find a replacement for Michael Carrick. If Marouane Fellaini leaves, we need to find a replacement for Marouane Fellaini." No mention of anyone needing multiple players to replace them.
 
If true then Maybe we are getting it done early as I presume he will be off to the WC with Serbia. Be interesting to see how he gets on for them and in the midfield with Matic.
 
If there is any truth to these rumours then it is absolutely vital that we no longer play a 433 certainly not with Matic at the base, and that we also sign two top class fullbacks as well as possibly another mobile midfielder.

Savic is very talented, but we will need to spend a lot of money not just to get him but also to accomodate him including changing our style of play so that Pogba and Savic can both play together.

Feels very round peg and square hole if this does happen, would seemingly be yet another drastic change of plans whereas other teams have seen success building teams with players that suit the way the team is currently playing.
 
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Alabaster Codify7 said:
So this looks like it's actually happening, then? It's spreading like wildfire. On the one hand, I like him and would like him at OT but for £80m, i'm not so sure - if he's our only midfield signing, I don't see us improving to a huge level, there. I'd also be worried that Fellaini would be kept on to save buying a second midfielder. But saying that, SMS is like an upgraded Fellaini so perhaps he's Marouane's top-notch replacement?

If we signed SMS and a Carrick replacement, I'd be very happy indeed with our midfield options. But if it's just Sergej, I dunno....
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The news has spread from the first source, but so far I've seen only The Sun, the Metro and the Daily Mail report it so unless I've missed other reputable outlets picking it up, it's still not got the best outlets pushing this story.
 
His agent has said there’s no agreement with any club.
 
sullydnl said:
Why wouldn't he? Carrick has rarely featured for him. Why would a player who barely gets on the pitch be deemed so important as to require two players to replace him?
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Because replacing him with a mere replacement leaves us the same. Carrick hardly playing due to being semi retired and on the book = having him on the books and injured. Merely replacing him physically doesnt evolve the team.
sullydnl said:
Anyway, Mourinho had already said "We need to find a replacement for Michael Carrick. If Marouane Fellaini leaves, we need to find a replacement for Marouane Fellaini." No mention of anyone needing multiple players to replace them.
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"
"If, next summer, we are going to sign a midfield player, it's to replace Michael Carrick and Michael is a phenomenal player that, this season, he couldn't give us anything at all.

"He's in the end of his career so if, next summer, we buy a midfield player, it's not to improve our squad - it's to replace Michael Carrick. So, to improve our squad in the midfield, we would need to buy two." Jose Mourinho
 
pocco said:
Why would we need two players to replace a guy that's not played all season? Genuine question, because i don't see your line of thinking. Bear in mind we have McTominay, who we didn't have at the start of the season.

What you're saying is sign three midfielders if Fellaini goes, plus we have Pogba, Matic, Herrera and McTominay. So 7 midfielders. That's a lot for 3 positions.
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I'll quote the man himself:
"If, next summer, we are going to sign a midfield player, it's to replace Michael Carrick and Michael is a phenomenal player that, this season, he couldn't give us anything at all.

"He's in the end of his career so if, next summer, we buy a midfield player, it's not to improve our squad - it's to replace Michael Carrick. So, to improve our squad in the midfield, we would need to buy two."


Right now McTominay counts as Fellaini's long term replacement. So if he goes Mourinho will add a player. Whether its by promoting in the case of Pereira or from the market. Because of what he stated above.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Its both. The principle is this. Say when you lose a player of Carrick quality and just bring another. You have stayed the same. You haven't evolved. But if you add a quality Carrick replacement and a second quality player. You have evolved and gotten stronger.

For example we didnt get stronger by adding Lukaku to directly replace Zlatan. But adding Alexis in January to that sigining did make us stronger.
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No I disagree replacing someone like Carrick that’s contributed next to nothing this season with someone who is able to contribute more is improving the squad. Numbers can improve squad through choice of selection and helpful in rotation or when fitness issues but most important its quality with an ability to be ready for selection that managers want mostly. That’s how you improve the squad in my opinion.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
He's in the end of his career so if, next summer, we buy a midfield player, it's not to improve our squad - it's to replace Michael Carrick. So, to improve our squad in the midfield, we would need to buy two."
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That was Jose was it?
Very weird way to put it, I get what he means but if example you replaced Herrera with Peak Scholes/Zidanne/Viera/Keane then you’d more than likely be improving the quality of your team no?

Unless he thinks Carrick is so good the likes of Thiago,Kronos,Modric,Tolliso whoever can’t hold a candle to Carrick.

Edit: predictive text. Kronos would be good in our team, be a total collosus in midfield. Kroos**
 
Lawman said:
No I disagree replacing someone like Carrick that’s contributed next to nothing this season with someone who is able to contribute more is improving the squad. Numbers can improve squad through choice of selection and helpful in rotation or when fitness issues but most important its quality with an ability to be ready for selection that managers want mostly. That’s how you improve the squad in my opinion.
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That's fair enough. But that is not how Mourinho sees it. In his opinion merely replacing a 'non performing asset' with a "performing one". Merely makes you as you should be. Not more. Its like exchanging one card for another. He'd rather replace a card and on to it.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Not for Mourinho. He wont just replace Carrick with one player. What is bizarre is people finding it bizarre
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No it’s not bizzare honestly buddy I think it’s your take on what Jose said. By the way I’m one of Jose big defenders on here but he does talk in riddles sometimes (talks shite). We are obviously improving hopefully not just the first 11 with a new midfielder but by doing that someone from first 11 goes to the bench thus improving the squad.
 
Sounds like a Mourinho signing, wouldn’t be surprised if this comes to fruition. How old is this dude? (Too lazy to use google). Does our new scout recruit have something to do with this potential signing? Considering his previous employment was at Juventus ?
 
Andersons Dietician said:
That was Jose was it?
Very weird way to put it, I get what he means but if example you replaced Herrera with Peak Scholes/Zidanne/Viera/Keane then you’d more than likely be improving the quality of your team no?
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Yes. But you'd have only improved your current quality. Not Your squad quality which I feel is the point he was making.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
That's fair enough. But that is not how Mourinho sees it. In his opinion merely replacing a 'non performing asset' with a "performing one". Merely makes you as you should be. Not more. Its like exchanging one card for another. He'd rather replace a card and on to it.
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Yeah but if a card is broken and you replaced it you now have an improved selection of cards. I know you know and probably just a matter of phrasing or looking it differently I guess so I’ll leave it here my friend.
 
Lawman said:
Yeah but if a card is broken and you replaced it you now have an improved selection of cards. I know you know and probably just a matter of phrasing or looking it differently I guess so I’ll leave it here my friend.
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I agree with you. Its Mourinho who doesnt agree with either of us. Hence the reason Im convinced he will sign two players to replace Carrick. Adding a possible third if Fellaini ships put toom
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Yes. But you'd have only improved your current quality. Not Your squad quality which I feel is the point he was making.
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Well you have improved your squad because you’ve brought in a better player. But if he wants to improve Sqaud depth then fair enough but just because you add two players doesn’t mean you’ve improved the quality of the team.
 
Lawman said:
No I disagree replacing someone like Carrick that’s contributed next to nothing this season with someone who is able to contribute more is improving the squad. Numbers can improve squad through choice of selection and helpful in rotation or when fitness issues but most important its quality with an ability to be ready for selection that managers want mostly. That’s how you improve the squad in my opinion.
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The problem is that from Mourinho's POV Carrick probably contributed a lot. Players contribution doesn't start and ends on gameday, someone like Carrick is probably a leader during the week and you need to replace that leadership when he retires, so in that sense not every player will be an upgrade on Carrick.
 
Pogba is not an attacking midfielder. He's box-to-box with a penchant for dribbling. If you want to get the most out of him, you need to encourage him to keep things simple and not try to do too much on his own. He needs to play alongside teammates who are better than him at linking midfield to attack, or else he takes on all the responsibility and it goes to his head. He had those kinds of teammates at Juventus. But at United, there's nobody of thier ilk. That's why we see him so often overcomplicating things in order to stand out.

Drop Pogba back 20 yards and give him a set of clear instructions to follow at all times. That's how you get the best out of him. A player like Savic is what's needed to fill the gap that Pogba is incapable of filling himself.
 
Sanche7 said:
The 80 million fee and the rumours of a deal agreed originated from The Sun, do people actually believe it to be true !? :confused:
I don't think we have the money to spend 80 million on one player when we don't even have one proper RB or RW
And even if we do, we should spend the money on someone who is more suited to our style

Edit : just read the Sun's 'Exclusive', they seem pretty certain that this is happening.
Also they are running this headline :
SAVI MOVE
Who is Sergej Milinkovic-Savic? Manchester United’s new 6ft4 Serbian midfield ‘sergeant’ signed from Lazio

Man I wish I had a job where I could do and say whatever I want and get paid for it
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£80 million DEAL if you are to trust the scum paper.
 
Carrick and Fellaini barely played this season. If we sign 2 players, one of them would be to cover Matic.

Sergej is a great player. But we need someone to balanced our midfield, so we can get the best out of Pogba and support Matic.
 
Fer said:
Carrick and Fellaini barely played this season. If we sign 2 players, one of them would be to cover Matic.

Sergej is a great player. But we need someone to balanced our midfield, so we can get the best out of Pogba and support Matic.
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Other way round. Pogba should be the one supporting Matic.

If nothing else, we've seen how slow Pogba is to release the ball when in possession. You can't rely on him to the only #8 in a team that doesn't have any creativity in the front three.
 
Well if Wiki says Savic is a cross between Zidane and Yaya Toure then we are signing some player!
 
JPRouve said:
The problem is that from Mourinho's POV Carrick probably contributed a lot. Players contribution doesn't start and ends on gameday, someone like Carrick is probably a leader during the week and you need to replace that leadership when he retires, so in that sense not every player will be an upgrade on Carrick.
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Carrick still will be there on a daily basis so his experience will still be there. It’s not really been on the park for a few seasons now JP or I’d definitely agree with you buddy.
 
I don't like this idea of playing 1 #6 flanked by two #8s. Or maybe Neymar will go to Madrid and we will sell Pogba to PSG.
 
Dante said:
Other way round. Pogba should be the one supporting Matic.

If nothing else, we've seen how slow Pogba is to release the ball when in possession. You can't rely on him to the only #8 in a team that doesn't have any creativity in the front three.
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Pogba often doesn’t release the ball due to lack of runners from the wing and full backs. I’m happy to give him pelters for some things but lack of options has a lot to do with him not releasing it at times imo and watching it live you see this better as often off camera the runs or lack off. For instance Mata and Martial like the ball to feet. Pogba looks better with Rashford and Lingard. Sanchez I’ve still to see more off so will reserve judgment just now.
 
Dante said:
Other way round. Pogba should be the one supporting Matic.

If nothing else, we've seen how slow Pogba is to release the ball when in possession. You can't rely on him to the only #8 in a team that doesn't have any creativity in the front three.
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That's a good point.

I was just expecting for Pogba to do what Savic does at Lazio. Most of the time it seems that Pogba tries to much, he needs to play a bit more simple. Also, we can't rely on Herrera and McTominay to create goal opportunities.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Not for Mourinho. He wont just replace Carrick with one player. What is bizarre is people finding it bizarre
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Would you say replacing Fellaini with Messi would be "staying the same"?

I'll say it again - Carrick was replaced with a quality player last Summer in Matic. Getting another quality midfielder this Summer would absolutely be moving forward positively.
 
This guy looks technically sound and similar in playing style to Pogba. That said, I can see the rationale in buying him very positive. I mean, if we are competing with our noisy neighbours playing Silva and De Bruyne in Central Midfield, I guess this purchase would be a step in the right direction.

I also agree we would benefit from a destroyer type no.6 a la Kante and a more Carrick like replacement. Then again, Matic has a decent passing range, and so does Pogba, and we have McTominay and Fellaini whom Jose has used to do a man marking job in the big games.

I'd rather have technical players we can build around than dogged, experienced types. Maybe it will lead to some more aesthetically pleasing football?
 
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Never seen him but hope is isn't another stiff as we have too many of them. A team of amazonians is nice but between Pogba, Matic and others I'm not surprised we're near the bottom of the distance covered column.

The height doesn't even seem to be helping in defending set pieces
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
I'll quote the man himself:
"If, next summer, we are going to sign a midfield player, it's to replace Michael Carrick and Michael is a phenomenal player that, this season, he couldn't give us anything at all.

"He's in the end of his career so if, next summer, we buy a midfield player, it's not to improve our squad - it's to replace Michael Carrick. So, to improve our squad in the midfield, we would need to buy two."


Right now McTominay counts as Fellaini's long term replacement. So if he goes Mourinho will add a player. Whether its by promoting in the case of Pereira or from the market. Because of what he stated above.
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Ok fair enough, but I strongly suspect that was just Jose being complimentary of Carrick. I can't see him signing 3 CMs this summer and I bet if somebody put that to him now his response would be "but what about McTominay?".
 
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