Solskjaer target 5 signings; 6 players could leave [BBC, Telegraph, Guardian]

DomesticTadpole said:
If we don't get CL aren't their penalties?
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Look. if we played without UCL for 2 years, they'll lower it to 50-60m, we have a 75m deal with Adidas.

Whoever players sponsored by Adidas seek to join us, Adidas will help and play important roles in images right contract when we have negotiated with players for the contract as they don't want player joining other clubs that are not sponsored by Adidas.
 
goin4glory said:
This is one of the worst posts I've ever seen and that's saying something

Zagadou has played 14 games this season but he's Dortmund's best defender? Adam Ounas who can't even get in the Napoli team? Grealish? This type of stuff is why we desperately need the newbie system back.
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I've seen a fair bit of Dortmund this season and Akanji has been far and away their best defender when I've been watching. I actually think he should be our priority signing ahead of names like Koulibaly and Varane, he's got an insanely high ceiling.
 
deafepl said:
Look. if we played without UCL for 2 years, they'll lower it to 50-60m, we have a 75m deal with Adidas.

Whoever players sponsored by Adidas seek to join us, Adidas will help and play important roles in images right contract when we have negotiated with players for the contract as they don't want player joining other clubs that are not sponsored by Adidas.
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Is there anybody who is sponsored by Adidas that is interesting? Anybody not call Gareth Bale.
 
Kaglish10 said:
Maddison who looked the best player on the pitch twice against us is just a decent player? You know what? I can go all Muppet like you, if I want to. But the players I want are not available. Players such as Verratti, Messi, Neymar, Kane, Eriksen, Bernardo Silva, Van Djik etc. These are players I would love us to splash hard currency on but unfortunately, they are not available. I can't think of any other players worth such huge amount of fees except these ones above hence I would rather we go for the unpopular quality players such as Van De Beek, Maddison, Zagadou and Grealish rather than splash huge money on popular names who are mostly overrated and mercenaries. With the lot of cash we have splashed on popular names, has it got us anywhere in the league?

Spurs didn't go in for Grealish because Villa slapped 40 mil on him, which is no different from saying he isn't available because there was no way Spurs would spend such cash on a player except if he was going to be their marquee signing. What Villa did isn't different from simply telling Spurs that Grealish isn't available. And no I haven't said there are loads of gems in the championship after all, I haven't bigged up another championship player except Grealish and one of the reason why I set my eyes on him, apart from the fact that he's been good is because he's no stranger to the EPL and had once dominated popular midfield names such as Yaya Toure, David Silva, Gerrard, Henderson, Coutinho etc.

I understand your fear about Grealish but he's been good in the championship which have churned out lot of quality players into the EPL hence, we shouldn't underrate players who ply their trades in the championship.

Anyway, if it isn't Grealish, then I wouldn't mind bringing in Ceballos, especially if Madrid moves in for Pogba. Ceballos is a quality playmaker which our midfield need presently. He's also defensively solid and not lazy unlike some of our midfielders. I could recall him looking head and shoulders above everyone else, including Saul Niguez at the euro u21 tournament. I need to add that he was the golden player of that tournament. He's also become one of the main midfielders for the Spanish national team presently, considering the fact that he's above Thiago, Koke in the pecking order for Spain.

All the midfieders who had once impressed at the euro u21 tournament has gone on to have good careers for themselves. Players such as Ozil, Bernardo Silva, Thiago, Xavi, Lampard, Mata etc, so I won't mind Ceballos here. If Saul Niguez who wasn't as good as Ceballos apart from the goals he scored could carve a niche for himself at Atletico, I don't see why Ceballos can't do same for us. It's a shame he went to Madrid to sit on their bench because there was no way he would have unsit popular names such as Kroos and Modric except if he was marquee signing which he isn't. I wouldn't mind having £120mil + Ceballos for Pogba.
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Fine.

And Mahrez?
 
Kaglish10 said:
Don't you mean the same Zagadou that displaced the new signing, Diallo from Dortmund's central defence? Don't forget Diallo was signed for a huge price yet Zagadou is now considered as First choice in the central defence before him. Zagadou has had his own share of injuries but he's been Dortmund's best since he established himself. Should we then wait till his price skyrocket to 100mil before taking him off Dortmund? If you had watched the Derby between Dortmund and Bayern, you would already know how good he has been. He's everything you could want in a defender. We are better getting him now that he's yet to be as popular as De Ligt because I can assure you once he becomes popular, we won't even sniff him let alone sign him especially when the likes of Madrid, Barca and Bayern will all be swarming around him like bees. Signing him to play alongside an older experienced Toby won't be bad, considering Zagadou has done well so far alongside a young Akanji in defence. He's likely to do better with an experienced Toby.

Adam Ounas is a trouble kid but there's talent in there. He has impressed everytime he's been called upon for Napoli. You can check his stat. His performance as a right winger has been fantastic for Napoli. He's definitely not going to unsit Insigne and other older players right now but the talent is quite visible to the eyes. I'm sure he can offer us something better with his flashy style than the predictable Lingard. Coutinho wasn't starting at Inter Milan either but his talent was quite visible to the eyes and that was why Liverpool didn't have to wait before snapping him up. Ounas could be a valuable squad player who could play the right wing role for us pending the time Sancho becomes available. Dortmund won't definitely sell Sancho after just a season with them.

As for Grealish, he's been fantastic in the championship. I bet if we were linked with either Neves or Maddison last season, you would have come up with similar post about them but look at them today in the EPL? Likewise Alli, Robertson, Mahrez, Vardy who were all playing in the championship at one time. In Alli's case, he was even playing for a lower league 1 side before Spur eventually snapped him. Spurs would have done same with Grealish last season but Aston villa didn't want to sell their only hope of surviving the championship because Grealish is their best player as we speak. Besides, Grealish is no stranger to the EPL. He's dominated plenty of classy midfielders few years ago while he was playing in the EPL, so what are we saying?
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Great first half from your man. World class stuff. Maybe you can update us after another 14 appearances.
 
Sancho, Neves, Bruno Fernandes and Havertz schould spice up our attack and midfield creativity sufficiently enough.

After that we add Rice, de Ligt, AWB and Gimenez to improve our defense. While that would be 8 players I think we need to invest in a lot of talent especially if Pogba is off to Real and Lukaku wants to move to the land of Pizza and Spaghetti.
 
I think United would need to buy for these positions:

Right back. For me the weakest position in the team. Therefore it is of big importance that United buy a right back that is ready to play for at title-searching team. Wan Bissaka is a very promising player, but would he be the best here and now? For outgoings I am almost 100 % sure both Darmian and Valencia will leave.

Centre back. I would definately buy a leader CB, maybe even buy two CBs. Alderweireld and Varane would be my dream. Then Toby and Smalling could fight to be Varanes partner with Lindeløf a very reliable fourth choice. I think Bailly and maybe Rojo will be sold.

Defensive midfield: Declan Rice would be a magnificent buy. And I really hope United can snatch him in front of City. The United can sell Matic as McT could be a very good backup. If Rice will choose City then there is Ruben Neves.

Central midfield. United need one. Two if Herrera goes to PSG. I really don't know who United should pick here. But both Doucoure and Ndombele sound interesting. And maybe Kroos if he is possible.

Right Wing: I would prefer Sancho or maybe Hudson-Odoi to give the team an english taste.

Besides that the team nedds one left back (maybe Chilwell) and a striker.
 
Kaglish10 said:
Central back: Alderweireld (25mil), Zagadou (40mil), Lindelof, Smalling.

Left back: Shaw, Dalot, O'Connor.

Right back: Dalot, O'Connor, Laird

Holding midfield role: Van De Beek (30mil), Matic, MCTominay.

Central midfield: Maddison (40 mil), Grealish (25 mil), MCTominay, Fred, Perriera.

Right wing: Maddison, Lingard, Adam Ounas (20 mil).

Left wing: Martial, Adam Ounas, Lingard.

Central forward: Rashford, Lukaku, Greenwood.

Zagadou has been one of Dortmund's best defender, if not the best this season. He was fantastic against Bayern and didn't give Lewandoski any space in the last Dortmund clash against Bayern. He was also the reason Dortmund crumbled against Spurs in the first leg match which happened as soon as he left the pitch after he got injured. He's left footed which means he can take over our left side of the defence and most importantly, he's a ball playing defender and terrific in the air which is our achilles (apart from Smalling who's quite good in the air).
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goin4glory said:
This is one of the worst posts I've ever seen and that's saying something

Zagadou has played 14 games this season but he's Dortmund's best defender?
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Dalglish10... how's Zagadou getting on in Der Klassiker? Clean sheet? Got Lewandowski in his pocket? Scored? MOTM?
 
:lol: this thread is hilarious, while I can see where Kaglish is coming from it simply comes down to capabilities.

Pep has the capabilites to take a gamble on youth players, he's playing the best system in world football and has many world class players at his disposal. To further sum the extent of this, most of city's squad players would walk into our first team week in week out.

We are struggling as a team, we often look disjointed, have a massive lack of off ball movement, we are very inconsistent with our performances. We do not have the foundations at this current moment in time to take gambles on relatively unknown players. While Sancho, CHO, Rice and AWB essentially represent a financial and investment risk, they have league experience and are playing at the highest levels competitively. The likes of Jadon / Callum in particular are world renown within scouting circles (reason why we tried to sign Sancho before dortmund).

If we had more consistency proven over a couple seasons then I'd support the idealism of bringing in the relatively unknown like what we witness with Martial, but we have far to many question marks for that level of risk. There's every chance we can have the best transfer summer in a decade and Solskjaer ends up underperforming.

We need to be given all the resources to have the best chance at success.
 
passing-wind said:
:lol: this thread is hilarious, while I can see where Kaglish is coming from it simply comes down to capabilities.

Pep has the capabilites to take a gamble on youth players, he's playing the best system in world football and has many world class players at his disposal. To further sum the extent of this, most of city's squad players would walk into our first team week in week out.

We are struggling as a team, we often look disjointed, have a massive lack of off ball movement, we are very inconsistent with our performances. We do not have the foundations at this current moment in time to take gambles on relatively unknown players. While Sancho, CHO, Rice and AWB essentially represent a financial and investment risk, they have league experience and are playing at the highest levels competitively. The likes of Jadon / Callum in particular are world renown within scouting circles (reason why we tried to sign Sancho before dortmund).

If we had more consistency proven over a couple seasons then I'd support the idealism of bringing in the relatively unknown like what we witness with Martial, but we have far to many question marks for that level of risk. There's every chance we can have the best transfer summer in a decade and Solskjaer ends up underperforming.

We need to be given all the resources to have the best chance at success.
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Who would you propose than. Do you think we could attract top 5 players in their position despite them already playing for a big club? I don't. Non of them would consider a move here atm because it's a risk for them too. Add to this that we didn't have much luck with the finish product in the past either. Sanchez, Falcao and di Maria all failed to establish themselves in our team. I see it more as a necessity to build a team of young hungry players instead of the finish product, because like I said a.) we can't attract top players from other top teams and b.) it's not guaranteed they will be a success. As hard as it may sound but we are already in the phase that Liverpool was up to a couple of years ago, we aren't the top address for the best players anymore, rather the opposite the only world class player we have is dreaming about playing for Real and being managed by his idol Zidane.
 
Sancho, Rice, Wan-Bisakkao,Toby, Kroos

That is probably realistic but easy over £300m.

Still, our squad wouldn't be near City's.
 
NoLogo said:
Who would you propose than. Do you think we could attract top 5 players in their position despite them already playing for a big club? I don't. Non of them would consider a move here atm because it's a risk for them too. Add to this that we didn't have much luck with the finish product in the past either. Sanchez, Falcao and di Maria all failed to establish themselves in our team. I see it more as a necessity to build a team of young hungry players instead of the finish product, because like I said a.) we can't attract top players from other top teams and b.) it's not guaranteed they will be a success. As hard as it may sound but we are already in the phase that Liverpool was up to a couple of years ago, we aren't the top address for the best players anymore, rather the opposite the only world class player we have is dreaming about playing for Real and being managed by his idol Zidane.
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I'd take all those mentioned in the original post (Cho or Sancho, AWB). Midfielders: Ndombele / Neves / Rabiot (Also keep an eye on Tielemans). Cannot gamble at centre half one of Skriniar, Koulabily, Varane in that particular order.

I believe in the process of building young players, the benefit with british heritage is they seldom go abroad and often commit years to a top English club. Loyalty is one of the most important commodities in modern football because with agents and players desires, things can change in a heartbeat.

Won't I wouldn't condone is us signing players from championship or a tier 2 league because we need the best resources right now.
 
KingMinger22 said:
Still, our squad wouldn't be near City's.
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To be honest neither is Liverpools, it's up to Solskjaer to bridge that gap once he has enough of a spine to stamp his will.

It will take consecutive seasons of non stop spending to match a squad of city's quality, they have a squad assembled from years of planning and proper infrastructure, impossible to replicate that in under 2 seasons.
 
VP89 said:
In the squad maybe but not starting. He's playing on the right and having the licence to roam because we have no natural wide right players.
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Yes tjat was the point. And also that if other players don’t actually overtake him by making the team better with them in it instead of him, he should start ahead of them. And then we should strengthen with players who can. And then the same goes for them.

Which is much of the point with squad players, that they are also competition, and several quite taltented players can testify to that Jesse Lingard has certainly been competition for them.

And he’s local lad and Johnny come lately and sunshine boy, so he’ll likely take better to that role than most players from the rest of the world.
 
BeforeKeanetherewasRobson said:
Dalglish10... how's Zagadou getting on in Der Klassiker? Clean sheet? Got Lewandowski in his pocket? Scored? MOTM?
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He was poor yesterday I admit. But young defenders are a bit difficult to predict especially an inexperienced young one as Zagadou. I think he should still stay back at Dortmund for another season.

goin4glory said:
Great first half from your man. World class stuff. Maybe you can update us after another 14 appearances.
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Apparently, Zagadou had a poor performance yesterday against Bayern. The Central back role is a very delicate role and can be a bit difficult to predict quality defenders because the central back position is often subjected to constant pressures and waves of attacks from the opponent and only a defender with the least mistake made can say he's stood the test because no defender is devoid of mistakes at all.

I knew that Zagadou wasn't the finished article yet and that was why I suggested Toby Aldeweireid to brought in as well. However, I would admit that Zagadou was all over the place against Bayern yesterday and his inexperience was exploited in the game hence, I would like him to still stay back at Dortmund like you had suggested.

However, I'm quite positive of the likes of Maddison who has looked good so far for Leicester and even scored yesterday. Likewise Van De Beek who has been fantastic for Ajax this season. Ounas too.

I would like you to watch Ounas touches in each of his match clips and not just compilation clip that always tend to decorate players and make them look better than they are. For example, if you watched Mbappe's highlight touches against us, you would realise he didn't have a good performance based on the touches he had in the clip. Hence, I will suggest you watch each highlighted touches of Ounas in each game such as Sassuolo, Gambia, frosine, Espanyol, Benin etc, you would notice he's been actually good in every matches he's played. His stats on whoscored also suggest he's been good despite the few matches he has played.

It's been mostly more of Ancelotti preferring his high profile players that cost him a lot in the window to Ounas on the pitch because he's been good everytime he's played for Napoli and I don't see why he isn't starting except if he's still this trouble shooting kid he was at Bordeaux. I would say it's not far fetched considering he displayed his foul tempered attitude in most of the said clips I suggested above but that doesn't diminish his quality, passion and hardwork on the pitch which is glaring to the eyes. Rather than waste money on Sancho who I admit is also quality, I would rather we take a punt on Ounas. I doubt if Dortmund would even release Sancho this season.

Also, Grealish or Ceballos. Ceballos was the second best player after Benzema in their previous match but was back to the bench once again in Madrid's yesterday match. There's nothing he can do about the big names the coach often prefer in his team except to wait and bid his time. Grealish has been so good, just like Maddison and Neves were in the championship last season. I don't see why we can't take a punt on him rather than splash huge cash on popular names out there. I think we should go for either Ceballos or Grealish.

That said, I'm back to getting De Ligt at all cost as well as Aldeweireid.
 
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Kaglish10 said:
Apparently, Zagadou had a poor performance yesterday against Bayern. The Central back role is a very delicate role and can be a bit difficult to predict quality defenders because the central back position is often subjected to constant pressures and waves of attacks from the opponent and only a defender with the least mistake made can say he's stood the test because no defender is devoid of mistakes at all.

I knew that Zagadou wasn't the finished article yet and that was why I suggested Toby Aldeweireid to brought in as well. However, I would admit that Zagadou was all over the place against Bayern yesterday and his inexperience was exploited in the game hence, I would like him to still stay back at Dortmund like you had suggested.

However, I'm quite positive of the likes of Maddison who has looked good so far for Leicester and even scored yesterday. Likewise Van De Beek who has been fantastic for Ajax this season. Ounas too.

I would like you to watch Ounas touches in each of his match clips and not just compilation clip that always tend to decorate players and make them look better than they are. For example, if you watched Mbappe's highlight touches against us, you would realise he didn't have a good performance based on the touches he had in the clip. Hence, I will suggest you watch each highlighted touches of Ounas in each game such as Sassuolo, Gambia, frosine, Espanyol, Benin etc, you would notice he's been actually good in every matches he's played. His stats on whoscored also suggest he's been good despite the few matches he has played.

It's been mostly more of Ancelotti preferring his high profile players that cost him a lot in the window to Ounas on the pitch because he's been good everytime he's played for Napoli and I don't see why he isn't starting except if he's still this trouble shooting kid he was at Bordeaux. I would say it's not far fetched considering he displayed his foul tempered attitude in most of the said clips I suggested above but that doesn't diminish his quality, passion and hardwork on the pitch which is glaring to the eyes. Rather than waste money on Sancho who I admit is also quality, I would rather we take a punt on Ounas. I doubt if Dortmund would even release Sancho this season.

Also, Grealish or Ceballos. Ceballos was the second best player after Benzema in their previous match but was back to the bench once again in Madrid's yesterday match. There's nothing he can do about the big names the coach often prefer in his team except to wait and bid his time. Grealish has been so good, just like Maddison and Neves were in the championship last season. I don't see why we can't take a punt on him rather than splash huge cash on popular names out there. I think we should go for either Ceballos or Grealish.

That said, I'm back to getting De Ligt at all cost as well as Aldeweireid.
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In the commentary they were saying zagadou had made a lot of mistakes lately before the clangers in that match so he may be one of those players who statistically looks alright but makes too many errors, a bit like Bailly. Madison's quality, I like him.
 
5 in, 6 out? Sounds nice in theory.

Would be happy with the below (Koulibaly will be difficult, mind):

OUT
Alexis Sanchez
Ander Herrera (assuming he’s agreed to join PSG)
Marcos Rojo
Matteo Darmian
Antonio Valencia
Phil Jones

IN
Kalidou Koulibaly
Thomas Meunier
Declan Rice
Adrien Rabiot
Hirving Lozano
 
wolvored said:
Agreed. 2 players not good enough, but we keep them on as they are English
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Disagree re: Lingard, he’s a very useful squad player. Especially in big games, where you want him to do a specific job.

His movement is intelligent, his energy is fantastic and he has a knack for goals at important times. Plenty others we should look at moving on before we even consider Lingard in that regard.
 
Scholsey2004 said:
In the commentary they were saying zagadou had made a lot of mistakes lately before the clangers in that match so he may be one of those players who statistically looks alright but makes too many errors, a bit like Bailly. Madison's quality, I like him.
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You're quite right. He was really poor yesterday. I think he's probably one of these rash defenders who tend to look good when they get it right such as our very own Bailly, just like you have said. I think it would be good if he continues to work hard and sort out the weakness in his game and I think Dortmund is still the best place for him to keep developing right now.
 
be funny if he bought 4 Norwegian players for 30m combined

this place would be fun
 
Seth.R said:
5 in, 6 out? Sounds nice in theory.

Would be happy with the below (Koulibaly will be difficult, mind)

IN
Kalidou Koulibaly
Thomas Meunier
Declan Rice
Adrien Rabiot
Hirving Lozano
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That would a perfect summer of new signings. Realistic signings also. Have a feeling we might go the Kostas Manolas route if Koulibaly goes to Madrid. I don't think we'll get Tanguy Ndombele too so Rabiot, Bruno Fernandes or Doucoure seem most realistic.
Wan-Bissaka I think will be priority over Meunier too if we can get him.
 
Seth.R said:
Disagree re: Lingard, he’s a very useful squad player. Especially in big games, where you want him to do a specific job.

His movement is intelligent, his energy is fantastic and he has a knack for goals at important times. Plenty others we should look at moving on before we even consider Lingard in that regard.
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Every league game is a big game and he almost never scores in them.

But I agree there are plenty of other players that need to leave before him. Which is a sad reflection of the state of our squad
 
Champagne Football said:
That would a perfect summer of new signings. Realistic signings also. Have a feeling we might go the Kostas Manolas route if Koulibaly goes to Madrid. I don't think we'll get Tanguy Ndombele too so Rabiot, Bruno Fernandes or Doucoure seem most realistic.
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Isn't Bruno Fernandez more of a second striker like Griezmann? I don't think we need someone like that in the team presently.

We need two midfielders (a holding midfielder and a central playmaking midfielder) and if Pogba eventually leaves for Madrid, we would require a creative midfielder to be brought in his place.

Also, we need two central defenders, which includes at least one ball playing defender or even two quality ball playing defenders, one attacker that can operate on the right wing, a right fullback and a central forward if Lukaku leaves to wherever he wants to go.

My options still remains the same which are:

Holding midfielder: Van De Beek (Rodrigo Hernandez).

Central midfielder: Ceballos (Grealish).

Creative midfielder: Maddison.

Right winger: Ounas.

Fullback: ?

Defenders: Aldeweireid and de Ligt

Forward: Memphis to play as false 9.

Maybe de Ligt would choose to come here if he sees Netherland's friends here. I really don't buy the Idea of signing two ageing central backs. One should be young such as de Ligt who would continue to develop while the other would be an experienced older player.

As for right back, I'm still optimistic over our academy players. We will see if they can make the needed step up in the the preseason friendly matches.
 
Koulibaly - 80M
Rakitic - 40M
Pellegrini - 30M
Wan-Bissaka - 40M
Sancho - 80M

Martial Rashford Sancho
Pogba Matic Rakitic
Shaw Koulibaly Lindelof Wan-Bissaka
De Gea

Romero Smalling Dalot McTominay Pellegrini Lingard Lukaku​
 
Seth.R said:
Disagree re: Lingard, he’s a very useful squad player. Especially in big games, where you want him to do a specific job.

His movement is intelligent, his energy is fantastic and he has a knack for goals at important times. Plenty others we should look at moving on before we even consider Lingard in that regard.
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I disagree. He doesnt score enough for what we want. He doesnt contribute enough as well assist wise. He can run all day but thats 99% of his game. he is very wasteful with the ball. Off the premier stats he has played 108 times 17 goals and 10 assists. For a supposedly top player that is woeful. There are much better options we can buy to cover his position.
 
Wan Bissaka, Shaw and Dalot fighting it out for the full back positions, with Young coming in only occasionally and Laird or someone getting a few cup games sounds like an excellent place to be to me. We should expect to have 3 top quality full backs at a club as big as this IMO. Wan Bissaka and Dalot are also capable of playing on the wing too.

Would also love to see Bruno Fernandes here and maybe Neves too. Sancho would obviously be a very interesting signing too. A proper pacy, creative player on the right flank. Although I believe for his benefit he should do at least one more year at Dortmund myself.

In terms of CB I'd rather Alderweireld than Varane. Also, is this just Woodward smoking crack with his croissants again or do they seriously think it's an option?
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
If Pogba leaves: Bruno Rodri Rabiot Meunier Varane

If Pogba stays: Bruno Partey Meunier Koulibaly
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If Pogba leaves for £120-140m I'd buy Bruno Fernandes and Tielmanns with the cash. Two players for the price of one. Both whom are very exciting talents too.

Fernandes, Tielmanns, Wan Bissaka, Sancho + a CB.
 
Kaglish10 said:
Holding midfielder: Van De Beek - (Good choice but I think Ole will go for a British spine if possible meaning Rice)

Central midfielder: Ceballos/Grealish (Nothing to suggest Ceballos would be interested in a move here. Grealish not proven at a higher level so I can't see it)

Creative midfielder: Maddison. (Someone I think me might be interested in but Leicester under no pressure to sell. Tielemans perhaps)

Right winger: Ounas. (Lemar, Fekir, Thauvin, Martial all in the France squad ahead of him. I highly doubt we're in for him at this point)

Fullback: ?

Defenders: Aldeweireid and de Ligt (De Ligt already going to Barca. Alderweireld too old and Lindelof will surpass him next season)

Forward: Memphis to play as false 9. (Amazing player but professionalism and attitude very questionable and Bruno Fernandes mor likely if Pogba goes)
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Nou_Camp99 said:
If Pogba leaves for £120-140m I'd buy Bruno Fernandes and Tielmanns with the cash. Two players for the price of one. Both whom are very exciting talents too.

Fernandes, Tielmanns, Wan Bissaka, Sancho + a CB.
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Yup, big fan of Tielemans. Has really impressed me recently.
 
Nou_Camp99 said:
If Pogba leaves for £120-140m I'd buy Bruno Fernandes and Tielmanns with the cash. Two players for the price of one. Both whom are very exciting talents too.

Fernandes, Tielmanns, Wan Bissaka, Sancho + a CB.
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You still think Sancho is realistic since Dortmund have stressed no chance and the Utd board releasing comment that they have ended our pursuit of him?
 
Our right side is impotent. If we bring in a RB and a RW we will create more chances. Right now we favor the left when attacking and that allows the opposition to load up on their right side defensively. If we balance the attack, we'll be more effective. After that, we also need a CB, DM, and a goal scorer. If Pogba and DDG both leave, we'll obviously need to replace them as well. If we can't replace DDG with Oblak, I'd be happy to see Romero be #1 for a season over signing someone like Pickford. Sell Lukaku, Sanchez, Herrera, Bailly, and Mata.

I'd take RM to the cleaners for Pogba. 175m or eat shit.
 
I just hope the names Ole goes after a) fit the team and b) want to play for him. Far too much time has been wasted in the past 5-6 windows going after players that are not fussed about joining or completely contradict the approach of the current manager.

Buying players doesn't have to be a world record fee every time.

Buy smart and clever, a players like Alderweireld would be a good start.
 
I want to go young, expand the British core, and look to the future:

IN:
De Ligt
Wan-Bissaka
Rice
Bruno Fernandes
Sancho

OUT:
Rojo
Darmian
Bailly
Valencia
Herrera
Matic
Mata
Sanchez

Rashford

Martial _______________________ Sancho

Pogba _____ Fernandes

Rice

Shaw ________________________________________ Wan-Bissaka

Lindelof ___________ De Ligt

De Gea



Subs: Romero, Dalot, Smalling, McTominay, Fred, Lingard, Lukaku

Reserves: Grant, Young, Jones, Pereira, Garner, Gomes, Chong, Greenwood


​
Talking points:

OUTS:
- McTominay is already better than Matic IMO. Matic is a good player, but far too slow, and doesn't move the ball quickly enough. I would move him on while he still has a resale value. McTominay has a lot of potential, and is already performing to a good level.
- Herrera's time has passed. He is emblematic of the mediocrity that has come to typify the club in recent years. I don't care how lovely of a bloke he is. Ruthlessness is what is required here.
- Mata has not been good enough for two years at least. The odd good performance aside, he has another who embodies mediocrity. For a club that wants to play with pace, Mata is the anti-thesis of that approach. Thank you for your service, goodbye.
- Rojo, Darmian and Bailly, no explanation needed here. They never play, they've never been good enough, and they are just taking up valuable payroll at the club. If the club can get 40M for the trio, we should consider that a success.
- Valencia is being released. He's been a brilliant servant for the club, and should get the chance at a proper send off before he leaves. However, it's the right decision to let him go.
- Sanchez has been a unqualified disaster. Unlike the rest of the fan base, I don't really blame the club for this. There are a lot of hindsight experts who are talking massive amounts of shit about this transfer; but the reality is that there was a collective orgasm the size of greater Manchester when he signed. Myself, like many, thought he was being signed to play on the right wing. But inexplicably, he replaced the in form Martial. Which ultimately derailed our season. The biggest obstacle to his future here, are his wages. If the player was on half of what he is, I wouldn't be opposed to keeping him, and hoping he recovered form and was a role model for younger players. But his wages are debilitating to not only ongoing payroll, but also contract renegotiations with other players. The club needs to take the hit, and move him on elsewhere, by paying out a chunk of his contract to get him to move. Disastrous transfer.
- Matic. Is a good player but his style is far too slow and static for an attacking team. Probably a good time to move this Mourinho loyalist on, while he still has resale value.

SQUAD:
- Next season is a big season for Martial. With a consistent place in the team, and the belief of the manager behind him. He needs to take the next step up and start delivering consistently. He has all the tools in his locker, and I am a big believer of where he can go.
- Rashford has another 2-3 years to really go up to that next level, but you can see he is on the cusp. Hitting 20+ goals in the league should be a realistic target for him as our primary striker.
- Pogba. I have been vehemently dismissive of the Pogba haters; but even his most ardent fan has to admit that he is infuriatingly inconsistent. If he can't do it under Ole, a manager who knows him, believes in him and builds the team around him; then he just isn't going to do it here. He should knuckle down, and have the sort of season that puts him in contention for the PL POTY awards. After that he can name his contract/destination. He has the ability. The rest is up to him.
- Lindelof has been fantastic since Ole took over. Just fantastic. But he was already showing signs of being a quality player at the end of last season, and the beginnings of this under Mourinho. With the right partner next to him, has the potential to up another level. One of the first names on the team sheet right now.
- Smalling/Jones. One may as well toss a coin for who is better/worse. Neither are anywhere near as bad as their detractors would have you believe, but neither is as good as their supporters would have you believe either. For the time being both need to be kept as squad options, and that is fine, because they are capable against 85% of premiership sides. Over the next 2-3 years they will be phased out of the squad.
- The PL is a long campaign, and there are games across the board in various competitions. Having a solid and versatile squad is vital. Diogo Dalot is coming on leaps and bounds. And he should be the first choice deputy for both the RB and Lb positions. With Young being second in line. Dalot has the chance and talent to play well enough to make either of those positions his own.
- After a year of acclimatizing, I suspect that we will see a lot more from Fred. Too much has been made of his individual errors in recent matches; because his overall play, movement, energy, and ball use was excellent. Thought he was terrific at the Parc Du Prince. I think he offers a lot more to the squad than Matic. Deserves a second season.
- Lingard is this generations Ji-Sung Park. Works tirelessly, has grossly underrated technique, and is Manchester United through and through. He isn't good enough to be a regular starter, but his rotational squad role will be vital to a successful PL campaign. His movement off the ball, is as good as anybody in the Premier League.
- Lukaku....it is hard to replace a goalscorer's instinct. And Lukaku has that in abundance. If he is played correctly - running on to balls, looking for quick turns in the box, and feeding off crosses - he will score a lot of goals. If he is asked to come deep, or hold the ball up with his back to goal, we will see the ineffective lump we saw for most of this season. I would definitely keep him as part of a rotational role, but if a big offer comes in, it might be worth considering it. Only issue is that he would need to be replaced, and United have enough areas to worry about without creating more.

THE YOUNG'UNS:
- Pereira faces a make or break year. He's gained valuable experience this year, but has yet to find his best position. His best work was done either in pre-season as a DM, or against Southampton as a number 10, where he scored a wonderful long range goal, and provided a match winning assist. I don't think he has the tenacity to play as a 6, and his passing is surprisingly inconsistent for a player of his technical ability. I don't see him playing much, except as the 6th choice midfielder. Which means he will have to hope for good cup runs, and an injury crisis. From our limited viewing of him, I would say that he has potentially the best delivery from wide areas of anyone in the squad. Not fast enough to play wide in a three, but could well work in a four. Think he either needs to take a loan, or be prepared to work very hard and be very patient. For what it's worth I am still a fan.
- Garner is too young to play any meaningful role next season, but we'll watch his development with interest as the club seems to rate him VERY highly.
- Gomes is a player I have high hopes for. His small stature is a prominent concern, but previous cases of small but talented players should offer plenty of hope. Think his future lies either as a regista or 10. Can't decide which. Should spend the season training with the first team, hoping to get minutes. Would not send him out on loan just yet. Wouldn't expect any impact next season.
- Chong plays in a position where we are inherently weak. If the club signs Sancho, that will solve the issue, and I don't see that Chong is ready to be a starter yet. Nevertheless, he is getting to that age where, it is time to give him more minutes if you think he's good enough. Next season he either needs to get regular game time, and take the squad place of Mata or sanchez - or he needs to go out on loan.
- I have no idea how good of a judge I am of young players. If you had asked me to pick out nailed on certs over the last 10-15 years, I'd have told you James Wilson, Guiseppe Rossi, Ravel Morrison, Adnan Januzaj for sure. So what the feck do I know? But I have that funny feeling again (hopefully it's not a curse!) about Mason Greenwood. He's as good a player as I have seen in our academy since Giggs. I think he needs to be be a regular part of the first team squad next season, and get some real minutes. Think he is ripe to surprise a lot of pundits.

INS:
- De Ligt speaks great English, and is the complete CB package. Is great on the ball, is also a big strong unit, and can actually defend. Should be our top target. I'd drop 100M on him (including add-ons).
- Wan-Bassaka. Is extremely solid defensively, and looks set to have a great career if he can get the right move. Fits our profile perfectly.
- Rice. Again, young, English and available. Is strong, quick, and excellent on the ball. His reading of the game is very good. Good passer. At the forefront of this new super generation of English talent. Fills a vital hole in our squad.
- Bruno Fernandes. Is as good as any available midfield player I have seen this season. Is highly available too, and perhaps more realistic than slugging it out over more high profile targets. His eye for goal is truly exceptional, and his work rate is phenomenal. Portuguese posters are absolutely raving about him. Would add a new dynamic, forward thinking impetus to our midfield. A massive upgrade on Herrera.
- Sancho ticks every box. Young, English, exciting, and plays right wing. Do we even need to debate this one?

CONTROVERSIAL OPINION ALERT:
- Without being knee jerk about it. If we could sell Pogba for 175M, and replace him with a metronomic, game controlling midfielder in the mold of Verratti, or a younger Modric, I would sell him in a heart beat. Anything shy of 175M, and without a top class replacement (and not a has been Kroos, or aged Modric), I'm thinking more a prime Koke or Verratti - he stays here and we continue to build the team around him.
 
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