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

[Toddler]

Thanks, and yes.

People would do well to remember the state of Liverpool over the years, where they are now and the players they managed to bring in over the years.

Essentially, given the size of the club, history of the club, wages we pay, the revenues we bring in, the likelyhood that we'll fade into obscurity is quite small. Todays players have grown up with Manchester United as one of the biggest and most successfull clubs, that doesn't go away just overnight and it's unlikely that we'll collapse completely as well.

Going into panic mode and pretending we're basically at the edge of the universe, about to fall into a black hole, is a tad dramatic.

Im glad you decided to give me a proper answer. What is it exactly that I was exaggerating in my comment in your opinion?

I am not saying that we will fade into obscurity, let alone fall into a black hole and never come back. I am saying that things are not looking good right now considering all the things that have happened in past six years. It will be a difficult task, and it will take time, and there certainly is no guarantees that we will have a successful, a mammoth transfer window we are in need of right now. We have money, but that does not mean that we will get the players we need easily, given the fact that playing for Manchester United is not that alluring at the moment compared to other big clubs.

I hope we flip the coin though and get it going this summer.

 

[UncleBob]

You know I mean force a move

Nah, i reckon he'll sign an extension in the summer and sod off for a mint fee next summer. Given the situation the club is in, players we need to bring in, i doubt anyone is going to let Pogba and Raiola force our hand.

 

[::sonny::]

Never happened, our average n° of signings are 2/3 x year

Everyone talks about a revolution but it never happened in the past

 

[croadyman]

Maybe a CB isn't mentioned because he hasn't decided who of our CB are leaving yet. I realise that probably sounds ridiculous but it could be the case

 

[caid]

The annoying thing now is, the club will take all summer to identify a Sporting Director / Director of Football.

That person will no doubt be an inexperienced club legend that needs 2 years to get to know the role.

During this time we will fall 2 years further behind in the transfer market.

I said during the Mourinho era we needed to sell 10-12 and bring in 10-12 if we want to actually challenge City. People laughed and now its becoming more and more apparent.

I've never seen the standards this low at the club. It pains me to say it, but I now expect this squad to try to challenge for top 4. Still can't believe that's what I'm saying. But i'd be shocked if anybody is expecting this squad to challenge for the PL without MAJOR surgery over various transfer windows

It'd take an outrageously successful rebuild to be challenging in 2 years, and if City keep putting up 90 - 100 point totals then were not going to offer more than a token challenge in the 2nd year. Most of our first 11 are barely good enough to be occasionally used squad players.
Were in for a fight for top 4 next season, a good transfer window will give us a chance of being succesful but nothing more.

 

[UncleBob]

Never happened, our average n° of signings are 2/3 x year

Everyone talks about a revolution but it never happened in the past

Short term memory.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

This sounds perfect, we need to ship Rojo out.

It is rumoured that Ole wants to keep him. If we do not strengthen at CB it could be what does for Ole in the end. He will need to make sure the front and midfield are packed with goalscorers to make up for the goals we ship at the back.

 

[RuudTom83]

Woody could spend 500 million in the summer and United would still finish 3rd.

United should aim to be comfortable ahead of Tottenham/Chelsea/Arsenal next season. That could be achieved with around £150 million.

Chelsea’s hands are tied and Hazard will go. Tottenham have a stadium to pay off, and Arsenal are Arsenal...so all 3 teams won’t make a huge leap forward IMO.

Get the structure of the club in place and make the revolution over 3 windows!

Use Europa to blood some more of the kids...the future isn’t as dire as the media make out.

 

[Johan07]

It'd take an outrageously successful rebuild to be challenging in 2 years, and if City keep putting up 90 - 100 point totals then were not going to offer more than a token challenge in the 2nd year. Most of our first 11 are barely good enough to be occasionally used squad players.
Were in for a fight for top 4 next season, a good transfer window will give us a chance of being succesful but nothing more.

I agree in principle, but I am not so sure City will be putting up those numbers next year. They have an aging squad with important players in the central line like Kompany, Fernandinho, Silva and Aguero getting close to their sell-by date. They have a rebuilding job to do soon, We have seen with teams like Bayern or even ourselves how quickly things can turn around when a squad gets to old.

 

[UncleBob]

Im glad you decided to give me a proper answer. What is it exactly that I was exaggerating in my comment in your opinion?

I am not saying that we will fade into obscurity, let alone fall into a black hole and never come back. I am saying that things are not looking good right now considering all the things that have happened in past six years. It will be a difficult task, and it will take time, and there certainly is no guarantees that we will have a successful, a mammoth transfer window we are in need of right now. We have money, but that does not mean that we will get the players we need easily, given the fact that playing for Manchester United is not that alluring at the moment compared to other big clubs.

I hope we flip the coin though and get it going this summer.

On a general basis we won't struggle to attract top players.

Might miss out on some, but that goes for all clubs

 

[DJ Jeff]

Would anyone else fancy getting Jimenez in with another striker? I think he'd be a superb plan B and squad option if we finally shift Lukaku.

 

[Pughnichi]

Good input!!

Let’s play a game of would you rather....

Would you rather Rojo or Tuanzebe
Would you rather Young or Laird
Would you rather Pereira or Gomes
Would you rather Matic or Garner
Would you rather Lingard or Chong
Would you rather Lukaku or Greenwood

Rojo never plays

If you interpret Laird as a 1st teamer you need your head examined. Dalot to replace Young and Laird as the squad option.

Gomes is (at least) equal to Pereira

Matic, Lingard and Lukaku get absolutely annihilated on here and I would rather look to develop potentially good squad players then persist with either the ageing or the useless.

If you think that’s funny then I so be it. I can’t see much of an argument to retain the players listed above though. Please try. Do enlighten me

 

[UncleBob]

That sounds great, but I can count on 1 hand the amount of good signings we've made since 2012/13. I look around at City, Spurs, Liverpool, feck even Wolves and I see excellent signings, year on year. All of this scouting we've done over the years has done us almost no favours in the transfer market so far, so why would it help us now?

They're bringing in a sporting director to end the rot of horrendous signings, and as such, they will want him to take control of signings, not give Ole, whos last major transfer window was with Cardiff, £250m to spend on his own.

Captain Hindsight.

The average opinion when we signed the likes of Depay, Di Maria, Falcao, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlein, Zaha, Kagawa, Mata, Herrera, Pogba, Mkhi, Bailly, Sanchez, Ibrahimovic, Lukaku, Matic, Fred etc were hardly negative. They were all considered excellent signings at the time.

It's amazing how opinions change over the years.

Bringing Wolves into the debate is absurd, look at the people running the club, their association with Jorge Mendes.

Rewind 5 years and Liverpool spent close to £120mill in one window on: Can, Lambert, Lallana, Markovic, Lovren, Origi, Moreno and Balotelli.
Benteke, Ings, Clyne, Gomez, Klavan. Up until 17/18 the signings Liverpool made were largely dross, with a few exceptions (Firmino, Wijnaldum, Coutinho, Mane).

The majority of Citys and Liverpools quality signings have come in recent years and it's pushed them on. Look at Guardiolas first season in England and compare the team to the one he had next season

Tottenham largely spent their Bale-money on Paulinho, Chadli, Soldado, Capoue, Eriksen, Lamela, Chiriches...Sanchez for £42mill anyone ?

 

[Pughnichi]

Some fans really do have blind faith in our youth. If one of them becomes top class I'll be happy.

Some fans really do have blind faith in our youth. If one of them becomes top class I'll be happy.

It’s not blind faith in youth. The key is still buying 4 or 5 very good players.

The point I’m making is that with those 4 or 5 very good players and promoting 4 or 5 youth players.....then we could (could COULD COULD) get rid of 10 players that just aren’t Utd quality.

We all keep posting the same names...

We all keep moaning about how useless the squad is...

Do we need to see the list again??

Grant, Valencia, Rojo, Darmian, Jones, Bailly, Matic, Mata, Lingard, Sanchez, Lukaku

 

[minh_loc_xoay]

Woody could spend 500 million in the summer and United would still finish 3rd.

United should aim to be comfortable ahead of Tottenham/Chelsea/Arsenal next season. That could be achieved with around £150 million.

Chelsea’s hands are tied and Hazard will go. Tottenham have a stadium to pay off, and Arsenal are Arsenal...so all 3 teams won’t make a huge leap forward IMO.

Get the structure of the club in place and make the revolution over 3 windows!

Use Europa to blood some more of the kids...the future isn’t as dire as the media make out.

Aren't these two points contradicting each other? 500 millions and we'd still only hope for 3rd as the best possible sounds ridiculous. But the most ridiculous thing is I can see you are right. We can only be saved by the Arabs if they take over us, as I have given up hope on the current management board. I see lots of people on here mention Liverpool as an example of we don't need old billionaire money to succeed. But the thing is can we honestly look at our Glazers board and trust them to make such astute signings and investment? The ones hoping for our board to suddenly "wake up" and do smart business now is doing the same thing as those who hope for Rashford to reach Mbappe's level. What have false hopes given us these past 6-7 years? Just the same stories over and over again every summer.

We need at least 1 billion every summer, for both signing players and reinvesting on the stadium, training ground, scouting network, etc... That may sound extreme to a lot of you, but we are in that bad of a situation. And honestly, I see no one but the Arabs are capable of doing such a thing to save us.

 

[caid]

I agree in principle, but I am not so sure City will be putting up those numbers next year. They have an aging squad with important players in the central line like Kompany, Fernandinho, Silva and Aguero getting close to their sell-by date. They have a rebuilding job to do soon, We have seen with teams like Bayern or even ourselves how quickly things can turn around when a squad gets to old.

True enough, I guess I'm saying we could compete against good teams in 2 years (a pretty perfect 2 years) but not against great teams. We're a long, long way off great.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

It's a lot to ask for and isn't going to happen this summer, but LVG did her 6 signings in his first summer in charge.

 

[The Boogeyman]

Captain Hindsight.

The average opinion when we signed the likes of Depay, Di Maria, Falcao, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlein, Zaha, Kagawa, Mata, Herrera, Pogba, Mkhi, Bailly, Sanchez, Ibrahimovic, Lukaku, Matic, Fred etc were hardly negative. They were all considered excellent signings at the time.

It's amazing how opinions change over the years.

Bringing Wolves into the debate is absurd, look at the people running the club, their association with Jorge Mendes.

Rewind 5 years and Liverpool spent close to £120mill in one window on: Can, Lambert, Lallana, Markovic, Lovren, Origi, Moreno and Balotelli.
Benteke, Ings, Clyne, Gomez, Klavan. Up until 17/18 the signings Liverpool made were largely dross, with a few exceptions (Firmino, Wijnaldum, Coutinho, Mane).

The majority of Citys and Liverpools quality signings have come in recent years and it's pushed them on. Look at Guardiolas first season in England and compare the team to the one he had next season

Tottenham largely spent their Bale-money on Paulinho, Chadli, Soldado, Capoue, Eriksen, Lamela, Chiriches...Sanchez for £42mill anyone ?

I dont think hindsight really matters, unless the goal is simply to be as good as your average message board poster. Liverpool was awful for years in the transfer market too, and it was inexcusable, regardless of how well the players were received by fans at the time.

With that said, I think united have made plenty of obviously bad transfer decisions in recent years. Signing any player in their late 20s or early 30s is a poor idea, unless it's a backup keeper or something. Bastian, Zlatan, Matic, Sanchez all looked like poor signings from the beginning. They were all joining teams with real holes, but the best case for each was always going to be a temporary solution.

I agree with your point that nobody does perfectly in the transfer market, but United's record has been awful, and their strategy has been pretty bizarre as well (very heavy on older players, spending the whole summer chasing star names every year).

 

[UncleBob]

I dont think hindsight really matters, unless the goal is simply to be as good as your average message board poster. Liverpool was awful for years in the transfer market too, and it was inexcusable, regardless of how well the players were received by fans at the time.

Why ?

Club signs player X,Y,Z

Fans are celebrating it, loving the fact that they've signed those 3 players.

4 years later club is being ridiculed by the same supporters for signing those 3 players, as they never played well enough. Complains about the major issues at the club allowing those 3 to be signed in the first place.

And you've clearly misunderstood my point, it wasn't that nobody are perfect in the transfer market, but that the clubs now being mentioned for making excellent signings year after year, were ridiculed for the signings they were making less than 6 years ago, hindsight is 10/10.

A Liverpool supporter should certainly have a bit of perspective on what's been going on at Liverpool for the past 7 years. It's not that long ago that the general perception of the owners was shit and the sporting direction the club was taken was being slaughtered, the sporting committee and whatnot

 

[0le]

Captain Hindsight.

The average opinion when we signed the likes of Depay, Di Maria, Falcao, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlein, Zaha, Kagawa, Mata, Herrera, Pogba, Mkhi, Bailly, Sanchez, Ibrahimovic, Lukaku, Matic, Fred etc were hardly negative. They were all considered excellent signings at the time.

It's amazing how opinions change over the years.

Bringing Wolves into the debate is absurd, look at the people running the club, their association with Jorge Mendes.

Rewind 5 years and Liverpool spent close to £120mill in one window on: Can, Lambert, Lallana, Markovic, Lovren, Origi, Moreno and Balotelli.
Benteke, Ings, Clyne, Gomez, Klavan. Up until 17/18 the signings Liverpool made were largely dross, with a few exceptions (Firmino, Wijnaldum, Coutinho, Mane).

The majority of Citys and Liverpools quality signings have come in recent years and it's pushed them on. Look at Guardiolas first season in England and compare the team to the one he had next season

Tottenham largely spent their Bale-money on Paulinho, Chadli, Soldado, Capoue, Eriksen, Lamela, Chiriches...Sanchez for £42mill anyone ?

It does strike me that there is so much risk with any signing - perhaps more so than I originally thought or wanted to accept.

 

[RedDevilRoshi]

Would anyone else fancy getting Jimenez in with another striker? I think he'd be a superb plan B and squad option if we finally shift Lukaku.

He just signed a permanent deal with Wolves. Unless they do a Benik Afobe, I don’t think they will entertain any offer for him unless it is something way above his price tag.

 

[ravi2]

It is rumoured that Ole wants to keep him. If we do not strengthen at CB it could be what does for Ole in the end. He will need to make sure the front and midfield are packed with goalscorers to make up for the goals we ship at the back.

Thats insane, why keep Rojo? He seems to get either injured or carded every game he plays. He and Jones need to go ASAP

One of the biggest mistakes the last two managers have made is not shipping out the deadwood and relying on Jones, Rojo, Young etc If Ole wants to have a short tenure thats the way to go about doing it.

 

[bosnian_red]

We need to start being linked to Neves. Would take a summer of Meunier/AWB, Neves, Ndombele, and Sancho in a heartbeat, and it's definitely doable for a club like United. Would probably be ~250m for that group which is probably our budget, with space to grow if we make sales.

 

[beingshe7don]

If there's any truth to the rumors that we are trying to wrap up deals for Felix and Bruno, I think that's a huge statement of intent on our part. Felix and Bruno maybe relatively unknown since they feature in the Portuguese league but I feel that they would immensely improve our midfield. Felix is a great replacement for Mata and Bruno will contribute in terms of goals from central midfield. I think we need a new direction if Pogba leaves and Bruno although not the same style as Pogba will give a different impetus about us.

I'm excited to have Tuanzebe back as well. I would almost rate him as our second best CB at the club after Lindelof (Well then again that's not hard to achieve considering we have Jones, Smalling, Rojo, and Bailly). It's too early to say but he could be our future captain.

 

[youmeletsfly]

If there's any truth to the rumors that we are trying to wrap up deals for Felix and Bruno, I think that's a huge statement of intent on our part. Felix and Bruno maybe relatively unknown since they feature in the Portuguese league but I feel that they would immensely improve our midfield. Felix is a great replacement for Mata and Bruno will contribute in terms of goals from central midfield. I think we need a new direction if Pogba leaves and Bruno although not the same style as Pogba will give a different impetus about us.

I'm excited to have Tuanzebe back as well. I would almost rate him as our second best CB at the club after Lindelof (Well then again that's not hard to achieve considering we have Jones, Smalling, Rojo, and Bailly). It's too early to say but he could be our future captain.

Let's hope you're right there. Felix and Bruno would be huge so early.

 

[Suv666]

I see all the negative nancies booted out of the transfer tweets thread have shacked up here.

 

[Fosu-Mens]

5 in, 6 out:

RB: Meunier £20m. Best relatively known option available for a fair price.
CB: Ake £40-£50m?. Experience in PL, left footed and sided, good 1v1, ball playing, ready to take the next step. Better than our current centrebacks.
CM: Barella £40-£50m. Can do most things bar aerial duels. Would suit a high intensity, high press game, but also relatively press resistant and is efficient with the ball.
CM/CAM/LW/RW: Zaniolo £40-£50m. Would argue that he is not far behind Sancho/Felix as a talent, but got that unique mix of physique/mobility and technical ability that Pogba got.
Attacker: Joao Felix £80-£100m. Class.

Get Sancho next summer.

6 out:
Would sell off 75% off the squad if it was up to me. Not many i see worth keeping if we are actually trying to build a squad able to compete in 3 years time. If we get offers for some of our players and they would be willing to leave(most of them would not get a similar wage elsewhere), it would not be difficult at all to replace the players with someone cheaper and better(excluding the likes of DDG and PP).

Ones worth keeping long term from the 1. team are:
Rashford, McT, Lindelof, Dalot, Pogba, DDG and Shaw.

 

[MyOnlySolskjaer]

5 signings now make it happen you cnut.

 

[minh_loc_xoay]

5 signings now make it happen you cnut.

Pipe dream there, mate! According to what I read on here: Felix is destined for Real, Sancho is destined for City and De Ligt is destined for Barca. We'd be lucky to get Van de Beek and Meunier. We have fallen that far back in the pecking order.

 

[The Nani]

Pipe dream there, mate! According to what I read on here: Felix is destined for Real, Sancho is destined for City and De Ligt is destined for Barca. We'd be lucky to get Van de Beek and Meunier. We have fallen that far back in the pecking order.

Total horseshit. Take it back to RAWK.

 

[Isotope]

Captain Hindsight.

The average opinion when we signed the likes of Depay, Di Maria, Falcao, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlein, Zaha, Kagawa, Mata, Herrera, Pogba, Mkhi, Bailly, Sanchez, Ibrahimovic, Lukaku, Matic, Fred etc were hardly negative. They were all considered excellent signings at the time.

It's amazing how opinions change over the years.

You're right, mate. With the exception of Lukaku, Fred, and Baily; all others got cocks out respond from me

 

[minh_loc_xoay]

Total horseshit. Take it back to RAWK.

I know, I know, mate. The truth always hurts. But it's time we gotta accept it.
You can quote me again whenever we acquire any of Felix, Sancho or De Ligt this summer. It's time we give up on pipe, hopeless dreams...and move on more realistic targets like Meunier or Toby Alderweireld.

 

[Ole’s Wheel]

I know, I know, mate. The truth always hurts. But it's time we gotta accept it.
You can quote me again whenever we acquire any of Felix, Sancho or De Ligt this summer. It's time we give up on pipe, hopeless dreams...and move on more realistic targets like Meunier or Toby Alderweireld.

De Ligt: agree with.

although

Felix: would be a 50-50 chance we could get / not out of the realm of possibility by any stretch of the imagination.

Sancho: very much attainable.

 

[B20]

My prediction:

De Gea, Herrera, Pogba and Lukaku will all leave for greener pastures.

De Gea will be replaced by promotion from within.

The only defender you will try to sign is varane, probably fail.

Rabiot will replace Herrera.

You will replace Pogba with someone like Coutinho, or James Rodriguez.

Bale will join as part of the Pogba deal.

Someone like dybala will replace Lukaku.

You'll be somewhat improved on paper and will have a better season, but it's still a lot of plugging squares into round holes that won't address the structural issues in the squad.

 

[Cassidy]

My prediction:

De Gea, Herrera, Pogba and Lukaku will all leave for greener pastures.

De Gea will be replaced by promotion from within.

The only defender you will try to sign is varane, probably fail.

Rabiot will replace Herrera.

You will replace Pogba with someone like Coutinho, or James Rodriguez.

Bale will join as part of the Pogba deal.

Someone like dybala will replace Lukaku.

You'll be somewhat improved on paper and will have a better season, but it's still a lot of plugging squares into round holes that won't address the structural issues in the squad.

Seems more like your wish... haha

Bale, James... no chance can't see it myself. Probably right about the few things though

 

[B20]

Seems more like your wish... haha

Bale, James... no chance can't see it myself. Probably right about the few things though

It's what I imagine Woodward is planning. Then the question is how much of a say solskjaer will have.

 

[Bwuk]

My prediction:

De Gea, Herrera, Pogba and Lukaku will all leave for greener pastures.

De Gea will be replaced by promotion from within.

The only defender you will try to sign is varane, probably fail.

Rabiot will replace Herrera.

You will replace Pogba with someone like Coutinho, or James Rodriguez.

Bale will join as part of the Pogba deal.

Someone like dybala will replace Lukaku.

You'll be somewhat improved on paper and will have a better season, but it's still a lot of plugging squares into round holes that won't address the structural issues in the squad.

Not sure I agree with the signings you've stated, but I agree with the bolded. I don't trust Woodward to sign the players we need to fix the squad.

 

[Cassidy]

It's what I imagine Woodward is planning. Then the question is how much of a say solskjaer will have.

Doubt that myself.

 

[neilv93]

It is rumoured that Ole wants to keep him. If we do not strengthen at CB it could be what does for Ole in the end. He will need to make sure the front and midfield are packed with goalscorers to make up for the goals we ship at the back.

Rojo is a weird one. On the one hand, decent option back up option for both CB and LB, and he's a naturally left-footed CB (for those that care about having footed players on their natural side etc.). On the other hand, he's injury-prone, always looks on the brink of a rojo card, and crap.

Plus he can't make toast properly.

 

[B20]

Doubt that myself.

He would love all of that. The perfect Disneyland team.