The centre-forward market...

croadyman said:
Can he be a starter though
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No reason why not as it looks like he has better technical ability then the other bloke in Italy.
We have to take into account there is a strong possibility that we may have another outstanding talent that can play the centre forward role as well and if Martial can manage to stay relatively injury free then we would have three CFs
The only option out there that would guarantee goals is Harry so it would be down to the club if they want to take a chance with getting a 30yo on a 3-4yr contract and they do not seem to be averse to doing that looking at our recent dealings.
 
croadyman said:
Personally feel we need 4 signings for the first XI alone maybe 5 if Martinez is out for months
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Need or want?

If unlimited funding were available, I’d want 6 signings.

2 new 9s, one in prime and on one the up
1 prime 8
1 backup 6
1 prime RB
1 top backup GK

But I don’t see how that’s realistic as the price tag for that would probably be over 400m in transfer fees alone. Perhaps it is realistic, but if it’s not then we’re back to what we really need that could be done with 200m, which I suspect is as much as we’re likely to spend this summer.

Two 9s and and 8.
 
lex talionis said:
Need or want?

If unlimited funding were available, I’d want 6 signings.

2 new 9s, one in prime and on one the up
1 prime 8
1 backup 6
1 prime RB
1 top backup GK

But I don’t see how that’s realistic as the price tag for that would probably be over 400m in transfer fees alone. Perhaps it is realistic, but if it’s not then we’re back to what we really need that could be done with 200m, which I suspect is as much as we’re likely to spend this summer.

Two 9s and and 8.
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We absolutely need 4 new starters at minimum Striker, CM, Goalkeeper and RB .
 
gajender said:
We absolutely need 4 new starters at minimum Striker, CM, Goalkeeper and RB .
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Of course I can't speak for you, but the need for a new striker and an 89 vastly outweighs the "need" to replace De Gea or Wan-Bissaka/Dalot.
 
lex talionis said:
Need or want?

If unlimited funding were available, I’d want 6 signings.

2 new 9s, one in prime and on one the up
1 prime 8
1 backup 6
1 prime RB
1 top backup GK

But I don’t see how that’s realistic as the price tag for that would probably be over 400m in transfer fees alone. Perhaps it is realistic, but if it’s not then we’re back to what we really need that could be done with 200m, which I suspect is as much as we’re likely to spend this summer.

Two 9s and and 8.
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Think we need defensive cover for the two centre back positions too as Lindelof and Maguire don't have a long term future with us and its clearly the end of the road for the likes of Phil Jones, Bailly and Tuanzebe.
 
GledTheRed said:
I think we could use a project striker and share minutes with Rashy / Martial up top.
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i think close, but more of a top Striker and then have martial/rash as the other options. Dont think we go out and buy 2 CFs, just too many holes to fill.
 
Bojan Djordjic said:
Think we need defensive cover for the two centre back positions too as Lindelof and Maguire don't have a long term future with us and its clearly the end of the road for the likes of Phil Jones, Bailly and Tuanzebe.
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If we sell Maguire and Lindelof we'll clearly need to replace them, but we clearly don't need to get rid of them. As backup CBs they're pretty decent, whatever we think about the weirdness of the club captain being a squad man making 200k/week. We'll also very likely need to replace two of the other three, but Mengi is an intriguing prospect, so we're now down to bringing in one more squad option at CB.

All that said, the imperative of bringing a top striker for the first team vastly greater than worrying about who will replace Maguire or Lindelof, let alone Jones, Bailly or Tuanzebe.
 
FerociousCorgis said:
i think close, but more of a top Striker and then have martial/rash as the other options. Dont think we go out and buy 2 CFs, just too many holes to fill.
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Rashford really isn't an option at 9. As for Martial, his fitness record casts doubt as to whether can ever count on him again.
 
lex talionis said:
Rashford really isn't an option at 9. As for Martial, his fitness record casts doubt as to whether can ever count on him again.
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considering he would be the 3rd option at CF think he would be fine. And if for instance the club added a top striker a guy like martial would be perfectly fine to just hope for. People have to be realistic
 
FerociousCorgis said:
considering he would be the 3rd option at CF think he would be fine. And if for instance the club added a top striker a guy like martial would be perfectly fine to just hope for. People have to be realistic
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Martial is vastly better at the LW position than a 9. We've got Garnacho to cover for Rashford but I'm not sure Garnacho at top gear is better than Martial at top gear.

In any event, if we settled for one proper 9 we can do with Martial as cover, but based on the evidence of the last three seasons I'm not convinced we'd be better off with Martial as cover for say Kane than if we brought in someone like Ferguson who's a born finisher.

Since we realistically can't sell Martial we may have to settle for using him as a squad man whenever the needs arises either at LW or CF.
 
lex talionis said:
Martial is vastly better at the LW position than a 9. We've got Garnacho to cover for Rashford but I'm not sure Garnacho at top gear is better than Martial at top gear.

In any event, if we settled for one proper 9 we can do with Martial as cover, but based on the evidence of the last three seasons I'm not convinced we'd be better off with Martial as cover for say Kane than if we brought in someone like Ferguson who's a born finisher.

Since we realistically can't sell Martial we may have to settle for using him as a squad man whenever the needs arises either at LW or CF.
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Did you mean Rashford? If so, before this season I would certainly agree but he has improved his play at striker a fair bit this season. Obviously not enough to be first choice, but he could perhaps now act as back-up along with Martial (Martial when fit, Rashford when he's not), behind our new undisputed first choice. It's not ideal, but it'd be hard to bring in another squad striker who would almost certainly be 3rd choice when Martial is actually fit (it's unlikely we'll get a squad player who is actually better than him).

If you did mean Martial I would disagree. He's capable of being good at both, but his best has always been as a striker.
 
lex talionis said:
If we sell Maguire and Lindelof we'll clearly need to replace them, but we clearly don't need to get rid of them. As backup CBs they're pretty decent, whatever we think about the weirdness of the club captain being a squad man making 200k/week. We'll also very likely need to replace two of the other three, but Mengi is an intriguing prospect, so we're now down to bringing in one more squad option at CB.

All that said, the imperative of bringing a top striker for the first team vastly greater than worrying about who will replace Maguire or Lindelof, let alone Jones, Bailly or Tuanzebe.
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Not sure why you keep telling people why one position is a priority over the other. It's relatively obvious but that doesn't mean that we don't need other positions too, especially if you want to compete in the short-term. Centre back was the one position we'd have thought at the start of the season was well covered and now we're down to Maguire and Lindelof for nine league games with the ever-reliable Phil Jones as our back up. Mengi looked promising a few years ago but I haven't seen any evidence that he is anywhere near United squad level since.
 
I think there’s a guy called Wout that will be available in the summer. He has a great record in the farmers leagues.
 
lex talionis said:
Rashford really isn't an option at 9. As for Martial, his fitness record casts doubt as to whether can ever count on him again.
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Exactly. Martial cannot be relied upon. Bringing two strikers in this summer is imperative.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Should be bottom of the list of priorities
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If you don’t score goals you don’t win games. Outside of Rashford we have virtually no goalscorers. Signing a couple of players that can consistently score is the biggest priority this summer.
 
I’m on striker watch today. Watching Brighton/Chelsea at the moment, Ferguson has been pure class so far, hit the bar and drawn a top save but looks to be coming off with an injury now.

Will be watching RKM at half five.
 
Rozay said:
I’m on striker watch today. Watching Brighton/Chelsea at the moment, Ferguson has been pure class so far, hit the bar and drawn a top save but looks to be coming off with an injury now.

Will be watching RKM at half five.
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Has just scored.
 
The thing with Muani and David is it's not clear they are really better strikers than Martial from what I've seen.

That's not the case with Kane and Osimhen.
 
Idxomer said:
The thing with Muani and David is it's not clear they are really better strikers than Martial from what I've seen.

That's not the case with Kane and Osimhen.
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‘Better’ than Martial isn’t necessarily the job spec though. I’m sure we’d be more than happy with the best version of Martial on a consistent basis. If we had 2020 Martial we’d be fine. I’d take a 20 goal version of Martial over a 25 goal Harry Kane any day. Especially given that goal difference would be made up from the penalty spot anyway.

If David or Kolo Muani got say 18 league goals from open play that would be a brilliant return, especially considering that they will also run channels, press, and bring others into play at a high level. That said, I’m not sold on David anyway.
 
Rozay said:
‘Better’ than Martial isn’t necessarily the job spec though. I’m sure we’d be more than happy with the best version of Martial on a consistent basis. If we had 2020 Martial we’d be fine. I’d take a 20 goal version of Martial over a 25 goal Harry Kane any day. Especially given that goal difference would be made up from the penalty spot anyway.

If David or Kolo Muani got say 18 league goals from open play that would be a brilliant return, especially considering that they will also run channels, press, and bring others into play at a high level. That said, I’m not sold on David anyway.
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I think with Martial, as technical as he is and as strong as his link up play is, he just doesn't have very good centre forward instincts. Constantly drifts into the left half space where Rashford and Bruno tend to occupy and doesn't make runs between the centre defenders so sometimes misses opportunities for follow up shots and tap ins that are most strikers bread and butter. It's a real shame because he leaves so many easy goals on the table while he scores from more difficult positions.
 
Rolaholic said:
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David’s agent clearly has his hand in Romano’s Pocket it’s boring now. He’s been trying to get him a move for nearly 2 years now and the price never changes no matter how underwhelming he looks on the big stage.
 
Bojan Djordjic said:
I think with Martial, as technical as he is and as strong as his link up play is, he just doesn't have very good centre forward instincts. Constantly drifts into the left half space where Rashford and Bruno tend to occupy and doesn't make runs between the centre defenders so sometimes misses opportunities for follow up shots and tap ins that are most strikers bread and butter. It's a real shame because he leaves so many easy goals on the table while he scores from more difficult positions.
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This isn’t untrue.
 
Mainoldo said:
David’s agent clearly has his hand in Romano’s Pocket it’s boring now. He’s been trying to get him a move for nearly 2 years now and the price never changes no matter how underwhelming he looks on the big stage.
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This is not untrue.
 
Idxomer said:
The thing with Muani and David is it's not clear they are really better strikers than Martial from what I've seen.

That's not the case with Kane and Osimhen.
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Yeah I'm convinced the latter are our top targets,however if either deal proves too complex (highly likely) then could move for Kolo-Muani maybe even Ferguson/Hojlund
 
Mainoldo said:
David’s agent clearly has his hand in Romano’s Pocket it’s boring now. He’s been trying to get him a move for nearly 2 years now and the price never changes no matter how underwhelming he looks on the big stage.
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Romano gets all his leaks through agent sources. He has carved a niche by being hand in glove and acting as a media outlet for agents trying to manufacture transfers. It’s win-win, he makes a career as a mouthpiece, the agents benefit from transfers financially.

What irritates me about him is that his word is taken as gospel by a legion of cultish followers. He is seen as an oracle by FIFA Ultimate Team playing African/Asian supporters of “big six” clubs - and young teenagers who aspire to be involved in the game somehow.

Fair play to him, with no real talent he is making a good living simply by networking and saying what he’s told to say. But most of his ITK’s are simply agent PR as they try and initiate transfers for personal financial gain.
 
There are very prominent equivalents of Fabrizio Romano in other sports, especially in America, who are highly paid information brokers and have television jobs specifically because of their connections within their respective sports and being in touch with agents and putting out whatever info they've been fed. Often teams feed them information directly as well.

Not sure what any of that has all to do with African and Asian fans of big 6 clubs whatever the heck that means :lol:

People can feel however they want about him but that doesn't change the fact he does have actual sources around the game, has professional players getting news from him and clubs around the world collaborating with him regularly.

He's made quite a good niche for himself but it's nothing new, that sort of role exists in every sport nowadays and he learned from a prominent mentor in Gianluca Di Marzio.
 
It has to be Kane or Osimhen and Martial as backup or Martial as the starter but with managed minutes and a really young striker with sky high potential like Hoijlund, Ferguson or possibly Sesko sharing a lot of game time with him similar to what Alvarez does at City.
 
Rolaholic said:
There are very prominent equivalents of Fabrizio Romano in other sports, especially in America, who are highly paid information brokers and have television jobs specifically because of their connections within their respective sports and being in touch with agents and putting out whatever info they've been fed. Often teams feed them information directly as well.

Not sure what any of that has all to do with African and Asian fans of big 6 clubs whatever the heck that means :lol:

People can feel however they want about him but that doesn't change the fact he does have actual sources around the game, has professional players getting news from him and clubs around the world collaborating with him regularly.

He's made quite a good niche for himself but it's nothing new, that sort of role exists in every sport nowadays and he learned from a prominent mentor in Gianluca Di Marzio.
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His sources are one-sided and are written entirely from the perspective of the player and his agent. He exclusively confirmed Cucurella was set to sign for Manchester City (he didn’t and was never close), that we’d accepted an offer for Caicedo in January (we hadn’t), and is constantly citing transfer values he has no possible way of knowing.

For example the other day he said Brighton are expecting £50-60m for Mac Allister, but that talks hadn't started yet. There is so much wrong with this.

First of all, the club never tells other clubs or agents what their asking price is. Paul Barber has outlined this numerous times in interviews and fan forums. They simply reject offers until they get an acceptable one according to their own valuation of the player’s worth to the club.

Examples include Ben White (rejected £30m from Leeds, sold to Arsenal for £50m), Marc Cucurella (rejected £35m from Manchester City, sold to Chelsea for £63m) and Caicedo (rejected £70m from Arsenal… selling price TBC, but it will be at least equal and likely more).

He embellishes and outright makes up details he has no information on, based on his brief from agents about the message they want made public.

He is like a psychic doing a warm read; he has some information but not all, and uses common sense to fill gaps by making obvious estimates on things like transfer values. Psychics have “hits” for good guesses and “misses” for bad ones.

Romano’s, Law’s and Ornstein’s miss to hit ratio is absolutely shocking, because they only ever have part of the picture and the clubs themselves aren’t talking.
 
reddev3 said:
It has to be Kane or Osimhen and Martial as backup or Martial as the starter but with managed minutes and a really young striker with sky high potential like Hoijlund, Ferguson or possibly Sesko sharing a lot of game time with him similar to what Alvarez does at City.
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Second one starting to look on the cards
 
reddev3 said:
It has to be Kane or Osimhen and Martial as backup or Martial as the starter but with managed minutes and a really young striker with sky high potential like Hoijlund, Ferguson or possibly Sesko sharing a lot of game time with him similar to what Alvarez does at City.
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Think I’d sell Martial as he’s never really fitted in with the club truth be known. Osimhen my chosen choice if I had one. However, if we want to piss the scousers off then Kane, they can’t stand the diving fcuker. :D
 
keithsingleton said:
Think I’d sell Martial as he’s never really fitted in with the club truth be known. Osimhen my chosen choice if I had one. However, if we want to piss the scousers off then Kane, they can’t stand the diving fcuker. :D
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No hope of Osimhen if leeches dig in further
 
UTAretro said:
His sources are one-sided and are written entirely from the perspective of the player and his agent. He exclusively confirmed Cucurella was set to sign for Manchester City (he didn’t and was never close), that we’d accepted an offer for Caicedo in January (we hadn’t), and is constantly citing transfer values he has no possible way of knowing.

For example the other day he said Brighton are expecting £50-60m for Mac Allister, but that talks hadn't started yet. There is so much wrong with this.

First of all, the club never tells other clubs or agents what their asking price is. Paul Barber has outlined this numerous times in interviews and fan forums. They simply reject offers until they get an acceptable one according to their own valuation of the player’s worth to the club.

Examples include Ben White (rejected £30m from Leeds, sold to Arsenal for £50m), Marc Cucurella (rejected £35m from Manchester City, sold to Chelsea for £63m) and Caicedo (rejected £70m from Arsenal… selling price TBC, but it will be at least equal and likely more).

He embellishes and outright makes up details he has no information on, based on his brief from agents about the message they want made public.

He is like a psychic doing a warm read; he has some information but not all, and uses common sense to fill gaps by making obvious estimates on things like transfer values. Psychics have “hits” for good guesses and “misses” for bad ones.

Romano’s, Law’s and Ornstein’s miss to hit ratio is absolutely shocking, because they only ever have part of the picture and the clubs themselves aren’t talking.
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Last two posts on Romano are spot on. Not to mention the sheer volume of content he puts out, means most people forget the nonsense he said previously and can distract them with a "here we go". I do think he's almost backed himself into a corner and has to do it now, but still.
 
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