We need 2 new CMs. Who do we sign?

Ugarte
Adam Wharton
J. Neves

Just please get rid of VDB and Amrabat

Eriksen is also done and Casemiro looks the same although the two of them have at least won some trophies which is always good to have in the locker room if mindset and motivation is in order.
 
Teun Koopmeiners could be interesting since Juve is trying hard to get him, which means he could be available for under 40m. Can play all positions in the central midfield making him the perfect utility player and a huge upgrade on Eriksen and Amrabat (while Ugarte is the upgrade to Casemiro). Is Dutch, so our manager would surely take him in a hearbeat.
 
Ugarte loan to buy makes so much sense and then if we can sell Casemiro to Saudi, I’d then go all out for Baleba at Brighton - who are rumoured to be closing in on Wieffer.
 
Rabiot is a free agent, just sayin'.

But perhaps it would make too much sense for us, just like getting Macrus Thuram on a free last summer for ST depth. So no way is it going to happen.
 
MadMike said:
Rabiot is a free agent, just sayin'.

But perhaps it would make too much sense for us, just like getting Macrus Thuram on a free last summer for ST depth. So no way is it going to happen.
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He plays on Mainoo's position, will ask for a high salary as well as agent fee (greedy mum), seems arrogant, will not be happy to sit on the bench. Too many red flags.
 
aeh1991 said:
He plays on Mainoo's position, will ask for a high salary as well as agent fee (greedy mum), seems arrogant, will not be happy to sit on the bench. Too many red flags.
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Correction: Too many imaginary red flags, since you made all that up.

You have no idea what agent fee his mum will ask, or if it is above the average. He left PSG and went to Juve for a not particularly high salary (€180k-£150k) which seems more than fair for a player of his experience and calibre. I've read nothing about him demanding to be a starter all the time. We'll need to rotate players anyway, you can't play a 19yo Mainoo in 50+ games in a single season.

That said I expect any player with ambition and self-respect to want to fight for his position and not be happy with just being a bench warmer. But we're not looking for bench warmers. Fecking McTominay started 30+ games for us last season and Rabiot is levels above McTominay.
 
MadMike said:
Rabiot is a free agent, just sayin'.

But perhaps it would make too much sense for us, just like getting Macrus Thuram on a free last summer for ST depth. So no way is it going to happen.
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I feel like Rabiot is in transfer talks all the time. I actually didn’t realise he was still at Juve because his name comes up every year.

We agreed a deal with Juve in 2022 but couldn’t agree on personal terms if I remember correctly. Rumours were his mother agent was asking for wages above 250k/week.
 
MadMike said:
Correction: Too many imaginary red flags, since you made all that up.

You have no idea what agent fee his mum will ask, or if it is above the average. He left PSG and went to Juve for a not particularly high salary (€180k-£150k) which seems more than fair for a player of his experience and calibre. I've read nothing about him demanding to be a starter all the time. We'll need to rotate players anyway, you can't play a 19yo Mainoo in 50+ games in a single season.

That said I expect any player with ambition and self-respect to want to fight for his position and not be happy with just being a bench warmer. But we're not looking for bench warmers. Fecking McTominay started 30+ games for us last season and Rabiot is levels above McTominay.
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Feel like his age might be an issue for the club as we don't appear to be targeting anyone over the age of 25. We would be doing incredibly well if we could get him to accept those wages that Juve offered.
 
croadyman said:
Feel like his age might be an issue for the club as we don't appear to be targeting anyone over the age of 25. We would be doing incredibly well if we could get him to accept those wages that Juve offered.
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Pretty sure it won't be as cut and dry as that, or at least I hope it's not because otherwise I would have to seriously doubt not only the intellect but the sanity of the people in charge.

It must surely be a function of the player's age, calibre and the financial outlay required to bring them. Otherwise it's like telling me that if talent of the calibre of Mbappe or Vinicius wanted to come here on a free at the age of 26 and they were so keen to come that they were also happy to accept a very reasonable contract, the club would have still said "nah sorry mates, you're over 25, no can do". And by the same rationale, the club should never offer a new contract on anyone over 25.

My point with that hyperbole, was that such a policy will surely be flexible. And if a player is a free agent and doesn't demand a huge sign-on fee and/or salary, then I assume they won't care about the age so much so long as they feel he can be an important member of the squad. I don't know if Rabiot falls in that category, but it'd be worth checking out especially as we've been keen on the player before. After all, we're offering Fernandes a new contract and he's also 29 like Rabiot.
 
What happened with the talk about United and Olmo? I always thought that would be a good fit.

if Neves is an option financially, then my 3 would be: Olmo, Ugarte, Neves.

Wharton is a good shout, but Palace are going to be extra stingy with all the people they are already losing.

There has to be some very good Neves’ out there you can get before Benfica grab them and mark them up 80m. Someone to challenge Mainoo and push him, and add to the team.
 
Lux Thunder said:
Not quite "dodging a bullet" but back in 2019., when Andreas and Lingard were starting games in the #10 role, I wanted us to sing Dani Olmo, who played at Dinamo Zagreb at the time. He was phenomenal, can't remember the last time when a player at his level was still playing in Croatia and he made good runs with Dinamo Zagreb in Europe too.

His performances in Europe were proof of how special talent he is and that he was truly ready to move to the top leagues. While still in the competition, Olmo was among the leaders of the Europa League in season 2018/19. and Champions League season later for stats like take-on duels and successful dribbles.

His story was also telling about his determination and top mentality: left La Masia at age of 16, even though he was highly rated there, came to Croatia to play first-team football and to adapt quicker he learned our language, which I found extremely difficult and impressive.

His national team story was also showing how mentally strong he is. In the summer of 2019., U21 Euro took a place in Italy and he spent the opening defeat against the hosts on the bench. In Spain's second game against Belgium, he started and scored the opener after just 7 minutes of play. He earned his place in starting eleven and you could almost see Spain's transformation in this tournament through his personal renaissance - from a bench warmer in the first game to the MVP in the finale. He scored in the semi-final and final, was voted in the team of the tournament and, as mentioned before, was MVP of the final against Germany. A few months later, he made Spain's first team squad, still being in Dinamo Zagreb.

I highly rated him as a great technical player with an extremely high football IQ, something lacking in our team at that moment. He looked to me so intelligent and versatile that he could influence games no matter what position he is playing - in the U21 Euro final he played as #9.

He didn't have much on his contract with Dinamo, maybe a year and a half or two, when he moved to RB Leipzig in the same January 2020. transfer window when we signed Bruno, just a few days earlier. And we all know how much influence Bruno made afterward. There was a story in Croatia about our interest in Olmo and scouts attending games in Zagreb but he moved to Leipzig for something like 20m + bonuses, which I considered as a bargain for a player of his potential, but with Bruno transforming our team I was satisfied we got him instead.

Sadly, after he had a very good Euro 2020 with Spain, Olmo will now miss WC in Qatar due to his injuries but I really hope for him to have a great career.
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Apparently, he has a release clause of €60m until 15th - want him ! Top quality, he just need to stay away from injuries in future.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Ugarte and Olmo
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Olmo is a wonderful player, especially to watch, but he’s just not needed at United. His best position is in attacking midfield where we have Bruno and Mount. Adding Olmo is just daft when we have a dearth of players capable of playing in the double pivot.

For the 10 role we have: Bruno + Mount
For two 6/8 roles we have: Mainoo + McTominay + Eriksen.

This assumes that Casemiro is on his way out, and Amrabat hasn’t been signed. Eriksen is on his last legs and should probably be sold/released, and if he’s retained it should be as fifth choice.

If we add Ugarte we’ll have : Mainoo, Ugarte, McTominay, and Eriksen. That still isn’t good enough. If you have to rest, rotate or replace either of Mainoo or Ugarte, it’s a massive drop in quality. Right now, signing Ugarte isn’t to replace Casemiro, it’s to replace Amrabat. Because signing Ugarte doesn’t mean we can sell Casemiro unless we have another player lined up.

So, realistically, for the balance of the squad we need Ugarte plus another 6/8. Preferably a youngish one that is happy to start on the bench and develop towards fighting for a starting berth. We simply cant’t go into the season being one injury or suspension away from having to start McTominay or Eriksen in the heart of our midfield. And it would be madness if we did because we’d spent over 50m on a third number 10.

I don’t disagree that Olmo is a brilliant player, but I will caution that at club level his numbers aren’t particularly productive, and he also has a fairly atrocious fitness record.

At one point we were linked with Fermin Lopez, who fits that profile I discussed, but I think he signed a new contract at Barca,
 
Ideally we sign 2 midfielder. 1 DM and another CM. We need another playmaker aswell as a destroyer which is likely to be Ugarte.
 
Cant see us bringing in 3xCMs in 1 window, feels a long shot!

Ugarte and Amrabat seems realistic, plus promote 1? Dan Gore/Collyer?
 
Ugarte, hopefully on loan with future fee and Fofana. We will suddenly have the toughest midfield in the league.

For the third one I'd love to have Neves if we can raise enough funds. Cheaper option is O'Riley to replace Eriksen.
 
There's something telling me that Tchouameni isn't as highly rated as Camavinga and maybe Madrid may sell if we offer a good price for Tchouameni.

I wanted to sign Archie Gray but he has moved to Tottenham.

I think an interesting but injury prone option to replace Amrabat/Sabitzer is Bennacer from AC Milan.

Hjulmand is another Sabitzer type of replacement who could play the Xhaka role for us if we move out Eriksen.

Any of these alongside Ugarte would be a good transfer window for our midfield.
 
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We need to bring in at least two. But the only link is Ugarte as of now. Hopefully we hear a playmaking one eventually
 
I'd keep Casemiro unless we get a stupid fee for him. Signs are pointing to a much more settled style of play and we won't have him in no mans land trying to cover a ridiculous amount of space.

I don't think he just lost his ability over night, and I am worried if we do let go of too many established heads when we are trying to refresh the squad. I think Ugarte and Mainoo getting to learn from Casemiro for another year has a lot of potential.

Especially if we are letting go of Varane, Maguire and Eriksen. Whilst we are upgrading in terms of ability, we do need to remember we have a squad consisting of Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Holjund (21), Kambwala (19), Amad (22). And we look to be promoting Collyer (19) and Amass (17). And there is a concrete possibility of us signing Leny Yoro (18).

Our other senior players like Rashford and Shaw have shown recent mental fragility.

It's part of the reason Chelsea struggled after just pouring so much money into young talents.

However, if we do get a 35m+ offer from Saudi, then it would be a deal we just have to make for financial reasons.
 
Redivy said:
I'd keep Casemiro unless we get a stupid fee for him. Signs are pointing to a much more settled style of play and we won't have him in no mans land trying to cover a ridiculous amount of space.

I don't think he just lost his ability over night, and I am worried if we do let go of too many established heads when we are trying to refresh the squad. I think Ugarte and Mainoo getting to learn from Casemiro for another year has a lot of potential.

Especially if we are letting go of Varane, Maguire and Eriksen. Whilst we are upgrading in terms of ability, we do need to remember we have a squad consisting of Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Holjund (21), Kambwala (19), Amad (22). And we look to be promoting Collyer (19) and Amass (17). And there is a concrete possibility of us signing Leny Yoro (18).

Our other senior players like Rashford and Shaw have shown recent mental fragility.

It's part of the reason Chelsea struggled after just pouring so much money into young talents.

However, if we do get a 35m+ offer from Saudi, then it would be a deal we just have to make for financial reasons.
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Good post; I'd agree with all you have said.
 
Redivy said:
I'd keep Casemiro unless we get a stupid fee for him. Signs are pointing to a much more settled style of play and we won't have him in no mans land trying to cover a ridiculous amount of space.

I don't think he just lost his ability over night, and I am worried if we do let go of too many established heads when we are trying to refresh the squad. I think Ugarte and Mainoo getting to learn from Casemiro for another year has a lot of potential.

Especially if we are letting go of Varane, Maguire and Eriksen. Whilst we are upgrading in terms of ability, we do need to remember we have a squad consisting of Garnacho (20), Mainoo (19), Holjund (21), Kambwala (19), Amad (22). And we look to be promoting Collyer (19) and Amass (17). And there is a concrete possibility of us signing Leny Yoro (18).

Our other senior players like Rashford and Shaw have shown recent mental fragility.

It's part of the reason Chelsea struggled after just pouring so much money into young talents.

However, if we do get a 35m+ offer from Saudi, then it would be a deal we just have to make for financial reasons.
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I think this is a perfectly sensible point to make. Regarding Casemiro specifically, however, I'm reminded of how often it was last season for Kobbie to be the one showing leadership and having to tell the elder statesman to calm down. Cas lost his head a lot this year and didn't do the youngsters any favours.

Ideally he'd get his shit together but, with the Saudi window opening this weekend, we'll soon know how genuine a prospect moving him on is. It still remains the most attractive one at the moment.
 
I'm not sure if Ugarte on his own is the solution, he's very much just a water carrier, not too much to his game. Last season our biggest weakness was midfield where we were being overrun and lacked the energy in the middle of the park. Ugarte will offer the energy but we'll still need someone who can play a bit as well.
 
M Bison said:
Cant see us bringing in 3xCMs in 1 window, feels a long shot!

Ugarte and Amrabat seems realistic, plus promote 1? Dan Gore/Collyer?
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This thread is very Football Manager. We aren't bringing in 3 x CMs. Agree with you Ugarte for Casemiro. Then a case of one in one out depending on who leaves.

Seeing as we will have 2 x CBs coming in (most likely), a striker (Zirkzee) and 1 x CM (Ugarte?). That's already alot of money spent. Cashing in on Greenwood it seems will result in a bid for a proven PL striker ala Toney or Calvert-Lewin.

We will have a starting midfield trio of Mainoo - Fernandes - Ugarte. With backup of McT - Eriksson - Mount. With Gore, Collier, Hannibal as the young prospects. We aren't sure what's happening with amrabat. Where are the other 2 x CMs supposed to play?

Like I said the thread title, it's all very Football Manager.
 
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