What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

I think if we get realistic transfers like this:

Sancho
Ings
Arambarri
Varane or Romero/Torres/Botman

I think that will vastly improve our Squad as a whole. I'd obviously prefer an upgrade on Arambarri, but the real money would be on Sancho and the CB. Maybe if the CB is not Varane we could spend a bit more.
 
I think Sancho is top priority and I'm quite certain we would get it done this time. Then we have all these reliable links to top CBs and none about a DM which should be priority number one. We've wanted a CB and Sancho since last season, I don't see how we wouldn't get this done this time. The concern I have is that these two would finish all or almost all our budget and would leave little or nothing for us to be able to get a top DM.

For me, if the plan is to get Sancho and CB and play Pogba at the double pivot then we should just sell him and use the money to get a top DM. As talented as Pogba is, whenever he plays at the double pivot his talents gets watered down and he becomes a defensive liability. At that point he is not hard to replace as we wouldn't be able to enjoy his abilities at the max.

If we are planning planning on playing Pogba more at the double pivot next season then I'd swap him for Varane. Which should allow us to get a top DM and Sancho. My DM choice would be Locatelli as that would replace the deep lying playmaking Pogba offers at the double pivot.

(Based on the reported price tags)
Pogba - Varane swap
Sancho - 78m
Locatelli - 35m
Camavinga - 35m

Total - 148m

We should be able to sell Dalot Lingard Pereira Matic James Bailly/Tuanzebe for at least 45m. Leaving our netspend at around 100m

​
----------------------------Cavani---------------------------

Rashford-------------Bruno----------------Sancho

-----------Camavinga-----------Locatelli------------

Shaw--------Maguire-------Varane----------Awb

------------------------Henderson------------------------
 
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Made my mind up about a preference (for now :) ): I'm hoping for Kounde, Camavinga and Arambarri. Presupposing Pogba stays, and is used predominantly on the left flank.
 
Coming round to the idea that Kane and Sancho/Grealish would be a good summer for us and really give us scope to win something big depending on other teams.

I know we're crying out for a CDM and a CB but we won the league under Fergie with Brown and O'Shea in defence for large chunks of the season. That kind of fire power upfront can win games from losing positions
 
crossy1686 said:
Coming round to the idea that Kane and Sancho/Grealish would be a good summer for us and really give us scope to win something big depending on other teams.

I know we're crying out for a CDM and a CB but we won the league under Fergie with Brown and O'Shea in defence for large chunks of the season. That kind of fire power upfront can win games from losing positions
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Obviously, but Kane and Sancho would cost around 200 million, and Kane and Grealish well in excess of 200 million. If you could get Grealish at all. So that's just not realistic I think.
 
justsomebloke said:
Obviously, but Kane and Sancho would cost around 200 million, and Kane and Grealish well in excess of 200 million. If you could get Grealish at all. So that's just not realistic I think.
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We've got players we need to move on who are actually worth something this summer, like Lingard, maybe De Gea or Henderson also. I expect a swap deal + cash involving Lingard for Kane or Grealish could be a good move for all parties. We've also got Pereria, Dalot and Mata who could be on their way out.
 
crossy1686 said:
We've got players we need to move on who are actually worth something this summer, like Lingard, maybe De Gea or Henderson also. I expect a swap deal + cash involving Lingard for Kane or Grealish could be a good move for all parties. We've also got Pereria, Dalot and Mata who could be on their way out.
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Yes, but that won't bring us up to well beyond 200 m from the announced starting point of 85 million. Last season too, if you added up all the players we could sell or wanted to sell, that amounted to a pretty hefty total. But how many of them were actually sold? And the market this year is if anything probably even worse.

Potentially:

De Gea: How much would we get for him, considering the wages he's on? Anything from 20 to 50 million is conceivable, but it is also very conceivable we wouldn't be able to sell him at all, and would have to settle for a loan fee somewhere.
Jones: I would assume not much. 5m?
Dalot: There is apparently real interest from AC Milan, and 13 million has been talked about as a likely fee.
Mata: Free transfer if he leaves, I would assume. Or at least a single digit fee.
Lingard: Who knows, maybe 30 million? There seems to be good reason to hope we can move him, at least.
Pereira: Wouldn't bet on there being a taker, and if so, would not expect much more than 10 m.

That doesn't add up to more than 200 million, when added to 85. Also, you'd have to bring in a new backup GK.

Then there's Pogba. If he goes, that adds significant money (maybe 50-60m?). But then he needs to be replaced.

Other additions may also trigger further sales of course: Bailly or Tuanzebe if we sign a CB, Matic if we sign a CM, Williams if we sign a RB, Martial if we sign a striker. But other than replacing Martial with a clear backup like Ings, that'll add net cost rather than net gain.

Conclusion: Unless the owners add additional big money to the transfer budget, this isn't a year we can make several mega-signings. One maybe, but the question is if that's the best approach given how many needs we have in different areas.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
I think Sancho is top priority and I'm quite certain we would get it done this time. Then we have all these reliable links to top CBs and none about a DM which should be priority number one. We've wanted a CB and Sancho since last season, I don't see how we wouldn't get this done this time. The concern I have is that these two would finish all or almost all our budget and would leave little or nothing for us to be able to get a top DM.

For me, if the plan is to get Sancho and CB and play Pogba at the double pivot then we should just sell him and use the money to get a top DM. As talented as Pogba is, whenever he plays at the double pivot his talents gets watered down and he becomes a defensive liability. At that point he is not hard to replace as we wouldn't be able to enjoy his abilities at the max.

If we are planning planning on playing Pogba more at the double pivot next season then I'd swap him for Varane. Which should allow us to get a top DM and Sancho. My DM choice would be Locatelli as that would replace the deep lying playmaking Pogba offers at the double pivot.

(Based on the reported price tags)
Pogba - Varane swap
Sancho - 78m
Locatelli - 35m
Camavinga - 35m

Total - 148m

We should be able to sell Dalot Lingard Pereira Matic James Bailly/Tuanzebe for at least 45m. Leaving our netspend at around 100m

​
----------------------------Cavani---------------------------

Rashford-------------Bruno----------------Sancho

-----------Camavinga-----------Locatelli------------

Shaw--------Maguire-------Varane----------Awb

------------------------Henderson------------------------
Click to expand...

This would pretty much be ideal except I'd sell Henderson rather than De Gea. I think we can get Locatelli and Camavinga for close to what Rice will cost, and the issue with just buying Rice is that we'll still be playing one of McFred with him.
 
Devil may care said:
This would pretty much be ideal except I'd sell Henderson rather than De Gea. I think we can get Locatelli and Camavinga for close to what Rice will cost, and the issue with just buying Rice is that we'll still be playing one of McFred with him.
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I agree, we need all-rounders for the pivot, ie, someone with more creative input than Rice, particularly considering how much he costs. If we're spending big, then rather Llorente than Rice. Or one of the above, or Kamara, or Neves. Maybe Arambarri or Kessie.
 
WPMUFC said:


Sancho / Rice / CB would be my current guess
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Nice to see ole being honest and putting out there in the public that we need a few signings to compete for trophies, it help adds to the already heavy amount pressure that the glazers are under to get their act together as owners of the club.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
I think Sancho is top priority and I'm quite certain we would get it done this time. Then we have all these reliable links to top CBs and none about a DM which should be priority number one. We've wanted a CB and Sancho since last season, I don't see how we wouldn't get this done this time. The concern I have is that these two would finish all or almost all our budget and would leave little or nothing for us to be able to get a top DM.

For me, if the plan is to get Sancho and CB and play Pogba at the double pivot then we should just sell him and use the money to get a top DM. As talented as Pogba is, whenever he plays at the double pivot his talents gets watered down and he becomes a defensive liability. At that point he is not hard to replace as we wouldn't be able to enjoy his abilities at the max.

If we are planning planning on playing Pogba more at the double pivot next season then I'd swap him for Varane. Which should allow us to get a top DM and Sancho. My DM choice would be Locatelli as that would replace the deep lying playmaking Pogba offers at the double pivot.

(Based on the reported price tags)
Pogba - Varane swap
Sancho - 78m
Locatelli - 35m
Camavinga - 35m

Total - 148m

We should be able to sell Dalot Lingard Pereira Matic James Bailly/Tuanzebe for at least 45m. Leaving our netspend at around 100m

​
----------------------------Cavani---------------------------

Rashford-------------Bruno----------------Sancho

-----------Camavinga-----------Locatelli------------

Shaw--------Maguire-------Varane----------Awb

------------------------Henderson------------------------
Click to expand...

Good post. I agree with much of this. Doubt we’d get Camavinga for 35m, but Locatelli would be good business. Haven’t watched a lot of Locatelli, but looks like he’s a deep lying playmaker? IMHO, Fred is not a good enough passer or goal scorer to be our distributor. Spare me the stats and debate, that’s over the the Fred threads. Pogba is suspect defensively and therefore cannot be paired with Fred in the double pivot. McT is not a particularly good ball distributor, he’s more of a classic CM. In the big matches, Ole always plays McFred because we need the coverage of the back 4.

Locatelli is interesting. I like Kessie too for that spot. I think Declan Rice would be a disaster. Very interesting when you compare these players side-by-side:

https://fbref.com/en/stathead/playe...0-2021&player_id6=6b47c5db&p6yrfrom=2020-2021
 
By the way, is it possible for the mods to put up a poll about what the Caf thinks the net spend of the club will be this summer? @Solius @Penna? 20-60m / 60-90m / 90-110m / more than 110m?
 
DSG said:
By the way, is it possible for the mods to put up a poll about what the Caf thinks the net spend of the club will be this summer? @Solius @Penna? 20-60m / 60-90m / 90-110m / more than 110m?
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Personally reading some of Oles comments I dont see major outgoings. I think Lingard will be the biggest sale. I think we are only raising about £50m. I think the net spend will be more than £110m...but only just and that means we are spending about £170m on transfers this summer for 2-3 signings and a youngster.

SO I think realistically (and this goes for me too from previous posts) the what we need/want/should do, has to be dampened to something more realistic with the reality of what will be done.

So doing this again:

Cheaper but quality centre back: Romagnoli or Romero £30m
Marquee Attacker: Sancho or Grealish £80m
Central Midfielder: Camavinga £50m
Youngster: Sulemana £15m (seen nothing of him and seems a strange one considering what we already have on the left and the young talent we also have, but seems to be getting heavily linked)

Think that is about as good as we can hope for. If we are signing Kane as the marquee signing we are almost certainly not signing more than one other player, doesnt work for me.

Like someone says further up this thread. A successful realistic window, still leave us with holes in the team.

Personally not as concerned about the striker as others. I think Cavani has proved he still has the quality to play at this level. Of coruse we cant expect him to play all games, but Martial is hardly a bad second choice striker short term....and we also have Greenwood and Rashford can both play there. I think that is ok short term for a season.

DM does worry me though, I really think we need two new players there. I like the look of Garner but have seen nothing of his loan. Maybe he could be ready to step up to the squad at least as another option, I dont know......but McFred, Pogba and VDB.....none of them should be starting eleven players in that double pivot for me
 
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To really challenge, we need to address all of our issues (at least immediate for the season, not long term issues).
  • RW- Sancho is a must, we need that level of quality, we need his level of creativity and versatility. We don't need another inside forward, we need a creator who can play on the right
  • CB - Pau Torres looking like a big target, and again, we need a starting CB better than what we have to partner Maguire
  • DM - we aren't going to challenge for the title until we sort out the midfield. Mctominay is a bigger problem than Fred IMO, but Fred also has his limitations. Both fine as squad players and Fred could probably play a good role as a starter if his partner is the right player. Rice would be a very good signing IMO
  • RB depth - Trippier seems to be a no brainer here
Striker depth is a weird one. As it is, we are OK number wise. But Martial I don't think can be a useful squad player, as he's a player who needs regular football to be at his best, otherwise he'll be useless. So I think we'd genuinely be better off getting rid of Martial and replacing him with Ings in our squad. Don't think we'd be able to win anyway, goalkeeper will quickly become a problem IMO. We'd do well to bring in Donnarumma on a free, but I doubt it. Probably just Henderson starting and bringing in Heaton or Johnstone.

Squad would be:
Gk: Henderson, Heaton
Rb: Wan Bissaka, Trippier
Cb: Maguire, Torres, Lindelof, Bailly
Lb: Shaw, Telles
Cm: Rice, Pogba, Fred, McTominay
Cam: Bruno, Van de Beek
RW: Sancho, Greenwood
LW: Rashford, James
ST: Cavani, Ings

Would be an excellent squad IMO. Whether it's enough to win the title, I think it would just be dependent on the collective mentality and staying fit. Talent wise, it would work IMO, and it has the depth, players who can change games from the bench, depth and cover in every position, etc.
 
strengthening the spine has to be the main objective this summer ... a strong DM and a good CB to complement Maguire are a must. I'd love to think we can get those and Sancho on top, that'd be a massive step in the right direction. Not exactly holding my breath though. In a perfect world, we get Sancho, Rice and a quality CB, but is the club willing to shell out this kind of money? I doubt it.
 
bosnian_red said:
To really challenge, we need to address all of our issues (at least immediate for the season, not long term issues).
  • RW- Sancho is a must, we need that level of quality, we need his level of creativity and versatility. We don't need another inside forward, we need a creator who can play on the right
  • CB - Pau Torres looking like a big target, and again, we need a starting CB better than what we have to partner Maguire
  • DM - we aren't going to challenge for the title until we sort out the midfield. Mctominay is a bigger problem than Fred IMO, but Fred also has his limitations. Both fine as squad players and Fred could probably play a good role as a starter if his partner is the right player. Rice would be a very good signing IMO
  • RB depth - Trippier seems to be a no brainer here
Striker depth is a weird one. As it is, we are OK number wise. But Martial I don't think can be a useful squad player, as he's a player who needs regular football to be at his best, otherwise he'll be useless. So I think we'd genuinely be better off getting rid of Martial and replacing him with Ings in our squad. Don't think we'd be able to win anyway, goalkeeper will quickly become a problem IMO. We'd do well to bring in Donnarumma on a free, but I doubt it. Probably just Henderson starting and bringing in Heaton or Johnstone.

Squad would be:
Gk: Henderson, Heaton
Rb: Wan Bissaka, Trippier
Cb: Maguire, Torres, Lindelof, Bailly
Lb: Shaw, Telles
Cm: Rice, Pogba, Fred, McTominay
Cam: Bruno, Van de Beek
RW: Sancho, Greenwood
LW: Rashford, James
ST: Cavani, Ings

Would be an excellent squad IMO. Whether it's enough to win the title, I think it would just be dependent on the collective mentality and staying fit. Talent wise, it would work IMO, and it has the depth, players who can change games from the bench, depth and cover in every position, etc.
Click to expand...

Wouldn’t mind Tripper for coverage for a low fee. Don’t see the logic behind the Ings move. I’m assuming we’d move Martial on then? If you keep Martial, you have Cavani, Ings, Martial and Greenwood (assuming Sancho is coming in). We’ve been linked with Ings several times during his career, I think this a smokescreen, potentially for a Kane move, or just Ings’ agent spewing shite.

I’m hoping we don’t go in for Rice. He’ll be really pricey, 70m+. There are at least 5 DMs for less money I’d rather have than Rice. He’s a good fit when you’re playing Burnley or Crystal Palace, but his skill set is very limited and doesn’t work against top 6 and CL matches. The stats back this up. He’s a worse passer than Fred (short, medium and long), covers less ground than Fred, creates less chances than Fred, makes less forward passes than Fred and has the same number of goals as Fred.

https://fbref.com/en/stathead/playe...0-2021&player_id6=6b47c5db&p6yrfrom=2020-2021

There are probably 3000 posts on this forum about how Fred isn’t good enough. How does buying Rice and playing him with McT, or Fred, or Pogba or Matic get us closer to challenging for a title? I do agree that we need a serious upgrade in the midfield 2 partnership, but I think we need a player that’s more of a deep lying playmaker, but has that defensive tactical awareness ( and a bit of a nasty streak!) that Pogba doesn’t have.
 
.
DSG said:
Wouldn’t mind Tripper for coverage for a low fee. Don’t see the logic behind the Ings move. I’m assuming we’d move Martial on then? If you keep Martial, you have Cavani, Ings, Martial and Greenwood (assuming Sancho is coming in). We’ve been linked with Ings several times during his career, I think this a smokescreen, potentially for a Kane move, or just Ings’ agent spewing shite.

I’m hoping we don’t go in for Rice. He’ll be really pricey, 70m+. There are at least 5 DMs for less money I’d rather have than Rice. He’s a good fit when you’re playing Burnley or Crystal Palace, but his skill set is very limited and doesn’t work against top 6 and CL matches. The stats back this up. He’s a worse passer than Fred (short, medium and long), covers less ground than Fred, creates less chances than Fred, makes less forward passes than Fred and has the same number of goals as Fred.

https://fbref.com/en/stathead/playe...0-2021&player_id6=6b47c5db&p6yrfrom=2020-2021

There are probably 3000 posts on this forum about how Fred isn’t good enough. How does buying Rice and playing him with McT, or Fred, or Pogba or Matic get us closer to challenging for a title? I do agree that we need a serious upgrade in the midfield 2 partnership, but I think we need a player that’s more of a deep lying playmaker, but has that defensive tactical awareness ( and a bit of a nasty streak!) that Pogba doesn’t have.
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Completely agree.

Pogba is a player who is best utilised in a 3 man midfield, IMO. At Juve he had Vidal and Pirlo either covering the ground or in Pirlo's case, occupying the space. In the French NT, Deschamps had Pogba and Kante in a two, but what he did to off set Pogba's defensive frailties, was to play Matuidi out wide, who helped Pogba to defend the channel. Pogba's defensive game isn't of the required standard in a two man midfield. You either play Pogba in a 3, as the most advanced midfielder or move him on.

I also agree that Declan Rice, right now isn't the correct profile of player to bring into the fold, when we have Fred and McTominay already at the club, who I believe Solskjaer will persevere with, for one more season. So it would be for the best if we targeted a player, who can help us transition play to a high level. We don't have that player at first team level from a defensive or offensive stand point.

The double pivot IMO should be comprised of two players who both have box to box capabilities. And for balance, one should be of the defensive box to box variety and the other should be of the attacking box to box variety. There's quite a few of us who like Locatelli from Sassoulou, but he is the more attack minded player in their two, whilst Pedro Obiang is the more defensive. But both players have box to box capabilities and can defend.
 
DSG said:
Wouldn’t mind Tripper for coverage for a low fee. Don’t see the logic behind the Ings move. I’m assuming we’d move Martial on then? If you keep Martial, you have Cavani, Ings, Martial and Greenwood (assuming Sancho is coming in). We’ve been linked with Ings several times during his career, I think this a smokescreen, potentially for a Kane move, or just Ings’ agent spewing shite.

I’m hoping we don’t go in for Rice. He’ll be really pricey, 70m+. There are at least 5 DMs for less money I’d rather have than Rice. He’s a good fit when you’re playing Burnley or Crystal Palace, but his skill set is very limited and doesn’t work against top 6 and CL matches. The stats back this up. He’s a worse passer than Fred (short, medium and long), covers less ground than Fred, creates less chances than Fred, makes less forward passes than Fred and has the same number of goals as Fred.

https://fbref.com/en/stathead/playe...0-2021&player_id6=6b47c5db&p6yrfrom=2020-2021

There are probably 3000 posts on this forum about how Fred isn’t good enough. How does buying Rice and playing him with McT, or Fred, or Pogba or Matic get us closer to challenging for a title? I do agree that we need a serious upgrade in the midfield 2 partnership, but I think we need a player that’s more of a deep lying playmaker, but has that defensive tactical awareness ( and a bit of a nasty streak!) that Pogba doesn’t have.
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Ings is to be the squad player as he's more suited to he a depth striker than Martial is IMO, and Martial can raise funds.

Rice is because we need a defensive midfielder. I'm not looking at him to give progressive passes, scores goals or create chances. Ideally playing him as a DM would enable us to play Pogba in midfield, or someone like Pogba next to him. There is no midfielder who is a creative and really progressive passer who is also a brilliant defensive midfielder. Fabinho is the closest to it. Ndidi would be the dream defensive mid signing but he's unrealistic, so Rice you hope can turn into that. But realistically we need both a defensive mid and a deep lying playmaker next to them.
 
The more I think of it, I believe signing Rice will not rectify the issue we have. i.e. We need a player who can take the ball of CB's/Keeper on the half turn and play it without giving the ball away, plus he shall be a midfield dictator. Carrick/Alonso would be a great addition to his squad and exactly what we need.

I think the only player who is closer and attainable to that profile is Saul. I think he is really good on the ball and dictates the play reasonably well. Plus he is defensively sound, he is not Pogba and can hold his own defensively, thus alongside Fred or Mctominay the midfield will significantly improve.

Rice would be a slightly better version of Mctominay, Fred and Rice would not allow us to dictate the matches and when pressed they are prone to giving the ball away. lastly another issue with the passing of Fred and Mctominay is, its always sideways and backwards never through the lines, this is also where Saul will help.

I heard he is also attainable as Atletico are having financial troubles and could leave for 60M pounds, this is similar figure to what it would take to attain Rice.

Lastly this is one piece of jigsaw we would still need a CB (preferably Varane/Kounde), Sancho and a backup RB (Trippier would be fine).

The total outlay expected would be around:
Saul (60M)
Sancho (75M)
Varane (50M)
Trippier (10M)
Total 195M

Total Outgoings:
DDG 10M
Dalot 5M
Lingard 25M
Matic 6M
Mata 2M
Periera 5M
Total approx 50M (net 145 - 150M spent)
 
bosnian_red said:
Ings is to be the squad player as he's more suited to he a depth striker than Martial is IMO, and Martial can raise funds.
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this. Martial is not a winger, and he also is not a backup striker. Either he's the no 1 striker, or he should be sold. And it seems highly unlikely he will be the no 1. Ings makes good sense from that perspective.
 
In my opinion we need in order of priority;

1. RW - Sancho.

2. CB - Varane would be ideal but anyone who is a significant upgrade on Lindelof and complements Maguire.

3. CDM - Someone needs to replace Matic.

4. ST - Some would argue this is a higher priority but I don't imagine we'll get Kane, but I do think we should try like hell for Haaland next summer.

5. RB - cover for AWB. Trippier if he's available on the cheap.
 
Dont understand why there are so many including squad signings in this summers budget like Ings and Trippier for example. We have in central defence and the double pivot three positions that are weak in the first eleven that need addressing and concerns over the right wing and up front.

There is of course a drop off in certain positions from the starters to second choices that are high, but I dont think we are not challenging for trophies due to lack of depth of our squad, but the quality of the first team in key areas.

Is there a genuine belief that addign depth in Trippier and the goals of Ings can significantly close the gap and improve us? A lot of people were generally slating Trippier on here until he went to Atletico. I would be very surprised and disappointed if we made a move for either player.

As for Rice being the wrong profile, I disagree. He is the right profile of player we should be looking at to replace the likes of Fred....he is however the wrong price. There are a whole host of talented midfield players people are mentioning and pretty much most of them as a pair would come to a similar total in fees to Rice....which would be ideal as for me we shouldnt be thinking about the rihgt profile of player to play alongside one of them, more about giving serious competition to both of them to retain there places. That and the central defence are key to me personally now Cavani has renewed for next season. Of course a marquee signing liek Sancho would be ideal....but doing anything close to that really doesnt leave us money for improving the squad too
 
I am starting to warm to the idea of Camavinga.

Sancho, Kounde and Camavinga - that will be a solid investment for the next 10 years. If we sell well, we can find the money. I think the first two are definitely gettable. We would have completion for Camavinga - but hopefully we can excite him with the project and the chance to play in the biggest league in the world.
 
Infestissumam said:
strengthening the spine has to be the main objective this summer ... a strong DM and a good CB to complement Maguire are a must. I'd love to think we can get those and Sancho on top, that'd be a massive step in the right direction. Not exactly holding my breath though. In a perfect world, we get Sancho, Rice and a quality CB, but is the club willing to shell out this kind of money? I doubt it.
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Agree. My concern is we're willing but will spend all efforts on trying to get Kane and end up missing the boat on our other targets because we seemingly can't do more than one deal at a time. Hope I'm wrong.
I'd prefer Sancho over Kane. Both will transform us without a doubt but I think the cost of Kane for the number of years he will be at his peak is not a good return on investment. Sancho could be here for at least a decade if we start winning things.
We do need to sure up defense wether that's a combo of a CB and DM or at least one of those. I'm leaning more towards a DM as being a higher priority.
 
bosnian_red said:
Ings is to be the squad player as he's more suited to he a depth striker than Martial is IMO, and Martial can raise funds.

Rice is because we need a defensive midfielder. I'm not looking at him to give progressive passes, scores goals or create chances. Ideally playing him as a DM would enable us to play Pogba in midfield, or someone like Pogba next to him. There is no midfielder who is a creative and really progressive passer who is also a brilliant defensive midfielder. Fabinho is the closest to it. Ndidi would be the dream defensive mid signing but he's unrealistic, so Rice you hope can turn into that. But realistically we need both a defensive mid and a deep lying playmaker next to them.
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Agree we need a defensive midfielder, but at 70m, Rice would have to be the second coming of Roy Keane to justify the fee. Kimmich and Casemiro are outstanding defensively and are great passers. Kante is a decent passer of the ball — better than Rice. I’m pretty sure Rice would cost more than Camavinga who is generally accepted as the world’s best DM prospect. For 70m, we shouldn’t be hoping he develops a passing game!!!

I have only watched 10 or 15 West ham matches this season, but not once did I think — Wow, that Declan Rice is monster — we must buy him at any cost!!!! Soucek was their best midfielder by a mile.
 
Victor Osimhen would be a great striker signing for any big club, if Napoli were forced to sell due to not making the Champions League today.

Koulibaly will probably end up at Madrid or PSG.
 
Champagne Football said:
Victor Osimhen would be a great striker signing for any big club, if Napoli were forced to sell due to not making the Champions League today.

Koulibaly will probably end up at Madrid or PSG.
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If they are forced to sell, I hope we are in for Fabian Ruiz.
 
Fred and McTominay are the weakest component of our team. We must upgrade in midfield.
 
2 signings gives us the below squad. That squad will win the league. If your names not up there, you're cut. We probably can't get either so maybe Sancho and a sneaky Wijnaldum steal. :)

De Gea
Henderson
Romero

Bissaka
Dalot
Maguire
Lindelof
Bailly
Tuanzebe
Shaw
Telles

Fred
Mctominay
Ndidi
Donny

Bruno
Pogba
Rashford
Greenwood
James
Cavani
Amad
Martial
Grealish
 
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jamesjimmybyrondean said:
I think Sancho is top priority and I'm quite certain we would get it done this time. Then we have all these reliable links to top CBs and none about a DM which should be priority number one. We've wanted a CB and Sancho since last season, I don't see how we wouldn't get this done this time. The concern I have is that these two would finish all or almost all our budget and would leave little or nothing for us to be able to get a top DM.

For me, if the plan is to get Sancho and CB and play Pogba at the double pivot then we should just sell him and use the money to get a top DM. As talented as Pogba is, whenever he plays at the double pivot his talents gets watered down and he becomes a defensive liability. At that point he is not hard to replace as we wouldn't be able to enjoy his abilities at the max.

If we are planning planning on playing Pogba more at the double pivot next season then I'd swap him for Varane. Which should allow us to get a top DM and Sancho. My DM choice would be Locatelli as that would replace the deep lying playmaking Pogba offers at the double pivot.

(Based on the reported price tags)
Pogba - Varane swap
Sancho - 78m
Locatelli - 35m
Camavinga - 35m

Total - 148m

We should be able to sell Dalot Lingard Pereira Matic James Bailly/Tuanzebe for at least 45m. Leaving our netspend at around 100m

​
----------------------------Cavani---------------------------

Rashford-------------Bruno----------------Sancho

-----------Camavinga-----------Locatelli------------

Shaw--------Maguire-------Varane----------Awb

------------------------Henderson------------------------
Click to expand...
I agree with you and it’s why I don’t think Ole is looking at a DM as one of his 2-3 signings. Although it should be a priority, I’ve made my peace with the fact that we’re not getting one.
 
jesperjaap said:
Dont understand why there are so many including squad signings in this summers budget like Ings and Trippier for example. We have in central defence and the double pivot three positions that are weak in the first eleven that need addressing and concerns over the right wing and up front.

There is of course a drop off in certain positions from the starters to second choices that are high, but I dont think we are not challenging for trophies due to lack of depth of our squad, but the quality of the first team in key areas.

Is there a genuine belief that addign depth in Trippier and the goals of Ings can significantly close the gap and improve us? A lot of people were generally slating Trippier on here until he went to Atletico. I would be very surprised and disappointed if we made a move for either player.

As for Rice being the wrong profile, I disagree. He is the right profile of player we should be looking at to replace the likes of Fred....he is however the wrong price. There are a whole host of talented midfield players people are mentioning and pretty much most of them as a pair would come to a similar total in fees to Rice....which would be ideal as for me we shouldnt be thinking about the rihgt profile of player to play alongside one of them, more about giving serious competition to both of them to retain there places. That and the central defence are key to me personally now Cavani has renewed for next season. Of course a marquee signing liek Sancho would be ideal....but doing anything close to that really doesnt leave us money for improving the squad too
Click to expand...

No one is suggesting those players help us close the gap only that they are likely squad additions to help us in a campaign with lots of games. We aren't buying 5 first team players.

We are buying 2 or 3 and some squad additions for depth.
 
bsCallout said:
No one is suggesting those players help us close the gap only that they are likely squad additions to help us in a campaign with lots of games. We aren't buying 5 first team players.

We are buying 2 or 3 and some squad additions for depth.
Click to expand...

I bet we sign neither of them
 
This is pure football manager muppetry because I don't think this many in's and out's are realistic in a Covid-stricken transfer market but I think the prices involved in each deal are fair and shows, at least theoretically, what could be achieved this summer.

In:
  • GK - Heaton (Free)
  • RB - Trippier (£20 million)
  • CB - Varane (£50 million)
  • CDM - Tchouaméni (£35 million)
  • RW - Sancho (£80 million)
Total = £185 million

Out:
  • Henderson = £30 million
  • Romero = Free
  • Dalot = £5 million
  • Jones = Free
  • Pereira = £5 million
  • James = £15 million
  • Lingard = £30 million
Total = £85 million

Loans:
  • Williams
  • Laird
  • Mengi
  • Garner
  • Pellistri
  • Elanga
Net spend = £100 million

Gives us a squad of 26 players (27 with Hannibal) with a lot of versatility:

De Gea Heaton Grant

AWB Trippier
Varane Lindelof Bailly
Maguire Tuanzebe
Shaw Telles

Tchouaméni McTominay Matic
Pogba Fred VDB
Bruno Mata Hannibal

Sancho Diallo
Cavani Greenwood
Rashford Martial


Assuming we're sticking with the 4-2-3-1 pivot system I'd like to see Pogba shifted between the LCM and LAM positions based on the quality of the opposition as the rest of the first XI will largely stay the same:
  • Against teams where we’ll look to dominate the ball

De Gea
AWB - Varane - Maguire - Shaw
Tchouaméni - Pogba
Sancho - Bruno - Rashford
Cavani​

  • Against teams who will look to dominate the ball against us

De Gea
AWB - Varane - Maguire - Shaw
Tchouaméni - Fred
Sancho - Bruno - Pogba
Cavani​
 
What do we still need? Aka The never ending story.

Attacking Midfielder, Defensive Midfielder, Central Defender to partner Harry, and cover for Wan.B.

I've gone for:
............................................De Gea (Henderson)
Wan.B (Trippier) - Varane (Lindelöf) - Maguire (Bailly) - Shaw (Telles)
.................................Rice (McTom) - Pogba (Fred)
Sancho/G'Wood (Diallo) - Bruno (Sancho) - Sancho/Rashford (James)
...........................................Cavani (Martial/G'Wood)

Which might be possible if we can leverage swaps plus cash for Rice/Lingard and Varane/VDB.

Then next year try for Haaland, and if successful, let Martial go.
 
If we are looking at a budget of 50-70m net spend due to covid and and the other excuses then I'd go for

Kounde/Varane - 50m
Rice/Locatelli - 40m + Lingard or 35m for Locatelli
Vazquez - free

I'm sure we can get at least 40m of player sales

GK options - Henderson DDG
CB options - Maguire Lindelof Tuanzebe Varane
Fullbacks - Telles Shaw Awb Vazquez
AM - Bruno, Pogba
Double pivot - VdB Rice Mctominay Fred
Front 3 - Vazquez Martial Cavani Greenwood Pogba Rashford Amad

Cavani
Pogba Bruno Greenwood
VdB Rice
Shaw Maguire Varane AWB
Henderson
​
Bench : DDG Vazquez Lindelof Rashford Martial Telles Fred Mctominay Amad
 
AgentSmith said:
This is pure football manager muppetry because I don't think this many in's and out's are realistic in a Covid-stricken transfer market but I think the prices involved in each deal are fair and shows, at least theoretically, what could be achieved this summer.

In:
  • GK - Heaton (Free)
  • RB - Trippier (£20 million)
  • CB - Varane (£50 million)
  • CDM - Tchouaméni (£35 million)
  • RW - Sancho (£80 million)
Total = £185 million

Out:
  • Henderson = £30 million
  • Romero = Free
  • Dalot = £5 million
  • Jones = Free
  • Pereira = £5 million
  • James = £15 million
  • Lingard = £30 million
Total = £85 million

Loans:
  • Williams
  • Laird
  • Mengi
  • Garner
  • Pellistri
  • Elanga
Net spend = £100 million

Gives us a squad of 26 players (27 with Hannibal) with a lot of versatility:

De Gea Heaton Grant

AWB Trippier
Varane Lindelof Bailly
Maguire Tuanzebe
Shaw Telles

Tchouaméni McTominay Matic
Pogba Fred VDB
Bruno Mata Hannibal

Sancho Diallo
Cavani Greenwood
Rashford Martial


Assuming we're sticking with the 4-2-3-1 pivot system I'd like to see Pogba shifted between the LCM and LAM positions based on the quality of the opposition as the rest of the first XI will largely stay the same:
  • Against teams where we’ll look to dominate the ball

De Gea
AWB - Varane - Maguire - Shaw
Tchouaméni - Pogba
Sancho - Bruno - Rashford
Cavani​

  • Against teams who will look to dominate the ball against us

De Gea
AWB - Varane - Maguire - Shaw
Tchouaméni - Fred
Sancho - Bruno - Pogba
Cavani​
Click to expand...

Now that would be a top quality window but don't think we have any interest in Tchouameni and still not sure who is our top CB target either out of Varane, Torres & Kounde
 
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