What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

L1nk said:
People are so deluded in this thread, claiming we need 4 odd players minumum after the Greenwood situation (which we do) and then suggesting Declan Rice should be one of those players. People don’t learn, you want us to spunk over 100mill on a single player we don't even know will do well for us then expect to plug all the other holes in the squad knowing who our owners are? How about we instead go for a cheaper alternative and then use the rest of the money to fix the damn squad, this is basically Maguire and AWB all over again, you’re basically our scouting department by the sounds of it
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Why are you getting so annoyed? This is only peoples opinions. We have no influence on reality!

i personally believe that rice would improve our midfield significantly. But it will come at a cost, because he can’t do it all himself and secondly whilst I don’t believe he will cost 100m, it will still be a big chunk of a glazer budget. I live in hope that someday we may get to see the mythical ‘war chest’
 
red4ever 79 said:
Cavani is also out of contract and leaving this summer. You missed him

How the hell are we supposed to plan a recruitment overhaul when we dont have a manager in place? Oh ye I forgot Murtough, Fletcher and Arnold are planning it. Rinse, repeat same mistakes. Until we stop the board interfering we will not improve.
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Murtough and Fletcher aren't part of the board.
 
golden_blunder said:
Why are you getting so annoyed? This is only peoples opinions. We have no influence on reality!

i personally believe that rice would improve our midfield significantly. But it will come at a cost, because he can’t do it all himself and secondly whilst I don’t believe he will cost 100m, it will still be a big chunk of a glazer budget. I live in hope that someday we may get to see the mythical ‘war chest’
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It's not annoyed, maybe I come across this way because it seems like people want us to repeat the same mistakes, apologies if it comes across that way. And whilst you don't influence reality, if we are honest it's not too far from the reality of our previous summers under the Glazers. I too would love Declan Rice and think he would upgrade our midfield significantly, I just don't see us getting Declan Rice and then upgrading the rest of our squad where it needs upgrading, he would be our only real purchase and then maybe maybe we'd get some fodder, but that's about it, and honestly I cannot take another summer like that. I just want us to not spend big on a single player and actually spend wisely for a change, I know this is wishful thinking!
 
L1nk said:
It's not annoyed, maybe I come across this way because it seems like people want us to repeat the same mistakes, apologies if it comes across that way. And whilst you don't influence reality, if we are honest it's not too far from the reality of our previous summers under the Glazers. I too would love Declan Rice and think he would upgrade our midfield significantly, I just don't see us getting Declan Rice and then upgrading the rest of our squad where it needs upgrading, he would be our only real purchase and then maybe maybe we'd get some fodder, but that's about it, and honestly I cannot take another summer like that. I just want us to not spend big on a single player and actually spend wisely for a change, I know this is wishful thinking!
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Fair enough. no need for apology.
I think rice would be one of the better options available but realistically unless we can do a deal to spread payments, we won’t be able to afford him. Our budget is usually around £85m. Let’s see if we can generate more budget from sales and salary saving. I’d love us to go young and hungry, with less focus on big salary’s and get a squad that’s in it together for success not fame. I read Leicester players partying after getting beaten by Forest. That says it all about modern players. We need players who want no other distractions. Over to you murtough and ralfy
 
We need a lot still.

Manager: Need a new one. Progressive and with fresh ideas. Will have to correct the player power culture that appears to be in the dressing room. Personally I want Ten Hag as we know Poch's ceiling.

GK: Genuinely still think we'll want to replace de Gea and Henderson long term. I love de Gea and he has really returned to form this season but he is extremely limited in terms of his distribution and anticipation. If we want to play like all the other teams do then we need a brave sweeper keeper who is comfortable on the ball. I'm only going based on rumours with Henderson but he seems to strop a lot and some leaks have been attributed to him. I don't know any keepers that would fit the bill for what we need though.

RB: AWB needs to be sold imo as his limitations are showing more with each game. I'm still not overly impressed with Dalot though. A lot of aimless crosses and he has this ability to look threatening without ever actually being threatening. I think playing instead of AWB just makes him look better by comparison. He could be a decent back-up and still has time to progress but I think we'd need a new starting RB. I like the look of Tariq Lamptey. We could even recall Laird as a back-up.

CB: Varane is a very elegant player and looks great tbh. Lindelof also partners well with him. Maguire can be exposed on some days and can be imperious on others so he would be good depth. I think one more CB would be good but it's not the most urgent position for us. Bailly, Tuanzebe and Jones can be sold.

LB: I don't understand why some have turned on Shaw so quickly. Very short memories. Again some issues in this position but it's the least of our worries. I'd keep Telles and Shaw. Williams can be sold.

CDM: Big problem area as we all know. I know it would cost a lot but I absolutely love Declan Rice. I think he's got fantastic character, a really likable style of play and could be a future captain. The only issue is obviously his price and whether he'd be more likely to be lured to Chelsea. I also think he is more of a Box-to-Box style player, but he is more than capable of sitting against the better teams. If I'm really going for every last detail here then we'd likely need a back-up for this position too. Perhaps someone like Aurelien Tchouameni or Boubacar Kamara. Matic should be sold.

CM/CAM: If Pogba & Lingard we'll need a playmaker. I'm assuming the plan is to go with a DM and two '8's'. One being Bruno and the other being an industrial B2B style player, so basically Fred and McTominay. I think we'd need to look at a well rounded CM who can pick a pass but doesn't shirk from a tackle. One thing Bruno really lacks is agility, so someone who can reliably turn away from trouble would be perfect. A player in the mold of Kovacic would be good. Tielemans possibly? Though he's not had the best season. I rate Ward-Prowse too, but he'd have the same issues as Bruno really. Bringing Garner and Hannibal into the first team would help us have good depth in this area too. Mata to retire/be sold. Remains to be seen what happen with DVB but if he does well at Everton I'd keep him. The dream midfielder for me would be Jude Bellingham.

LW/RW: Rashford needs to play on the left as his one and only position. He's rubbish on the right. Sancho can play either side but I'd like to see him used RW for now. With Greenwood ending his own career we'll need new blood here. Elanga is good but I have no idea how good yet. Martial should be sold when he returns. I think someone like Pedro Neto would be good for us. Also a cheeky bid for Bukayo Saka could be interesting depending on where both clubs finish. Amad for depth.

ST: The worst quandary of them all. Cavani will go imo whcih leaves Ronaldo as our only striker. His limitations and strengths are well documented. If he wants to stay I'd keep him for the second season but only as a back-up striker. If we're a serious club (which we aren't) we won't keep starting him in games just to prolong his victory lap. I think he could be (and had been) incredibly useful in the CL and it suits his game more than the Prem. We need to go big for a starting striker. Obviously my choice would be Erling Haaland but it's probably unrealistic. Perhaps Adeyemi or Isak?

Not saying all that is realistic but it's the areas I think we need quality before we can even think about challenging. We're somehow miles off it again despite it feeling like we only needed a couple of players last summer.
 
Rozay said:
With the plethora of likely outgoings, we are going to need to integrate a few kids full time next season and probably bring in 4 starting level players.

We could feasibly lose, for one reason or another:

Henderson
Jones
Bailly
Dalot
Matic
Van De Beek
Pogba
Mata
Lingard
Martial
Greenwood
Cavani
Ronaldo

Some of those will stay, but it may not be as simple as we think. We’ve probably got little good will with the likes of Martial, who forced a Jan exit in order to play games, which would suggest he’d have little interest in returning to resume his role as a substitute. Bailly may make a similar decision.

Many of those leaving will not bring in a fee, but they will clear significant wages from our books.

I think we can raise funds from selling:

Henderson £20m-£30m
Van de Beek £20m-£30m
Martial £20m-£30m
Tuanzebe £10m-£15m
Pereira £8m
Williams £10m-£15m

Dalot can probably attract permanent bids now instead of just loans, and Bailly also has a value. All that could cover Rice.

I’d like to see Laird, Hannibal, Elanga and possibly Garner in the squad next season. Then bring in two midfielders and a striker. We may need Amad back in the squad too, as Sancho is the only RW option at present, pending Greenwood. We can do it.

Rice
De Jong/Other
Striker
Laird
Garner
Amad
Hannibal

can be the reinforcements to the squad. Half of those leaving barely player anyway. Of the meaningful departures, Pogba will be replaced by De Jong/Other, a top striker to replace Ronaldo/Cavani/Martial (one of them needs to ideally stay) and the rest are all squaddies who barely kick a ball anyway and can be replaced by our kids.
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Agreed, I think the amount heading out the door has some thinking we need to buy half a dozen players when in truth we've been overstocked for ages with needless contract renewals of players with little to offer. I think Hannibal, Garner, Amad, Laird and Mengi could well be used as the squad depth next season.

If we plan to build around 4-3-3 then it's pretty clear where we are short.

CB
Varane
Lindelof
Maguire
Bailly
Mengi

FB
Shaw
Dalot
Telles
AWB
Laird

#6
Garner

#8
Bruno
Mctominay
Fred
Hannibal

WF
Sancho
Rashford
Elanga
Amad

#9
Ronaldo

We need a starting #6 and #8 and another option at #9.
 
Rashford CF 1 Sancho
Bruno DM Fred
LB Varane Jones Dalot
DDG

Elanga CF2 (Amad/Pellistri/Shoretire?)
Mejbri Garner McTominay (Matic/Donny?)
Shaw Bailly Lindelof Laird (Bernard/Mengi?)
Heaton (Vitek?)

In:
2 CFs
1 DM
1 LB

Out:
Henderson
Maguire
AWB
Telles
Matic/Donny
Martial
Ronaldo
---
Pogba
Lingard
Cavani
Mata
 
We need a RW (again).
Priority for the summer at this point I would say:
DM, CM, RW, ST (would be higher but we're stuck with Ronaldo), RB, LB.
 
dinostar77 said:
This. Though midfielders who can press.
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One thing - An OCD billionaire with a huge ego and a hunger for trophies as our owner.
 
MUFC OK said:
One thing - An OCD billionaire with a huge ego and a hunger for trophies as our owner.
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No, its really, really simple. We run the club for football reaons, we have a strong football decision making process including DoF etc. These individuals are head hunted from around the world. We revamp scouting and youth development to make sure we have a similar apprach and style from age 10 to first team. Any new manager is aware of the structure and agrees to work with it. We have plenty of money and by stopping the stupid galactico signings, so we would probably reduce overall spend. Its really not that hard. Likes of Chelse and City (From scratch) have done it. Bayern do it. Ajax have done it for years.
 
Gordon Godot said:
No, its really, really simple. We run the club for football reaons, we have a strong football decision making process including DoF etc. These individuals are head hunted from around the world. We revamp scouting and youth development to make sure we have a similar apprach and style from age 10 to first team. Any new manager is aware of the structure and agrees to work with it. We have plenty of money and by stopping the stupid galactico signings, so we would probably reduce overall spend. Its really not that hard. Likes of Chelse and City (From scratch) have done it. Bayern do it. Ajax have done it for years.
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So you're saying in addition to resources, footballing acumen and ambition? Yeah I can agree.

We need to adopt a best in class approach centred on a relentless desire to be as successful as possible on the pitch. For these owners the footballing side of things is a tick box exercise centred on doing the bare minimum to maintain a healthy share price and keep the revenue streams rolling in.
 
Not to panic buy.

Realise that we are a long way off and one, two, three players won't help.

Push more for academy players to player. Seek out bargains. Install a football culture and ethos back into the club.

Highlight players that will fit into our new structure.

Set yourself five year target.
 
Definite keeps: Sancho, Rashford, Elanga, Bruno, Scott, Varane, Dalot

Keep for an additional year: Maguire, Shaw, AWB, Telles, Fred, Lindelof, Henderson, Donny

Promote to first team squad: Hannibal, Garner, Laird, Mengi

Get rid / sell the rest.

Then I’d buy…
1) Striker/forward
2) midfielder/DM
3) CB
4) RB
5) LB

in order of priority. Realistically, we’ll probably only manage to get 2 of what we need. But if that’s the case let’s blood in some of the youth.
 
Current thoughts, go proper Rangnick ball - sign several cheap, young, hungry hidden gem types rather than spending lots on like 1 or 2 players:

Manager - Erik Ten Hag

Goalkeepers - David de Gea, Maarten Vandevoordt (20m), Tom Heaton (loan/sell Henderson)
Right Backs - Diogo Dalot, Calvin Ramsey (15m) (loan/sell Wan-Bissaka, keep Laird loaned out until he can prove his fitness consistently)
Left Backs - Luke Shaw, Aaron Hickey (15m) (sell Telles)
Centre Backs - Raphaël Varane, Nico Schlotterbeck (15m), Victor Lindelof, Teden Mengi (sell Maguire to Newcastle if at all possible, sell Bailly and Jones)
Central Midfielders - Boubacar Kamara (free), Scott McTominay, Fred, James Garner, (Pogba to go on a free, sell Matic)
Attacking Midfielders - Bruno Fernandes, Donny van de Beek, Shola Shoretire (Lingard to go on a free, Mejbri loaned out)
Right Wingers - Jadon Sancho, Mohamed-Ali Cho (15m) (keep Amad loaned out, sack Greenwood, release Mata)
Left Wingers - Marcus Rashford, Anthony Elanga (sell Martial)
Strikers/False Nines - Cristiano Ronaldo, Charles De Ketelaere (25m), Joe Hugill, Charlie McNeill (Cavani to leave)

Basically 7 players of incredibly high potential for £105m at a guess. A similar amount would be what West Ham demand for Declan Rice alone. I rate him highly but this is ridiculous. Also, there's the likes of Wellens, Iqbal, Fernandez, Vitek and co who could surprise and break through. This is fairly typical of United where some of the most talked about youngsters flop whereas those who fly under the radar are often the ones who make it.
 
We need to be realistic. The net spend will not be more than £100-120m this summer.

Priority signings - DM and ATT.

If we are lucky a RB.

Also we need to make some sort of decision with Maguire. Do we cut our losses and try and get 60m for him? Then he will need to be replaced. Same with AWB? £130m worth of talent.

Haaland or Mbappe should be the only options we are looking to be bringing in, anything else and we don't make big improvements.
 
Gordon Godot said:
No, its really, really simple. We run the club for football reaons, we have a strong football decision making process including DoF etc. These individuals are head hunted from around the world. We revamp scouting and youth development to make sure we have a similar apprach and style from age 10 to first team. Any new manager is aware of the structure and agrees to work with it. We have plenty of money and by stopping the stupid galactico signings, so we would probably reduce overall spend. Its really not that hard. Likes of Chelse and City (From scratch) have done it. Bayern do it. Ajax have done it for years.
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Agree. Getting several, random, talented players in will not help us. Players are, on the whole, overrated by agents and fans, almost adding a pressure onto clubs to sign them for FOMO. Only people who benefit are 90% of the time are agents and players.
 
There's quite a few positions that need upgrades and midfield is a obvious area for improvement. But I'd love to see the club shift the likes of Bailly, Jones etc and bring in someone like 20 year old Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig to challenge Maguire. He's very good on the ball and is also someone that is strong off the ball. He's also left footed and would be a good signing for the mid to long-term imo.

 
CB, RB, CDM, CM (If Pogba stays, no need for a CM), W and a #9.

Yes, it's that bad.

Maguire, AWB, Lingard, Mata, Matic and Cavani all need to be moved on/sold/let go. Greenwood won't play for us again.

Rashford isn't good enough to be a starter for us and McFred certainly aren't either. There is a possibility of Ronaldo leaving - even if he stays, we need a #9 to take over from the season after.
 
@Adnan, yep Gvardiol is gonna be immense. Any thoughts on my suggestions here? Curious as you seem very clued up about lesser known players around Europe. I thought about going for Josko but Schlotterbeck's contract is up in 2023 and belongs to a less wealthy club so would be cheaper. I do think Gvardiol has a higher ceiling, however.
 
  • DM - obviously
  • ST - Cavani, Ronaldo gone in the summer likely (and hopefully). Desperate here.
  • CM - someone who can control, slow things down and speed the tempo up when needed
  • RB - Dalot is decent but nothing special. Wan Bissaka is nothing
  • Backup goalkeeper
Outgoing:
  • Pogba
  • Cavani
  • Ronaldo
  • Mata
  • Lingard
  • Jones
  • Henderson
  • Matic
  • Bailly
  • Wan Bissaka
Ten Hag in as manager.
Signings:
  • 2 of Brozović, Kessie, Kamara, Bennacer
  • Mazraoui
  • Isak/Schick/Gerard Moreno... Slim pickings
  • Any goalkeeper
Greenwoods situation has really fecked us IMO. Feel like we can rebuild in an OK way for the rest of the team but we're fecked up front and there aren't any options either.
 
SparkedIntoLife said:
@Adnan, yep Gvardiol is gonna be immense. Any thoughts on my suggestions here? Curious as you seem very clued up about lesser known players around Europe. I thought about going for Josko but Schlotterbeck's contract is up in 2023 and belongs to a less wealthy club so would be cheaper. I do think Gvardiol has a higher ceiling, however.
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I've had a look at your suggestions and i'll be honest, I've never seen them play with the exception of Boubacar Kamara. But your Keeper suggestion intrigued me and I looked him up on YouTube and he looks like a big prospect for the future. He's only 19, and from the video I watched, he was displaying a proactive game style, both with and without the ball. He was even distributing the ball beautifully with his weaker foot. So he's definitely a player that i'm sure a lot of clubs will be watching closely.
 
Solius said:
We need a lot still.

Manager: Need a new one. Progressive and with fresh ideas. Will have to correct the player power culture that appears to be in the dressing room. Personally I want Ten Hag as we know Poch's ceiling.

GK: Genuinely still think we'll want to replace de Gea and Henderson long term. I love de Gea and he has really returned to form this season but he is extremely limited in terms of his distribution and anticipation. If we want to play like all the other teams do then we need a brave sweeper keeper who is comfortable on the ball. I'm only going based on rumours with Henderson but he seems to strop a lot and some leaks have been attributed to him. I don't know any keepers that would fit the bill for what we need though.

RB: AWB needs to be sold imo as his limitations are showing more with each game. I'm still not overly impressed with Dalot though. A lot of aimless crosses and he has this ability to look threatening without ever actually being threatening. I think playing instead of AWB just makes him look better by comparison. He could be a decent back-up and still has time to progress but I think we'd need a new starting RB. I like the look of Tariq Lamptey. We could even recall Laird as a back-up.

CB: Varane is a very elegant player and looks great tbh. Lindelof also partners well with him. Maguire can be exposed on some days and can be imperious on others so he would be good depth. I think one more CB would be good but it's not the most urgent position for us. Bailly, Tuanzebe and Jones can be sold.

LB: I don't understand why some have turned on Shaw so quickly. Very short memories. Again some issues in this position but it's the least of our worries. I'd keep Telles and Shaw. Williams can be sold.

CDM: Big problem area as we all know. I know it would cost a lot but I absolutely love Declan Rice. I think he's got fantastic character, a really likable style of play and could be a future captain. The only issue is obviously his price and whether he'd be more likely to be lured to Chelsea. I also think he is more of a Box-to-Box style player, but he is more than capable of sitting against the better teams. If I'm really going for every last detail here then we'd likely need a back-up for this position too. Perhaps someone like Aurelien Tchouameni or Boubacar Kamara. Matic should be sold.

CM/CAM: If Pogba & Lingard we'll need a playmaker. I'm assuming the plan is to go with a DM and two '8's'. One being Bruno and the other being an industrial B2B style player, so basically Fred and McTominay. I think we'd need to look at a well rounded CM who can pick a pass but doesn't shirk from a tackle. One thing Bruno really lacks is agility, so someone who can reliably turn away from trouble would be perfect. A player in the mold of Kovacic would be good. Tielemans possibly? Though he's not had the best season. I rate Ward-Prowse too, but he'd have the same issues as Bruno really. Bringing Garner and Hannibal into the first team would help us have good depth in this area too. Mata to retire/be sold. Remains to be seen what happen with DVB but if he does well at Everton I'd keep him. The dream midfielder for me would be Jude Bellingham.

LW/RW: Rashford needs to play on the left as his one and only position. He's rubbish on the right. Sancho can play either side but I'd like to see him used RW for now. With Greenwood ending his own career we'll need new blood here. Elanga is good but I have no idea how good yet. Martial should be sold when he returns. I think someone like Pedro Neto would be good for us. Also a cheeky bid for Bukayo Saka could be interesting depending on where both clubs finish. Amad for depth.

ST: The worst quandary of them all. Cavani will go imo whcih leaves Ronaldo as our only striker. His limitations and strengths are well documented. If he wants to stay I'd keep him for the second season but only as a back-up striker. If we're a serious club (which we aren't) we won't keep starting him in games just to prolong his victory lap. I think he could be (and had been) incredibly useful in the CL and it suits his game more than the Prem. We need to go big for a starting striker. Obviously my choice would be Erling Haaland but it's probably unrealistic. Perhaps Adeyemi or Isak?

Not saying all that is realistic but it's the areas I think we need quality before we can even think about challenging. We're somehow miles off it again despite it feeling like we only needed a couple of players last summer.
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It's shocking to realize that of the 13 players you recommend to be sold, 11 were either purchased or signed a contract extension since 2019. Bailly, Tuanzebe and Mata's contracts were extended just last year! Wow, we suck at renewing contracts. Henderson, Williams, and Matic extended in 2020.
 
I would rather buy one quality than just buying 7 non quality or someone need years time to be developed to be quality. To me, Rice and Raphinha will be my personal priority as I watched them played and they are good enough for us. Is it realistic, I think it’s still realistic because we had 150m net spent in 19/20 season. Both Rice and Raphinha would cost about the same or less. As for Pogba’s replacement, we could offer him a new contract or replace him with Kessie who is also free in the summer.

Realistically we are not going to sign a new centre back unless if we sell Maguire or Lindelof, if we sell them then that’s a money we can use to buy a new centre back. The same with full backs, we have 4 full backs now and we need to sell first before we buy. That’s how we works in the past, sell first before buy. That’s realistically how this club works. If you think we will just sign centre back or full back without selling first then it’s not realistic. As for striker, we won’t sign an expensive striker with ronaldo around and if we lose Ronaldo then again another money we can use to buy a new striker as him and Cavani are on high wages.
 
I think what we should do for now, is to play Bruno in a false #9 role and look to improve the midfield and at CB. And those improvements should be made with a view to playing the game in the opponents half. So signing a CB who is good on the ball, as well as being physically and athletically gifted, is a advantage in the EPL imo, if we want to play a front foot game.

Below are a couple of tweets quoting Luis Enrique about wanting to play the game in the opponents half. So it's important we sign the correct profile of player, if the plan is to appoint a coach with the below mindset, which is a mindset that ten hag also believes in.

 
Out (surely or possibly): Henderson (hopefully on loan), Jones (if there are buyers), Bailly, Matić, Pogba, Cavani, Ronaldo, Mata, Lingard, Greenwood, Martial. That's 11 players that could be gone in 6 months from now. I don't think club will let 11 players to leave, so expect at least few of those to stay, like Ronaldo, Jones and Pogba.

We definitely need a DM. Another midfielder if Pogba is to leave. A striker even if Ronaldo stays for another season.

.
 
From a strict footballing perspective, the prick from Bradford has really complicated our next transfer window. Instead of focusing exclusively on upgrading the midfield with 2 signings and a new CB, we now need a forward or two. There is no way Haaland will want to join us and it looks more and more like City and possibly Barca are favourites for his signature. We will need our transfer strategy to be creative and smart. Jonathan David from Lille is one option. He’s having a great season and a big reason why Canada is on pace to make the World Cup. But much like Zakaria, the idiots running our board may see David not fitting “the profile” for our club.

While we have options in the reserves, McNeil and Hugill look like they’re a few years away physically from competing for a first team spot. Shoretire and Hannibal would also benefit with loan spells. It seems “Ole’s great rebuild” never really happened when you consider the holes that remain in the squad.
 
We need a RB, two midfielders, a RW and a striker urgently. That will take years in itself to resolve.

Next manager is on a hiding to nothing, we’re going to be shit for a good while unless we are extremely ruthless in the short term which is never going to happen.
 
Adnan said:
I've had a look at your suggestions and i'll be honest, I've never seen them play with the exception of Boubacar Kamara. But your Keeper suggestion intrigued me and I looked him up on YouTube and he looks like a big prospect for the future. He's only 19, and from the video I watched, he was displaying a proactive game style, both with and without the ball. He was even distributing the ball beautifully with his weaker foot. So he's definitely a player that i'm sure a lot of clubs will be watching closely.
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Thanks. Yep, he's a promising keeper who's starting a lot of games for Genk. There seems to be slimmer pickings than usual in the GK department in the lower age groups (though I may be totally wrong there). I really like Meslier of Leeds too.

Back to Gvardiol, hopefully he has a release clause like, allegedly, several of the Leipzig side do. He's good at LB too but is ultimately a CD all day long from what I've seen. A monster of a talent; basically can't miss.
 
SparkedIntoLife said:
Thanks. Yep, he's a promising keeper who's starting a lot of games for Genk. There seems to be slimmer pickings than usual in the GK department in the lower age groups (though I may be totally wrong there). I really like Meslier of Leeds too.

Back to Gvardiol, hopefully he has a release clause like, allegedly, several of the Leipzig side do. He's good at LB too but is ultimately a CD all day long from what I've seen. A monster of a talent; basically can't miss.
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The only issue with Gvardiol is that he supports Liverpool. But if we moved early for him, then I can see us signing him and rehabilitating him like we did with O'Shea and Solskjaer, who were both Liverpool fans growing up.
 
Jacob Ramsey
Stuart Armstrong
Boubacar Kamara
Luka Modric
Franck Kessie
Tolisso

Basically a free midfield with experience.
 
Will be a very interesting summer with who we choose to retain forward wise and what we go after for the spine of our team. Realistically we need another fullback, a CB, probably 2 midfielders minimum, and at least one striker.

None of that would really be luxury signings either if we figure VdB, Pogba, Bailly, Cavani, Matic, Mata, Lingard, and maybe Martial are all leaving after the season.
 
as always just like every summer a new manager, GK, LB, RB, CB, CM, LW, RW, and striker. I am not joking. I wonder if the DOF can handle this kind of workload for the summer.

New
Manager
Back up GK
Back up LB
CB
RB
CM
Back up LW
Back up RW
Striker
 
L1nk said:
People are so deluded in this thread, claiming we need 4 odd players minumum after the Greenwood situation (which we do) and then suggesting Declan Rice should be one of those players. People don’t learn, you want us to spunk over 100mill on a single player we don't even know will do well for us then expect to plug all the other holes in the squad knowing who our owners are? How about we instead go for a cheaper alternative and then use the rest of the money to fix the damn squad, this is basically Maguire and AWB all over again, you’re basically our scouting department by the sounds of it
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I dont agree personally. Was never on the fence of Maguire being a quality signing, though I will admit I thought Bissaka could develop into a fantastic right back and though not as good as I hoped, I thought progression though slow was happening up until this pivotal season, where it just didnt happen.

But Rice has improved every season at West Ham and fro me is one of the best midfielders in the premiership. In terms of what our midfield needs, I think he is ideal and will still get betterand is a potential captain of the club which we have cried out for, for some time.

I do agree the fee is excessive, so I get the comparisons there with past signings and also agree we need a few positions upgraded, but I think we can still do both signing Rice
 
I think one key ting people are missing this summer that makes it different to many before. This is a summer, where it isnt just who we choose to release, a large part of that is actually out of our hands with the contract situations and other elements.

Pereira is already going

Pogba, Lingard, Greenwood, Cavani are very likely to leave

Henderson, Bailly, Mata, Matic, VDB, Martial. A fair few of these may ask to leave

Thats potentially ten players leaving regardless of what we wish to do.

For differing reasons, I am really not bothered about any of them leaving either.

Personally think we should certainly add Dalot, Williams, Tuanzabe and CHong to that list, thats 14 potential exits (I wont even add others I would without doubt like to sell who play very regularly and I dont rate much at all)

The main thing is though, I really cant see how our exits doesnt reach double figures, it certainly needs too.

There is a good £100m of transfer fees for me with that lot, let alone huge huge savings in wages for next season.

So I disagree we cant go out and spend money this sumemr and sign 5/6 players needed.

There are some potentially good free transfers such as Kamara, Kessie, Romagnoli. There are players this summer who will be at the last year of there contract such as Arujo and Moukoko. There are players moving for reasonable transfer fees from there clubs this summer like Haaland and Adeyemi. There are lots of talented playes in the French league like Caqueret, Giouri, Doku. Sulemana, Ugochukwu.

Of course enticing those players to our club, especially without Cahampions league football next season, isnt easy, bound to be competition. But for me, we can go out and sign a Bellingham or Rice and still potentially sign another 4/5 players with a net spend not far over £100m, far under with the saved wages.....and have a compact squad of 25players that progresses us a lot.
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
I would rather buy one quality than just buying 7 non quality or someone need years time to be developed to be quality. To me, Rice and Raphinha will be my personal priority as I watched them played and they are good enough for us. Is it realistic, I think it’s still realistic because we had 150m net spent in 19/20 season. Both Rice and Raphinha would cost about the same or less. As for Pogba’s replacement, we could offer him a new contract or replace him with Kessie who is also free in the summer.

Realistically we are not going to sign a new centre back unless if we sell Maguire or Lindelof, if we sell them then that’s a money we can use to buy a new centre back. The same with full backs, we have 4 full backs now and we need to sell first before we buy. That’s how we works in the past, sell first before buy. That’s realistically how this club works. If you think we will just sign centre back or full back without selling first then it’s not realistic. As for striker, we won’t sign an expensive striker with ronaldo around and if we lose Ronaldo then again another money we can use to buy a new striker as him and Cavani are on high wages.
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Realistically if we want Top players, then we may get 1 and then have to settle for young prospects. We need about 5 top players but we are not going to spend 500 million or more this summer.
We need to pick up players for 25/30 million or less. These players are out there, but our board will need to be convinced.
 
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