What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

37.5 mil + 12.5 mil in potential add-ons. So 37.5m upfront is a bargain, until bonus targets are hit.

Forwards are very often expensive, and for what he has already brought to Liverpool, he will be worth a lot more in the coming years. If he becomes another Salah or Mane, then the total 50m will be a bargain.

Which wingers in the world currently would cost us over £50m though? I genuinely struggle to think of any.

He looks an astute signing as he is doing very well, anybody signed that has a good career would be considered a bargain. Keane, Ferdinand for example were bargains but they were record fees at the time. If a player performs the fee is irrelevant, but I dont think you can consider his signing as a cheap one.
 
37.5 mil + 12.5 mil in potential add-ons. So 37.5m upfront is a bargain, until bonus targets are hit.

Forwards are very often expensive, and for what he has already brought to Liverpool, he will be worth a lot more in the coming years. If he becomes another Salah or Mane, then the total 50m will be a bargain.
37.5m + 12.5m = 50m. You can't call something cheap if you don't even know what the adds on is.
 
Contracts up in the summer:
Pogba
Lingard
Grant
Mata
Chong
Cavani
Greenwood*

Contracts up next summer:
Dalot
Laird
Tuanzebe
Mengi
Matic
Fred
Ronaldo

Players actively looking to leave:
Henderson
Bailly
Jones
Williams
Pereira
Van de Beek
Martial

Committed players who aren't good enough:
Wan-Bissaka
Maguire
Telles

Committed players with something to offer:
De Gea
Heaton
Varane
Lindelof
Shaw
McTominay
Bruno
Sancho
Rashford (dangerously close to the previous list and rumoured to be among the list before that)

Young players coming through:
Garner
Mejbri
Elanga
Shoretire
Amad
Pellistri

That is the extent of our squad at the moment. 7 players we're likely to lose for nothing this summer, plus another 7 who have a year left - very few, if any of whom are truly worth offering new deals to, so we'll likely lose most of them for nothing next year as well.

Then we have 7 players who no longer want to be at the club, and who aren't really offering us anything in terms of getting back to where we need to be. We have another 3 or 4 who are happy enough to be here - but only because they're so bloody useless they know they'd never be able to steal the living they have anywhere else.

That leaves us with 8 or 9 long term committed players who are good enough to be in a squad challenging for anything significant, perhaps 4 of whom are good enough to start, plus a handful of young talents breaking through.

Its criminally negligent that this is what we are left with after the money spent over the last decade. We're lightyears away from being where we need to be.
The 2 contracts up lists no one on there who is starting now needs keeping. Hopefully the youth on there have been given a chance in the next 15 months and some may be worth keeping. Ronaldo if here in 2023 will be too old and slow anyhow. Heaton, Lindelof, Shaw and Mctom could be sold as they offer little value. We can sign better.
 
Amazing how quickly this squad has turned sour. I'm sure I wasn't alone in feeling hugely optimistic at the start of the season. Then of course Greenwood turned out a scumbag, Rashford forgot how to play football, Martial somehow managed to go backwards, etc etc. It's come apart at the seams.

Huge clear out needed this summer. Promote any youth who have something to offer and sign some leaders, some winning mentalities to help mould the next United, because this one is broken.
 
Amazing how quickly this squad has turned sour. I'm sure I wasn't alone in feeling hugely optimistic at the start of the season. Then of course Greenwood turned out a scumbag, Rashford forgot how to play football, Martial somehow managed to go backwards, etc etc. It's come apart at the seams.

Huge clear out needed this summer. Promote any youth who have something to offer and sign some leaders, some winning mentalities to help mould the next United, because this one is broken.
Thing with winning mentality, people think that means buying big name players who have won something elsewhere. A lot of the players from our great sides had not won anything when they joined us, but they had that determined, ambitious, fighting attitude. Pogba has won a world cup, leagues with Juventus. I would not say he had a winning mentality. The club also have to be careful when judging what the players actual ambitions are.
 
Thing with winning mentality, people think that means buying big name players who have won something elsewhere. A lot of the players from our great sides had not won anything when they joined us, but they had that determined, ambitious, fighting attitude. Pogba has won a world cup, leagues with Juventus. I would not say he had a winning mentality. The club also have to be careful when judging what the players actual ambitions are.

Absolutely. It's the thing which set SAF's transfers apart for me, he always seemed to find the right balance of characters to build a successful team.

What have we built here? A collection of overpaid mercenaries who care more about their fecking 'Brand' than they do the club.

I reckon Ragnick is the best guy to turn it around too, if given the freedom to tear us down and rebuild as necessary.
 
Absolutely. It's the thing which set SAF's transfers apart for me, he always seemed to find the right balance of characters to build a successful team.

What have we built here? A collection of overpaid mercenaries who care more about their fecking 'Brand' than they do the club.

I reckon Ragnick is the best guy to turn it around too, if given the freedom to tear us down and rebuild as necessary.

Oh this lot are far too media obsessed
 
Striker, RW, CB(s), holding midfielder. Possibly RB if the two current ones aren’t rated by the new manager. Gonna be very tough.
 
What do we need?

Rid of half of this squad at least :lol:

In reality, new fullbacks, particularly RB, a new competent CB, mobile CDM, covering ST and of course the coveted RW position.

2022/23 - CDM, CB, ST, RB

Winter/Summer 23 - RW, ST, LB, GK?

15/17 out, 8 in?

That would be progress and a good start
 
We're lost at sea, we've been paddling for years somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and not seen land, only the odd mirage.
 
Backup GK
CB to partner Varane
An actually good RB
2 MF both first team options, McFred are ok as rotation options (Bellingham please + A N Other)
1 AM/10 backup to Bruno (In an ideal world Hannibal, but not ready yet?)
2 Wingers one first team the other a backup to Sancho (maybe Amad or Pellestri)
1 ST/Good quality rotation option with Ronaldo (no youth teamers here please)
 
What do we need? Too much.

Jonathan David 35m
Raphinha 45m?
Aurelien Tchouameni 60m?
Amine Gouiri 30m?
Ronald Araujo 20m?
Charles De Ketelaere 20m?

Marcelo Brozovic/Boubacar Kamara
Noussair Mazraoui



-----------------------------------------Amine Gouiri----------------------------------------------
Jadon Sancho--------------Bruno Fernandes-----------------------Raphinha-----
----------------------Marcelo Brozovic------ Aurelien Tchouameni------------------
Luke Shaw---------Ronald Araujo--------Raphael Varane----Noussair Mazraoui

realistically any 2-3 of the above list would be nice but still not enough is it?
 
The summer budget will have taken another hit last night given the prize money alone for quarter final qualification was €10.6m.
 
The only players who are good enough to play for United are Sancho, Bruno [needs to be better obviously and stop moaning], and Varane. And Shaw to an extent, though he was disappointing this season.
All others can feck off [except young lads like Elanga, Hannibal etc].

Need a new GK, RB, CB, CDM, CM, RW, ST.
Let's hope these idiots in charge will bring at least 3 players this summer.
 
What do we need? A whole new dressing room. The players we have. The culture keeping them has created. We can never be successful holding on to this.
 
Need to clean the house. Minimum 8-9 players must be sold other than the ones who are already leaving.

Maguire, Bailly, Shaw, Awb, Martial, Mctominay, Matic, Rashford, Henderson

Won’t happen but needs to happen sorry but that English contingent is shit. The only player worth keeping is Sancho. We ain’t getting top 4 even then there is really good pool of players to choose from.

Neves, Tielemens, Haidara, Raphinha, Antony, Nkunku, cucurella, livramento, Aarons, Isak, Richarlison, Darwin nunes, Rice, tchouameni, Bissouma.
 
Last edited:
While I agree, that can't actually happen. It would be chaos.
We need a football structure first and foremost. otherwise we just continue with this mess and replicate the same mistakes, especially the naive hope that a new manager will be the salvation of the club all on their own. We do need a clear out, so Pogba, Mata, Lingard, Jones, Bailly, Matic, Cavani, Martial and Henderson will go either as contracts are up or they are pretty useless and we jsut need to get rid. I suspect Ronnie goes as well, also good. We then probably need a clear out of several other players over next few years, to include possibly Rashford, AWB, Telles and others. We bed in lots of young players, a sprinkle of astute signings, and start to build. It will take time.
 
We need a football structure first and foremost. otherwise we just continue with this mess and replicate the same mistakes, especially the naive hope that a new manager will be the salvation of the club all on their own. We do need a clear out, so Pogba, Mata, Lingard, Jones, Bailly, Matic, Cavani, Martial and Henderson will go either as contracts are up or they are pretty useless and we jsut need to get rid. I suspect Ronnie goes as well, also good. We then probably need a clear out of several other players over next few years, to include possibly Rashford, AWB, Telles and others. We bed in lots of young players, a sprinkle of astute signings, and start to build. It will take time.
To be fair, we have created that recently. Whether or not it will yield any results is another matter. There's no way we can move everyone on in one go, the new manager should align with Murtogh and fletcher, with Ralf probably influencing Murtogh. Our recruitment team is massive, so we definitely will have an absolute laundry list of player we can chose from, just manager haven't really be bold enough in their decisions.
 
Contracts up in the summer:
Pogba Don't renew please. Hasn't shown he's capable of playing for us.
Lingard Good option to have on the bench, but ultimately not good enough.
Grant Backup of a backup.
Mata Promote him to staff or something. Lovely guy, would love to have him around, but not a as a player.
Chong Could he deliver? Is he good enough?
Cavani Thanks for some good times. If he want's to stay, i'd have him. Professional to the core.
Greenwood* Fecked our season, fecked himself as a player and a human being. Release him.

Contracts up next summer:
Dalot Good option to have.
Laird Haven't got a clue. Is he good?
Tuanzebe Not good enough. Sell.
Mengi Some say he's the man. I say - he can't be worse then Harry.
Matic Keep him for the season.
Fred If there is an option to extend, do it.
Ronaldo Keep him for the marketing departement.

Players actively looking to leave:
Henderson Sell while we can.
Bailly Sell while we can.
Jones If you're not playing him, sell to whoever wants him.
Williams Not good enough, even for the bench..
Pereira Not good enough.
Van de Beek Wait till the new manager comes. But if we find a club willing to buy, sell him.
Martial Sell.

Committed players who aren't good enough:
Wan-Bissaka With proper coaching, he might be good enough. Got the skill set.
Maguire Tar and feather for him.
Telles Good bench option.

Committed players with something to offer:
De Gea Keeper.
Heaton Bench keeper.
Varane Future player.
Lindelof 1st bench option.
Shaw Get him a coach.
McTominay Love his attitude.
Bruno Yes.
Sancho Future star player.
Rashford (dangerously close to the previous list and rumoured to be among the list before that) Sell.

Young players coming through: PROMOTE THE LOT. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. PLAY THEM THIS SEASON AS MUCH AS WE CAN.
Garner
Mejbri
Elanga
Shoretire
Amad
Pellistri


YES, we need at least 7 new players.
Hopefully we could sell some to get us some cash.
Good thing is, our wage balance could take a beating.
 
To be fair, we have created that recently. Whether or not it will yield any results is another matter. There's no way we can move everyone on in one go, the new manager should align with Murtogh and fletcher, with Ralf probably influencing Murtogh. Our recruitment team is massive, so we definitely will have an absolute laundry list of player we can chose from, just manager haven't really be bold enough in their decisions.
I would argue it not about managers being bold, its that we havent had a clear recruitment process and football philosophy, so basically allow managers to sign who they want. LVG awful signings, Mou awful signings, Ole seemingly overrode recruitment team to buy Magure and AWB, both awful signings. WHoever comes in as manager need to be willing to work within a broader football structure and decision making process. One that should also NOT involve the Glazers or the CEO.
 
Nkunku 60-80m
Belingham 60-80m
Rudigier Free
Kamara/Ndidi 30-50m

150-210m minus 10-15 Outgoings could equal 50m net

This would be a good start, throw in ETH and a back up striker then we can look at the other weaker areas (Fullbacks) after.
 
Contract Expiry - Grant, Pogba, Lingard, Mata, Cavani, Chong
Sell - Henderson, Dalot, Bailly, Jones, Matic, Martial, Tuanzebe, Williams, Pereira
Buy - Johnstone, Mazraoui, Araujo, Kamara, Antony, Darwin Nunez

Bring in Ten Hag, ship out the 9 squad players above for around £100m and buy the 6 players above for around £100m

This leaves us with a reasonably sized squad (down from 29 to 23 excluding youth), a net transfer spend of zero and over £1m of wages saved per week.

The following summer we can ship out Ronaldo, AWB, Maguire, Lindelof and McTominay (plus Shaw and Rashford if there's no improvement under Ten Hag) saving at least another £1m per week in wages.
 
What do we need?

Rid of half of this squad at least :lol:

In reality, new fullbacks, particularly RB, a new competent CB, mobile CDM, covering ST and of course the coveted RW position.

2022/23 - CDM, CB, ST, RB

Winter/Summer 23 - RW, ST, LB, GK?

15/17 out, 8 in?

That would be progress and a good start
And you’ll wake up with your head in your cornflakes
 
Ideally, we need 2 strikers (to replace Ron and Edi), 2 midfielders (Matic and Pog to leave) and a RB (to atleast compete with AWB if not completely displace him). I dont think we need a LB or CB yet, but if Shaw and HM dont get back to form soon this will become a problem area for the summer after.

What we're likely to get is 1 striker - I think Martial wouldnt be sold or one of Diallo/Pellistri/McNeill will be brought into the 1st team fold. We're probably signing a DM and Garner will become Matic's replacement. And I do think we'll finally sign a RB. I also have a feeling Garnacho will start getting minutes from 2nd half of next season if he isn't loaned
 
While I agree, that can't actually happen. It would be chaos.
Is a myth it will be chaos. We have a host of young players who are ready to be first team squad players. We need to stop pretending we don't have a host of players we need to cut our losses with and stop wasting summer windows

We can comfortably lose:

Keepers: Grant, Henderson

Defenders: Jones, Bailly, Tuanzebe Williams
Midfielder: Matic, Pobga Pereira
Wingers: Mata, Lingard
Forwards: Cavani Martial

In one summer.

Yet still have:

Goal: De gea, Heaton, Bishop

Defence : dalot, laird, wan bissaka telles, shaw, lindeloff, varane, Maguire Mengi/Bernard

Center Midfielders: garner, Fred, mctominay, Galbraith, Levitt

AM: Bruno Fernandes, van de been, Mejbri

Wingers: Sancho , Rashford, Chong Diallo/Pellistri, Shoretire

Forwards: Cr7, Greenwood (unavailable)

On the books even
Before we sign any new players.


I'm convinced holding on to players needlessly will be the real chaos to future progress.
 
Last edited:
Is a myth it will be chaos. We have a host of young players who are ready to be first team squad players. We need to stop pretending we don't have a host of players we need to cut our losses with and stop wasting summer windows
I think logistically would be chaos, not to mention trying to negotiate deals, whilst trying to do pre-seaon, without a full squad.

Has there been any other club that have got rid of 10 first team squad members in one window?
 
Desperate for a CDM and a CF.

The defence line can wait because they will be helped by a DM most of the time. Its been desperate here since Carrick retired as a player tbh.

Cavani leaving, Martial going, Greenwood is out, Ronaldo is on the old side.. Its urgent that we get a young CF this summer.
 
I think logistically would be chaos, not to mention trying to negotiate deals, whilst trying to do pre-seaon, without a full squad.

Has there been any other club that have got rid of 10 first team squad members in one window?
If I'm not mistaken City trimmed a host of them who were in or around the first team in pep's second summer window. Plus Chelsea did so the summer window the year Mourinho arrived.

Its not like we will totally empty the decks. We'd still have 28 eligible first team players still left even before we add anyone
 
Desperate for a CDM and a CF.

The defence line can wait because they will be helped by a DM most of the time. Its been desperate here since Carrick retired as a player tbh.

Cavani leaving, Martial going, Greenwood is out, Ronaldo is on the old side.. Its urgent that we get a young CF this summer.
Indeed. CDM, Pogba Replacement, RW, and CF should be our priority additions in the summer to upgrade the first xi. Which we can comfortably fund by trimming the excess in our first team player list.
 
Out:
Henderson
Maguire
Bailly
Tuanzebe
Pogba
VDB
Martial
Lingard
Cavani
Rashford

In:
Rudiger or Araujo
Kamara or Tchouameni
Neves or Rice
Nkunku or Nunez
Raphinha or Antony
 
I wouldn’t call 50m as bargain. It’s reasonable fees but not bargain.
In today's market for striker/inside forward, 37.5 + 12.5 is a bargain, especially it is rumoured Luis Diaz is on just £56,000-a-week at Anfield. He slotted seamlessly in Liverpool's team and doesn't need half a season to adapt to the league at all.

On the other hand Rashford's value is $93.5m as per transfermarkt and he is on 200k a week.

https://www.transfermarkt.us/marcus-rashford/profil/spieler/258923