What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

The club needs to pull its finger out and actively seek buyers for crap players like Telles, Chong, AWB, Jones etc. Then bring in reinforcements for midfield and attack as well as a RB. If the plan is to gamble on waiting until 1st September for de Jong then we're asking for trouble.
 
He'll have learnt plenty on this trip. Possibly stuff we already knew from watching these players for years but good for him to see if first hand.

Think we can expect at least the first three:
Midfielder
Attacker
Keeper (how much they can challenge De Gea might depend or budget - could be just a 2nd or 3rd choice)
Right Back (think both Wan Bissaka and Laird will go)

I do expect it'll be more than people expect will leave between now and the end of the window, just a matter of how many we can get out the door permanently)
 
2 weeks until the PL kicks off and we’re using last seasons squad (minus Malacia)

Its been a dreadful summer.
 
It's abysmal that we're letting Ten Hag go into his first season with this squad plus just a couple of additions. Abysmal but not surprising. Martial leading the line for feck's sake, a player deemed not good enough for Sevilla.

Woodward is gone but the club is still a circus run by clowns.
 
We still need at least three players. An attacker, a midfielder and a right back.

Transfer business has dismally slow.
 
There’s a difference between what we need to win the league and what we need to have a pretty good chance of top 4, which has to be the aim for this year.

If we sign a starting 6 (FDJ) and a left footed attacker that’s good enough to push for a starting place, we’ll have a very good chance of top 4. If Ronaldo goes we will absolutely have to bring in a striker as well.

To have a chance of winning the league we probably need a new GK, another left footed CB, RB, another midfielder, another left footed attacker, plus a striker if Ronaldo doesn’t go this year. Our drop off in quality from the first 11 is just too big compared to City/Liverpool without these.

We need to fix the big hole in the midfield and the huge drop off in quality in attack immediately, the rest I think the club can get away with delaying to the next few windows (either with signings or by developing our own youth products) to slowly getting us back to challenging for the title.
 
ForlansHair said:
There’s a difference between what we need to win the league and what we need to have a pretty good chance of top 4, which has to be the aim for this year.

If we sign a starting 6 (FDJ) and a left footed attacker that’s good enough to push for a starting place, we’ll have a very good chance of top 4. If Ronaldo goes we will absolutely have to bring in a striker as well.

To have a chance of winning the league we probably need a new GK, another left footed CB, RB, another midfielder, another left footed attacker, plus a striker if Ronaldo doesn’t go this year. Our drop off in quality from the first 11 is just too big compared to City/Liverpool without these.

We need to fix the big hole in the midfield and the huge drop off in quality in attack immediately, the rest I think the club can get away with delaying to the next few windows (either with signings or by developing our own youth products) to slowly getting us back to challenging for the title.
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Agreed
 
What we need is depth. Depth depth depth.

We have this as a likely starting 11:
Rashford Martial Sancho
Bruno Eriksen
Fred
Shaw Martinez Maguire Dalot
De Gea
​
And the players who will fight for a starting 11 place or be rotated around regularly will likely be Malacia at LB, Varane/Lindelof/Bailly at CB, McTominay in midfield. I would trust those to come in and give a good showing, not drop the level too much if at all, or just give us something different when required with McTominay. The rest? Nothing. Obviously remains to be seen what happens with Ronaldo, but we have no depth for the front 3 whatsoever, Garner you could say maybe in midfield he can develop enough there so add him in, but I don't see any hope with Donny.

So we are left with De Gea, Dalot, Fred and the front 3 with no adequate subs/rotation options at all. Garner maybe for Fred, but only game time can show that. The front 3 have nothing behind them though, and that's a problem and as it stands will be our undoing. Just get some depth there so we can at least maintain the level we want and be covered for injuries that are inevitable, and I'll be very optimistic for the season.
 
Blood Mage said:
Think we could get away without signing a RB if Dalot's form continues. We desperately need to get De Jong and a new attacker in ASAP though.
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De Jong deal has really hit the buffers, how on earth do Utd retain any confidence with it
 
Blood Mage said:
Think we could get away without signing a RB if Dalot's form continues. We desperately need to get De Jong and a new attacker in ASAP though.
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How long can Dalot's form last though, also Ronaldo's situation is holding up a new attacker
 
If we go into this season with Rashford Sancho and Martial we may as well sign off on sixth place already. Even if Ronaldo stays we need to bring in a player capable of playing as A RW. If Ronaldo goes then we need to get in a CF as well.
Since the start of last season we lost Cavani Greenwood Mata and Lingard with zero players coming in for the forward line. I honestly think a depth signing for the forward line is even more urgent than A CM. For the midfield we have Donny who could do a job, Iqbal and Savage look very promising as well. Plus we signed Eriksen and Martinez who is capable of occupying DM. Obviously far from ideal but if we don't get at least one more attacker and count on a forward line of Martial Rashford Sancho and a very average Elanga, who scored a combined total of 15 goals between them last season then it really is a suicide mission.
 
Leonzo1 said:
If we go into this season with Rashford Sancho and Martial we may as well sign off on sixth place already. Even if Ronaldo stays we need to bring in a player capable of playing as A RW. If Ronaldo goes then we need to get in a CF as well.
Since the start of last season we lost Cavani Greenwood Mata and Lingard with zero players coming in for the forward line. I honestly think a depth signing for the forward line is even more urgent than A CM. For the midfield we have Donny who could do a job, Iqbal and Savage look very promising as well. Plus we signed Eriksen and Martinez who is capable of occupying DM. Obviously far from ideal but if we don't get at least one more attacker and count on a forward line of Martial Rashford Sancho and a very average Elanga, who scored a combined total of 15 goals between them last season then it really is a suicide mission.
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Absolutely nailed it with our attacker situation
 
This is what happens when you have a poundland director of football and a chief exec who get the job because his mate put in a word
 
Being outspent by all clubs who were better than us last season and only having a backup left back as a new addition to the squad for the tour/new manager isn't a great look tbh.
 
We should forget the De Jong deal and spend that 75 mill plus the 60 mill being reported thats left to get a RW CM and if we have any decent money left, a young up and coming striker as cover.
We will have to cope with RB and hope we dont get any serious injuries, unless we can sell a few players, then we might get a RB as well.
I expect Ronaldo to go one way or another, so the team would be (excluding players who should be sold):

GK De geas final season I think, Heaton as cover.
4 CD Martinez plus 1 of Maguire Verane Lindelof. Although ideally imo Lindelof should be moved on and another CD bought, but this is highly unlikely
RB Dalot (new RB if we sell players, WB if not)
LB Malacia Shaw
CM New CM plus 1 of Fred McTom VDB although ideally 2 CM should be bought in
AM Bruno and/or Eriksen depending on formation. Eriksen may play as CM as well.
RW New RW Sancho to cover
LW Sancho Rashford or Martial to cover
CF Martial Rashford to cover
I expect TH will promote a couple of the youth onto the bench as well. I expect Elanga will be there.
 
In my opinion we still need:

This summer:
DM - we badly need one, a real ball winner. I just don't trust McFred
DM/CM - we need FDJ, a deep lying playmaker, but lets also see how this new Zidane guy looks, or we could even look at Garner/Savage
RW - we need Antony, I don't trust Elanga, who doesn't have much talent. Diallo is physically not ready for this league.
CF - we need Ronaldo replacement, but not sure we will get one this summer. I don't trust Martial to be our only starting CF, he is way too inconsistence to last a season
RB - Not sure about Dalot and AWB, we definitely need one

De Gea
New RB/Dalot Varane/Maguire Martinez Malacia/Shaw
new DM/McFred (FDJ)/Zidane
(Antony) Bruno/Eriksen Sancho
Ronaldo/new FW​



Next summer:
GK- we can still hang onto De Gea for another season, but not sure he would be ideal for ETH
AM - depends how well Bruno fit in ETH system, but I reckon we will be fine with Eriksen/Bruno/VDB for now, and maybe also Meijbri for future


New GK
New RB Varane/Maguire Martinez Malacia/Shaw
new DM (FDJ)/Zidane
(Antony) new AM/Bruno/Eriksen Sancho
new FW
​
 
GK: DDG / Heaton
RB: Dalot / Backup RB
LB: Malacia / Shaw
CB: Varane / Martinez / Maguire / Lindelof
Midfield: Frenkie / Fred / Eriksen / Bruno / VDB / Garner / McT
Forwards: Martial / Sancho / Rashford / Elanga / Another attacker

Just need Frenkie, another attacker, and backup RB. May be Laird can be used as backup right back, all depends on whether ETH thinks he's good enough for the role.

I think Ronaldo will leave, while Bailly, Bissaka, Chong, and Telles will be sold, while Pellistri and Amad will go out on loan.
 
The co pleated signings are pretty much a reflection of the Woodward style, bargaining and taking too much time. Even though their priorities may well have been different, Arsenal completed 5 decent transfers , helped no doubt by decisions on meeting prices and getting things done.

apart from some crazy last minute splashes that Van Gaal and Woody rushed, here we go again, a typical Glazer led window. Overseen by yet another Woodward type appointee. Hoping for some substantive action in the next week, but have doubts we will be any stronger as we head into the season from a player standpoint.
 
oz insomniac said:
The co pleated signings are pretty much a reflection of the Woodward style, bargaining and taking too much time. Even though their priorities may well have been different, Arsenal completed 5 decent transfers , helped no doubt by decisions on meeting prices and getting things done.

apart from some crazy last minute splashes that Van Gaal and Woody rushed, here we go again, a typical Glazer led window. Overseen by yet another Woodward type appointee. Hoping for some substantive action in the next week, but have doubts we will be any stronger as we head into the season from a player standpoint.
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Unlike last season, we have a new manager who will take time assessing the squad before making recommendations on whom to dump and whom to gain. And since these recommendations are going to be late, we could miss out on some of our top targets realistically. Add lack of UCL, it is bound to be a tough window. This has nothing to do with Woody rush or glazer something or anything. This is practical. Fans should understand that until we are a set team (I mean a team with an identity of what we need), transfers are always going to be a slog. Nothing to say here, next season will be much better and faster.
 
Frenkie de Jong and an attacker.
De Jong, as he is crucial for the way ten Hag wants to play & because he would improve our midfield massively.
An attacker, as we only really have the three starters. One injury, and we are dropping a few levels.

The rest we will have to look at next time, if we are being realistic.
 
iamking said:
Unlike last season, we have a new manager who will take time assessing the squad before making recommendations on whom to dump and whom to gain. And since these recommendations are going to be late, we could miss out on some of our top targets realistically. Add lack of UCL, it is bound to be a tough window. This has nothing to do with Woody rush or glazer something or anything. This is practical. Fans should understand that until we are a set team (I mean a team with an identity of what we need), transfers are always going to be a slog. Nothing to say here, next season will be much better and faster.
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We announced ten haag back in April after a process that took far too long. That is ample time to think about the squad and what is required. We also have a director of football whose job should entail thinking about the type of football eth would want to play and understanding players that might fit that profile. Sure you would expect some delays given eth is new but it doesn't seem like the identification of targets was a slow process however the negotiations for those targets have been. You could also question murtoughs role given all the targets are clearly ETHs.

You might have faith things will get better next season but I don't expect things to improve much. I am hopeful eth is the right manager for us but he also needs the right people above him and I have no confidence that is thr case

You mention the lack of ucl being a factor in signing players, we'll it will also be the case next season of we can't improve the team
 
Matt851 said:
We announced ten haag back in April after a process that took far too long. That is ample time to think about the squad and what is required. We also have a director of football whose job should entail thinking about the type of football eth would want to play and understanding players that might fit that profile. Sure you would expect some delays given eth is new but it doesn't seem like the identification of targets was a slow process however the negotiations for those targets have been. You could also question murtoughs role given all the targets are clearly ETHs.

You might have faith things will get better next season but I don't expect things to improve much. I am hopeful eth is the right manager for us but he also needs the right people above him and I have no confidence that is thr case

You mention the lack of ucl being a factor in signing players, we'll it will also be the case next season of we can't improve the team
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It was reported the list of intended transfers the club had been looking at was discarded by ETH, Also he was fighting for a title with Ajax and didn’t want to take his focus off of that, hence why he probably wasn’t working with the club then to sort transfers.

Then his targets so far seems to be people he knows well or had previously scouted. I think next year everything going to plan with the season and no major surprises, that the transfer window will be a much slicker and faster event for us. He’ll have had time to identify what he needs in the squad and identify the players for the job, and have them scouted, vetted whatever needs to be done, before talks commence.
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
GK: DDG / Heaton
RB: Dalot / Backup RB
LB: Malacia / Shaw
CB: Varane / Martinez / Maguire / Lindelof
Midfield: Frenkie / Fred / Eriksen / Bruno / VDB / Garner / McT
Forwards: Martial / Sancho / Rashford / Elanga / Another attacker

Just need Frenkie, another attacker, and backup RB. May be Laird can be used as backup right back, all depends on whether ETH thinks he's good enough for the role.

I think Ronaldo will leave, while Bailly, Bissaka, Chong, and Telles will be sold, while Pellistri and Amad will go out on loan.
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Still say we need wide attacker and striker, however think there is no chance of it happening
 
Danish Wizard said:
Frenkie de Jong and an attacker.
De Jong, as he is crucial for the way ten Hag wants to play & because he would improve our midfield massively.
An attacker, as we only really have the three starters. One injury, and we are dropping a few levels.

The rest we will have to look at next time, if we are being realistic.
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Still feel we need a starter RB, got nothing against Dalot being a backup there though
 
I think it will be even harder next summer to sign players with two years out of the CL. I am more than certain we won’t make it via the league so we’ll be relying on winning the EL. Currently as we are I wouldn’t bet on us doing that either. Really think in this window, it was necessary to get the right players in, that would walk into our starting 11 (RB, CB, DM, CM and FWD) and improve it.

As good a coach as ETH is, he can’t polish a turd and I really hope his long pursuit of FDJ doesn’t end in failure and somewhat embarrassment. If Ronaldo leaves also, we are certainly weaker than last year and I think we are heading for another hard slog of a season relying on a core of players who have disappointed so often in the past.

His second season in charge will then be massive pressure wise and as negative a thought as this is, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is eventually sacked like all the previous managers. With just five and half weeks until the window shuts, maybe there will be some pleasant surprises still that will allay my fears some what, although I’m certainly not relying on one of them being De Jong.
 
Matt851 said:
We announced ten haag back in April after a process that took far too long. That is ample time to think about the squad and what is required. We also have a director of football whose job should entail thinking about the type of football eth would want to play and understanding players that might fit that profile. Sure you would expect some delays given eth is new but it doesn't seem like the identification of targets was a slow process however the negotiations for those targets have been. You could also question murtoughs role given all the targets are clearly ETHs.

You might have faith things will get better next season but I don't expect things to improve much. I am hopeful eth is the right manager for us but he also needs the right people above him and I have no confidence that is thr case

You mention the lack of ucl being a factor in signing players, we'll it will also be the case next season of we can't improve the team
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We have enough reasons to be optimistic this season, but to each to his own. ETH could give a shopping list from the get-go like you claim, or come to training sessions, make the team play some friendlies and determine the actual playing ability of his players not to say their attitude towards training, instruction etc., and then amend his list for more players. These things take time. For a struggling team, patience is the only friend for everybody involved. Lack of UCL is a real factor, who knows Darwin Nunez or Erling Halaand even FDJ could be playing for us right now but for UCL. Saying we can't improve the team at all without UCL is not true. The transfers just gets a whole lot harder and longer in convincing players (which is what seems to be happening now).

We have a fantastic team. Despite a lot of moaning from our fans, I feel our squad is good enough to fight for top 4 and that is what it should have done last season and that is what is expected of it this season under a manager like ETH. What is not to be hopeful here.We are a creative mid and a striker away from getting to the top. It will take a few seasons (2/3 may be) for them to gel under a consistent system to fight for a title.
 
The question now is whether or not the glazers/management break the bank and go after Antony, even after we sign FDJ.

If we do, then you could actually stand up and say we might have a chance to challenge the top 2.

Maybe.
 
Leftback99 said:
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.
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From February. I guess we've covered the CM and the LB. Martial staying has covered the striker position (and I still think we'll be stuck with Ronaldo).

So DM, RW, RB to go. ST if we manage to get rid of Ronaldo.
 
DevilRed said:
The question now is whether or not the glazers/management break the bank and go after Antony, even after we sign FDJ.

If we do, then you could actually stand up and say we might have a chance to challenge the top 2.

Maybe.
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Challenging the top 2 is at least a couple of years away even with good signings. Do you really think we can compete this season with martial as a starting striker and dalot as our first choice right back
 
If we could get
£15m for Eric B
£15m for Brandon Williams
£20 - 25m for AWB
£10m for Andreas P
£5 for Phil Jones (most unrealistic one)
£12m for Telles

Big If I know, but that could be £82m gained.

Then bring in
Lisandro M for £50m
Eriksen for free
Malacia for £12
FDJ for £61m
Antony for £55m
A right back, not sure who and not convinced by Dumfries.

We would have reshaped the squad significantly to one in capable of playing ETH's football with a net spend of about £120m, Giving us two players for every position.

This isn't completely unrealistic I think. Let's make it happen!
 
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A revolutionary thought but what we really need is for our existing players to improve their performances. Maguire, Rashford and Martial come first to mind but I also expect a lot more from Varane.

Need to bring in Frenkie. Do that and we've got a proper squad.
 
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