What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

[DutchCruijff]

This January, once again, we need reinforcements.

Let's seriously shift some of our dross too, please.

Back up RB (around £15-20m), CM (around £40-60m) and a FW (around £20-30m) who can play ACROSS the front three, if not, we'd need a "realistic stop gap" CF (around £20m)

We need to spend a good £100m this January. It's an absolute must.

The likes of Bailly, Williams, Laird, AWB, DVB and Elanga need to go. Reckon we could fetch £60m or so for that lot over winter + summer window.

In the Summer, surgery still required.

A GK, CM and a CF.

 

[Messier1994]

This January, once again, we need reinforcements.

Let's seriously shift some of our dross too, please.

Back up RB (around £15-20m), CM (around £40-60m) and a FW (around £20-30m) who can play ACROSS the front three, if not, we'd need a "realistic stop gap" CF (around £20m)

We need to spend a good £100m this January. It's an absolute must.

The likes of Bailly, Williams, Laird, AWB, DVB and Elanga need to go. Reckon we could fetch £60m or so for that lot over winter + summer window.

In the Summer, surgery still required.

A GK, CM and a CF.

100% agree with the needs, but not sure if I agree with the necessary budget.

Look, Ajax of last season is easily a top 4 team in the PL. ETH getting 200m in Ajax is a fantasy.

-Ajax in 20/21 spent 63m (Haller, Antony, Klaasen)
-Ajax in 19/20 spent 59m (Prones, Alvarez, Marin, Lisandro Martinez)
-Ajax in 18/19 spent 52m (Blind, Tadic, Magallan)

He also brought up a ton of kids; like Timber, Gravenberch, Dnest, Brobbey and co.

During the same time, they sold players for like 350m.

The — big — difference between Man Utd and those Ajax teams in this regard is that while both are coached by ETH — this team is full of non-ETH players while Ajax for a long time handpicked players to fit this philosophy. Ajax under ETH would never have invested in like Axel Tuanzebe. AWB, Maguire, the money spent on Sancho, the money spent on Martial, the money spent on Fred, the money spent on all those horrible signings.

Look — this is the frustrating part, I think that in the eyes of ETH, there are a bunch of run of the mill 5-10m RBs who are worth more than AWB, there are a bunch run of the mill 10-15m CBs who are better than Maguire, there is a bunch of run of the mil 10-15m CMs who are better than Fred — and so forth.

But the board don’t get this, in their eyes ETH has “depth” in Fred, AWB, Maguire and co. If they were not that thick — they would never have signed Sancho for 75m. Maguire for 85m. I am just a fan, but always said that Sancho at the very most generously should be given a price tag of 35m (which makes him one of the bigger signings from the Bundesliga of his generation). If you pay 40-50m for him, big deal, but 75m was nuts.

There was this report from a striker in the Bundesliga who ETH was texting with. Forgot his name, was reported like a couple of weeks ago. I actually had never heard of him, seemed like a 5-10m guy. Anyway — I think ETH would love to get five 5-10m signings, that makes sense for his philosophy. His style.

So more than anything — I think ETH must be given ETH players. A squad of them. Mourinho’s and Ole’s left overs aren’t sufficient. Totally different philosophies. Many bad signings. It don’t have to cost 100m. The board must come to term with that what they brought in, the AWBs, Maguires and the likes of this squad is scrap. Replace them.

If we get 100m in January, great. But if we don’t, it’s a heck of a lot better to cut our losses on Maguire, AWB, Martial and co and bring in 4-5 players at 5-10m per player than to do nothing.

 

[Lash]

We need to be more aware of free agent market particularly at CB and CM as well

It's tough though, I was onboard the Kamara train because of that this summer, but he just wanted a fat wedge as well. It's not necessarily any better for the books

 

[honirelandboy]

This January, once again, we need reinforcements.

Let's seriously shift some of our dross too, please.

Back up RB (around £15-20m), CM (around £40-60m) and a FW (around £20-30m) who can play ACROSS the front three, if not, we'd need a "realistic stop gap" CF (around £20m)

We need to spend a good £100m this January. It's an absolute must.

The likes of Bailly, Williams, Laird, AWB, DVB and Elanga need to go. Reckon we could fetch £60m or so for that lot over winter + summer window.

In the Summer, surgery still required.

A GK, CM and a CF.

I agree but your not going to get anyone for the prices you mention. We have a enough of squad players, we need players who will walk into the first team. A top striker is an absolute must and will need to spend 100 million on one, then a midfielder who can power forward with the ball to replace Eriksen which is probably going to be 70 million, then a right back at probably 50 million. We are not going to do all that in Janaury. A striker is an absolute must! Ronaldo is finished.

We need two players like Oshimen from Napoli and Savic from lazio. We should be done with squad players as have enough of them. If we have 100 million in Janaury should be signing one of them, preferably Oshimen and Savic in the Summer.

 

[croadyman]

What do you guys think we could get for Maguire? Who would buy him? Wolves? Leicester? Aston Villa? Newcastle?

Newcastle only one who would give us good money,however doubt they are interested when have got Burn & Botman

 

[croadyman]

It's tough though, I was onboard the Kamara train because of that this summer, but he just wanted a fat wedge as well. It's not necessarily any better for the books

Should go for Ndicka (cover for Varane/Martinez) & Tielemans (cover for Eriksen/Bruno)

 

[NoPace]

Saw that he supposedly has an anti-United clause in his contract after the transfer from City. If he is sold to anyone other than us, the seller gets to keep 100% and if he is sold to us City must get 40%. These clauses survives any transfers, I think, by imposing a party to it to only sell the player if the buyer undertakes to oblige to the clause. So it doesn’t matter if Real keeps him or if AC Milan buys his rights.

BTW, have anyone ever seen a clause like this or a player contract used by like City? I wonder how “tight” these clauses are. It is certainly a challenge for one party, City, to stipulate a clause in a contract between two other parties, AC Milan and Man Utd, without giving the later two any wiggle room to circumvent it. I’ve seen some contracts (not quiet at this level) that were very rudimentary in terms of legal polish.

Does it apply to loans? You can loan a player with the exact same effect as a transfer.

Is that enforceable? Seems like a restriction. I'm a lawyer but not an EU/Brexitland one and not a sport one so no idea what the limits on non-compete clauses but it seems a bit questionable. Not sure if there's ever been a challenge related to it, but my wild guess is that there has been in some other sport where there are less teams, like auto racing or something.

 

[Messier1994]

Is that enforceable? Seems like a restriction. I'm a lawyer but not an EU/Brexitland one and not a sport one so no idea what the limits on non-compete clauses but it seems a bit questionable. Not sure if there's ever been a challenge related to it, but my wild guess is that there has been in some other sport where there are less teams, like auto racing or something.

Hm, great point. Labor law isn’t ‘harmonized’ in the EU more than some fundamental aspects, so it is up to national legislation I would guess (not my area of expertise).

It’s obvious that this is a clause that restricts mobility, but so does many standard clauses in a transfer agreement. However, it seems very close to hand to directly look at this clause from the same perspective as a non-compete clause for an employee. In the EU country I am in those are restricted to max 5 years and can easily be set aside for various reasons. This one would surely be very questionable.

In any event, I think we would need the some kind of player union to get involved, because practically you probably cannot just set the clause aside and wait for City to take action, because the player and selling club could face some pretty harsh consequences if we would fail with the litigation. Probably why the information was leaked.

The clause is obviously written in a way to be in a grey area. They don’t want this player to be sold to us period, effectively they ensures that. But it’s not a complete ban for a reason. City would probably argue that it’s not meant to only be restrictive/punitive for Man Utd, and that 40% is sort of fair compensation for increased competition or whatever. It’s of course nonsense. But probably enough for like AC Milan to not want to gamble on it for mostly our benefit.

Interesting!

 

[Chairman Steve]

I’d get Timber due to being able to play both CB and RB. He’d almost certainly get plenty of games with Varane’s age and injury problems, and if Dalot needs resting or is injured.

 

[Erik the Red]

Hm, great point. Labor law isn’t ‘harmonized’ in the EU more than some fundamental aspects, so it is up to national legislation I would guess (not my area of expertise).

It’s obvious that this is a clause that restricts mobility, but so does many standard clauses in a transfer agreement. However, it seems very close to hand to directly look at this clause from the same perspective as a non-compete clause for an employee. In the EU country I am in those are restricted to max 5 years and can easily be set aside for various reasons. This one would surely be very questionable.

In any event, I think we would need the some kind of player union to get involved, because practically you probably cannot just set the clause aside and wait for City to take action, because the player and selling club could face some pretty harsh consequences if we would fail with the litigation. Probably why the information was leaked.

The clause is obviously written in a way to be in a grey area. They don’t want this player to be sold to us period, effectively they ensures that. But it’s not a complete ban for a reason. City would probably argue that it’s not meant to only be restrictive/punitive for Man Utd, and that 40% is sort of fair compensation for increased competition or whatever. It’s of course nonsense. But probably enough for like AC Milan to not want to gamble on it for mostly our benefit.

Interesting!

There is an easy way around this if we want to buy him....
AC Milan sell him on for £1 to Salford City, passing on 40p to Man City, but inserting a clause that if he gets sold on to another Manchester club Milan get 99.9% of the fee. Then Man Utd buy him for market price, United are happy, Milan are happy, Salford are happy, and City can....



Alternatively he waits until his contract has run down and City can again....

 

[NoPace]

Center Forward and that's Harry Kane.

Replacement for Eriksen, perhaps Maddison.

IF we swapped Bruno for Joao Felix I think Maddison for the 50M he'd cost makes a lot of sense, though we'd absolutely need a #8 who can run and tackle a bit as we saw against Villa. Maddison just isn't as active as Bruno in terms of effort defensively.

 

[NoPace]

The clause is obviously written in a way to be in a grey area. They don’t want this player to be sold to us period, effectively they ensures that. But it’s not a complete ban for a reason. City would probably argue that it’s not meant to only be restrictive/punitive for Man Utd, and that 40% is sort of fair compensation for increased competition or whatever. It’s of course nonsense. But probably enough for like AC Milan to not want to gamble on it for mostly our benefit.

Interesting!

Good post.

As you say, I can't think of an argument that isn't anti-competitive to defend the clause, so that seems like a tough case to argue, though as I said there's probably some sport legislation on this in sports with fewer teams in the market than football.

As for the gamble, it could be taken on by United as part of the deal to compensate Milan if they felt they'd win the case, though would be humiliating and bad PR if they lost it obviously. Probably not worth it for Diaz, though I think he has some qualities to do okay for us as a backup in Ten Hag's system as a 10, assuming he improves at a normal rate and is a more consistent player at 25/26 than he has been at 22/23.

 

[croadyman]

IF we swapped Bruno for Joao Felix I think Maddison for the 50M he'd cost makes a lot of sense, though we'd absolutely need a #8 who can run and tackle a bit as we saw against Villa. Maddison just isn't as active as Bruno in terms of effort defensively.

What's your view on the striker situation

 

[NoPace]

I think the best realistic January we can hope for is Cristiano out, we overpay for the center forward Ten Hag wants, and a RB like Frimpong. Don't think we'll address the midfield or even the CB situation.

 

[NoPace]

What's your view on the striker situation

Not sure I have a solid one, more so some leanings:

-Osimhen seems sort of ill suited to the football we want to play (though he's probably good enough overall for a team playing counter-attack or very direct football like Spurs in the former case or Liverpool in the latter). If he cost 70M that would be fine. For 100+M, less fine. That's enough money for the top CM, or the CB prospect that we still need. For 30M we can buy one of the best young CBs in the world like France did with Saliba for roughly that amount, and I don't assume Ten Hag has truly insane money to spend.

-David is a safe bet in that his value won't go down a ton due to his age and goalscoring record. He works hard enough that even if we bought him for 50M and he's more of a top quality backup striker who can also play as a backup #10, that might not look so bad if we get 7-8 seasons of quality #2 striker, and from what I've seen of him he seems humble enough that he wouldn't sulk if that was his role. We could also buy a big target man #9 and probably do okay with them fighting for the role and David playing against higher lines and having the big man come off the bench and playing against teams sitting deep. We all want the next Lewandowski or Benzema but if confidence is low that there's one on the market (though there probably is, it's just not clear we can identify or get them) then David for 50M and selling Martial for 20M and buying a Scamacca level big man for 40M could do well for us.

-Joao Felix's aerial play is underrated and he'd suit Ten Hag's ball beautifully. If the money isn't insane, I think he's worth the risk as the best case scenario for him is a proper feck off superstar, unlike that of David or even Osimhen.

-Shick is sort of interesting now that he's struggling, if Leverkusen would take a more reasonable fee, but they have him signed for 5 more years so I doubt it. Same deal with Mitrovic.

-Not convinced by Watkins (particularly), Calvert-Lewin or Abraham. If one had a year to go and cost went down, I'd probably favor Calvert-Lewin for the football Ten Hag wants to play. But he's also injured too much.

-Vlahovic looks a proper goal scorer I'd be down for that if he forced his way out, even at a crazy price. Don't think there's a more certain 20 goal a year guy even potentially available.

-Toney is interesting, but with 2 years to go this summer he seems like a more realistic option in 2024 if we move on from Cristiano and sign an older player to bridge the gap for 18 month

-Joao Pedro would be a fun one if Watford don't go up. He signed until 2028 (!) so I imagine he might have a release clause.

-I'm not completely allergic to Solanke if Bournemouth go down and the price went down to 25M or so. He's got a lot of good qualities, though Billing being a visibly better finisher makes me a bit scared. But he's not got any major weaknesses and his record apart from a few ugly years when he was simply too young to be playing Prem football (20-22) which isn't uncommon for strikers.

-The kid at Braga looks a wonderful fit but I've never seen him play apart from highlights.

-Watched Beto the big Udinese player once and thought he was too slow. Aerial threat and good dribbler though.

-I didn't think Marcus Thuram was good enough but his size and mobility are really promising and he's on a free. I would be okay with us getting him on a free and spending massively on CB, CM and a RB instead and then if Thuram or Martial doesn't really blossom here, we can go get an expensive striker in 2024 or 2025.

-My wild punt is Iheanacho, who I think would work really well here in Ten Hag's system and is a free agent and 2nd or 3rd choice at Leicester. Similarly to Thuram, if we could get him for 15M this summer and use the savings to buy Frenkie De Jong, Bellingham or just rock solid signings at CM, CB and RB and then look to spend on striker in 2024 or 2025 I could see that working better than people expect.

 

[MadMike]

In order of priority:

1. Striker
2. Right Winger
3. Central Midfielder
4. Centre Back
5. Right back

We need a ST first and foremost. Then for the wings, we need another a left-footed winger to compete with and cover for Anthony on the RW. Shame it went the way it did with Greenwood but it is what it is. The left wing is Rashford with Sancho behind him and potentially Garnacho coming through as well (who knows if he'll stay here long term too). Two signings up top would rejuvenate the stagnant attack.

Then we need another #8 because Eriksen can't play every game and he's more suited to #10 imo anyway. Then we might finally we'll have enough depth in midfield. Then lastly we should ideally be looking at replacing Ole's high profile defensive signings (Maguire and AWB) with some players that can at least reliably contribute and compete for their spots. Those last two, are a lower priority.

 

[Doracle]

In order of priority:

1. Striker
2. Right Winger
3. Central Midfielder
4. Centre Back
5. Right back

We need a ST first and foremost. Then for the wings, we need another a left-footed winger to compete with and cover for Anthony on the RW. Shame it went the way it did with Greenwood but it is what it is. The left wing is Rashford with Sancho behind him and potentially Garnacho coming through as well (who knows if he'll stay here long term too). Too signings up top would rejuvenate the stagnant attack.

Then we need another #8 because Eriksen can't play every game and he's more suited to #10 imo anyway. Then we might finally we'll have enough depth in midfield. Then lastly we should ideally be looking at replacing Ole's high profile defensive signings (Maguire and AWB) with some players that can at least reliably contribute and compete for their spots. Those last two, are a lower priority.

Agree with most of this but RW is too high up the pecking order there in my view. Sancho is cover for Antony and that’s fine for now. A midfielder who could ideally provide cover for both Eriksen and Bruno would be my second most urgent position after CF currently. As we saw at the weekend, we have real issues when Bruno can’t play.

 

[MadMike]

Agree with most of this but RW is too high up the pecking order there in my view. Sancho is cover for Antony and that’s fine for now. A midfielder who could ideally provide cover for both Eriksen and Bruno would be my second most urgent position after CF currently. As we saw at the weekend, we have real issues when Bruno can’t play.

It's debatable, I think.

I don't really see Sancho as a RW, not in the way we want to play with goal threat from the wings. He doesn't offer much from there for me, much less than Greenwood used to. And Rashford is also often useless played out right. So we seriously need another left-footed winger with goal threat for depth on the RW.

I don't like to draw conclusions from a single game though. Speaking about the game against Villa. We were a team with a lot of absences, at the end of a gruelling run of games and with some poor team selection. We played Donny, who offers nothing at all offensively or defensively, over Fred or McTominay in midfield. We should have played Eriksen at #10 with another player who can offer energy next to Casemiro. That would have helped a lot in midfield.

I think besides the striker position where we really have to replace Ronaldo, replacing Donny and Greenwood are our next top 2 highest priorities... whichever order you pick them. Then, it's replacing Maguire and AWB.

 

[croadyman]

Not sure I have a solid one, more so some leanings:

-Osimhen seems sort of ill suited to the football we want to play (though he's probably good enough overall for a team playing counter-attack or very direct football like Spurs in the former case or Liverpool in the latter). If he cost 70M that would be fine. For 100+M, less fine. That's enough money for the top CM, or the CB prospect that we still need. For 30M we can buy one of the best young CBs in the world like France did with Saliba for roughly that amount, and I don't assume Ten Hag has truly insane money to spend.

-David is a safe bet in that his value won't go down a ton due to his age and goalscoring record. He works hard enough that even if we bought him for 50M and he's more of a top quality backup striker who can also play as a backup #10, that might not look so bad if we get 7-8 seasons of quality #2 striker, and from what I've seen of him he seems humble enough that he wouldn't sulk if that was his role. We could also buy a big target man #9 and probably do okay with them fighting for the role and David playing against higher lines and having the big man come off the bench and playing against teams sitting deep. We all want the next Lewandowski or Benzema but if confidence is low that there's one on the market (though there probably is, it's just not clear we can identify or get them) then David for 50M and selling Martial for 20M and buying a Scamacca level big man for 40M could do well for us.

-Joao Felix's aerial play is underrated and he'd suit Ten Hag's ball beautifully. If the money isn't insane, I think he's worth the risk as the best case scenario for him is a proper feck off superstar, unlike that of David or even Osimhen.

-Shick is sort of interesting now that he's struggling, if Leverkusen would take a more reasonable fee, but they have him signed for 5 more years so I doubt it. Same deal with Mitrovic.

-Not convinced by Watkins (particularly), Calvert-Lewin or Abraham. If one had a year to go and cost went down, I'd probably favor Calvert-Lewin for the football Ten Hag wants to play. But he's also injured too much.

-Vlahovic looks a proper goal scorer I'd be down for that if he forced his way out, even at a crazy price. Don't think there's a more certain 20 goal a year guy even potentially available.

-Toney is interesting, but with 2 years to go this summer he seems like a more realistic option in 2024 if we move on from Cristiano and sign an older player to bridge the gap for 18 month

-Joao Pedro would be a fun one if Watford don't go up. He signed until 2028 (!) so I imagine he might have a release clause.

-I'm not completely allergic to Solanke if Bournemouth go down and the price went down to 25M or so. He's got a lot of good qualities, though Billing being a visibly better finisher makes me a bit scared. But he's not got any major weaknesses and his record apart from a few ugly years when he was simply too young to be playing Prem football (20-22) which isn't uncommon for strikers.

-The kid at Braga looks a wonderful fit but I've never seen him play apart from highlights.

-Watched Beto the big Udinese player once and thought he was too slow. Aerial threat and good dribbler though.

-I didn't think Marcus Thuram was good enough but his size and mobility are really promising and he's on a free. I would be okay with us getting him on a free and spending massively on CB, CM and a RB instead and then if Thuram or Martial doesn't really blossom here, we can go get an expensive striker in 2024 or 2025.

-My wild punt is Iheanacho, who I think would work really well here in Ten Hag's system and is a free agent and 2nd or 3rd choice at Leicester. Similarly to Thuram, if we could get him for 15M this summer and use the savings to buy Frenkie De Jong, Bellingham or just rock solid signings at CM, CB and RB and then look to spend on striker in 2024 or 2025 I could see that working better than people expect.

Cheers for your input,so do you think we should go for someone older to bridge gap then go for Toney in 2024 or look to try and sort out the position next summer.

 

[NoPace]

Cheers for your input,so do you think we should go for someone older to bridge gap then go for Toney in 2024 or look to try and sort out the position next summer.

In theory yes, but in practice I don't see an obvious older player who's ready, apart from Gerard Moreno and he's always hurt and signed a long-term deal, so Thuram on a free probably makes more sense than an older player?

Tough to get excited about say Ben Yedder even if it's only 15M with one year left on his deal, or Aboubakar for a cut rate fee (10 in 30 in Saudi Arabia is kind of ugly, he should be dominating there). At that point, the value in going for a younger player.

Maybe a case could be made for Luis Muriel on a free, but not a great one I don't think. I guess Dzeko for one year or Giroud (but he seems happy there) wouldn't be shambolic in Ten Hag's system where pace isn't the main factor for a 9.

Tough to see these options and not just offer the free transfer options in Moukoko or Thuram bigger wages than anyone else, you can always sell them and get some money back in a couple years.

Anyone seen Fullkrug play? He's scoring goals, and if he cost 10M only...

 

[croadyman]

Agree with most of this but RW is too high up the pecking order there in my view. Sancho is cover for Antony and that’s fine for now. A midfielder who could ideally provide cover for both Eriksen and Bruno would be my second most urgent position after CF currently. As we saw at the weekend, we have real issues when Bruno can’t play.

I would also push CB up to third as well especially when you have scenarios of missing either Martinez/Varane,however agree there is a real lack of midfielders to replace Bruno/Eriksen.

 

[Lash]

After watching DVB and Fred stink up the place for what seems like the 3rd game in a row, I'm putting CM on top of the list now.

 

[Rauður Djöfull]

Would love to see us sign Gakpo - Frimpong - Enzo Fernandez in January while selling AWB, Ronaldo and DVB

But obviously that's not gonna happen and I'm afraid the board won't back ETH, need to strengthen in January for a RB competition and someone who get can get goals upfront cause Ronaldo sure can't do much of that anymore

 

[Messier1994]

Newcastle only one who would give us good money,however doubt they are interested when have got Burn & Botman

Saw that Goldbridge speculated on 40m from like Everton, I am personally not sold on that we can get good money for him. But speculating on these things have never been a strength of mine. But like, I just don’t see why Everton or Newcastle would spend “big” on Maguire (40m).

What about Wolves? They certainly need some character and strength, and they seem to have some money. Notingham?

My best guess is another crap meaningless loan since we only would get crap offers for him. If we could get even 20-30m for him, that is huge.

 

[Erik the Red]

Saw that Goldbridge speculated on 40m from like Everton, I am personally not sold on that we can get good money for him. But speculating on these things have never been a strength of mine. But like, I just don’t see why Everton or Newcastle would spend “big” on Maguire (40m).

What about Wolves? They certainly need some character and strength, and they seem to have some money. Notingham?

My best guess is another crap meaningless loan since we only would get crap offers for him. If we could get even 20-30m for him, that is huge.

Although he is pretty useless for a team that plays a high line, as we have seen previously, and with England, he is actually a pretty commanding central defender in the right system. He can do a really good job for a team that plays deeper, and if his agent can convince some teams of that, we might have a chance of recouping 20-30m for him. We just have to hope the board don't look at that and say "we can't write off 50m in one go so we will hold on to him". All that will happen is that we'll have an expensive asset sitting on our bench until his contract runs out. The time to sell is ASAP, whilst he has been playing regular football within the past six months, otherwise his value will only drop with each passing window unless we hire a Mourinho type manager, in which case Maguire is the least of our issues.

 

[Messier1994]

How likely would you guys say, in %, that it is for this scenario to play out?

Transfers Out in January:
Harry Maguire to Wolverhampton for 30m
Christiano Ronaldo to Bayern Munich for nil m
Fred to Juventus for 15m
Aron Wan Bissaka to Crystal Palace for 15m
Donny van de Beek to Ajax for 20m
Facundo Pellestri to Olympic Marsellie for 5m

Net in: 85m
Salary cleared remainder of 21/22 (50% of annual salary): 5m+12.5m+3m+2.3m+3.1m= 26m

Transfers Incoming in January:
Jurrien Timber for 50m
Marcos Llorente for 40m
Krystian Bielik for 10m from Derby

Loans Incoming in January:
Memphis Depay from Barcelona
Andrej Januzaj from Sevilla

Depth Chart
ST: Martial / Depay / Rashford
LW: Rashford / Garnacho / Sancho
RW: Antony / Sancho / Januzaj
AMC: Bruno / Eriksen / Llorente
MC: Eriksen / Llorente / McT
DMC: Casemiro / McTominay / Bielik / Martinez
LD: Shaw / Malacia / Williams
CD (l): Martinez / Lindelof
CD (r): Varane / Timber
RD: Darlot / Timber / Llorente
GK: De Gea / Dubranka

Then you spend a 150m on a striker next summer.

 

[Bojan Djordjic]

How likely would you guys say, in %, that it is for this scenario to play out?

Transfers Out in January:
Harry Maguire to Wolverhampton for 30m
Christiano Ronaldo to Bayern Munich for nil m
Fred to Juventus for 15m
Aron Wan Bissaka to Crystal Palace for 15m
Donny van de Beek to Ajax for 20m
Facundo Pellestri to Olympic Marsellie for 5m

Net in: 85m
Salary cleared remainder of 21/22 (50% of annual salary): 5m+12.5m+3m+2.3m+3.1m= 26m

Transfers Incoming in January:
Jurrien Timber for 50m
Marcos Llorente for 40m
Krystian Bielik for 10m from Derby

Loans Incoming in January:
Memphis Depay from Barcelona
Andrej Januzaj from Sevilla

Depth Chart
ST: Martial / Depay / Rashford
LW: Rashford / Garnacho / Sancho
RW: Antony / Sancho / Januzaj
AMC: Bruno / Eriksen / Llorente
MC: Eriksen / Llorente / McT
DMC: Casemiro / McTominay / Bielik / Martinez
LD: Shaw / Malacia / Williams
CD (l): Martinez / Lindelof
CD (r): Varane / Timber
RD: Darlot / Timber / Llorente
GK: De Gea / Dubranka

Then you spend a 150m on a striker next summer.

0%. We're not buying Bielik and can't see the likes of Wolves being able to pay Maguire his current wages.

 

[BorisManUtd]

I think the best realistic January we can hope for is Cristiano out, we overpay for the center forward Ten Hag wants, and a RB like Frimpong. Don't think we'll address the midfield or even the CB situation.

Yeah definitely, that will be left for summer. January is hopefully about finding striker and a right back, getting both would be great window imo.

 

[Bojan Djordjic]

Yeah definitely, that will be left for summer. January is hopefully about finding striker and a right back, getting both would be great window imo.

While I think this is probably the most plausible scenario, I don't think it would be a good window. We've been relatively lucky with injuries so far in that they've happened in areas we have been able to absorb bar centre forward but an injury to Eriksen or Casemiro would be disastrous to any chance of getting top four.

 

[Messier1994]

0%. We're not buying Bielik and can't see the likes of Wolves being able to pay Maguire his current wages.

It’s hard to speculate on how much salaries a team like Wolves would take on, since how transfer fee/salary cost is handled aren’t always logical. Maguire is like what, 4m per year more expensive than a Moutinho. If they Maguire gets a 4 year deal, that extra cost in addition to what they normally is willing to pay for a player totals 16m.

So if they would be willing to pay 35m for Maguire making 100k a week they ought to be willing to pay 20m for Maguire making 190k a week, right?

 

[Bojan Djordjic]

It’s hard to speculate on how much salaries a team like Wolves would take on, since how transfer fee/salary cost is handled aren’t always logical. Maguire is like what, 4m per year more expensive than a Moutinho. If they Maguire gets a 4 year deal, that extra cost in addition to what they normally is willing to pay for a player totals 16m.

So if they would be willing to pay 35m for Maguire making 100k a week they ought to be willing to pay 20m for Maguire making 190k a week, right?

Yeah but in order to do that Wolves would have to shatter their salary structure for a player who at best has major question marks surrounding him and at worst is shot and who would presumably be demanding a 5 year contract.

 

[golden_blunder]

You realise you’re debating about going to wolves where there is absolutely no link other than them posters wish link above, who also seems to have secretly signed Januzaj

 

[croadyman]

Yeah definitely, that will be left for summer. January is hopefully about finding striker and a right back, getting both would be great window imo.

RB a real possibility but don't see a striker until next summer when we could go big for a Vlahovic/Osimhen maybe even Kane

 

[NoPace]

Yeah definitely, that will be left for summer. January is hopefully about finding striker and a right back, getting both would be great window imo.

I'm actually not sure we need a 9 more than a CM, because Martial and Rashford can play as 9s and Garnacho, Antony and Sancho out wide, and 5 guys for 3 spots is less of a problem than 1 guy for 1 spot which is what we have at the #8 spot, I just think signing someone at the #8 spot is so damn hard and specific that we won't address it.

Gravenberch maybe should have signed here. We'd have a backup for Eriksen and he'd be a serious part of the squad coming on every game in the spots Ten Hag has used Fred and Van De Beek and maybe even some McTominay minutes. Would be at 500 or 600 league minutes so far and not 175. I don't think he's the player we need to spell Eriksen, but it would have made sense for everyone, and then we sign someone like Neves or Lobotka (or whoever you like to develop the way say Brozovic has over time and moved deeper) who can pass from deep next to Casemiro but also play as the sole DM or the passer sitting with Eriksen or Gravenberch next to him when Casemiro is out.

So yeah, is a 6 month Gravenberch loan crazy if we move Fred in January on loan somewhere? They probably rate Ten Hag still at Bayern.

 

[BorisManUtd]

I'm actually not sure we need a 9 more than a CM, because Martial and Rashford can play as 9s and Garnacho, Antony and Sancho out wide, and 5 guys for 3 spots is less of a problem than 1 guy for 1 spot which is what we have at the #8 spot, I just think signing someone at the #8 spot is so damn hard and specific that we won't address it.

Gravenberch maybe should have signed here. We'd have a backup for Eriksen and he'd be a serious part of the squad coming on every game in the spots Ten Hag has used Fred and Van De Beek and maybe even some McTominay minutes. Would be at 500 or 600 league minutes so far and not 175. I don't think he's the player we need to spell Eriksen, but it would have made sense for everyone, and then we sign someone like Neves or Lobotka (or whoever you like to develop the way say Brozovic has over time and moved deeper) who can pass from deep next to Casemiro but also play as the sole DM or the passer sitting with Eriksen or Gravenberch next to him when Casemiro is out.

So yeah, is a 6 month Gravenberch loan crazy if we move Fred in January on loan somewhere? They probably rate Ten Hag still at Bayern.

Perhaps you're right, emergence of Garnacho in 1st team does change things regarding our attacking options. If we manage to sell van de Beek as soon as January, then I can see us also getting a midfielder.

RB position is important one to adress anyways. Ten Hag doesn't rate AWB and Dalot won't be able to play every single minute, while Malacia is LB.

January transfer window will be big for club in terms of chances for top 4 and fighting for trophies in cup competitions. In 2020 we brought in Bruno and Ighalo and the result was finishing 3rd in PL. It was our best January window since 2006. We won't be have as good of a window now but no one coming in would be huge disappointment.

 

[Bojan Djordjic]

I'm actually not sure we need a 9 more than a CM, because Martial and Rashford can play as 9s and Garnacho, Antony and Sancho out wide, and 5 guys for 3 spots is less of a problem than 1 guy for 1 spot which is what we have at the #8 spot, I just think signing someone at the #8 spot is so damn hard and specific that we won't address it.

Gravenberch maybe should have signed here. We'd have a backup for Eriksen and he'd be a serious part of the squad coming on every game in the spots Ten Hag has used Fred and Van De Beek and maybe even some McTominay minutes. Would be at 500 or 600 league minutes so far and not 175. I don't think he's the player we need to spell Eriksen, but it would have made sense for everyone, and then we sign someone like Neves or Lobotka (or whoever you like to develop the way say Brozovic has over time and moved deeper) who can pass from deep next to Casemiro but also play as the sole DM or the passer sitting with Eriksen or Gravenberch next to him when Casemiro is out.

So yeah, is a 6 month Gravenberch loan crazy if we move Fred in January on loan somewhere? They probably rate Ten Hag still at Bayern.

I still think we need a body at number 9 but it doesn't have to be a superstar. A 15 league goals per season player who can press, has good box presence and can link with others will do the trick. A quality midfielder to me is more important though when it comes to allocating resources. Either of the Enzos (fernandez or Le Fee) do it for me.

 

[NoPace]

I still think we need a body at number 9 but it doesn't have to be a superstar. A 15 league goals per season player who can press, has good box presence and can link with others will do the trick. A quality midfielder to me is more important though when it comes to allocating resources. Either of the Enzos (fernandez or Le Fee) do it for me.

I think that sort of player will help us be a top 4 team, but if we're serious about being a title threat we probably need someone like the post-Cristiano Rooney or Van Persie who can score goals and create from balls to feet as a #9, so like Martial but healthier.

Of the plausible options, that's probably betting on one of Joao Felix (skilled enough, lower production) or Jonathan David (the exact opposite!) going up a level which makes sense, as Felix is 23 and David 22. There are other options, but those seem like the likeliest.

If Martial was healthy, I'd say Felix for the upside, which to my eyes (and I'm a biased Canadian) is far higher than David's, but David's floor is higher and he might not be miserable as a bench option for a couple years like Felix will be if Martial hits his stride and stays healthy.

 

[LuckyScout78]

updating :

I said that Ten Hag will go for another creative cm player. After that. I just discovered. After sleeping at job. Because i didn't watch any of Benfica 6 champion league games. But only from his hightlights on youtube.

Enzo Ferandez is what United and Ten Hag need :

+ Complete as you can get
+ 100 % focus and determination in everything he is doing.
+ His ball skills and they way he hit and spread the ball. His basic ball skills is on a really high level.
+ Working hard and have high fighting and winning mentality.


Try to sign him in January from Benfica. If Benfica want to keep him for rest of the season. Try to agree a deal in January. But let him stay in Benfica and joined United in summer.

A key factor for Manchester United future success, beside others key factors and puzzles.


+ GK = Diogo Costa. Porto
+ CB = Kim Min Jae & Wout Faes. Napoli & Leicester City
+ Complete CM = Enzo Fernandez
+ CF = Not end decision yet

For GK, CB and CM i think i have come to the last end decisions. Those are the names i will go for.

 

[Lux Thunder]

First, there are too many players that we are facing a major drop in quality when they are absent or we don't even have a decent enough backup who is natural in that position: Varane, Martinez, Dalot, Casemiro, Eriksen, Bruno, Antony.

We need to address those positions in the next few windows, with hope but very unlikely doing some of the business done in January:

CF - starting option who could lead a line, prefer Osimhen, but anyone solid and reliable forward available in January like Thuram would be upgrade to current options.

CM - starter/rotation option, a ball progressor who can pick a ball deep and progress through carrying the ball or dribbling, preferred choice: if FDJ is not available then go for Lobotka. There are also plenty of interesting young playmakers like Enzo Le Fee, Enzo Fernandez and Orkun Kökçü who are doing very well in their teams.

CB/RB - rotation option, put it together as I think Jurrien Timber is talented player who can cover both positions and is highly rated by ETH. Malo Gusto and Jeremie Frimpong are also interesting options for the RB spot with young center-back Antonio Silva and Evan N'Dicka also should be monitored closely.

GK - If we are thinking long-term with ETH we should be moving on from De Gea and signing Diogo Costa or Robert Sanchez. David Raya also could be an option.

DM - Ball winner who provides both covers to our center backs and solidity for the front five to press higher + also should be decent enough on the ball to progress play from the back. Manuel Ugarte from Sporting looks like a very interesting prospect for this position.

We desperately need to start spending money wisely, not every player should cost as £60+ m to be good enough for the United squad - it is a matter of signing players that fit the system rather than trying to fit talented players into the style.

Having been linked with both Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez before they moved to Europe makes me wonder how our scouting department is treated by those who are responsible for transfer policy, have felt like their reports are overlooked while both those players would be very good additions to this squad.

 

[Anustart89]

First, there are too many players that we are facing a major drop in quality when they are absent or we don't even have a decent enough backup who is natural in that position: Varane, Martinez, Dalot, Casemiro, Eriksen, Bruno, Antony.

We need to address those positions in the next few windows, with hope but very unlikely doing some of the business done in January:

CF - starting option who could lead a line, prefer Osimhen, but anyone solid and reliable forward available in January like Thuram would be upgrade to current options.

CM - starter/rotation option, a ball progressor who can pick a ball deep and progress through carrying the ball or dribbling, preferred choice: if FDJ is not available then go for Lobotka. There are also plenty of interesting young playmakers like Enzo Le Fee, Enzo Fernandez and Orkun Kökçü who are doing very well in their teams.

CB/RB - rotation option, put it together as I think Jurrien Timber is talented player who can cover both positions and is highly rated by ETH. Malo Gusto and Jeremie Frimpong are also interesting options for the RB spot with young center-back Antonio Silva and Evan N'Dicka also should be monitored closely.

GK - If we are thinking long-term with ETH we should be moving on from De Gea and signing Diogo Costa or Robert Sanchez. David Raya also could be an option.

DM - Ball winner who provides both covers to our center backs and solidity for the front five to press higher + also should be decent enough on the ball to progress play from the back. Manuel Ugarte from Sporting looks like a very interesting prospect for this position.

We desperately need to start spending money wisely, not every player should cost as £60+ m to be good enough for the United squad - it is a matter of signing players that fit the system rather than trying to fit talented players into the style.

Having been linked with both Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez before they moved to Europe makes me wonder how our scouting department is treated by those who are responsible for transfer policy, have felt like their reports are overlooked while both those players would be very good additions to this squad.

I agree with most of this, but I can't shake the feeling you're just @LuckyScout78 's articulate alter-ego where he goes to get actual input on his ideas and not just green smileys.