What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

Should we be looking at any Leicester players now they're confirmed down? Bruno has played an awful lot of games maybe Maddison could lighten the load a little?
 
With Leeds and LC down there are opportunities.

I would go for Tyler Adams for sure. He would be a perfect deputy to Casemiro and get plenty of playing time.
 
Erik the Red said:
Now ETH has had a whole season to look at the squad, he will know which players he wants to keep and who is surplus to requirements. The squad is too big, and I fully expect ETH to tell players that realistically they are not going to play for the club again, and if they want to play professional football, they should look for a new club, otherwise they will rot in the reserves.

Getting in a core of the best English players (rumours about Kane, Rice and Mount) to slot in alongside Shaw, Rashford, unnamed?, etc., gives a strong English contingent. This is important as English players typically stay for the longer term, as they are unlikely to move to a rival, and they don't all dream of Madrid and Barca.

I can foresee a situation where ETH clears the decks and moves on most / all the deadwood, and he will know which positions need filling in the first team and the squad. The strongest rumours over the past couple of days are:

Min-Jae
Frimpong
Rabiot
Rice
Mount
Kane
Neymar (loan).

To replace the likes of Henderson, Jones, Maguire, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Williams, Telles, Fred, McTominay, van der Beek, Elanga, Martial, Sabitzer and Weghorst.

That is 7 in 14 out, but massively improves both our first team and our wider squad. Although I will get accused of playing Football Manager, which of those 14 players are likely to play if we kept them next season?
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Your wish list is practically identical to mine with the caveat we never ever get our dream lists plus I would keep Fred, his energy is useful as a squad player all the rest can go. That list will cost £300-340m, we might get £100-120m. Our problem with these names is others teams could get them before The club is finally sold to a new owner. I think we sign 2 midfielders and more likely Rice goes to Arsenal we might get Caciedo whose just as good and Mount is competition for Bruno, we really need an 8 like Enzo Le Fey who has the passing range to hurt any opponents. Can’t see Neymar but I’m one of the Neymar inn crowds, more likely another free like Marcus Thuram
 
Nick. said:
Should we be looking at any Leicester players now they're confirmed down? Bruno has played an awful lot of games maybe Maddison could lighten the load a little?
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It’s Maddison or Mount as we need Homegrown talent to replace who we are clearly selling.
 
We need to be more clinical and dictate midfield. So striker and midfielder are priorities. After that CB and creative RB. We will have no budget for GK so Dave will be starter next season. I'm not sure will we even sign any defender.
 
I was having this discussion today.

We're not in a bad position currently. Our form dropped off when Martinez and Varane had their injuries, and we clearly miss a striker.,
If's and buts, but if we did have Kane this season, scoring his goals, I think we'd have been at least challenging for the title.
With that in mind, I came to the conclusion, I think we need 4 players, with another possible 3, depending on certain players leaving.

In defence, I've been happy with Lindelofs contribution, but feel like Maguire needs moving on. Kim with his release clause seems like the good choice, although N'Dicka on a free would also keep the spending down.

In midfield, I think it's time we move VdB, Fred and McTominay on, but I think we only need two people to replace these as VdB hasn't featured anyway. A double swoop for Caicedo and Mac Allister would be fantastic, but out of reach. Caicedo makes sense, right age, proven in the league and can cover Casemiro when he doesn't play. I think the links to Mount makes sense. He can play backup to Bruno, but also, along side Casemiro. Problem is the fee. The 50-60m seems a lot for a player coming off a bad season, so cheaper alternatives would make sense.

In attack, It's just obvious putting Kane here with little to no explanation :lol:
That is my 4 nominations which I think is enough for the summer.

The other 3 I mentioned are if we moved on De Gea, Dalot and / or Martial. Then we'd need a keeper, Right back and a backup striker.

In: Kim, Caicedo, Mount, Kane
Out: Henderson, Telles, Maguire, Bailly, Jones, Tuanzebe, VdB, Fred, McTominay, Elanga
Loan: Mejbri, Pellestri, Amad

10 out and 4 in seems crazy, but 3 of them have been on loan this season, Jones and VdB haven't features and we have plenty of cover for Elanga as is.
 
KMJ (clause makes the deal very cost effective), Frimpong, Rabiot, Mount and Rice to overhaul our midfield and Neymar on loan. Get rid of Henderson, Williams, Maguire, AWB, Fred, McTominay and DVB. This would roughly put us at 100-150m net spend. This could challenge, but it would also allow us to put the squeeze on Levy and either grab Kane late in the window or next summer on a free. No ideal, but I could easily get on board with the different variations of line up we could play with the incoming players
 
Outgoing:
  • Most of the loaners/obvious deadwood
  • Maguire
  • McTominay
  • Fred
  • Van de Beek
  • Elanga
  • Weghorst
  • Sabitzer
Incoming
  • Mount
  • Lavia (probably rabiot though)
  • Hojlund (priced out of Kane and Osimhen)
  • Not sure who for CB
Realistic for a Glazer summer
 
bosnian_red said:
Outgoing:
  • Most of the loaners/obvious deadwood
  • Maguire
  • McTominay
  • Fred
  • Van de Beek
  • Elanga
  • Weghorst
  • Sabitzer
Incoming
  • Mount
  • Lavia (probably rabiot though)
  • Hojlund (priced out of Kane and Osimhen)
  • Not sure who for CB
Realistic for a Glazer summer
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If we’re getting rid of McT, Fred, Donny and Sabitzer we’ll probably need Rabiot too. Would give us very good depth and a number of tactical options for ETH to play with.
 
bosnian_red said:
Outgoing:
  • Most of the loaners/obvious deadwood
  • Maguire
  • McTominay
  • Fred
  • Van de Beek
  • Elanga
  • Weghorst
  • Sabitzer
Incoming
  • Mount
  • Lavia (probably rabiot though)
  • Hojlund (priced out of Kane and Osimhen)
  • Not sure who for CB
Realistic for a Glazer summer
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Höjlund is not ready to be our starting striker, but I agree that there are few quality options outside of Kane and Osimhen. Tammy Abraham might be one option who is more senior than Höjlund. Toney would have been great.
 
Some good options out there currently for relatively low prices to supplement what else we have and bigger players we’d look for (Kane)

Rodrigo (from Leeds, perfect buy imo)
Lavia
Maddison (10 goals this season)
Barnes (13 goals this season)
Rabiot

maybe Mount, but i dont think Chelsea will sell for cheap

Barnes, Mount and Rodrigo would be great. We need strong competition and we have so many games over a year.
 
Coming back to this after a rethink based on latest reliable info we have from reports and such

Release;
Wout Weghorst (from loan)
Marcel Sabitzer (from loan)
Axel Tuanzebe
Phil Jones

Decisions to be made; (Players who are older than 21 that we can't keep loaning out forever)
Matej Kovar (23)
Di'Shon Bernard (22)
Ethan Laird (21)
Ethan Galbraith (22)

Sell;
Harry Maguire
Anthony Martial
Brandon Williams
DVB
Anthony Elanga
Scott McTominay
Eric Bailly
Dean Henderson
Alex Telles

Loan;
Alvaro Fernandez
Facundo Pellistri
Zidane Iqbal
Kobbie Mainoo
Charlie Savage
Amad (maybe)

Buy; (Not in order of importence)
GK - Bart Verbruggen - 15mill / Alt; Lucas Chevalier - N/A (ETH has said DDG will be staying, but that he cannot promise him that he will be his No1 forever, this doesn't strike me as Diogo Costa purchase but this strikes me more buying a young cheaper keeper who's on the verge of breaking through and can eventually push DDG out)
DC - KMJ - 42mill / Alt; Evan Ndicka - Free (With Harry Maguire on the way out and Varane being less than reliable with his injury history, he needs to be managed - Lindelof has done well as of late but I think we all know KMJ is an absolute steal at this price and can slot in right alongside Licha)
CM - Mason Mount - 50mill MAX is what we should go to (I'm not offering an alternative as of now because the most reliable journalists are pushing this, it seems ETH wants him badly so i'm locking this in currently, regardless of whether I think we can do better of the price is ridiculous)
CM - Khephren Thuram - 40-45mill / Alt; Romeo Lavia - N/A / Alt 2; Adrien Rabiot - Free (Someone who can deputise for Casemiro at 6 when needed but also someone versatile enough to be able to play an 8, Thuram has just been included in the team of the season in France and I think he is one of the next big midfielders, he's young, has great attributes and dribbling ability)
ST - Rasmus Hojlund - 40-45mill / Alt; Jonathan David - 50/60mill (With a lot of other gaps to plug in the team I think more expensive strikers are a no go, if latest reports are to be believed Levy won't allow Kane to leave, Napoli want over 120mill for Osimhen, Benfica want over 100mill for Ramos, Vlahovic links seem cold and so on and so forth)
ST - Marcus Thuram - Free / Alt; (Of course a young striker like Rasmus is not going to be 100% reliable like a Kane right off the bat, so I believe we will bring in an older more experienced striker to help us along, someone akin to Wout, but you know, actually good)

Team
GK
DDG
Verbruggren
Heaton

Defenders
Licha
KMJ
Varane
Lindelof
Shaw
Malacia
Dalot
AWB

Midfielders
Casemiro
Bruno
Eriksen
Mason Mount
Khephren Thuram
Hannibal (maybe)

Attackers
Rashford
Sancho
Garnacho
Hojlund
Marcus Thuram
Antony
Amad

Bearing in mind this is me being pretty conservative and trying to be realistic in the sense of what we can achieve in a single summer (of course i'd like us to sign Rice, Kane, Diogo Costa etc)
 
We are still crying out for that DLP along with Rabiot,however Erik doesn’t seem to see anyone outside of De Jong whatsoever who fits
 
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It's the same every season, United are linked with almost every decent player who becomes available. Where do these journalists get their information from?
A lot of these links are stimulated by agents who want to get their client the most lucrative deal, and themselves, and I also believe that clubs may throw red herrings out, so as to steer the media away from the real targets.
I can't remember a great media whirlpool about us buying Martinez, they seemed to think Timber was the target, was that true, or did the club throw an enormous dummy. Malacia's deal was also done without too much hype, and Casemiro came out of the blue. Eriksen was talked about by the media for a number of weeks I believe before signing, so one out of four was talked about extensively before signing.
Please don't assume that the media 'know' what's going on behind the scenes, they patently do not.
 
I don't get why people here tend to post completely unrealistic transfer plans. Complete overhauling of the squad is 1. Not feasible, and 2. Unnecessary.

Back to topic. We need 4 player: ST, CM, CB, and a GK. Might be good to get a backup ST and a CM for cheap, if there are free agents.
 
RiqCantona said:
I don't get why people here tend to post completely unrealistic transfer plans. Complete overhauling of the squad is 1. Not feasible, and 2. Unnecessary.

Back to topic. We need 4 player: ST, CM, CB, and a GK. Might be good to get a backup ST and a CM for cheap, if there are free agents.
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Most of the "complete overhauls" are suggesting the exact six signings you say that we need, plus a RB. When you start listing out the "deadwood" players that are unlikely to get minutes if we bring in decent cover, there are about 14 players who need to go, who either didn't play much or at all this season. Of the 6000 or so minutes played by these players, over 2000 were McFred, who are likely to go if we bring in two new midfielders.

To compete with City, we need a strong first XI, and an almost equally strong second XI. Arsenal fell away as they didn't have the strength in depth. This is where we should be aiming.
 
Why aren't we in for Maddison? He looks like a very good attacking midfielder. He could take the workload off Bruno.
 
Erik the Red said:
Most of the "complete overhauls" are suggesting the exact six signings you say that we need, plus a RB. When you start listing out the "deadwood" players that are unlikely to get minutes if we bring in decent cover, there are about 14 players who need to go, who either didn't play much or at all this season. Of the 6000 or so minutes played by these players, over 2000 were McFred, who are likely to go if we bring in two new midfielders.

To compete with City, we need a strong first XI, and an almost equally strong second XI. Arsenal fell away as they didn't have the strength in depth. This is where we should be aiming.
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What he said ^
 
Erik the Red said:
Most of the "complete overhauls" are suggesting the exact six signings you say that we need, plus a RB. When you start listing out the "deadwood" players that are unlikely to get minutes if we bring in decent cover, there are about 14 players who need to go, who either didn't play much or at all this season. Of the 6000 or so minutes played by these players, over 2000 were McFred, who are likely to go if we bring in two new midfielders.

To compete with City, we need a strong first XI, and an almost equally strong second XI. Arsenal fell away as they didn't have the strength in depth. This is where we should be aiming.
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I agree. But in some of the other posts you will see that it has gone to 8-9 players in total which is never happening. With the number of probable outgoings this season (around 10), we need 4 to replace them. No way are we selling 14 players. For example, either one of McFred will be staying. So will Dalot and AWB. So technically, we are looking to replace a CM, a CB (for Maguire), ST because we don't have a single one, and a GK because we don't have a proper no.2 (or even a no.1 in that regard). Buying 4-5 players is quite normal and that's exactly what we'll do.

I definitely agree on having a strong first XI and a second XI, but this squad definitely doesn't need an overhaul. Just an improvement on 4 first team positions, with the others being relegated to being squad/backup players.
 
RiqCantona said:
I don't get why people here tend to post completely unrealistic transfer plans. Complete overhauling of the squad is 1. Not feasible, and 2. Unnecessary.

Back to topic. We need 4 player: ST, CM, CB, and a GK. Might be good to get a backup ST and a CM for cheap, if there are free agents.
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Solid quote and absolutely true however, we’ve wasted 10 years not even challenging for a title, in that period we’ve seen Liverpool come 2nd thee times with 84 pints 92 and 98 points, under Sir Alex we won tiles with far less and don’t even get me started on Pep’s cheating City that’s why fans are so unreasonable with their transfer wishes, 90% hope with a good Summer we can compete, I use the word good because that’s what it is, we need 45 points after 20 PL games to be serious ?
 
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I firmly believe we are just one very good CF away from challenging the title. One damn good CF. But where to find one?
 
RiqCantona said:
I don't get why people here tend to post completely unrealistic transfer plans. Complete overhauling of the squad is 1. Not feasible, and 2. Unnecessary.

Back to topic. We need 4 player: ST, CM, CB, and a GK. Might be good to get a backup ST and a CM for cheap, if there are free agents.
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It isnt like people are talking about selling anay players that have lots of ability that are devisive, such as Pogba days. Bar a couple of players, nearly every list I see is deadwood or players that havent been good enough. We actually have a large squad and selling into double figures, there arent many need to be replaced bar as squad options, some of hich can come from young players and a couple of cheap signings.

Disagree on four signings though. We buy one striker, who comes on from the bench or replaces them if injured? Unless Greenwood stays (as no way Martial is), there is only the option of Rashford playing up front, what big side in Europe has one striker in there squad? Two strikers are defnately needed. A second cm and maybe rb coould/should be added but bar outgoings, you arent actually really disagreeing with the general concensus here bar maybe a couple of signings
 
We need to get in a WC Striker, A first choice GK, 2 central midfielders and a backup centre back. in that order of priority.

I'd like to see Kane, Costa, Caicedo, Rabiot/Tielesman and Kim Min Jae/Pavard.

I think we have a lot of players we can ship and not lose anything.

DDG*, Henderson, Maguire*, Bailly, Taunzebe, Telles, McTominay*, DVB, Fred*, Martial*, Elanga

The guys with the asterisks need replacing.
 
Zlatattack said:
We need to get in a WC Striker, A first choice GK, 2 central midfielders and a backup centre back. in that order of priority.

I'd like to see Kane, Costa, Caicedo, Rabiot/Tielesman and Kim Min Jae/Pavard.

I think we have a lot of players we can ship and not lose anything.

DDG*, Henderson, Maguire*, Bailly, Taunzebe, Telles, McTominay*, DVB, Fred*, Martial*, Elanga

The guys with the asterisks need replacing.
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Fantastic window but unrealistic without the takeover being sorted out unfortunately
 
Which would you choose out of

Mount,Rabiot,Kane

Mount,Caicedo,Hojlund

I just don't see we could afford Mount,Caicedo and Kane. That's not even including potential moved for backup GK and maybe Pavard
 
croadyman said:
Which would you choose out of

Mount,Rabiot,Kane

Mount,Caicedo,Hojlund

I just don't see we could afford Mount,Caicedo and Kane. That's not even including potential moved for backup GK and maybe Pavard
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Mount, Rabiot, Kane anyday. We need a top striker next season our biggest issue was converting chances and Kane definitely solves that for us.
 
Tony247 said:
I firmly believe we are just one very good CF away from challenging the title. One damn good CF. But where to find one?
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CF alone is not the issue. Our backup team just isnt good enough to play week in/out to be a title winning side. Imagine if Casemiro is missing for most part of the season and we have to depend on Fred. We need a CF, CM, backup CDM minimum to close the gap to City.
 
Do we have a Mason Mount thread? Considering the stories about him is it not time for one?

What does he do? What is his best position? What is he good at?

I will admit that I've never found him eye catching the times I've watched him play for Chelsea, but equally that hasn't been that much either so my perception could be wrong.
 
Crashoutcassius said:
Why is it when tielemens is 80m everyone wants him but when he is totally free there is zero talk about him
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I think he's had a quiet season with Leicester so has everyone questioning him. I think he'd be a good option, he's available on a free. In my opinion we need to replace Fred, McTomminay and DVB. We seem nailed on to get Mount, should add Rabiot and Teliemans on a free, re-shape our midfield.
 
croadyman said:
Which would you choose out of

Mount,Rabiot,Kane

Mount,Caicedo,Hojlund

I just don't see we could afford Mount,Caicedo and Kane. That's not even including potential moved for backup GK and maybe Pavard
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Mount, Caicedo, Hojlund

I get it, Kane is the enticing name here and yes he's obviously WC and would love him here because he guarantees goals, we'd probably be able to win more immediately with him.... however

2 years down the line with Caicedo and Hojlund especially I think we are built for much more long term success considering if they reach their potential they'd be WC players in 2 mainstay positions for another 10+ years for us, but it is riskier for sure

In my opinion to say "we need a striker for next season" tells me you aren't even thinking about 2-3 seasons down the line where we might have to replace the likes of Kane or Rabiot if they fall off a cliff
 
From the last rumours, it seems that we are going for Mount, Kane, Hojlund, Kim min-Jae, one more midfielder and maybe back-up goalkeeper.

If we somehow manage to get this 4 players mentioned and one more class midfielder like Caicedo,Rice or De Jong, I must say that we won't need much more to challenge for the title.
 
IN: Pavard, Rabiot, Mount, Hojlund, striker and back up GK
OUT: Henderson, Maguire, Williams, Telles, Bailly, Fred, DVB, Martial, Elanga,...

Is this realistic for the summer transfer window?
If we sell smart then net spend could be around 100mio.
 
At the moment here's how I'd prioritise each area of the pitch in terms of how important it is to strengthen:
  • Striker x 2
  • Midfielder
  • Defensive Mid (deputy for Casemiro)
  • Goalkeeper
  • Centre Back
  • Right Back
  • Right Wing
  • Left Back
  • Left Wing
CB could probably go up a couple of notches if Maguire goes. Same for RB and AWB, although I think he will stay now.

Left Back and Left Wing we're well stocked, RW is still a bit of a question mark but reasonably confident especially if Diallo returns to the squad.
 
sugar_kane said:
At the moment here's how I'd prioritise each area of the pitch in terms of how important it is to strengthen:
  • Striker x 2
  • Midfielder
  • Defensive Mid (deputy for Casemiro)
  • Goalkeeper
  • Centre Back
  • Right Back
  • Right Wing
  • Left Back
  • Left Wing
CB could probably go up a couple of notches if Maguire goes. Same for RB and AWB, although I think he will stay now.

Left Back and Left Wing we're well stocked, RW is still a bit of a question mark but reasonably confident especially if Diallo returns to the squad.
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I think the Bolded are absolute musts this transfer window. Considering who we are linked to it would be nice to get Pavard as he potentially fills the right back cover spot. We could live with bringing in a single striker this year as Rashford can deputise.
 
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