Opinions should be judged.
What do we still need? Aka The never ending story
- Thread starter Devil may care
- Start date
Well we havent signed anybody yet so too early to say but asper the postwas respnding too,dont think Zirkzee if tje only addition improves us as an attacking unit....an attacking unitI dont see breaking the top four.
Ugarte is the only upgrade but again is our squad actually any better fromathird summerwindow thanit was inTen Hags first....ashe isntthe Casimiro we signed.
Idont thinkindividually the signingsare under whelming, all good players....but collectively nowhere near enough and none ofthem for me are transformative or progressive in improving us.
Why do we have no chance of luring Williams do you think? Theres only a small handful of clubs can afford his wages and we arethe biggest ofthose clubs....personally would prefer Doue anywayfor his versatility andI think he has a higher ceiling too and be cheaper both fee and certainly wages wise....butfear we dont sign a wide player and are burdened again by a poor Rashford season
Anyway sorry I brought it up, let’s not dwell on it because the topic has done circles on these boards for the last 2 years
What are peoples predictions of who we will sign?
Obvs very hard to say because we will get someone we haven’t even been linked to yet
De Ligt looks likely, as does Zirkzee. Surely we need a midfielder too and maybe another left back
Obvs very hard to say because we will get someone we haven’t even been linked to yet
De Ligt looks likely, as does Zirkzee. Surely we need a midfielder too and maybe another left back
For midfield - Ugarte which is the name that's getting mentioned a lot (DM) would be great, my choice was Alan Varela but I'd be happy with Ugarte. Casemiro will become an increasingly expensive bench option though, I wouldn't mind offloading him for someone like a Caqueret who can play both DM and CM I believe, so he'd provide cover for both Ugarte and Mainoo.
Someone like Mittelstad at LB maybe (Likely not too pricey, but he's also good?).
I think beyond that, any incomings should depend on sales - If we can offload Casemiro, Sancho, Greenwood, Donny, Facu, Hannibal, Eriksen etc. along with one of Lindelof/Maguire - We could start to think about another Winger and Centre Back + midfield option (which I think Caqueret would be suited for). If we aren't able to sell one of Lindelof/Maguire then I think we'll just have to make do until next season - That's a bit risky so I think we'll do our best to sell one of them off.
Done:
De Ligt
Zhirkzee
Next:
Ugarte
LCB
LB
RW
Top 3 finish here we come.
De Ligt
Zhirkzee
Next:
Ugarte
LCB
LB
RW
Top 3 finish here we come.
Probably:
Striker: Zirkzee
Centerbacks: De Ligt and Branthwaite or Goncalo Inacio
DM/CM: Ugarte and Wharton or Javi Guerra
LB/RB: Kadioglu or Gutierrez
Pipe Dream:
Playmaking Winger: Kvaratshkelia, Kubo, Nico Williams
Attacking Starting Fullback: Theo Hernandez, Frimpong
Striker: Zirkzee
Centerbacks: De Ligt and Branthwaite or Goncalo Inacio
DM/CM: Ugarte and Wharton or Javi Guerra
LB/RB: Kadioglu or Gutierrez
Pipe Dream:
Playmaking Winger: Kvaratshkelia, Kubo, Nico Williams
Attacking Starting Fullback: Theo Hernandez, Frimpong
We need a RWB as well, maybe we could look at someone like Yukinari Sugawari of AZ Alkmaar
I’ve suggested Sugawara previously too. He’s currently linked with a a few Prem and Serie A clubs.
Reportedly he’ll be very cheap this summer (pretty eye I read €13m somewhere) as his contract is out next summer. So we could get him for cheaper than what we sell AWB for which would be fantastic business.
He’d be a downgrade as a one-on-one defender of course but technically and in terms of attacking output he’d be a huge improvement.
€13m would be a steel, he has only just turned 24 and is a decent crosser and tackler as well as a very good passer
I saw his games at the Asian cup. He's not that good. There are surely better options out there.
Now with Sancho and Greenwood likely gone soon, we need another winger (Amad I like, Antony is pants). My dream signing would be Williams, he brings everything to get properly excited, and he has a decent release clause!
Williams is less about the release clause and more about his wages and whether he’d actually want to come. He’s on a monster contract already with Bilbao
If we can somehow get-
De ligt
Ugarte
Zirkzee
Williams
Gutierrez/ other LB
It will be a 5 star window.
De ligt
Ugarte
Zirkzee
Williams
Gutierrez/ other LB
It will be a 5 star window.
It's not that much - £170k. Casemiro earns £350k and Varane is on £340k and they're both on their way out. We could easily give him a big contract. Whether he wants to come is another matter, but we won't find out if we don't try. Slap £100k extra on his existing contract, and it would be hard to say no. Barcelona are struggling financially, so now is the time to make a move.
Varane has gone, his contract expired and he is apparently signing for Como
In the Woodward era sure, but under INEOS we are actively looking to reduce paying those huge wages, and slapping a 270k a week contract to a player that did less than Sancho did at Dortmund prior to his signing would be just making the same mistakes over. I really like Williams but come on.
I don't know what the feck I'm talking about here. Not a contract negotiator
We don't necessarily need to offer him that much, but maybe he would absolutely love to play for us and join for little over what his current contract is. My point is that we should try to sign him because we desperately need another winger, he has a ridiculous release clause for a player with his potential and he is one of the most threatening wingers in the world that can actually score and provide. It's up to INEOS to approach him and negotiate a potential contract.
We can easily afford his wages and he is worth every penny imo
It's not about "affording" those wages, he's not going to be coming here under his current contract he's going to want a nice big fat pay raise at minimum considering he most likely would prefer to stay in Spain anyways. So the question then becomes is it smart to spank 250k-300k a week on someone that's accomplished less than Sancho did at the same age just to entice him to come play for us, considering we are actively trying to avoid deals like this going forward.
Whether or not he's worth it is a bit different, I really like Williams but it's not like he's the finished product at all in front of goal so you're betting on the development and athletic profile for sure along with his desire to keep improving over just getting a big move to England for a huge club then being happy with that. My point being it's not as cut and dry as "50m release clause, sign him up". If it was, obviously it's a no brainer. And if we were to sell off Rashford he's the first name on the list for me as far as replacements go in that case.
Disappointed that we didn't follow through with our initial interest in Inacio. I think he has similar ability on the ball to Martinez.
Maybe we revisit later in window
We need to sign one more DM backup for Ugarte if we sign him. Casemiro and Eriksen might leave and physically they can't play on this level anymore. Our only midfield backup options would be Mount and McTominay and none of them are defensive midfielders. If Ugarte gets injured/suspended/tired then we will have a problem because we wouldn't have a suitable backup player for him.
quite the speculation of players this summer....looks like defensive overhaul seems to be the priority which is slightly odd considering how we struggled to score goals last season.
defensively....Kadioglu, Branthwaite, De Ligt, Yoro
midfield......Ugarte, Neves(though this has seem to die down)
forwards.....zirkzee, Toney, DCL
defensively....Kadioglu, Branthwaite, De Ligt, Yoro
midfield......Ugarte, Neves(though this has seem to die down)
forwards.....zirkzee, Toney, DCL
Mainoo is Eriksen replacement though, he can play as the deepest midfielder as well as the 8 role, Ugarte replaces Casemiro as the pure DM. Mount, Scott and Bruno would cover the 8/10 hybrid role. There's room for one more but it's not going to be a high profile signing considering the standing of the aforementioned players either Eriksen stay on, Sign Amrabat or an academy lad coming through.
Our defence was terrible last year. Not just at conceding goals and shots, but at staying fit. We've lost Varane, who we need to replace. Then if you want to improve, you're probably looking at another 1 or 2.
Our attack, although maybe equally poor, is full of young players. You would hope that Garnacho and Hojlund improve after decent seasons. You would also hope that Amad would improve our right hand side (he is still young too). And of course there is an obvious hope that Rashford can find some form as well.
That said I would absolutely still like us to improve this area of the pitch... I just feel like fixing the defence should be the priority. We'll have a better idea of what we have in attack by the end of the season.
Agree with this. We might have solutions in attack if the young guys improve, we don't have them at DM or in defence. A year of evaluating Hojlund, Amad, Garnacho (I think he's shown enough to assume he'll make it, but unclear if it should be at RW or LW) and presumably Zirkzee, and a last chance for Rashford, is fine with me. We can always spend big on an attacker next summer once we know where we need one.
Refreshing to see multiple approaches
Not that odd when you consider we conceded 15+ shots per game and our "options" in deeper mid and defence were all injury prone, 30+ and probably on the way out (Casemiro, Eriksen, maybe amrabat, Varane, Maguire, Lindelof). Our main attack options don't have fitness issues, are here for the foreseeable future and are mostly young (Hojlund, Garnacho, Rashford, Amad, Antony). Whether we like some of them or not, it'll be hard to move on someone like Antony this season, and he's a backup winger anyway. So in attack we have the spot for 1 squad CF, while in defence we need 2-3 CBs and in midfield another 2 players.
i do agree taht it's refreshing to see our hands involved in multiple pots and not just working on one deal at a time while missing out on targets of real interest
i think our principals of play and spacing created issues iwth the shot volume along with having guys like eriksen and casemiro who couldn't run and McT who is brain dead when it comes to defending. I PRAY we stick to that same defensive principal that we saw in the FA Cup final of just keeping the middle compact and make them play thru the wide areas.
I do think Ugarte is prime player/position much like Neves....too often Kobbie was stuck defending on his own and just getting over run and that just bled into the CB's having to cover too much space.
Imagine De Ligt, Branthwaite, Yoro, Ugarte, Zirkzee (not convinced myself), Kadioglu and for example Rabiot on a free. Quite the window.
We need goals. The players linked so far don't really address it.
We had 0 central defenders for a while last season. We really need defensive stability, better footballers in the back and midfield, and the goals will come too.
Only would be 2 of the first 3
2 of those 3 would be good preferably De Ligt and Yoro....Ugarte, Zirkzee and Kaioglu would round out a very strong window. Don't think Rabiot is even on the radar.
5 strong players and 4 of them could easily be starters.....you add a pacy, attacking 1v1 winger and that's a slam dunk window
Toney/Calvert-Lewin could still be options if we can make some decent money on sales
Toney for me, yes. DCL - no thank you.
I would only take him if he could sort injury issues
Early signs for this window look very good.
Zirkzee - 35m
De Ligt - 42m
Yoro - 42m (doubtful but bid accepted)
Ugarte - Loan
If we can complete sales for Greenwood (30m), Casemiro (40m), Sancho (30m), Lindelof (10m) and Eriksen (5m) we should be able to make a few more moves on top of the above 4.
For me, if we could also add the below, we’d be looking at a near perfect window.
CM/DM - Neves - 70m
RB - Kayode - 25m
RW/LW - Chiesa - 20m (part of Sancho deal maybe)
Bringing in possibly the best young prospects in their respective positions in Yoro, Neves and Kayode, alongside a bunch of players soon to hit or at the beginning of their peaks, is exactly the strategy we need to be implementing.
Zirkzee - 35m
De Ligt - 42m
Yoro - 42m (doubtful but bid accepted)
Ugarte - Loan
If we can complete sales for Greenwood (30m), Casemiro (40m), Sancho (30m), Lindelof (10m) and Eriksen (5m) we should be able to make a few more moves on top of the above 4.
For me, if we could also add the below, we’d be looking at a near perfect window.
CM/DM - Neves - 70m
RB - Kayode - 25m
RW/LW - Chiesa - 20m (part of Sancho deal maybe)
Bringing in possibly the best young prospects in their respective positions in Yoro, Neves and Kayode, alongside a bunch of players soon to hit or at the beginning of their peaks, is exactly the strategy we need to be implementing.