What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

It drives me mad that United seem to only buy players that have reached their ceiling or completely overpay on talent.

Surely anyone with a brain cell should be looking at clubs like Dortmund, Monaco, Spurs etc that pick up talent for value and within 1 season they are all worth £50+m.

Even Liverpool :mad: have managed to perfect this, and buying players under for decent prices and still have room to grow and fit their system.

Look at Dybala, Salah, Umtiti, KDB, VVD etc, all players for that were well known at 'second tier' clubs and easy to buy.

United only seem to be in for players past their peak or the height of it and at a big club, so easy to get ripped off (Bale,Kroos,Koulibaly,Sancho etc)
 
No one should underestimate the Herculean task facing OGS this summer even with an open chequebook from Ed.
We need essential replacements all over the pitch,unfortunately everyone will come with the customary Man Utd tax,so be it.
It's depressing to see that the benches of City,Liverpool and Spurs have better players than our starters.
We won't fix all of our problems in one or even two windows but we can at least take strides in the right direction.
Versatility and creativity are sadly lacking all over.

No one in our current line up is indispensable.

Either AWB or Meunier should be a must buy.Push Dalot further forward while he is developing.

If Varane is just cage rattling at RM for a new contract lets test it out by offering them De Gea in exchange.We have adequate goalkeeping back up for next season.
Would take Toby at CB for the price available.
De Ligt seems Barca bound and Koulibaly is very expensive option but a great fit.

Neves would be a great addition but if Wolves aspire to be a top 6 club then maybe very difficult to prise him away,Transfermrkt list him at £40M which is a bargain.
Sancho or CHO would be ideal additions but either Sancho needs to push for a transfer or I cant see it happening this summer unless we form some agreement to take him next summer.Chelsea wont be selling us CHO!
Jovic has just signed a 4 year deal at Frankfurt for 7M,which means he immediately becomes 50M for us!

Interesting times ahead,lets hope we have new Owners too!
 
I would plump for Sancho, Pepe, Thiago Alcantara, Wan-Bissaka, De Ligt and a left footed CB (I cannot find one as of yet).

6 players for God knows how much big bucks. Part funded by selling 12 senior players 25 and over mind.
 
Sancho - Lukaku - Pepe
Pogba
Thiago - Herrera
Shaw - new LCB - De Ligt - Wan-Bissaka
De Gea
​
That's stage 1 for next season. Stage 2 would be LB, midfielder and striker upgrade
 
Wilfred Zaha back here at right wing for me. Let Mata go.
Id also like to see Decklan rice in for herrara or matic and nathan Aki in for bailly

Plus another 3 or 4 on top but thats my starters all proven in premiership.
 
Considering the strong likelihood of no champions league and ole's two press conferences citing slow change in squad makeup i think we will get

1. Wan-Bissaka
2. Alderweirald
3. Some version of Herrera Replacement
 
People need to really let go of De ligt no chance is he signing for us, accept it muppets youve been dumped by him
 
ManchesterYoda said:
Sancho - Lukaku - Pepe
Pogba
Thiago - Herrera
Shaw - new LCB - De Ligt - Wan-Bissaka
De Gea
​
That's stage 1 for next season. Stage 2 would be LB, midfielder and striker upgrade
Click to expand...

Seriously, Lukaku? We will NEVER win a premiership with such an average player leading our front line. He is bang out of his depth at United, and most other top teams would not even give him the time of day as their first team option. Sure, he has had decent stats, goals to games ratio in the past, but this Lukaku is now a different player, and has been overwhelmingly found out at the top level with United.

90% of the time, playing Lukaku is like playing with 10 men, add Lingard to that, and we go down to 9 men. Add all this up and you can see why we are currently struggling.
 
We cannot come out of this summer without addressing all the following positions.

CB- Smalling Lindelof partnership will never be good enough. Go cheap and bring in Toby to allow us to sign other positions.
RB- Can't play Young anymore and clearly no plans for Dalot to be starting by day 1 next season. Wan Bisaka seems the obvious choice for 40-50 mil.
RW- Haven't owned one for what seems like centuries and there are a lot of promising ones out there. Sancho, Pepe etc.
CM- Whether Herrera goes or not we got not choice but to buy 1 and more ideally 2 cms.

Ole talking about one or two in is concerning as if even if we got 3 it leaves major holes in the team going into next season. Imagine we take him at his word and only get 2? So what happens Herrera leaves and we bring in a CB and RB? The team will have a worse midfield and still a an inconsitent attck with 0 right sided players.

We got no choice but to buy 4 players at a minimum. ANything less and it is a disgrace especially when you consider our business last season and the number of players that are available that would improve us.
 
Steven-UK said:
Seriously, Lukaku? We will NEVER win a premiership with such an average player leading our front line. He is bang out of his depth at United, and most other top teams would not even give him the time of day as their first team option. Sure, he has had decent stats, goals to games ratio in the past, but this Lukaku is now a different player, and has been overwhelmingly found out at the top level with United.

90% of the time, playing Lukaku is like playing with 10 men, add Lingard to that, and we go down to 9 men. Add all this up and you can see why we are currently struggling.
Click to expand...
Because buying 3 forwards is going overboard and out of the players we have Lukaku is preferred option as central forward. I think Sanchez would be the best option by far, but I don't know whether Sanchez is done or just miserable at present. Without buying anyone who would you play in that position in that team?
 
redtony said:
It drives me mad that United seem to only buy players that have reached their ceiling or completely overpay on talent.

Surely anyone with a brain cell should be looking at clubs like Dortmund, Monaco, Spurs etc that pick up talent for value and within 1 season they are all worth £50+m.

Even Liverpool :mad: have managed to perfect this, and buying players under for decent prices and still have room to grow and fit their system.

Look at Dybala, Salah, Umtiti, KDB, VVD etc, all players for that were well known at 'second tier' clubs and easy to buy.

United only seem to be in for players past their peak or the height of it and at a big club, so easy to get ripped off (Bale,Kroos,Koulibaly,Sancho etc)
Click to expand...

Diogo Dalot? It won't matter anyway because the managers won't play him over a past it option like Young. For players to grow you actually need to give them game time.

And already our fans are calling for us to spunk 50m on a first choice ready made right back. So what's the point?
 
De Gea
(Romero)

xxxx - Lindelof - xxxx - Shaw
(Dalot - Smalling - xxxx - xxxx)

xxxx
(McTominay)

xxxx - Pogba
(Fred - xxxx)

xxxx -------------------- Martial
(Lingard -------------------- xxxx)

xxxx
(Rashford)
​
That's what my 2 year plan would look like. Filling in them gaps (Could be worse depending on the De Gea and Pogba situations)

Year one - I'd hope to get Herrera onto a new contract, slot him next to Fred as one of the rotation players. For now, Young isn't leaving so have him playing backup to Shaw. I don't see us replacing Lukaku this year, so I feel Rashford will rotate with Lukaku and Martial on the left. With Matic, I think he'll have another year as we can't do it all in one go. I always feel 5 CBs are needed for some reason. Jones is here, when fit.... and we could have Tuanzebe feature in and around the squad. Although if we do sign Toby for 25m, and could bring in De Ligt, that'd be the perfect summer defensively we could wish for.

RB - Wan Bissaka / Doherty
CB - Kouliaby / Alderweireld (If we have a chance in getting De Ligt, I'd go all out for him and buy Alderweireld as well)
CM - Bruno Fernandes
RW - Sancho / Odoi / Lozano

Players out - Valencia, Darmian, Bailly, Rojo, Mata, Sanchez, TFM out

Year 2 - At this point, Ole has had a full pre season, shaped his team somewhat and it'll be interesting to judge some of the players we have. So Lukaku may be a clear out or may have found his feet. Fred deserves a second season, but we'll know more by next year. McTominay may be a squad player or may continue his progress and become an established first team player. Shaw has a big season ahead of him also. Will he be a worthy first teamer or at this point, do we need to find somebody else.
 
Meunier -£40m
Alderweireld -£25m
Rice/Neves -£60m
Ndombele/Bruno Fernandes -£45m
Sancho-£80m

This would give us two experienced defenders to add to Lindelof and Shaw or are younger and less experienced.

Rice or Neves would come in and compete with Matic. They hopefully win that battle but it keeps Matic on his toes regardless.

Ndombele or Bruno Fernandes to replace Herrera.

Sancho to fix the right wing. It would also mean we have Lingard or Martial have to play better knowing there is a viable option to take their spot when they don’t perform.

If any of De Gea, Pogba or Lukaku leave we would need a direct replacement.

Probably around £250m spend but our squad would then be much better balanced and would provide competition for each place.

De Gea/Romero/Henderson

Meunier/Dalot
Alderweireld/Jones
Lindelof/Smalling/Tuanzebe
Shaw/Young

Matic/Rice or Neves
Bruno Fernandes or NDombele/McTominay
Pogba/Andreas Pereira

Sancho/Lingard
Martial/Sanchez

Rashford/Lukaku
 
Igor Drefljak said:
De Gea
(Romero)

xxxx - Lindelof - xxxx - Shaw
(Dalot - Smalling - xxxx - xxxx)

xxxx
(McTominay)

xxxx - Pogba
(Fred - xxxx)

xxxx -------------------- Martial
(Lingard -------------------- xxxx)

xxxx
(Rashford)
​
That's what my 2 year plan would look like. Filling in them gaps (Could be worse depending on the De Gea and Pogba situations)
Click to expand...

Not far off what I would say. We need a minimum of 4 players for the first team and likely another 5 or 6 for the squad.

Dalot might develop into a good starter and I'd hope one of McTominay or Fred makes it too, otherwise there are three solid backups there.

I don't see Rashford making it as a striker either and he wont be happy as a squad player. I think he will move to one of the other forward slots so we need a goalscorer from somewhere.

After 2 years I also wouldn't be against us starting to look for De Gea's replacement either. Whether he goes to Madrid or not, reflex based goalkeepers like him never age well and he will be into his 30s.
 
ManchesterYoda said:
Sancho - Lukaku - Pepe
Pogba
Thiago - Herrera
Shaw - new LCB - De Ligt - Wan-Bissaka
De Gea
​
That's stage 1 for next season. Stage 2 would be LB, midfielder and striker upgrade
Click to expand...
Shaw doesn't need upgrading. Back up yes.
 
I have a feeling we'll only get 4 players and will offload far less than people think.

Reckon we'll sign a RB (i.e. Meunier), CD (Ake), attacking CM (Bruno Fernandes) and a false 9 who can play right wing (Joao Felix).

1)
De Gea
Meunier - Lindelof - Ake - Shaw
Fred
Bruno Fernandes - Pogba
Joao Felix
Rashford - Martial

2)
Romero
Dalot - Smalling - Jones - Young
Matic
McTominay - Pereira
Lingard
Lukaku - Sanchez

I just don't see us being able to sell Sanchez. Lukaku is our only real physical option up front and perhaps is a more consistent goalscorer than Rashford. I don't think we'll command what we would want for Pogba.
 
I think we will see four players. Hopefully a really good RW. Sancho or Felix maybe.

A MF and a RB are vital too. (Think of how bad Young was against Barca). Perhaps a CB, but not too dear.
 
I assume we're probably gonna spend around 200m pre sales so this would be my ideal summer with that in mind:

Toby Alderweireld 25m
Bruno Fernandes 60ish
Aaron Wan-Bissaka 40
Douglas Costa 50 or Chukuweze if Villareal get relegated.
DM i'm not fully decided on yet.
 
We need a boost in quality. No faffing about. Throw our weight around and get some real proven quality players who can produce to a really high standard. We are past the stage of gambles on youth who haven't shown what they can do on the grand stage. It's just going to lead to more Martial's.

I'm thinking the likes of Alderwereld, Koulibaly, Mahrez, Thiago and Ndombele. As for where we are going to get a right back with a proven track record of being able to produce at the highest level I have no idea, but I'm totally opposed to signing the likes of AWB.
 
What we need is about 7-8 players in and 9-11 out but that isnt going to happen in one window....sadly in my opinion.

It appears the likely out will be Darmian, Valencia, Rojo, Bailly, Herrera, Mata, Sanchez....which probably only brings in £50m, added to the rumoured £200m that is £250m to spend.

---------------------------------------------------DeGea/Romero--------------------------------------------------------------------

Dalot/Bissaka (£45m)-----------Smalling/Upemecano (£55m)---------------------------Lindelof/Jones--------------------Shaw/Young-------

--------------------------------------------------Matic/McTominay----------------------------------------------------------


--------------------------------Fernandes (£65m)/Perreira--------------------------------Pogba/Fred-----------------------------------------------


Lingard/Sancho (£85)---------------------------------------------Rashford/Lukaku----------------------------------------Martial/Greenwood

Realistically, I expect something similar to this to happen over the summer. The thing is, though a big improvement, I still dont see that as a title winning side. a top four one but not a title winning one or even challenging one.

At the least, addtionally:

I would release Young, have Jones covering at right back and Dalot covering left back with Laird a 3rd option for both positions and signing a second quality centre back.

I would sell Matic as I think the likes of Rice, Ndombele, Ascacibar there are some real quality young defensive midfielders possibly available this summer.

I would sell Lukaku as he is rubbish and by another young striker for half the price and also sell Martial and use the money to buy another wide player Lozano, Neres, Dybala possibly (Sancho can play both flanks)

Personally, ideally

I would sell Jones, Young, Matic, Pogba, Lukaku and Martial along with the likely outs, generating about £300m adding to £200m and pretty much rebuild the whole side pretty much, players I think we can possibly buy (Felix, De Ligt and NDombele for example would be number one choices I dont see us getting)

----------------------------------------------------DeGea/Romero-------------------------------------------------------

Bissaka (£45m)/Dalot----------------Upemecano (£55m)/Smalling----------Kouilibaily (£90m)/Lindelof--------------Shaw/Young

-------------------------------------------------Ascacibar (£35m)/McTominay----------------------------------------

-------------------------------------Barella (£35m)/Fred----------------------------Tonali (£35m)/Perreira


---Dybala (£70m)/Lingard--------------------Rashford/Gouri (£35m)------------------------------Sancho (£90m)/Greenwood

£150m odd net spend

Looking based on current performances to Laird to phase out Young over the season, Possibly Angel Gomes phase out Perreira, Garner phase out Fred.

Think the defence looks solid, with more pace and strength, ability on the ball and most importantly, leadership in the middle.

Midfield signings are a gamble all being young and foreign. I think one of our big problems the last few years, partly due to playing style is just how poor we have been at winning the ball in the middle of the park. Pogba doesnt, Herrera is average at it and Matic is good positionally and getting his body inbetween the ball and shielding it, but not the most mobile and not great with the ball. Think potentially the energy of these three, the heart of Ascacibar and Barella as well as the technical abilities of Barella and Tonali and the passing abilities of Tonali, there is possiblyfar more than Matic, Herrera and Pogba....and considering Herrera would leave on e free., Matic is 30 and showing signs already of decline......replacing them at half the price with these three adding to the problems Pogba seems to bring, I say sell him.

The new front three just gives us so many differnt options combination wise as the majority of these six can play various different positions.

We can talk about trying to integrate so many players at once, but I think that is a top four side still anyway and certainly within a year a title challenging one, I genuinely believe its not our squad needs improving so much as our first eleven and the vast majority of our players of value withing that first eleven as be it attitude, consistency, performance, mentality, off the field problems, ability, suitability, age....not one of them has been good enough
 
redtony said:
It drives me mad that United seem to only buy players that have reached their ceiling or completely overpay on talent.

Surely anyone with a brain cell should be looking at clubs like Dortmund, Monaco, Spurs etc that pick up talent for value and within 1 season they are all worth £50+m.
Click to expand...

United aren’t a feeder club or glorified youth academy. We’re trying to win things.

We could easily have done what those clubs have done and sold all our best players for a healthy profit or won absolutely nothing.

Those clubs also churn through players as well, and the requirements for a United player are far higher.

We’ve also signed Martial, Lindelöf, Bailly, Dalot who were young and expected to improve.

We could have made a fortune from De Gea, Rashford and Martial. We could have sold Lingard for a decent fee. We’ve produced so many academy players that have subsequently gone for decent money.

There’s loads of ways we could emulate those clubs whilst, effectively, sacrificing any attempt at on-field successes.
 
I hope the majority of these players leave this summer, the rest in following windows: Darmian, Rojo, Valencia, Young (perhaps keep for one more season as backup/experince), Smalling and or Jones, TFM, Pereira, Mata, Sanchez, Matic (would like to keep as backup/experience for one more season)

Question marks over Lukaku (can he lead the line? Already behind Rashford and was expensive so should we cash in?), Fred (should get one more season prove why he was bought), Pogba (does he want to leave?), De Gea (in terms of contract), Herrera (most likely gone?)

We have players coming back like Tuanzebe who should be part of the squad imo, and players like Gomez and Greenwood could have more minuntes next season, same goes for Garner and Chong, but some of these should probably be loaned out for a season.

OGS mentioned it wasn't possible to fix everything in one go with for an example 7 in/outs (his number), still hoping we go for at least 4 players, perhaps 5.

Would like to see
RB: Wan Bissaka (if not than someone like Meunier until Dalot can take over)
CB: De Ligt (but he looks destined for Juve or Barca), so if he ain't possible than someone like Skriniar or Koulibaly
CM: Rodri (wants to leave apperantly, has a buy out clause that is high but not the craziest), if not him than perhaps one of Rice, Ndidi, Doucoure,
CM: Joao Felix (rumoured for Juve, looks a star in the making), if not him than Erikesen or Bruno Fernandes
RM: Sancho (if not than perhaps CHO, Pepe, Chiesa or Brooks)

Would be expensive but would be a wet dream in my opinion and show real state of intent.
 
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With Ole's recent press conference stating that signing 7 players will be a lot and it's a gradual process my guess is that we will sign 4 players this season being a CM CB RB and RW. My choices will be;

CM: I pick Bruno Fernandes. Plays very well on the right of a three man midfield and will be perfect in developing an attacking mindset for the team. Him and Pogba heading the midfield will provide us with lots of options. I don't see how this couldn't work especially if we tidy up our defense. 60m

CB: I pick Rice. Forget Koulibaly and Varane and De Ligt and Skrinniar. All these players will just be one epic transfer window saga and will cost a lot and all of them have hinted at wanting to stay. The more realistic choices for me are Alderweild Upamecano Ruben Dias Manolas and maybe Umtiti shit even Rice with Alderweild being the cheapest. Lots of people say they see Rice more as a defender and could be a potential leader(Could be our De Ligt). He can play both DM and CB which gives us more options and the lad can actually head the ball. He has all the abilities of a natural CB to be honest. 50m

RB: Wan Bissaka. People complain that signing this guy is going to hinder Dalot. The first thing I have to say to this is that there is nothing wrong with a little competition for crying out loud. The second thing is this; Ole does not favor Dalot as an RB. It is very obvious Ole feels much comfortable playing Dalot as a winger than an RB and I think the reason is that Dalot is poor defensively. As much as I will love to see Young benched he is better defensively than Dalot. Don't get me wrong though I dislike Young. AWB on the other hand while not very good going forward he absolutely trumps both Young and Dalot defensively and this is why I want him. His defensive skills will prove useful given how our midfield will be attack mindedd with Bruno and Pogba. The whole squad should be attack minded. 40m

RW: Sancho. Nothing to say here. Move heaven and earth for him because we wouldn't get any other person so perfect for our RW. 120m

Total: 270m.... We sell a couple of players and we could end up with at most a 250m net spend. The squad should look like this

------------------------------DeGea--------------------------------

Bissaka----------Rice----------Lindelof-----------Shaw

---------------------Matic/McTominay----------------------

-----------Fernandes-----------------Pogba--------------


Sancho---------------Rashford------------------Martial

Other concerns are Lukaku and Martial. If he's sold then we should get a much better striker because I'm not comfortable with Rashford as our main striker for next season. Jovic is my pick. Good strikers are really scarce to be honest

Martial should be given another season to prove himself and if he fails then bye bye

The transfer targets above actually(except Jovic) goes with players we are strongly linked to and follows the "British core" thing we are going for.
 
Not seen anyone mention that we need a Backup LB. I just hope Dalot, or Williams or O'Connor can step up and remove the need for Young, Rojo, Darmian. Do you think they can?
 
—————-Romero
——-Lindelöf—--Ake
Dalot———-Rice————Shaw
————McT——Maddison
Lozano——Rashford——-Sessegnon
 
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OohAahMartial said:
Not seen anyone mention that we need a Backup LB. I just hope Dalot, or Williams or O'Connor can step up and remove the need for Young, Rojo, Darmian. Do you think they can?
Click to expand...

I agree it seems quiet on this front. Competition for Shaw is an absolute must. Even with a new right back we’d be a couple of injuries away from starting Young at left back.
 
Who would you prefer?

Koulibaly vs De Ligt
Ban Wissaka vs Meunier
Rice vs Neves
Fernandes vs Eriksen
Felix vs Dybala
Sancho vs Pepe
 
Fer said:
Who would you prefer?

Koulibaly vs De Ligt
Ban Wissaka vs Meunier
Rice vs Neves
Fernandes vs Eriksen
Felix vs Dybala
Sancho vs Pepe
Click to expand...
Out of those players and in an ideal world where they all want to join? De Ligt, AWB, Neves, Eriksen, Dybala, Sancho
 
friendlytramp said:
—————-Romero
——-Lindelöf—--Ake
Dalot———-Rice————Shaw
————McT——Maddison
Lozano——Rashford——-Sessegnon
Click to expand...

Ahsan_6386 said:
Yeah that's a very underwhelming team .
Click to expand...

I think friendlytramp makes a good point. That team, whilst not having the ability of our current team, would actually be a better point to be rebuliding from. Its hard working and the players would have a point to prove. From that base you can then start to sprinkle some worldies onto it to push onto the next level. Our current squad is infected with a lassez faire attitude and this needs to be ripped up immediately. I also prefer it when we have a solid British core of players who know what playing for Manchester United means. As we have shown in the past, you dont need to have your team stacked with "world class" players in every position to be successful. I'd pass on Maddisson though, hes a massive bellend.
 
RedNed77 said:
I think friendlytramp makes a good point. That team, whilst not having the ability of our current team, would actually be a better point to be rebuliding from. Its hard working and the players would have a point to prove. From that base you can then start to sprinkle some worldies onto it to push onto the next level. Our current squad is infected with a lassez faire attitude and this needs to be ripped up immediately. I also prefer it when we have a solid British core of players who know what playing for Manchester United means. As we have shown in the past, you dont need to have your team stacked with "world class" players in every position to be successful. I'd pass on Maddisson though, hes a massive bellend.
Click to expand...

The point is not the base of the team . Most of the players in that team are unproven . We are not an Everton or a West ham United who can try experiments on such a massive level . We need quality players and not unproven players who are already hit and miss at their own mid table clubs . I would rather give the academy players a chance instead of this . The team which was posted would have a trying time making it to top 6 forget a title challenge or top 4 fight .
 
If i was in this situation on football manager id start with..
Wan bassaka 40mil?
Koulibaly 80?
Rice 40
Sancho 100

I think we would still be lacking a creative midfielder. But I am starting to rate mctominay. He has great energy and his composure and passing is improving every day.

And we need to upgrade our left wing, or at least have a backup who actually plays there.

Despite Eric Bailly being shocking this season. I Still think he is our best defender when in form.

Id be happy to rotate martial and rashford up top for a season

---------gea
Bassaka - koulibaly - bailly - Shaw
----------------rice --------mctom
--------------------pogba
Sancho------martial---------rashford

Your looking at 300mil for this, but it still doesnt look quite enough particularly the midfield.
Someone like rabiot can offer plenty and is definately worth considering on a free.
 
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My answer before today's game would be the same as it is now, two forwards, two CM's, a RB and a CB. If we don't get at least 4 of these 6 we'll struggle again next season to even make top 4, the forward line is nowhere near good enough, too inexperienced and not consistent enough, if "Rashy" and Trampoline boots are our main forwards again next season then forget about it.

Fer said:
Who would you prefer?

Koulibaly vs De Ligt
Ban Wissaka vs Meunier
Rice vs Neves
Fernandes vs Eriksen
Felix vs Dybala
Sancho vs Pepe
Click to expand...

Picks in bold.
 
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