What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

jamesjimmybyrondean said:
I think we should get an AM/8 too and a DM then we sell one of Fred or Mctominay. We don't need both of them
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Yep we don't need both but I think what we can do will depend on how much we pay for Sancho upfront. If we paid something like £80m plus add-ons then I can see us being able to stretch the budget (before sales) to £120m -£130m which should enable us to get Sancho and Grealish in one swoop.

The DM acquisition is simple really, just sell Fred whilst his stock is still high and use the proceeds to fund the purchase of a DM. If we sold him this summer I can see Everton or West Ham biting for £30m to £35m.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Why do we need two players that can play 10 and 8 when we have no DM asides from an easily fatigued Matic
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Only reason I suggest that is because looks very to me like Ole has no intention of buying a DM this summer,therefore thinking of more creative midfield depth as next best thing.

Mind you after watching the last few games I think I can now add LB cover for Shaw to this list as well
 
We definitely need a RW and a CB.

I would rather get an AM rather than a DM. While that may seem counter-intuitive to some because Bruno is definitely a much stronger player than Matic, here's my reasoning :

If we are defending a lead, and we have our favoured Matic-Pogba-Bruno playing, we can bring on McTominay/Fred to add more defensive stability. But if we get another DM, our bench will be Fred, McTominay, Matic. No one to bring on if Bruno/Pogba are injured or not performing.

Give McTominay/Fred a chance next season to take over Matic's place in the team. If they cant, sell the lesser performing player, and get a Matic replacement.
 
The scary thing is over the next 2 summer windows I reckon we need to bring in

RW
CB
DM
AM
LB (cover)
ST (plan B)
 
I think we need Sancho, a backup for Pogba and Bruno, a backup for Matic, and a center back. I'm not as worried about Matic because we can always tweak the formation a little and bring in Mctominay/Fred. The other positions we just have nothing at all.

The first 11 is very good but as we've seen in this post covid run-in we have no reliable backups for any of our starting front 6 so when the games pile up or we get an injury we are screwed.
 
Everything starts from solid defense. We need a Vidic like tough cb to pair Maguire. Koulibali?

Grealish would be terrible signing.

We need a strong cdm enforecer . Matic is amazing attacking wise but we need more muscle in fron of our defense. Mctominay can do that over time. Fred maybe. So we might be better getting one for a 2 year gap.
 
diarm said:
To be truly competitive, we need a RW, a CB and a DM for the starting 11, as well as a fullback, another CB and an AM for backup.
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Agree with you but would maybe swap a backup CB for ST (plan B)
 
AneRu said:
Yep we don't need both but I think what we can do will depend on how much we pay for Sancho upfront. If we paid something like £80m plus add-ons then I can see us being able to stretch the budget (before sales) to £120m -£130m which should enable us to get Sancho and Grealish in one swoop.

The DM acquisition is simple really, just sell Fred whilst his stock is still high and use the proceeds to fund the purchase of a DM. If we sold him this summer I can see Everton or West Ham biting for £30m to £35m.
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Could definitely see us getting Sancho & Grealish,however absolutely certain that Fred will not be sold in this window. Has been clear to see recently that Ole just doesn't trust that bench at all
 
Highfather_24 said:
We definitely need a RW and a CB.

I would rather get an AM rather than a DM. While that may seem counter-intuitive to some because Bruno is definitely a much stronger player than Matic, here's my reasoning :

If we are defending a lead, and we have our favoured Matic-Pogba-Bruno playing, we can bring on McTominay/Fred to add more defensive stability. But if we get another DM, our bench will be Fred, McTominay, Matic. No one to bring on if Bruno/Pogba are injured or not performing.

Give McTominay/Fred a chance next season to take over Matic's place in the team. If they cant, sell the lesser performing player, and get a Matic replacement.
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Matic is as equal importance with Bruno and Pogba. We have nobody to bring on for Bruno and Pogba when they are underperforming but that has also applied to Matic. Ole still persists with Matic on the pitch even when he's underperforming and clearly needs rest. The few times Fred or Mctominay has started instead of Matic, Ole ended up bringing Matic on. Matic is a player that needs his minutes managed and yet we have had to play him in every single match since the restart out of necessity that we can't cope without him

I think it's a huge risk going into next season without a proper Matic backup. I see Fred and Mctominay more as Pogba cover and can't play Matic's role. If we can only afford to get an AM, then personally I'd sell Fred to finance a DM. And like that we would have sorted our midfield.

Bruno(Grealish)
Matic(Zakaria)...... Pogba(Mctominay)​

If the plan for our midfield next season is to get only an AM then sell Fred who has some value due to his performances this season and get a DM also. We can go into next season with a complete and balanced quality midfield: Bruno, Mctominay, Pogba, Zakaria, Grealish, Matic, Garner/Levitt/Hannibal
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Matic is as equal importance with Bruno and Pogba. We have nobody to bring on for Bruno and Pogba when they are underperforming but that has also applied to Matic. Ole still persists with Matic on the pitch even when he's underperforming and clearly needs rest. The few times Fred or Mctominay has started instead of Matic, Ole ended up bringing Matic on. Matic is a player that needs his minutes managed and yet we have had to play him in every single match since the restart out of necessity that we can't cope without him

I think it's a huge risk going into next season without a proper Matic backup. I see Fred and Mctominay more as Pogba cover and can't play Matic's role. If we can only afford to get an AM, then personally I'd sell Fred to finance a DM. And like that we would have sorted our midfield.

Bruno(Grealish)
Matic(Zakaria)...... Pogba(Mctominay)​

If the plan for our midfield next season is to get only an AM then sell Fred who has some value due to his performances this season and get a DM also. We can go into next season with a complete and balanced quality midfield: Bruno, Mctominay, Pogba, Zakaria, Grealish, Matic, Garner/Levitt/Hannibal
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Totally agree with you and can see Matic ending up getting gassed out again next season which means we have to turn to McTominay & Fred and let's be honest they aren't replacement DM's for him and will mean we lose the midfield battles in games.
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Matic is as equal importance with Bruno and Pogba. We have nobody to bring on for Bruno and Pogba when they are underperforming but that has also applied to Matic. Ole still persists with Matic on the pitch even when he's underperforming and clearly needs rest. The few times Fred or Mctominay has started instead of Matic, Ole ended up bringing Matic on. Matic is a player that needs his minutes managed and yet we have had to play him in every single match since the restart out of necessity that we can't cope without him

I think it's a huge risk going into next season without a proper Matic backup. I see Fred and Mctominay more as Pogba cover and can't play Matic's role. If we can only afford to get an AM, then personally I'd sell Fred to finance a DM. And like that we would have sorted our midfield.

Bruno(Grealish)
Matic(Zakaria)...... Pogba(Mctominay)​

If the plan for our midfield next season is to get only an AM then sell Fred who has some value due to his performances this season and get a DM also. We can go into next season with a complete and balanced quality midfield: Bruno, Mctominay, Pogba, Zakaria, Grealish, Matic, Garner/Levitt/Hannibal
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If we can get 2 midfielders in, alongside Sancho and another CB, and considering Bruno came from our summer fund, then that's great. I would be even happier if we got another backup fullback too. But I think this window we would have to prioritise some signings over others. And at this moment and time I think Fred/McTominay can up their game(as they did earlier this season) and be decent midfield partners for Pogba when Matic is not playing. But I'm struggling to think of midfielders in our squad who can compete and rotate with Bruno.
 
croadyman said:
Totally agree with you and can see Matic ending up getting gassed out again next season which means we have to turn to McTominay & Fred and let's be honest they aren't replacement DM's for him and will mean we lose the midfield battles in games.
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I know the game has evolved since then, but I don't think its necessary to play with an out and out DM. If we are playing Matic, sure. But a McTominay-Pogba midfield can work, just like a Keane-Scholes or Fletcher-Scholes midfield worked. Will the players have to adjust and up their performances? Yes. But I do remember this pairing being Ole's preferred one at the beginning of the season and it was working before Pogba got his long term injury.
 
Highfather_24 said:
I know the game has evolved since then, but I don't think its necessary to play with an out and out DM. If we are playing Matic, sure. But a McTominay-Pogba midfield can work, just like a Keane-Scholes or Fletcher-Scholes midfield worked. Will the players have to adjust and up their performances? Yes. But I do remember this pairing being Ole's preferred one at the beginning of the season and it was working before Pogba got his long term injury.
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Why do you think people want us to get a DM? Mctominay and Pogba midfield never worked and wasn't convincing. We went back to this pairing agajnst Crystal Palace and Ole has to bring Matic in because it wasn't working.

Our best pairing in the double pivot so far have been Matic and Pogba, Matic and Fred, Fred and Mctominay.

Might take some time to read but this analysis explains perfectly the importance of Matic and why it's a risk to bank on Mctominay to be the cover of an easily fatigued Matic

https://thebusbybabe.sbnation.com/2...-scott-mctominay-is-having-his-limits-exposed
 
Highfather_24 said:
If we can get 2 midfielders in, alongside Sancho and another CB, and considering Bruno came from our summer fund, then that's great. I would be even happier if we got another backup fullback too. But I think this window we would have to prioritise some signings over others. And at this moment and time I think Fred/McTominay can up their game(as they did earlier this season) and be decent midfield partners for Pogba when Matic is not playing. But I'm struggling to think of midfielders in our squad who can compete and rotate with Bruno.
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Yeah I know it isn't a popular opinion on here but really hope we sign Grealish & VDB but there is no chance we get them plus Sancho and a CB as well because Ole won't make four signings in one window
 
What do we need?
  • Someone on the right to rotate with/offer something different to/challenge Greenwood.
  • A back up for Bruno in the #10 position who would at least be challenging to get into the first XI of top half teams - none of Lingard, Mata or Pereira are that level these days.
  • A world class holding midfielder to replace Matic.
  • A world class, fast centre back.
With these additions we could dream of being competitive for the title if we got lucky with injuries to our first choice players and sacked off the domestic cup competitions. If we want to be competitive on all fronts we probably need at least three or four more transfer windows to fully refresh the squad.

Just look at how many players Pep and Klopp have replaced from the teams they inherited as a benchmark.
 
1. Starting rw
2. Starting cm leaving matic as backup
3. Starting cb leaving lindelof as backup
4. Backup for bruno/pogba
5. Back up striker for when igahlo goes
6. Back up for shaw

Think we will get 1 2 and 4 this summer.
Then 3 5 and 6 next summer.

Sell of mata andreas jesse sanchez dalot jones rojo smalling over the next 2 years.

That should fund 2 of your back ups imo.
 
Realistically, I think we are only going to bring in a quality RW and a backup AM . That would help solve the complacency issue with the front 3 at times and also provide room for rotation . I don't think we are going to invest heavily in DM/CB this time around as Ole seems to be happy with Matic and Lindelof. Out of the two , the only worry is Matic , in case he turns into shit again and none of McTominary ,Fred turns up , we would be back to how we were at the beginning of the season before Fred started to shine . Imagine if one of Lingard, Periera were good enough to take the burden off of Fernandes/Pogba , we could rotate and keep them fresh and could concentrate our funds on getting a quality DM or CB.
 
arnie_ni said:
1. Starting rw
2. Starting cm leaving matic as backup
3. Starting cb leaving lindelof as backup
4. Backup for bruno/pogba
5. Back up striker for when igahlo goes
6. Back up for shaw

Think we will get 1 2 and 4 this summer.
Then 3 5 and 6 next summer.

Sell of mata andreas jesse sanchez dalot jones rojo smalling over the next 2 years.

That should fund 2 of your back ups imo.
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Obviously number 1 would be Sancho and number 4 is either Grealish/VDB but very interested to hear who you think we will bring in for number 2
 
croadyman said:
Obviously number 1 would be Sancho and number 4 is either Grealish/VDB but very interested to hear who you think we will bring in for number 2
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Im not sure who they will go for, but i know id spend the 30mil thats been thrown around for thiago.

I dont think theres a cb worth buying. Theyll wait to next year and home someone class comes along. Dont think anyone will be much of an improvement
 
arnie_ni said:
Im not sure who they will go for, but i know id spend the 30mil thats been thrown around for thiago.

I dont think theres a cb worth buying. Theyll wait to next year and home someone class comes along. Dont think anyone will be much of an improvement
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Would be very surprised if we are interested at that age and reports seem to suggest he only wants to sign for the scousers
 
If we do end up buying Sancho, then I think we'll be going for a few potential bargain signings afterwards to add more depth. I think Grealish and Rice will be beyond our budget.

Of the 3 teams that will probably be relegated, Ole might fancy the following British players.

- Will Hughes - 5 goals 8 assists, Matic cover, has been playing well as a deep lying playmaker
- Todd Cantwell 6 goals 2 assists - Cover for Bruno
- David Brooks - cover for Bruno
- Callum Wilson
- Ben Godfrey - Could be cover for Matic
- Troy Deeney 9 goals 2 assists

Also potentials
- Etienne Capoue, Watford defensive midfield, stand out player for Watford this season
- Eberechi Eze, 14 goals 8 assists for QPR
 
Genuinely think if we could sign 3,4 players this transfer window we could compete for the title next season.
Liverpool won't be spending much, and I think City would remain cautious too especially since they barely got away with ffp. Chelsea are improving but I still think it ll take them one more year before they can finally compete.

United on the other hand is in a very unique situation. We finally have the right setup for the team, I think we need to be active in the market this year and sign the right players before things get back to normal in 2021 and every other club is in the market for players we are after.

I absolutely think it is necessary that we sell Pogba asap. We can carry him for one more year but the earlier we get rid of him the better.
De Gea should also go... i would accept a bid of 30m for him.

So should Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Periera and Sanchez. Mata too if he wants to leave otherwise we can keep him.
Sanchez... we should offer to inter for free. Just get him off the books.

Apart from Sancho we definitely need a CDM... if Pogba is staying for one more year we can buy one mid... I would want us to get Ndidi. If not him than VdB.
If we want to go British, Kalvin Philips will be a very good option.
If we are able to sell Pogba we should definitely go for Grealish.

In defense ideally we should be signing either Upamecano or Torres.
Torres if we are only after a left footed CB. He can also be a good cover for Shaw since he primarily plays on the left and is very fast. I personally would want both, sell Bailly back to Villareal and offer Leipzig Tuanzebe in part exchange for Upamecano.
Tuanzebe may be our academy product and very highly rated but he is unproven. In Upamecano we will get a defensive tank who will instantly improve our defense. Leipzig will also happily accept Tuanzebe since English players have a huge resale value.
So Sancho, Ndidi, Grealish (if Pogba leaves), Upamecano and Torres. These 4,5 signings will instantly improve the dynamics of the team and turn us into title contenders.

I would sell Pogba for 70, De Gea for 30, Dalot 15, Smalling 15, Jones 5, Pereira 5, Mata 5, Sanchez 10, Rojo 5. This is a total of 150m in sales.

While Baily can lower Torres's release clause by 10 to 15 m and Tuanzebe can be sold to Leipzig for 20 to 25 m. So, we can hypothetically get both Upamecano and Torres for around 40 m in net spend.
Add in 100m for Sancho and around 100 for two midfielders.
This way our total net spend won't be greater than 100m.
 
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If we add 2-3 good players then we shouldn't need to be fighting for top four on the last day of the season again. It's important to get it right as the clubs around us will be strengthening considerably. I'd get the Sancho deal wrapped up early, don't wait around like we did with Maguire. Get it sorted it and announced as soon as the season finishes. We will then have 4 quality young players competing for the 3 forward positions which is ideal, all will pick up injuries or niggles in the season just like Martial and Rashford have done this season, you don't want to be relying on James to start every game. Greenwood is still 18/19 and won't be able to play every game, use him wisely and take some pressure of him, same with Martial and Rashford if they are out of form. Give James minutes of the bench and the cup games.

I'd sign a CB. Try get some money for Jones and Rojo to go towards it. They have no future at the club that much is clear. That leaves Maguire, Lindelof, Baily, Tuanzebe and TFM. Maguire and Lindelof are the only two who can get regularly on the pitch but there are question marks over both. I'd spend big on one of the young talents like Konate and partner him with Maguire. I'd sell Bailly whilst we can. He's not a bad player but he's too rash and injury prone and he can't be relied upon. Keep Lindelof as a reserve, he's a half decent defender but nowhere near good enough for where we want to get too. Tuanzebe has a lot of promise but same problems as Bailly. I'd give him another season, try and stay fit and make an impression. TFM should be kept as he can provide cover for a number of positions.

I'd sign a DM. We have shown we rely on Matic to play that role too much, he's struggles with the intensity of games coming thick and fast. McTominay and Fred are very much different players and can't play the 6 in the same way, we lose a lot of quality on the ball when they are playing that position.

Probably looking at upwards of £200m for all 3 positions. Hopefully we can recoup some of that with the departures of Jones, Rojo, Sanchez, Mata, Pereira and Dalot.
 
Jibbs said:
Genuinely think if we could sign 3,4 players this transfer window we could compete for the title next season.
Liverpool won't be spending much, and I think City would remain cautious too especially since they barely got away with ffp. Chelsea are improving but I still think it ll take them one more year before they can finally compete.

United on the other hand is in a very unique situation. We finally have the right setup for the team, I think we need to be active in the market this year and sign the right players before things get back to normal in 2021 and every other club is in the market for players we are after.

I absolutely think it is necessary that we sell Pogba asap. We can carry him for one more year but the earlier we get rid of him the better.
De Gea should also go... i would accept a bid of 30m for him.

So should Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Periera and Sanchez. Mata too if he wants to leave otherwise we can keep him.
Sanchez... we should offer to inter for free. Just get him off the books.

Apart from Sancho we definitely need a CDM... if Pogba is staying for one more year we can buy one mid... I would want us to get Ndidi. If not him than VdB.
If we want to go British, Kalvin Philips will be a very good option.
If we are able to sell Pogba we should definitely go for Grealish.

In defense ideally we should be signing either Upamecano or Torres.
Torres if we are only after a left footed CB. He can also be a good cover for Shaw since he primarily plays on the left and is very fast. I personally would want both, sell Bailly back to Villareal and offer Leipzig Tuanzebe in part exchange for Upamecano.
Tuanzebe may be our academy product and very highly rated but he is unproven. In Upamecano we will get a defensive tank who will instantly improve our defense. Leipzig will also happily accept Tuanzebe since English players have a huge resale value.
So Sancho, Ndidi, Grealish (if Pogba leaves), Upamecano and Torres. These 4,5 signings will instantly improve the dynamics of the team and turn us into title contenders.

I would sell Pogba for 70, De Gea for 30, Dalot 15, Smalling 15, Jones 5, Pereira 5, Mata 5, Sanchez 10, Rojo 5. This is a total of 150m in sales.

While Baily can lower Torres's release clause by 10 to 15 m and Tuanzebe can be sold to Leipzig for 20 to 25 m. So, we can hypothetically get both Upamecano and Torres for around 40 m in net spend.
Add in 100m for Sancho and around 100 for two midfielders.
This way our total net spend won't be greater than 100m.
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Nobody is buying De Gea due to his salary. I don't think anyone will pay big money for Pogba either in the current market.

I think we'll be signing bargain basement players if we also land Sancho
 
Champagne Football said:
Nobody is buying De Gea due to his salary. I don't think anyone will pay big money for Pogba either in the current market.

I think we'll be signing bargain basement players if we also land Sancho
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Agree with that. We will be very lucky to get 50m for Pogba unless PSG are interested in him. De Gea will be hard sell even at 20 m.
 
In case we're unable to land Sancho this year, I'd offer WHU a straight swap, Lingard for Anderson. Would give us a better option of the bench and would still give Greenwood enough space to improve.
 
We need a three month long negotiation battle with Dortmund for Sancho over who’s gonna pay for the paper that the contract is printed on. Gonna be so much fun.
 
Fracture90 said:
In case we're unable to land Sancho this year, I'd offer WHU a straight swap, Lingard for Anderson. Would give us a better option of the bench and would still give Greenwood enough space to improve.
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I was initially a fan of Anderson but I haven't really enjoyed watching him this season. I fear that we would be trading one mediocre player for another, almost a sideways move. I do still like Anderson, but I'm not sure he's what we would need.

Whichever players we do go for, we need quality. That backline is a real weakness for me, so I would look there first. A quality centreback to partner Maguire. Going into the next season, we need good options there, so Maguire, Lindelöf + 1 or 2 new quality additions there. I'd say the same with fullbacks, some good attacking options and somebody who can put in a good cross.

I'm not sure of which players to fill the mould, but if we were looking at 3-4 players:

New centreback (or 2) to partner Maguire. You really want three or four quality players in this position, due to injuries and so forth.
New fullback (or 2 - one for either flank) - preferably some attacking fullbacks
New defensive midfielder to replace Matic for the long-term due to age

After that, we're really looking at squad depth. To have some extra firepower coming off the bench when we're chasing games would be great. The danger is that Fernandes and Pogba are injured for a few games, so we need extra players to come in for them. Really, we could be looking for backups in all positions...
 
Superunknown said:
I was initially a fan of Anderson but I haven't really enjoyed watching him this season. I fear that we would be trading one mediocre player for another, almost a sideways move. I do still like Anderson, but I'm not sure he's what we would need.
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The way i see it, we've seen the best of Lingard and he ain't going to recoup his purple patch month form imo, whilst Anderson is yet to play for a big club, benefit of having some world class teammates could benefit his game.

Either way, it would be a budget solution, as i said in case we cannot land Sancho.
 
Sancho £90m
Grealish £70m
Rice £60m

As many as possible of Sanchez, Smalling, Lingard, Pereira, Jones, Rojo, Dalot, TFM and Mata can be sold for a combined ~£70m

That's around £150m net - which would be a lot for one window. But it could potentially sort us for years.

Front 5 (10 options for 5 places):
Rashford, Martial, Sancho, Bruno, Pogba, Grealish, James, Greenwood, McTominay, Fred

Holding player (2 options for 1 place):
Rice, Matic

Fullbacks (4 options for 2 places):
Shaw, AWB, Williams, Laird

CBs (4 options for 2 places):
Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Bailly

Keeper (2 options for 1 place):
DDG, Henderson

That's a squad that could challenge for the PL and CL. The only question marks about quality are over first choice CB and second choice RB. But our recent turnaround has been built on giving youth a chance. It would look bad for us to suddenly to drop that philosophy. If Axel and Laird can't cut it, we can always buy one or two new players next Summer. Obviously, Rice can fill in as well.

The only old player is Matic; and the only players who might want to leave for any reason are Pogba, DDG, and possibly Bailly or Fred (due to lack of minutes). Luckily we have the likes of Garner, Mejbri, Mengi and Kovar ready to take up a spot on the bench.
 
Ideally we’d bring in 5 players, now is the time to gamble and back Ole in this COVID market. A CB, DM, RW as genuine starters, an attacking midfielder to challenge/offer depth and a young left back with top class potential to offer backup to Shaw with Williams rotating with AWB. To do all that we’ll need to bring in about 100m from sales this summer to add to the rumoured budget, which is a big ask but there are genuinely 10 players I’d actively accept offers for.

All that’s left will be a striker next summer and we’d be set for a challenge then I think.
 
Fosu-Mens said:
After watching how our fullbacks struggle on the ball and in the buildup and final third and in general being problematic being obvious weakpoints when the team is in possession, how can you not say that we should at least get one fullback that is not completely useless on the ball?
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Only AWB struggles here. And I'd definitely try out Laird and Williams in RB before spending again in that position
 
Sancho, Grealish and a quality centre back.

Coach Fred or McTom to become Matic's successor/fill in.
 
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