What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

Zlatans Knee said:
If you had not gotten so excited in the first place I would not even have bothered to reply. Try stating your opinion in future without being so excitable. You will get your point across better that way.
Oh and once again you have tried to argue about something I did not state. I did not state that Williams should be a regular starter. I said that he would be able to apply pressure on AWB. Which he will (in my opinion) unless AWB improves next season.
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Applying pressure on a regular starters position indicates that the player applying said pressure is in a position to take his spot, and become the regular. My point is, Williams is not cut out at this time to be a regular starter. So he can "apply pressure" all he likes, but he will still not be good enough to displace AWB. He can cover him, sure. But he isnt good enough to remove AWB from his starting spot
 
This summer, I think I'd settle for:
1. A quality attacker, ideally Sancho or someone else ready to go into the starting 11
2. A backup for Bruno (maybe a loan, e.g. Eriksen, Coutinho, Ramsey, James etc)

If we can get those and have money left, then try for a defender to play centre back or left back (Alaba could do both?)
 
We really need a LB too. It’s probably the 2nd most urgent area to address this summer. I rate Shaw but I don’t rate his fitness and Williams should be our back up RB not LB.
 
United need to change their recruitment policy. We don't have funds to buy in all 6 positions required this summer: LB, L-CB, DCM, AM, CF, RW. So we should recruit loanees or Bosmans. The only prospects we should be relying on next season need to be at Greenwood level (Do we have one: Mengi, Mejbri?). Other youth prospects need at least 6 months on loan before we consider playing them in PL. Every position should be filled twice over with fit players before the start of the season. By players good enough to start an PL match with the expectation of winning. To challenge for PL next season: we need to begin with a full 25 man squad. No: fillers, walking wounded, has-beens, kids who just might make it but we'll never know because we never play them.
 
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El-Manos said:
We really need a LB too. It’s probably the 2nd most urgent area to address this summer. I rate Shaw but I don’t rate his fitness and Williams should be our back up RB not LB.
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Not as urgent as CB or DM.
 
If we could get Sancho and Upemecano despite the new contract extension, will be a good summer considering the pandemic and finances.
Those two mean we have added players that go directly into our first IX and improve the squad.
Those two are as sure bet as you can get injury permitting.
 
Craig Ward said:
Applying pressure on a regular starters position indicates that the player applying said pressure is in a position to take his spot, and become the regular. My point is, Williams is not cut out at this time to be a regular starter. So he can "apply pressure" all he likes, but he will still not be good enough to displace AWB. He can cover him, sure. But he isnt good enough to remove AWB from his starting spot
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Okay. There are plenty of people who disagree with you on this forum, hence the various threads discussing AWBs performance or lack thereof. But that is okay, we are allowed to have different opinions. Time will eventually tell who is correct.
 
MikeUpNorth said:
This summer, I think I'd settle for:
1. A quality attacker, ideally Sancho or someone else ready to go into the starting 11
2. A backup for Bruno (maybe a loan, e.g. Eriksen, Coutinho, Ramsey, James etc)

If we can get those and have money left, then try for a defender to play centre back or left back (Alaba could do both?)
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Yeah I could get on board with a window like that
 
E-mal said:
If we could get Sancho and Upemecano despite the new contract extension, will be a good summer considering the pandemic and finances.
Those two mean we have added players that go directly into our first IX and improve the squad.
Those two are as sure bet as you can get injury permitting.
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Yeah along with a decent priced backup AM as well, I wonder how much it would take for Leipzig to at least consider selling him and yes I realise he has just signed a new contract extension but then everyone has got a price
 
The likes of Cavani and Götze are free agents, don't think we are actually needing them right now any of these would undoubtly be quality additions where we have awful players, sorry Ighalo.

More interestingly is Malang Sarr, a young, athletic ball-playing left-footed CB that can even cover for LB when needed. It could definitely be a gamble given his youth but on a free I'd be all over this guy already.

If indeed van de Beek is on the 45mill mark, it is also a no-brainer. Just about what we need and even more.

We definitely need to strenghten all over the pitch, mainly: RW, CM/CDM, AM cover, Left side of the defence. Not seeing us addressing all of this needs, tbh.
 
eltigreFalcao said:
The likes of Cavani and Götze are free agents, don't think we are actually needing them right now any of these would undoubtly be quality additions where we have awful players, sorry Ighalo.

More interestingly is Malang Sarr, a young, athletic ball-playing left-footed CB that can even cover for LB when needed. It could definitely be a gamble given his youth but on a free I'd be all over this guy already.

If indeed van de Beek is on the 45mill mark, it is also a no-brainer. Just about what we need and even more.

We definitely need to strenghten all over the pitch, mainly: RW, CM/CDM, AM cover, Left side of the defence. Not seeing us addressing all of this needs, tbh.
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We will address three of those issues at the absolute max this summer which would be RW, AM cover & LCB, however the last two positions rely on us being able to shift Smalling, Rojo, and at least one of Lingard/Pereira as well. If we are unable to do that then just see us going all in for Sancho and that will be all we get.
 
Definitely need a RW. Hopefully Sancho.

Also we need another CM. We currently have 5 for 3 positions(Pogba, Bruno, Matic, Fred, McTominay).

We have 4 CBs(Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Bailly) and one youth prospect in Mengi. Since there are no MUST HAVEs in the market who are undoubtedly better than Maguire and Lindelof, I say address this next summer.

We have 3 competent FBs(Shaw, AWB and Williams). I think we need another LB(backup to Shaw).

Squad :

GK : De Gea, Romero
CB : Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Bailly, Mengi
FB : Shaw, AWB, LB, Williams
CM : Pogba, Bruno, Matic, Fred, McTominay, CM/AM
FW : Sancho, Martial, Rashford, Greenwood, Ighalo, James

That I think is a squad that can challenge for trophies next season if we get a good LB and AM along with Sancho.
 
Working on 4 far from assured assumptions -
1) Sancho won't be available til next Summer, but we will sign a winger still
2) We took out that £140m loan exclusively for transfer funds
3) We can only count on recouping around £10m to go into the kitty (the rest would likely be saved)
4) Solskjaer still considers the squad to need 5 more players (the winger signed could possibly take Dan James' squad place next season when Sancho is signed)

My signings -
LB: Rayan Aït-Nouri (15m)
CD: Dayot Upamecano (50m)
DM: Ibrahim Sangaré (15m)
AM: Dominik Szoboszlai (22m release clause)
RW: Ismaila Sarr (48m)
 
If Barca get Van de Beek for 25 to 30m euros, I'm going to be so pissed off when in actuality, we need a midfielder of his caliber to provide backup to all our CMs. All United do is release in the press who we are considering and still stuck on the Sancho deal..... Can someone just get started on the other deals? Just because we've got until October does not mean all our targets are going to be available by that time.
 
There's not a chance Upamecano leaves this window. He's signed a contract with a clause to specifically leave next summer, probably to Bayern.
 
beingshe7don said:
If Barca get Van de Beek for 25 to 30m euros, I'm going to be so pissed off when in actuality, we need a midfielder of his caliber to provide backup to all our CMs. All United do is release in the press who we are considering and still stuck on the Sancho deal..... Can someone just get started on the other deals? Just because we've got until October does not mean all our targets are going to be available by that time.
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Yeah that is a very valid point about our targets not necessarily still being available at the end on the window so need to make some moves
 
I think if the Barca's interest is true and they move for him it's over. We could've had a free run for him...a very good polyvalent player at excellent price.
 
MetoTTT said:
I think if the Barca's interest is true and they move for him it's over. We could've had a free run for him...a very good polyvalent player at excellent price.
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Get the impression that Grealish was the priority there and maybe naively Utd think they can still get him so have passed on VDB
 
eltigreFalcao said:
For 120m you could get

Ibrahima Sarr - 40m
VdB/SZobozlai - 40-50m
Reguilón - 30m
Sarr - Free

More than decent transfer window imo
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We need to raid the bundesliga for Upamecano, Thiago Alcantara and Sancho and sell Jones, Rojo, Smalling, Mata and Peirera
 
I think the real priority is a solid partner for Maguire at CB. We have great attacking options already, it's defensive lapses that are letting us down, case in point Seville. Lindelof should be back up.
 
MattofManchester said:
I'm honestly becoming increasingly of the opinion that our signings are going to be disappointing this season.

While that may come across as negative, for me it just feels like the signs are there that we're not going to make much headway in this market at all.
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This.

Two or three weeks ago, we were looking at the Europa League and Sancho.

Empty handed as usual.
 
croadyman said:
Get the impression that Grealish was the priority there and maybe naively Utd think they can still get him so have passed on VDB
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If so, thats a poor call from us.

Van der Beek is a much better player than Grealish and cheaper.

I'd take Brooks over Grealish as well.

Dont get me wrong, Grealish would be an excellent signing but he would certainly cost too much
 
SparkedIntoLife said:
Working on 4 far from assured assumptions -
1) Sancho won't be available til next Summer, but we will sign a winger still
2) We took out that £140m loan exclusively for transfer funds
3) We can only count on recouping around £10m to go into the kitty (the rest would likely be saved)
4) Solskjaer still considers the squad to need 5 more players (the winger signed could possibly take Dan James' squad place next season when Sancho is signed)

My signings -
LB: Rayan Aït-Nouri (15m)
CD: Dayot Upamecano (50m)
DM: Ibrahim Sangaré (15m)
AM: Dominik Szoboszlai (22m release clause)
RW: Ismaila Sarr (48m)
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Why do you think Ole considers the quad to need 5 players?

I think we can rule out LB and DM for at least a year:
DM - Ole has 3 players to choose between 1 deep midfield spot - Fred/McTom/Matic. Cant see a signing there unless we sell. More than likely we'll stick there until matic cant run anymore and we realise McTom isnt very good
LB - We have four players. Shaw/Williams/TFM/Dalot. While Dalot has yet to impress and TFM hasnt played much and Williams is pretty average - we have enough cover there to not make this a priority for this summer

I'm basing this on the absolute need for us to sign a RW, AM and CB this summer. I think its more likely we sign a striker this window than a DM, due to Ighalo leaving in January.

I';m not saying i love our DM options - i just cant see us moving for one in this window. Fred in particular has shown good form, so has Matic and we all know Ole wont drop Pogba. So we have enough players there
 
What we need is a Right winger who is good going forward who can take a man on and cross so AWB doesn’t have to do any attacking.

A striker who can head the ball and is good with his back to play ie Kane because Rashford and Martial have no presence in the air and can’t hold the ball up.

A CDM either Saul Niguez or DVB because Matic is getting on and Fred is more a box to box.

A LB because who can cross because Shaw is always injured and can’t use his right foot or cross and Williams isn’t good enough.

A left footed CB because Lindelof is a Liability.

If we make some additions in those areas we could potentially challenge. But based on our previous transfer windows I don’t have much hope.
 
E-mal said:
If we could get Sancho and Upemecano despite the new contract extension, will be a good summer considering the pandemic and finances.
Those two mean we have added players that go directly into our first IX and improve the squad.
Those two are as sure bet as you can get injury permitting.
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Good Summer? I say it would be the best summer mate. Those 2 will instantly improve our team.

If we are short of money, we can focus on DM/LB next year but I will be very happy with these 2 signings.

We are now linked to David Brooks(40M), I would use that money wisely on a DM like Zakaria/Ndidi rather bringing in a squad player for 40M.
 
sp_107 said:
Good Summer? I say it would be the best summer mate. Those 2 will instantly improve our team.

If we are short of money, we can focus on DM/LB next year but I will be very happy with these 2 signings.

We are now linked to David Brooks(40M), I would use that money wisely on a DM like Zakaria/Ndidi rather bringing in a squad player for 40M.
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I think Ndidi would be a lot more expensive than 40m, mate.
 
What I hate is the argument that “oh he would be a good squad player” players that play for united should be forcing themselves into the first team i.e Greenwood not the likes of Williams, Mata, Mct, Dalot, Jones, Lingard our so called “squad players”. All our squad players do is leech off the club and when they are asked to perform they do nothing. They don’t deserve to play for our club.
 
Martialfc said:
What I hate is the argument that “oh he would be a good squad player” players that play for united should be forcing themselves into the first team i.e Greenwood not the likes of Williams, Mata, Mct, Dalot, Jones, Lingard our so called “squad players”. All our squad players do is leech off the club and when they are asked to perform they do nothing. They don’t deserve to play for our club.
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Agreed
 
Craig Ward said:
Why do you think Ole considers the quad to need 5 players?
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro....verhaul-manchester-united-squad-13029268/amp/

Not a great source but it links back to the primary source, The Telegraph, and that article is behind a pay wall. Supposedly Solskjaer's presentation to Woodward before being appointed permanently included 9 new players over 3 years. He has 4 already - James, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Fernandes. Obviously it doesn't indicate whether these new players are just signings or include youth promotions.

My mindset is, if we can't get Sancho this Summer, plug the other quality gaps in the squad and get him next year.
 
SparkedIntoLife said:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/metro....verhaul-manchester-united-squad-13029268/amp/

Not a great source but it links back to the primary source, The Telegraph, and that article is behind a pay wall. Supposedly Solskjaer's presentation to Woodward before being appointed permanently included 9 new players over 3 years. He has 4 already - James, Maguire, Wan-Bissaka, Fernandes. Obviously it doesn't indicate whether these new players are just signings or include youth promotions.

My mindset is, if we can't get Sancho this Summer, plug the other quality gaps in the squad and get him next year.
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Wondering whether a loan back deal for the coming season on Sancho would be viable? Liverpool have done it successfully the last year or two.
 
Would genuinely love to know what our scouting network does and how they operate. Because if you look through the past 6-7 years all our signings have either being galatico types or obvious ones that everyone and their nan could have picked out and predicted. Where are these gems and why don't we find/sign them anymore.
 
Smithy89 said:
Would genuinely love to know what our scouting network does and how they operate. Because if you look through the past 6-7 years all our signings have either being galatico types or obvious ones that everyone and their nan could have picked out and predicted. Where are these gems and why don't we find/sign them anymore.
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Apparently our scouting network just gets ignored if you read the reports coming out, like our scouts being ignored when they recommended we sign Pulisic and Alphonso Davies, the latter whom looks like he could be a world beater for years to come at Bayern as well.

Money is going to be an issue this summer, now more than ever with our stingy owners, Sancho would be a fantastic signing i'm sure we all agree, I just don't see a summer where we buy Sancho and more players, because as much as we need a proper RW, we also need players in other positions and I just don't think we could afford them all.

In an ideal world, i'd see

IN;
Sancho
Brooks (Instead of Grealish who would be double the price I think)
Upemecano (Get him for a good price now before he's snapped up by someone else with his release clause next summer)
Maybe a good LB or DM

OUT;
Lingard
Pereira
Mata
Rojo
Jones
Romero (I think we can get a good price for him because he is good, and Henderson brought in to challenge De Gea for 1st spot)
Bailly or Smalling
Dalot (For all intents and purposes i actually want him to stay, I just dont think he's in Ole's plans and he seems to have interest from elsewhere)
 
L1nk said:
Apparently our scouting network just gets ignored if you read the reports coming out, like our scouts being ignored when they recommended we sign Pulisic and Alphonso Davies, the latter whom looks like he could be a world beater for years to come at Bayern as well.
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I mean that makes sense rather than the scouts being poor. Someone has had a mare not pursuing both of them that you have mentioned.
 
New CEO, a DoF, new manager and competent coaching staff, and no ex player especially with media connections near 100 miles of Old Trafford.
 
Smithy89 said:
Absolute shocker from the board, but no surpise. I think it again comes down to a lack of a director of football or someone with that knowledge in charge of footballing stuff.
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Scouts recommend dozens of players. Even if they are recommended, and we want the lad, it doesn’t mean we can just go out and buy him. Do you not think all the big clubs were looking at these players?

It’s a nothing story. We buy lots of young players each year, some will make it, most won’t. Of those who do, there will be scouts who also recommended them to other top teams.
 
L1nk said:
https://utdreport.co.uk/2020/07/29/...-pulisic-and-alphonso-davies-recommendations/

And its from the scout himself, so honestly doesn't shock me if its been happening this entire time, because they aren't big name big money players that Woodward loves.
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Alphonso Davies and his mentor(is asked by Davies and his parent to be his agent) pick Bayern among PL clubs. His mentor made the right choice.

https://www.bavarianfootballworks.c...of-premier-league-clubs-england-whitecaps-mls

"I met with one or two other clubs, but speaking with the Bayern guys and seeing their plan I thought it was the best place for Alphonso. Honestly, I was being offered things that guys might jump on but Bayern had a small squad, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben were retiring, and it was just a good fit," Huoseh told Sky Sports and added:

"One of the English clubs, I asked about their plan for Alphonso, and they said they might put him with the second team, or send him on loan because they weren't sure if he would get a work permit.

"But with Bayern, it wasn't just a phone call. It was a PowerPoint presentation, put together by [chief scout] Marco Neppe and [sporting director] Hasan Salihamidzic. They showed his position on the field, where he was going to play, they showed how they had 19 players in their squad, play 50 something games a year, play a lot of matches a year and the average player plays 80 per cent of the matches."
 
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