What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

My take assuming the deadwood is sold;

Deadwood - Mata, Jones, Bailly, Rojo, Smalling, Pereira, Lingard, James. At worst, they would fetch 80-90 MGBP.

GK: De Gea, Henderson, Grant
RB: AWB, Williams, TFM, Laird
CB: Lindelöf, Tuanzebe
CB: Maguire, Mengi
LB: Shaw
DM: McTominay, Fred, Matic
CM: Bruno, Van de Beek, Pogba
S/W: Greenwood, Martial, Rashford, Ighalo

Red = Not good enough (now or never), orange = should be back-up/rotation options and not starters

(Yes, I marked Pogba as red - he's technically good enough but apparently he comes with mentality issues, i.e. doesn't seem bothered)

We are severly thin in defence and attack.

I'd prioritize as follows;

1) CB - Upamecano, Umtiti, Varane
2) LB - Grimaldo, Telles, Lodi, Firpo
3) RW - Sancho, Richarlison
4) ST - Haaland, Oyarzabal
5) DM - Saul, Tonali

Job done.
 
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Jacob said:
My take assuming the deadwood is sold;

Deadwood - Mata, Jones, Rojo, Smalling, Pereira, Lingard

GK: De Gea, Henderson, Grant
RB: AWB, Williams, TFM
CB: Lindelöf, Tuanzebe
CB: Maguire, Mengi
LB: Shaw, Laird
DM: McTominay, Fred, Matic
CM: Bruno, Van de Beek, Pogba
S/W: Greenwood, Martial, Rashford, Ighalo

Red = Not good enough (now or never), orange = should be back-up/rotation options and not starters

(Yes, I marked Pogba as red - he's technically good enough but apparently he comes with mentality issues)

We are severly thin in defence and attack.

I'd prioritize as follows;

1) CB - Upamecano, Umtiti, Varane
2) LB - Grimaldo, Telles, Lodi, Firpo
3) RW - Sancho, Richarlison
4) ST - Haaland, Oyarzabal
5) DM - Saul, Tonali

Job done.
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You forgot Bailly and Dan James. Laird is a right back.
 
CB ,LB, DM, RW, and a CF are all needed over the next 2 transfer windows. We are still way behind Liverpool and City, and others will pass us by if we don't bring in more TOP players...
 
My take is this:

Dalot, Rojo, Jones, Bailly, Smalling, Fosu-Mensah, Pereira, Lingard, and Romero are surplus to requirements.

GK: De Gea, Henderson, Grant
RB: AWB, Williams, Laird
LB: Telles, Shaw
CB: Upamecano, Maguire, Lindelof, Tuanzebe, Mengi
CM: Matic, Fred, McTominay, Pogba
CAM: Van de Beek, Bruno Fernandes
RW: Sancho, Greenwood
LW: Rashford, Dan James
ST: Martial, Ighalo

Telles - £18m
Upamecano - £54m
Sancho - £108m

Total - £180m

If we sold Lingard and Smalling we'd be around £40m conservatively.

Romero has been linked to Valencia for £6m (we wanted £10m from Villa so maybe £8m gets it done).

Dalot back to Porto for £12m?

Jones is probably not going anywhere.

Rojo may go for £2-3m or a free transfer cos of his wages. Estudiantes want him back.

Bailly could get £15-20m. Somebody will take a punt hoping he will stay fit.

Fosu-Mensah should be £5m.

Pereira - £10m

Roughly speaking there is about £70-80m of players we could sell and reduce our wage bill in the process. For a massive upgrade around our defence and RW we would stand at around £100m out of pocket. Surely that is doable with payment plans etc.
 
Bestietom said:
CB ,LB, DM, RW, and a CF are all needed over the next 2 transfer windows. We are still way behind Liverpool and City, and others will pass us by if we don't bring in more TOP players...
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That's fine. All teams have a never-ending list. What you can't afford is a summer where only one player comes in because the list gets bigger.

CB, LB and RW this summer. (Telles, Upamecano/Koulibaly, Sancho)

DM and another winger next summer with Greenwood moving to Striker (as Martials competition) or he stay at RW and we bring in Haaland. (Camavinga, Chiesa/Haaland).

Job done.
 
Well, the title is "What do we still need".
- New owners
- New CEO
- Director of Football
- A vision / strategy for the clubs football business
- 1 centre back, 1 defensive midfielder, 1 striker, 1 right winger, 1 attacking midfielder, 1 left back
- Sell all the deadwood
- Upgrade Old Trafford

Besides that, then we are good ;)
 
Clearly we need a right winger and ideally this will be Sancho. If not there are other options out there.
But for me a centre back is just as important all our centre backs are poor, fitness permitting I'd honestly start Smalling and Bailly against Brighton. Now at centre back everyone (rightly I think) covets Koulibaly and Upemancano. But presuming they're either unavailable (Upe) or too expensive (if money is being put toward Sancho), what do people think of Tarkowski as a cheaper option? £30-35 million for a proper defender who can actually defend? I never see him mentioned but he's miles better than Lindelof. Maybe his passing let's him down.
 
Bestietom said:
CB ,LB, DM, RW, and a CF are all needed over the next 2 transfer windows. We are still way behind Liverpool and City, and others will pass us by if we don't bring in more TOP players...
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Yeah the only thing I will say is that there doesn't seem any urgency in regards to a DM despite only one in the whole squad. I would hope there is going to be movement on a ST after January when Ighalo goes.
 
Jacob said:
My take assuming the deadwood is sold;

Deadwood - Mata, Jones, Bailly, Rojo, Smalling, Pereira, Lingard, James. At worst, they would fetch 80-90 MGBP.

GK: De Gea, Henderson, Grant
RB: AWB, Williams, TFM, Laird
CB: Lindelöf, Tuanzebe
CB: Maguire, Mengi
LB: Shaw
DM: McTominay, Fred, Matic
CM: Bruno, Van de Beek, Pogba
S/W: Greenwood, Martial, Rashford, Ighalo

Red = Not good enough (now or never), orange = should be back-up/rotation options and not starters

(Yes, I marked Pogba as red - he's technically good enough but apparently he comes with mentality issues, i.e. doesn't seem bothered)

We are severly thin in defence and attack.

I'd prioritize as follows;

1) CB - Upamecano, Umtiti, Varane
2) LB - Grimaldo, Telles, Lodi, Firpo
3) RW - Sancho, Richarlison
4) ST - Haaland, Oyarzabal
5) DM - Saul, Tonali

Job done.
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What about Camavinga & Koopemeiers as DM options too
 
Out: De Gea, Baily, Jones, Smalling, Rojo, Pogba, Mata, Lindgard, Pereira, Ighalo
In: Who are we kidding here, we are not going to sign anyone

Why in the ever loving feck have we not moved on more players this window? Players like Jones and Rojo hardly featured at all last season, so why not look around for potential buyers? We did fairly well last year in shipping off some unwanted players, but its not like its job done.
 
We need a better version of Mike, who's comfortable with the ball at his feet.
A right winger who can beat and man and deliver a few accurate crosses on a regular basis.
A holding midfielder, who can cover for Matic and phase him out over the next 2 seasons.

Ole to be brave and not be afraid to drop under performing star players.
Ed and co to seek a Director of Football, as it sure looks from the outside that the current model isn't fit for purpose.

If someone can arrange that over the next 2 weeks I'd be very grateful :D
 
Players & managers come and go. What United truly need is an ambitious owner & a competent DOF. Until we get that we’ll be battling for 4th regardless who is on the pitch or in the dugout.
 
sparx99 said:
That's fine. All teams have a never-ending list. What you can't afford is a summer where only one player comes in because the list gets bigger.

CB, LB and RW this summer. (Telles, Upamecano/Koulibaly, Sancho)

DM and another winger next summer with Greenwood moving to Striker (as Martials competition) or he stay at RW and we bring in Haaland. (Camavinga, Chiesa/Haaland).

Job done.
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Nice if it were to happen. Can't see Woodward or the Glazers passing this.
 
Danish Wizard said:
Well, the title is "What do we still need".
- New owners
- New CEO
- Director of Football
- A vision / strategy for the clubs football business
- 1 centre back, 1 defensive midfielder, 1 striker, 1 right winger, 1 attacking midfielder, 1 left back
- Sell all the deadwood
- Upgrade Old Trafford

Besides that, then we are good ;)
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Good one. I agree.
 
Danish Wizard said:
Well, the title is "What do we still need".
- New owners
- New CEO
- Director of Football
- A vision / strategy for the clubs football business
- 1 centre back, 1 defensive midfielder, 1 striker, 1 right winger, 1 attacking midfielder, 1 left back
- Sell all the deadwood
- Upgrade Old Trafford

Besides that, then we are good ;)
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this is bang on the money
 
Well there is what we need, and what is even slightly possible at this stage of a transfer window. Now imagine for a second we have someone competent in charge.....

These are for me the positions with the most urgent needs:
RW
CB
LB

RW - We want Sancho, but we know the price and know the BVB deadline passed a month ago. We either put up or shut up, so if we can't put up, then a loan move for Dembele or Coman look like the best options to me. Sarr maybe as a backup option, but a loan paying wages against 40m transfer plus wages will probably be more cost effective, and maybe allows a fresh approach for Sancho next summer.

CB - We know we want Upmecano. We know he has a release clause that kicks in next summer. We know RBL have a new CB. We can, one would imagine, strike a deal on the basis we pay them over and above the release clause value he will surely leave for next summer. Yes, it drops them in it a bit, but an extra 10-15m in the bank softens that blow.

LB - It looks like Telles is the man we are going for. Pay the 20-23m for him and get it done, or try and incorporate Dalot into the deal and bring down the outlay on the player. I personally would keep Dalot and use him.

For the outgoings, get Smalling sold to Roma and release Rojo on a free, maybe Jones too. We can't sell them with the contracts they are sat on, so we either keep the wages on the books or cut our losses. Talk on Lingard to Spurs, not sure if true, but if there is and a fee can be agreed then do it. We can't and won't shift all the players people want out the door in a single window heading into a season that is stacked with fixtures. We need a squad even if that means players who are a drop in quality get more minutes than we like.
 
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Relfy said:
Well there is what we need, and what is even slightly possible at this stage of a transfer window. Now imagine for a second we have someone competent in charge.....

These are for me the positions with the most urgent needs:
RW
CB
LB

RW - We want Sancho, but we know the price and know the BVB deadline passed a month ago. We either put up or shut up, so if we can't put up, then a loan move for Dembele or Coman look like the best options to me. Sarr maybe as a backup option, but a loan paying wages against 40m transfer plus wages will probably be more cost effective, and maybe allows a fresh approach for Sancho next summer.

CB - We know we want Upmecano. We know he has a release clause that kicks in next summer. We know RBL have a new CB. We can, one would imagine, strike a deal on the basis we pay them over and above the release clause value he will surely leave for next summer. Yes, it drops them in it a bit, but an extra 10-15m in the bank softens that blow.

LB - It looks like Telles is the man we are going for. Pay the 20-23m for him and get it done, or try and incorporate Dalot into the deal and bring down the outlay on the player. I personally would keep Dalot and use him.

For the outgoings, get Smalling sold to Roma and release Rojo on a free, maybe Jones too. We can't sell them with the contracts they are sat on, so we either keep the wages on the books or cut our losses. Talk on Lingard to Spurs, not sure if true, but if there is and a fee can be agreed then do it. We can't and won't shift all the players people want out the door in a single window heading into a season that is stacked with fixtures. We need a squad even if that means players who are a drop in quality get more minutes than we like.
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Holding midfield replacement for Matic? Thiago would of been ideal.
 
Don't know who made the decision to bring in VdB. Although he is a very good player, I think that a DM was what we needed. Thiago would have been a better option.
 
We need to sell Smalling, Jones, Rojo, Lindelof, Lingard, Pereira, James and Mata.

And replace them with 50-100m players capable of actually adding some quality to this time. Just about 3/4 of a billions worth of players really.

Come on Glazers, stump up the cash.
 
Bestietom said:
Nice if it were to happen. Can't see Woodward or the Glazers passing this.
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As others have said I’d love to see an interview where they actually explained their ambition. I know it would be easy to lie and point to Pogba or Maguire as proof of ambition.

If Woodward sat down for an interview or the Glazers and he was asked

‘Moyes, LVG, Mourinho and now OGS have all been appointed during your time in charge. Three of those have been sacked while OGS hasn’t won any trophies. At what point does something other than the manager need to be changed?’

‘Over £1bn spent on transfers since Sir Alex retired. Why aren’t the club competing at the top level? Are you getting value for money?’ ‘Whose job is it to review this spending and address the failings?’
 
Stacks said:
Holding midfield replacement for Matic? Thiago would of been ideal.
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Thiago would have been a dream but that ship has sailed. A DM is needed, I agree, but I think the other areas are more urgent and perhaps 'more realistic' in the short time frame we have left.
 
Bestietom said:
Don't know who made the decision to bring in VdB. Although he is a very good player, I think that a DM was what we needed. Thiago would have been a better option.
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VDB was a good signing and when Pogba and Bruno are injured or exhausted it will prove a good signing. The problem is we also need A CB , LB , RW , Dm and a Striker. The sad fact is we wont get Half of that and we will struggle to be top 4 which will be blamed on Ole Rather than being blamed on the people at the top making a complete mess with lack of vision in Signing the right players and building a squad,not to mention the ridiculous contracts that were given to players that we now cant shift .

We have a very long road ahead of us but as @Danish Wizard said there are so many major changes to be made . His list was spot on for me .
 
kirk buttercup said:
VDB was a good signing and when Pogba and Bruno are injured or exhausted it will prove a good signing. The problem is we also need A CB , LB , RW , Dm and a Striker. The sad fact is we wont get Half of that and we will struggle to be top 4 which will be blamed on Ole Rather than being blamed on the people at the top making a complete mess with lack of vision in Signing the right players and building a squad,not to mention the ridiculous contracts that were given to players that we now cant shift .

We have a very long road ahead of us but as @Danish Wizard said there are so many major changes to be made . His list was spot on for me .
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Matic is the only DM we have in the club and he is getting on now. McTominay and Fred are not DM's which is why we need one. I agree VdB is a very good player, this I am not disputing. I just think that the money could have been spent more wisely on other areas that need addressing. LB, CB, RW, DM, and maybe even a striker, before another offensive midfielder was needed.
 
Bestietom said:
Matic is the only DM we have in the club and he is getting on now. McTominay and Fred are not DM's which is why we need one. I agree VdB is a very good player, this I am not disputing. I just think that the money could have been spent more wisely on other areas that need addressing. LB, CB, RW, DM, and maybe even a striker, before another offensive midfielder was needed.
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Yeah it's not acceptable that we only have one DM in the whole squad which puts way too much pressure on Matic's shoulders.

I totally agree we need a striker as well but wouldn't expect any movement until at least January.

I think in regards to a CB we are happy to join the race for Upamecano next summer but have to get champions league football this season.
 
Obviously we dont know what is happening behind the scenes but I find it ludicrous that our primary talks at the moment are for a LB which is one of the things we need, but at the bottom of the list for me. CB far more important, RW far more important, DM more important for me.

What do I see now....a LB and then a 12hr bid for SAncho that is too late, Dortmund will keep Sancho and we sign nobody else. Also may be hard to offload as press says....but if TFM, Dalot, JOnes, Rojo, Perreira, Lingard, MAta are ALL still here, how ludicrous is that! Maybe even Smalling still

We need far better recruitment and negotiations. Even last year when we made 3 signings, we dilly dallied and still paid full prices, over paid, bar Lukaku a bit of a myth we offloaded players well....we loaned them

You know what I feel we will need come the end of the season, jsut what someone a bit further up the page says...New owners, manager, DOF.....if we come 6/7th which if this window ends as I feel it might, is a possibility in my opinion, again a season of progress transcends after the next of literally back to square one
 
Relfy said:
Well there is what we need, and what is even slightly possible at this stage of a transfer window. Now imagine for a second we have someone competent in charge.....

These are for me the positions with the most urgent needs:
RW
CB
LB

RW - We want Sancho, but we know the price and know the BVB deadline passed a month ago. We either put up or shut up, so if we can't put up, then a loan move for Dembele or Coman look like the best options to me. Sarr maybe as a backup option, but a loan paying wages against 40m transfer plus wages will probably be more cost effective, and maybe allows a fresh approach for Sancho next summer.

CB - We know we want Upmecano. We know he has a release clause that kicks in next summer. We know RBL have a new CB. We can, one would imagine, strike a deal on the basis we pay them over and above the release clause value he will surely leave for next summer. Yes, it drops them in it a bit, but an extra 10-15m in the bank softens that blow.

LB - It looks like Telles is the man we are going for. Pay the 20-23m for him and get it done, or try and incorporate Dalot into the deal and bring down the outlay on the player. I personally would keep Dalot and use him.

For the outgoings, get Smalling sold to Roma and release Rojo on a free, maybe Jones too. We can't sell them with the contracts they are sat on, so we either keep the wages on the books or cut our losses. Talk on Lingard to Spurs, not sure if true, but if there is and a fee can be agreed then do it. We can't and won't shift all the players people want out the door in a single window heading into a season that is stacked with fixtures. We need a squad even if that means players who are a drop in quality get more minutes than we like.
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Agree With this.
Upmecano
Telles
Sarr
120m

Get this done and forget Sancho.
Then try and trim the squad over the next 2 transfer windows and see where we are next summer.
 
We need a left footed attacking player that plays on the right and a left footed CB.
I would have signed Ziyech and Zagadou (Dortmund).
Not signing Thiago was also a big mistake as he is excellent defensively and in possession, which is something our midfield desperately needs.
Telles would be a good signing because we also need a LB as we only have Luke Shaw at the moment.
 
It's hilarious and sad that we discuss this every window and United always need even more. I mean:

CB - Bought Rojo, Bailly, Lindelöf and Maguire -> Still need 2

RB: Bought AWB -> Still need solid competition and all of the backups are question marks, we also don't know if he'll end up being good enough

LB: Bought Shaw - Still need 1

CDM: We only have 1. On decline, can't play at his best every game. Need 1

CM: We'll probably need another creative option if we want to level up. I think someone like Aouar should replace Fred or McTominay soon but I can't see that happening.

RW: 0 in the squad for years, still need at least 1. If we sign 2 we can move Greenwood to his natural position so I'd say that's the ideal scenario.

LW: Bought James who probably won't ever be good enough. Rashford in dire form, question mark at the moment -> Need 1

ST: Ighalo is not good enough, still need 1 to compete with Martial as Mason is all alone on the right (won't consider Mata and Lingard as options because it's depressing)

Also we have a bunch of deadwood that we can't get rid. Glazers and Woodward should go first, or it'll always be the same shit over and over again.
 
De Gea
Henderson

AWB
Williams

Shaw
LB

Bailly
Lindelof

Maguire
DC

Matic
DM

Fred
McT

Pogba
Fernandes
De Beek

Greenwood
RW

Martial
ST

Rashford
LW


Alaba DC, LB, DM
Hauge LW
Perisic RW
Ings ST
 
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Until money is spent on players that suit a progressive play style we will have problems. We need defensive minded players in midfield and at CB who can resist and enforce high pressure which would allow us to play a more expansive game and make our press more effective as a collective. We can't sacrifice defensive stability for goals like the teams who are setting the standards can, which allows them to maintain a high line and comfortably defend high up the pitch in 1v1 situations. It also helps the team to flood the opposition box hence causing overloads in midfield and down the flanks. We also have issues at fullback which need addressing too IMO.

It's about signing players who can fit into a progressive play style which requires the player to play in a high risk approach. We don't need to neccesarily sign a forward/attacking mid to enhance our attack. We can sign a CB who would improve our attack as long as he fits the profile above which would provide the team the platform/foundation to maintain a high line which would mean our midfielders would then camp in the opponents half. That would then allow us to dispatch the so called lesser teams with ease IMO.

But as things stand, Bailly, Axel and Mengi will have to be given a opportunity if Solskjaer wants to effectively employ a high pressure game. I also fully understand why he's reluctant to play Matic in such a style because he'll be over run playing high up the pitch against teams who can transition quickly from defense to attack.
 
Posted in another thread but relevant to this thread as it highlights our must need for an attacker.

No more signings no Top 4. That's a guarantee with how others have improved.

Even if we get Telles I'd still say no chance at top 4.

The club has 3 attackers of any use. If any of Greenwood Martial or Rashford get injured we are screwed. Any games where we need a goal there is no one we can sub on to make it any more likely.

That isn't acceptable.

Look at Chelsea's attacking options. Werner Havertz Pulisic Ziyech Giroud Abraham Hudson Odoi

Us: Martial Rashford Greenwood Igalho James.

Igalho and James aren't as good or close to a single player in that Chelsea list.

No signings is not an option.
 
We still need 4 signings to really compete. LB, CB, a striker and a RW.

If we are prudent we can actually sign all of them with 100 million net spend.

For eg we can get Ismaila Sarr/Brooks, Telles, M. Dembele/Jimenez and Upamecano for 100 m net spend and signing these 4 instead of just Sancho will actually improve the team overall. Yes if we can get Sancho plus 3 more than nothing better than that.
 
For me the absolute minimum is,
In: Sarr 35m,Telles 15m.
Out: Smalling 15m, James 15m, Romero 5m (Rojo, Jones, Pereira free if possible).
 
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