What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

croadyman said:
I think the absolute minimum we need to bring in this summer would be CB, CDM and either backup RB/starter RW, personally I would like to get all four of those positions but with finances hit badly by COVID we will have to choose the three maybe even only two most important ones.
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I know we can keep having this conversation all the way until the window closes at the end of the summer (and then we can start again of course) but I think it must be a striker.

I have officially given up on Martial; Rashford just doesn't work as a lead-the-line number 9; Mason is a brilliant footballer but he isn't physically ready to battle CBs every week; Cavani is old. I am not really convinced that Haaland isn't just a Norwegian Lukaku who would struggle in a tougher league where his poor first touch could hurt him. But good god we need to upgrade this position, and we need to get it spot on.

If we had someone in the same universe as Kane, Lewa, Benzema, etc, I think it would drastically improve our play. I know those don't grow on trees but this just has to be our priority, in my opinion.

Sell Pogba and replace him with a guaranteed starter, in the same vein as the three mentioned above, and I think we could move up a lot closer to the current elite sides.
 
Sell Pogba, Buy Graelish and then find some good bargains for CDM and the backline.
 
MetoTTT said:
I'll be happy with that. But we all know all the summer Sancho's saga will come back. And Juve and Real wouldn't offer cash but players they don't want. Hope PSG will.
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Yeah if he (and his agent) insist on leaving then I really hope Poch will help us out and buy him for a load of cash. But then I would turn right around and invest that in a world-class, or right on the cusp of world-class, striker. Who that is, I have no idea really outside of Haaland, which I think is a risk. Graelish is no doubt a good player, and I dig the low socks look, but I think a striker is more important and is the area most in need of a significant upgrade.
 
Sea-Cow said:
I know we can keep having this conversation all the way until the window closes at the end of the summer (and then we can start again of course) but I think it must be a striker.

I have officially given up on Martial; Rashford just doesn't work as a lead-the-line number 9; Mason is a brilliant footballer but he isn't physically ready to battle CBs every week; Cavani is old. I am not really convinced that Haaland isn't just a Norwegian Lukaku who would struggle in a tougher league where his poor first touch could hurt him. But good god we need to upgrade this position, and we need to get it spot on.

If we had someone in the same universe as Kane, Lewa, Benzema, etc, I think it would drastically improve our play. I know those don't grow on trees but this just has to be our priority, in my opinion.

Sell Pogba and replace him with a guaranteed starter, in the same vein as the three mentioned above, and I think we could move up a lot closer to the current elite sides.
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Who do you have in mind we could get in the no 9 role if you aren't convinced about Haaland then
 
Which should we get out of attacking RB/starter RW this summer if we can only get one along with a CB & CDM, yes I know we also still need a younger no 9 than Eddy but think the above positions are the highest priority for the upcoming summer window.
 
I think Cavani buys us time in the striker hunt and we may hold off until summer of 2022 to get the right striker in. Greenwood definitely has the potential to be the Utd no9 in the long term. It just depends on his development and whether he can avoid the off the field distractions. Regardless we still need a elite striker to help/replace Cavani.

Press seem to think we want an experienced RB as competition for AWB so i dont know where that leaves Brandon Williams.

A CB for sure, Bailly is starting to get back to the form he showed when he first joined but he is still injury prone.

RW ala Sancho depends i think on how much Dortmund are willing to drop his price and also how much progress Pellestri and Diallo make in the reserves. Theres still the outside chance of Utd moving for Dembele from Barcelona.

If Pogba does leave then he would need replacing.

With Covid hitting football club finances so badly i dont expect we or any other clubs to be doing much in the market.
 
We need some kind of statement transfer in this window to help us kick on from our excellent rise to the top. A Grealish or similar could have a Cantona-esque effect at this point on the players, fans and the opposition. If Ed and the board were savvy that is exactly what they would be doing now.
 
Crustanoid said:
We need some kind of statement transfer in this window to help us kick on from our excellent rise to the top. A Grealish or similar could have a Cantona-esque effect at this point on the players, fans and the opposition. If Ed and the board were savvy that is exactly what they would be doing now.
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Think we would love to make one right now but I get the distinct impression our top targets for CB, RW, & CDM are not going to be available until the summer and they don't just want to buy for the sake of it. Could have maybe seen Trippier coming in at RB if he hadn't got this 10 week ban hanging over him but there is also the matter of Atletico doing well.
 
Glazers will not sanction any spending until after the liverpool game. Win and there will be no spending. Lose and more chance of a player coming in. This is based on glazer transfer activity since fergie retired. Todays Transfer Window podcast.

Also Ole wants a CB, backup RB, a CM (presume to replace pogba) and a striker depending on what happens with Cavani this summer.
 
dinostar77 said:
Glazers will not sanction any spending until after the liverpool game. Win and there will be no spending. Lose and more chance of a player coming in. This is based on glazer transfer activity since fergie retired. Todays Transfer Window podcast.

Also Ole wants a CB, backup RB, a CM (presume to replace pogba) and a striker depending on what happens with Cavani this summer.
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No mention of a CDM on the podcast then or does that only apply if Pogba stays
 
croadyman said:
Who do you have in mind we could get in the no 9 role if you aren't convinced about Haaland then
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Man I really don't know. I thought possibly Raul Jiminez, but he is kinda old and currently injured.

I think Calvert-Lewin has the right physical attributes for the role, but not sure if he has the technical ability. Richarlison could possibly do the job, but he might be better coming in from the wings (and we already have Rashford, Martial and Greenwood to do that).

And I don't really watch much of any other league so I can't say. Do you know any? I have to believe that there are other options out there besides just Haaland.
 
Sea-Cow said:
Man I really don't know. I thought possibly Raul Jiminez, but he is kinda old and currently injured.

I think Calvert-Lewin has the right physical attributes for the role, but not sure if he has the technical ability. Richarlison could possibly do the job, but he might be better coming in from the wings (and we already have Rashford, Martial and Greenwood to do that).

And I don't really watch much of any other league so I can't say. Do you know any? I have to believe that there are other options out there besides just Haaland.
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There probably are other options but just don't think they compare to Haaland so in my opinion should see if we can keep Eddy for another season then next summer join the race for Erling and just see where it takes us, if he ends up going elsewhere then look at exploring other options then
 
croadyman said:
There probably are other options but just don't think they compare to Haaland so in my opinion should see if we can keep Eddy for another season then next summer join the race for Erling and just see where it takes us, if he ends up going elsewhere then look at exploring other options then
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Do you think my characterization of him as the Norwegian Lukaku is off the mark? Just wondering, I don't ever watch full Dortmund matches.
 
Jack Grealish, Max Aarons, and a DM with a similarly combative style to McTominay/Fred but more ability on the ball (Zakaria gets a lot of mentions on here, but I'm not familiar).

A lot will depend on whether Tuanzebe and Bailly can prove themselves to be reliable. Assuming they do, the above 3 would be my only choices. Our squad would then become fantastically well rounded, imo. Though if one of DDG and Henderson were to leave, a cheap backup would obviously need to come in.

GK: DDG/Henderson
RB: Aarons/AWB
CB: Maguire/Tuanzebe
CB: Bailly/ Lindelof
LB: Shaw/Telles
DM: McTominay/Matic
DM: New DM/Fred
AM: Bruno/VDB
RW: Grealish/Diallo
LW: Rashford/Martial
CF: Cavani/Greenwood

With Cavani and Matic coming to the end of their careers, there'll be space for the likes of Garner, Mejbri, Pellistri to stake their claim in another season or two.
 
Dante said:
Jack Grealish, Max Aarons, and a DM with a similarly combative style to McTominay/Fred but more ability on the ball (Zakaria gets a lot of mentions on here, but I'm not familiar).

A lot will depend on whether Tuanzebe and Bailly can prove themselves to be reliable. Assuming they do, the above 3 would be my only choices. Our squad would then become fantastically well rounded, imo. Though if one of DDG and Henderson were to leave, a cheap backup would obviously need to come in.

GK: DDG/Henderson
RB: Aarons/AWB
CB: Maguire/Tuanzebe
CB: Bailly/ Lindelof
LB: Shaw/Telles
DM: McTominay/Matic
DM: New DM/Fred
AM: Bruno/VDB
RW: Grealish/Diallo
LW: Rashford/Martial
CF: Cavani/Greenwood

With Cavani and Matic coming to the end of their careers, there'll be space for the likes of Garner, Mejbri, Pellistri to stake their claim in another season or two.
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The only thing I would say about that is Grealish hasn't played on the RW since his days on loan at Notts County, my gut feeling is that our focus could switch to Sancho if Pogba still has a change of heart and decides to stay but by the looks of it you think he is gone.

I still feel we could do with a Konate/Kounde at the back as well but with the talk earlier of us planning to make three signings per summer window then we would need to sacrifice signing an attacking RB/starting RW, however the priorities will probably change constantly between now and end of the season.
 
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Sea-Cow said:
I know we can keep having this conversation all the way until the window closes at the end of the summer (and then we can start again of course) but I think it must be a striker.

I have officially given up on Martial; Rashford just doesn't work as a lead-the-line number 9; Mason is a brilliant footballer but he isn't physically ready to battle CBs every week; Cavani is old. I am not really convinced that Haaland isn't just a Norwegian Lukaku who would struggle in a tougher league where his poor first touch could hurt him. But good god we need to upgrade this position, and we need to get it spot on.

If we had someone in the same universe as Kane, Lewa, Benzema, etc, I think it would drastically improve our play. I know those don't grow on trees but this just has to be our priority, in my opinion.

Sell Pogba and replace him with a guaranteed starter, in the same vein as the three mentioned above, and I think we could move up a lot closer to the current elite sides.
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Im starting to think this way as well. A proven striker (were never gonna sign Haaland) around 24/25 with experience to replace Martial would be ideal. If we could find this we could cope with everything else. Both Martial and Rashford are very wasteful in front of goal. Cavani is too old, but his movement shows up how one dimensional both martial and Rashford are. I would loan out Greenwood for 2 years, get him some experience playing upfront, perhaps first year with a championship club, then ideally the second with a premier. See if he can improve on his potential.
 
In order of priority:

Defensive Mid: I still like Matic but he's really slowed down and I think it's vital that we replace him with a similar profile of the player. This has to be someone comfortable in possession and passing between the lines, but also they have to have good positional awareness to sit in front of the defence (i.e a modern-day Carrick).

Right Wing*: This has been a problem position for years and still we haven't really addressed it. The emergence of Greenwood has helped but has no means fixed the position, especially when he looks like a natural striker to me. *The emergence of Diallo or Pellistri, in the second half of the season could change this. If Diallo gets gametime and impresses this could move down the pecking order.

Centre Back: Despite popular belief, Maguire is top quality and it's still about finding a complementary player alongside him. Bailly has shown recently that having a pacy player to cover his weaknesses is a massive help and will allow us to be more progressive as a team, but he's unlikely to stay fit so I think we have to look at that profile of player. Lindelof offers good and reliable cover and would make up 3rd/4th choice, with Tuanzebe still waiting at 5th in the pecking order.

Right Back (competetion/cover): Personally I like AWB and think he's proven a good signing, however, I think the impact that Telles has had on the other side shows that we need a similar player to help rotate and push AWB to that next level. There's talk of Tripper who I hope we avoid at all cost but I understand the profile we are looking at and I'm fully on board.

Overall, we are much closer now than we have been at any point post Fergie and actually, I think this squad is now better than his final title-winning team. If we can get in the right players and they can have a Bruno like impact in their relative positions we will have some team in the next year or two. The obvious omission from this list is a striker which I would prioritise in a year or two and only if we can get someone absolutely top draw such as Haaland. I would hate for us to settle for a mediocre lump like Lukaku again when I think Martial is still capable of being a top player and Cavani can provide an option at least into next season.
 
So we are supposed to be going for 3 signings in the summer and not doing any business this month. Something has to give, I agree with the above posts about forgetting a Striker, Cavani will do a 2nd season, Mason will come back into form and hopefully Martial will find his shooting boots, and in truth there aren't many options out there for those wanting a traditional #9, I don't see us getting Haaland or Calvert-Lewin.

In defence on paper the Bailly/Maguire and Axel/Lindelof partnerships look nicely balanced, I still believe Axel can become a top class CB, the big issue is we can't rely on Bailly to stay fit so not getting a CB would be a huge risk, but it looks like we might use one of the 3 signings on Trippier, which is massively underwhelming, he's fine as a cheapy January buy, but not as a key buy in the summer.

Against Burnley we saw what a #6 and #8 partnership operating at a top level looks like, but we know Pogba is inconsistent in doing the role fully and is likely off in the summer, while Matic can't play regularly enough. Technically we need to add one of each but the #6 is crucial, while the #8 role will be shared by Fred and McTominay even though neither offer a lot on the ball, so hopefully Van de Beek will get a chance there as well.

In attack I can't see us going for anyone outside of Grealish or Sancho, if we can't get either then maybe the 3 signings will be CB/RB/#6.


RB - Trippier/Aarons
CB - Kounde/Konaté/Demiral
#6 - Bruno Guimares/Locatelli/Valverde/Bentancur/Zakaria
WF - Grealish/Sancho
 
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The Pogba issue could go either way and I’m not convinced the owners would reinvest in Grealish
Remains to be seen if Cavani can buy us time by becoming the reliable striker we’re missing
Doubt we‘ll be back for Sanchez with the two new rw boys almost ready for next season
W need somebody to take the burden off Matic
cb? It would be a major boost if Bailly curbs his rash tendencies and proves his injuries were bad luck but not counting my chickens here
I think the rib issue will vastly improve with a proper rw in place
No way will the Glazers be lashing out with the readies during these times
 
RB - Trippier and Capa stand out to me as affordable experienced and good crossers of the ball. Trippier makes most sense as he doesn’t block Laird’s pathway to the first team given his loan to MK.

CM/DM - Koopmeiners fits the bill for me. Can play both and CB too wand of a left foot affordable, leader and just quality.

ST - Haaland? Or we keep Cavani one more year.

Realistically I think we’ll try for one of each of those positions I feel Sancho is a bit dead dependant on our new signings.
 
Dante said:
Jack Grealish, Max Aarons, and a DM with a similarly combative style to McTominay/Fred but more ability on the ball (Zakaria gets a lot of mentions on here, but I'm not familiar).

A lot will depend on whether Tuanzebe and Bailly can prove themselves to be reliable. Assuming they do, the above 3 would be my only choices. Our squad would then become fantastically well rounded, imo. Though if one of DDG and Henderson were to leave, a cheap backup would obviously need to come in.

GK: DDG/Henderson
RB: Aarons/AWB
CB: Maguire/Tuanzebe
CB: Bailly/ Lindelof
LB: Shaw/Telles
DM: McTominay/Matic
DM: New DM/Fred
AM: Bruno/VDB
RW: Grealish/Diallo
LW: Rashford/Martial
CF: Cavani/Greenwood

With Cavani and Matic coming to the end of their careers, there'll be space for the likes of Garner, Mejbri, Pellistri to stake their claim in another season or two.
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I love this, very prudent.
 
Dante said:
Jack Grealish, Max Aarons, and a DM with a similarly combative style to McTominay/Fred but more ability on the ball (Zakaria gets a lot of mentions on here, but I'm not familiar).

A lot will depend on whether Tuanzebe and Bailly can prove themselves to be reliable. Assuming they do, the above 3 would be my only choices. Our squad would then become fantastically well rounded, imo. Though if one of DDG and Henderson were to leave, a cheap backup would obviously need to come in.

GK: DDG/Henderson
RB: Aarons/AWB
CB: Maguire/Tuanzebe
CB: Bailly/ Lindelof
LB: Shaw/Telles
DM: McTominay/Matic
DM: New DM/Fred
AM: Bruno/VDB
RW: Grealish/Diallo
LW: Rashford/Martial
CF: Cavani/Greenwood

With Cavani and Matic coming to the end of their careers, there'll be space for the likes of Garner, Mejbri, Pellistri to stake their claim in another season or two.
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If Laird proves he can cut it in men's football at MK Dons and stays fit he basically solves the RB problem. Definitely agree with the other two positions. Grealish and a DM would give us insane depth and would allow us to compete across all competitions.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
RB - Trippier and Capa stand out to me as affordable experienced and good crossers of the ball. Trippier makes most sense as he doesn’t block Laird’s pathway to the first team given his loan to MK.
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Trippier is a very poor footballer - we need to avoid such purchases at all costs. Lingard/Pereira level at best, and we had enough of those. It will be important to strengthen our RB options, but we need to buy someone good, rather than Trippier (or to wait till the end of the season and promote Laird upon his return from loan - in case he does very well there)
 
Alemar said:
Trippier is a very poor footballer - we need to avoid such purchases at all costs. Lingard/Pereira level at best, and we had enough of those. It will be important to strengthen our RB options, but we need to buy someone good, rather than Trippier (or to wait till the end of the season and promote Laird upon his return from loan - in case he does very well there)
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Trippier is the most progressive passing RB around that we could buy.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
Trippier is the most progressive passing RB around that we could buy.
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But we are Man Utd, not some random club: if we want to continue being top of the league or thereabouts in the future, we need to discontinue signing of average players (it takes too many YEARS to get rid of them later on)
 
Alemar said:
But we are Man Utd, not some random club: if we want to continue being top of the league or thereabouts in the future, we need to discontinue signing of average players (it takes too many YEARS to get rid of them later on)
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Yes and whilst we may be that we are also woefully short of a competent crosser on our right flank a trait which Trippier could provide.

He’s got the right level of experience and quality to help tide us over whilst AWB and Laird develop further. Or do you suggest we block Lairds pathway for someone else I’m curious who you think is perfect and available for us?
 
BenitoSTARR said:
Or do you suggest we block Lairds pathway for someone else I’m curious who you think is perfect and available for us?
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At this point in time, I think the jury is out for Laird. Would be over the moon if he develops into a Man Utd calibre player, but we clearly need to wait and see till the end of his current loan at least.

But I wouldn’t want us to buy some highly paid old player of just adequate (and not much better) quality now - we’d rather wait till the summer transfer window. Players like Trippier as January purchases don’t cause a vertigo feeling
 
Alemar said:
At this point in time, I think the jury is out for Laird. Would be over the moon if he develops into a Man Utd calibre player, but we clearly need to wait and see till the end of his current loan at least.

But I wouldn’t want us to buy some highly paid old player of just adequate (and not much better) quality now - we’d rather wait till the summer transfer window. Players like Trippier as January purchases don’t cause a vertigo feeling
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So who would you buy in the summer?

I think we very much disagree on Trippier’s quality he’s one of the best performing in La Liga right now and his club are top of it. Ask any fan of Atletico he’s been really good.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
So who would you buy in the summer?

I think we very much disagree on Trippier’s quality he’s one of the best performing in La Liga right now and his club are top of it. Ask any fan of Atletico he’s been really good.
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If Laird delivers, then I’d rather buy players for other positions in the summer and rotate Bissaka and Laird.

Regarding Trippier - well, it’s only normal if we have different opinions on this particular player. Must admit I don’t follow la Liga much, but I remember him in EPL and didn’t rate him. Still, I don’t have a list of transfer targets for this position - it’s not an easy position to find top talent :(
 
Alemar said:
If Laird delivers, then I’d rather buy players for other positions in the summer and rotate Bissaka and Laird.

Regarding Trippier - well, it’s only normal if we have different opinions on this particular player. Must admit I don’t follow la Liga much, but I remember him in EPL and didn’t rate him. Still, I don’t have a list of transfer targets for this position - it’s not an easy position to find top talent :(
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To give you an idea of him this season:
14 games all 90 mins
5 assists
Progressive passing distance 5246m (1500m more than AWB) with Trippier playing one less game
16 key passes (slightly over 1 per game)
2.57 shot creating actions per 90 (AWB 1.33)
0.5 goal creating actions r 90

He’s a top RB. Just not a flashy name he’s efficient and effective which is what we need to tide us over.
 
BenitoSTARR said:
To give you an idea of him this season:
14 games all 90 mins
5 assists
Progressive passing distance 5246m (1500m more than AWB) with Trippier playing one less game
16 key passes (slightly over 1 per game)
2.57 shot creating actions per 90 (AWB 1.33)
0.5 goal creating actions r 90

He’s a top RB. Just not a flashy name he’s efficient and effective which is what we need to tide us over.
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Why would they sell him?
 
Has there been any rumors of interest shown in Locatelli by United? The DM from Sassuolo. I read somewhere that he wants a new experience, I think he'd be a nice addition to this squad.
 
Red_Orchestra said:
Has there been any rumors of interest shown in Locatelli by United? The DM from Sassuolo. I read somewhere that he wants a new experience, I think he'd be a nice addition to this squad.
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No and I doubt we’d go for him too. Very good player but we rarely get top Italian talent a bit like how few English talents move abroad. There are enough good Italian sides that he could move to.
 
Still cannot tell what are the top priorities for the summer, initially I thought it was CB, RW & CDM but then maybe if Bailly stays fit we will keep faith with our current options and if Diallo comes in and makes an impact then we could decide to switch priorities there too, in regards to a CDM I really cannot decide what is going to happen there but personally think we need another proper one in the squad other than Matic.
 
croadyman said:
Still cannot tell what are the top priorities for the summer, initially I thought it was CB, RW & CDM but then maybe if Bailly stays fit we will keep faith with our current options and if Diallo comes in and makes an impact then we could decide to switch priorities there too, in regards to a CDM I really cannot decide what is going to happen there but personally think we need another proper one in the squad other than Matic.
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CB and #6 are the absolute musts imo, I like Bailly and rate him but the chances of him staying fit are beyond slim, and Matic is the only proper #6 we have, the rest are #8's, whether any of Fred, McTominay or Van de Beek are good enough long term to start with a top #6 besides them remains to be seen, but they'll have next season to prove they can be the starting #8 while we miss out on the likes of Camavinga and Neuhaus.

I think most fans would love Grealish here but the price will likely be prohibitive, so it's very likely we don't add to the attack and bet on the 2 kid wingers we bought. The RB situation is up in the air, the Trippier option seems to have some traction, I just hope he's cheap. I'd get Demiral in the Pogba deal and there's a few good #6 options.


 
I think most would agree that we need a CB, DM, RB, and maybe a RW.

I can see us going for:
RB - Trippier - I think we need an experienced player to help AWB kick on.
CB - Varane if he is seriously available
DM - Rice (now that Lampard has been sacked)
RW - I think Sancho is still at the top for many, but if Diallo features between now and the end of the season and does well, I think we may not go for anyone. We have Greenwood and Diallo there, and if Pogba stays, we may utilise him there sometimes as we have already done.

I think Haaland in 2022 is a must if we can. We’re doing well at the moment, and it feels like there’s less holes than previous years gone by. It’s exciting times again.
 
If there was a blank check-book I would go for:

CB: Konate
RB: Trippier
CDM: Rice/Ndidi
RW: Sancho

With Martial being sold, and try and keep hold of Pogba sign him up for 3-4 years if possible even at 300k p/w he's worth it, thats if he wants to stay.

Rojo, Jones, Romero, Lingard, Pereira and Dalot to make way too.

Extend Cavani for 1 more year then have a serious look at Haaland when his buyout clause comes into effect and throw the kitchen sink at him.
 
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