The hard call was to sack him early when it didn't work out. It's better they realised the mistake and rectified it rather than being too proud.
What do we still need? Aka The never ending story
- Thread starter Devil may care
- Start date
If Evan Ferguson does well at West Ham then I’d rather go for him than Gyokeres.
Sancho is already done because of Chelsea and the league position, Evans, Eriksen is expiring, so is Lindelof.
Rashford will be snapped up for 30-40m no issues in the summer, given his age and the market that kind of price is hard to resist. He would also go down as homegrown.
Casemiro has a year left, I think he would move honestly.
Antony is a question mark, 2 years left but not a high earner like some, but maybe offers from Spain anything around 20-25m I think there'll be interest.
Any reason for that just out of interest?
Yeah agreed, just would prefer some DD prior to making the signing, surely such misalignment (whatever it was) could have been uncovered
Striker??
I'd rather spend the 62m on Baleba than on Cunha.
Yeah, I fully expect Rashford and Sancho to be gone, as well as the expiring contracts. This should save us quite a bit, salary wise.
It's really the Casemiro and Antony deals that I'm worried about. Case has shown that he's happy to sit on the bench and collect his 300k+ a week, he has nothing left to prove.
Antony while not being on huge wages is still probably on more that any team on his level will be willing to pay.
That is why I'm sceptical we'll be able to do all business that needs doing.
Mount and Shaw are a problem as well. That's £20m a year of injuries right there.
An that being said, I'm quietly optimistic about Ineos's plan to clear out all the players with poor returns on investment.
Yes, but going by Brighton's demands previously, i think we can assume that Baleba will be 80-90m.
Have you met Brighton? No way they're selling us Baleba for £62m.
Cunha is less of a gamble. His age fits in with what we need more of in the first eleven. 24 to 26 year olds. I.e. players close to their prime.
Also, the choice shouldn't be Cunha or Baleba, it should be Baleba or Ederson, or another CM/DM.
If Antony can keep the momentum up with Betis, I don't think getting rid will be an issue. He is on lower wages, younger, no real injury issues, no attitude issues.
Casemiro - I suspect he remains on loan as much as possible and probably leaves on free in Jan 2026.
I disagree on this. We already have a young striker struggling with inconsistencies. In fact, we have a few of them. We need players close to their prime, to build a platform for young players to come in and perform.
Sadly, I guess so too.
I know. What I meant was that given our financial circumstances we won't make a lot of big money signings. I guess two at max. One will be a CF, so for the other I would prefer a strong CM rather than Cunha. In short, I'd rather spend 80m on Baleba than 62m on Cunha.
This thread used to be fun, now I don’t even know where to begin.
Assuming Quenda comes in that’ll probably mean the WB positions are filled.
We’ll need someone to come in at LCB, I don’t think Hancko’s moved yet so I’d probably look at him.
Striker- Gyökeres, Sesko, Osimhen.
CM- Many suggestions but I think Wharton would be interesting profile, combining high volume defending a la Ugarte with creativity and passing range a la Fernandes. Does he have the athleticism though?
AMs- We need them but I’m pretty stumped as to who to go for. Wirtz, Musiala surely not an option for us. Simons, Nusa, Mastantuono?
Assuming Quenda comes in that’ll probably mean the WB positions are filled.
We’ll need someone to come in at LCB, I don’t think Hancko’s moved yet so I’d probably look at him.
Striker- Gyökeres, Sesko, Osimhen.
CM- Many suggestions but I think Wharton would be interesting profile, combining high volume defending a la Ugarte with creativity and passing range a la Fernandes. Does he have the athleticism though?
AMs- We need them but I’m pretty stumped as to who to go for. Wirtz, Musiala surely not an option for us. Simons, Nusa, Mastantuono?
It’s gonna take another 2-3 years (if not longer) regardless of what we do this summer. I think that needs to sink into the collective heads of the fanbase
Are you related or something? A lot of your posts say the same name over and over
I also think some positions in the system, such as WBs, where athleticism and base technique is more important than high level positioning and decision making, you can get away with young players and still expect to be competitive. Positions like CF, DM, central CB however, you need experience.
I don't think he'd be a good move as a permanent deal at the time being, but given our lack of options up top and that he was available for loan I find it bonkers that we didn't challenge West Ham for him in Jan, feels like a no brainer to trial him and make it permanent if he worked out.
How is it bonkers that we didn't challenge? He has 6 PL goals last season and 1 PL goal this season....
How do fans call it bonkers that we didn't loan a player that hasn't got more goals than Hojlund? The player we all want him to replace?
A player who had a cruciate ligamament injury and an ankle injury in December.
Its actually bonnkers to think that not signing him is bonkers.
CB- Maguire, De Ligt
RCB - Yoro, Mazroui
LCB - Martinez, Shaw, Heaven
RWB - Dorgu, Dalot, Amad
LWB - Dorgu, Dalot
Midfield - Ugarte, Collyer , Bruno
Attacking midfielder- Bruno,Mount, Garnacho, Amad, Zirkzee
Forwards - Hojlund, Zirkzee
We are extremely light on midfield and wing backs. I expect 2 midfielders , one wing back and a forward in the summer.
That's bare minimum.
RCB - Yoro, Mazroui
LCB - Martinez, Shaw, Heaven
RWB - Dorgu, Dalot, Amad
LWB - Dorgu, Dalot
Midfield - Ugarte, Collyer , Bruno
Attacking midfielder- Bruno,Mount, Garnacho, Amad, Zirkzee
Forwards - Hojlund, Zirkzee
We are extremely light on midfield and wing backs. I expect 2 midfielders , one wing back and a forward in the summer.
That's bare minimum.
At LCB you have Martinez who is out until at least September, Shaw who has not stayed fit for about 3 seasons and Heaven who has one senior appearance for Arsenal (both Yoro and Maz have played LCB this season, Kunkonki who has been on the bench a lot this season also plays LCB but has even less experience than Heaven)
Depending on how the rest of the season goes, if Heaven can make an impression then maybe the pressure will be less, but would not be surprised to see us go in for Ignacio at the right price as he can play LCB/CB and DM, Heaven is good at progressing the ball but of our current defenders only Martinez has shown any real aptitude stepping up into midfield, although supposedly Yoro can do it, Ignacio looks better in midfield than any of our current mids, just because a player is known to Amorim doesn't make it a bad thing, we were burnt by ETH but that is no reason to avoid the right player at the right price. Long term I would not be surprised to see Martinez (and Ignacio if we buy him) actually starting in midfield.
Incomings I think we will look for a CB/LCB, RWB, 10, 9 ad a minimum
Mainly because there’ll be that ‘PL proven’ element with him, although in his case it’s partially proven given his age and experience level.
Talent wise I think he ticks a lot of the boxes for a striker, and strikers are a bit of an endangered species nowadays.
I agree with this sentiment, and in an ideal world that’s the way it should be. United are far from that ideal however and it’s hard to attract players in their prime to come to the club because essentially these players will have to sacrifice their prime in the hope of success in 3 or 4 years time.
Re: Gyokeres - he’ll be 27 when next season starts so he's in his prime and his stats for Sporting are pretty great tbf. Then there’s his familiarity with Amorim. His career prior to Sporting was pretty average though, so he could just be a relatively late bloomer, but then the Portuguese league is pretty poor so that might just be his level. I just have this strong impression that people keep mentioning his name in this thread but haven’t actually watched him that much.
Me too. 10s are ten a penny whereas dominant midfielders are gold dust.
Baleba is great defensively and as a ball carrying but he's not much better than ugarte as a progressive passer. He's probably who we should have signed, instead of Uguarte. however he's not who you want along side him.
Why? His ball carrying is as good as any centre midfielder so he can breach defensive lines that way. He's also a very good passer if not a high volume progressive passer. He had one assist a few weeks ago that was sublime. Ultimately, I'd also be looking to upgrade Ugarte at some point soonish so not too bothered if they aren't perfect fits but still think we need to snatch at these high ceiling players before they move to top clubs.
I don't think they are too similar but we are fecked anyway if Ugarte gets injured. Imo a CM is a much bigger priority than a no.10 (where Amad, Bruno, Kobbie, Garna all can play)
Depends on what Amorim wants from his midfielders. Is it progression via ball carrying or passing? Moving Bruno into midfield suggests he wants the latter. But yeah, would be nice having players like Baleba coming through into our furst team.
Just to be clear, the wages Antony is on are absolutely not low for any clubs except us, top CL clubs, and the Saudis. For everyone else, they are quite high.
I think it just seemed like a free hit to add a body in an area we are lacking, when we were seemingly in for Tel who would have cost a fortune to loan and is in a similar mould of young talented striker that needs some minutes elsewhere that could become a permanent move.
Maybe "bonkers" was strong, but I think it would have carried far less risk than not getting anyone in at all. We are a Hojlund or Zirkzee injury away from the other one playing every minute for the rest of the season.
Free hit to add someone who has been injured for a long time, has not shown anything apart from 6 months in his breakout season?
Signing him on loan makes no sense at all, there was no buy clause with West Ham. If you remember when he had his good 6 months... Brighton were quoting 100m for his transfer.
So we were in a lose lose situation, if he plays well, Brighton will just stick a number and thats it or we get a player that is worse than Hojlund.
Makes no sense to sign someone like that in the short or long term given our season.
Wouldn't say he has no attitude issues either. Had a hissy fit when Ten Hag asked him to play full back in a game, refused to play for Ajax when he was in negotiations with us and is alleged to have battered his ex girlfriend. A lot of clubs wouldn't want him near their team.
If Delap keeps improving this season he has to be a consideration, if the club cannot secure Gyokeres. Dibling also looks like the kind of young, English talent you don't want a Newcastle or Spurs to sign. There could be treasure from the relegated teams if the budget is tight.
Onana
Yoro De Ligt. Branthwaite
Amad Ugarte Bruno Dorgu
Cunha Dibling
Delap
BenchYoro De Ligt. Branthwaite
Amad Ugarte Bruno Dorgu
Cunha Dibling
Delap
Martinez
Mazraoui
Dalot
Mainoo
Collyer
Garnacho
Hojlund
Zirkzee
Just for fun buying from teams below us.
Don’t think that would be too bad.
Would much rather Huijsen than Branthwaite and would be cheaper too if the release clause is true (55mn). Don't think Branthwaite's passing is up to much so would be a bit worried about him and De Ligt side by side in that team.
Yeah I really like Huijsen but I was picking from teams below us.
I’d take him and Brandwaite and bench De Ligt!
Can I ask what makes you believe that Branthwaite is a better defender that De Ligt?
Secondly what is with all this De Ligt criticism?
I think he has been out best CB this season, seems to get all the criticism for someone who has been consistent all season.
I like De Ligt, but I want three fast centre backs, think we’d be much better with that. De Ligt and Martinez and a little slow for me. But either with Branthwaite and Yoro either side could work potentially.
We need more pace everywhere.
Yes, everything is relative. When I say he is lower wages, it means lower wages vs Rashford, Casemiro, Mount.
When I saw "no attitude", I am comparing to Sancho, Rashford etc as none of the coaches ever banished or admonished him for not working hard etc.