That's 200m GBP at an absolute minimum, more likely 250-280m. I can't see that happening, especially with the Adidas penalty kicking in.
We definitely need more pace around the possible front two of Ibra and Griezmann so instead of clogging up the squad with expensive squad players maybe we should sell Rooney and Mata so that we can recoup funds for a winger or back up striker purchase. Miki has enough pace and creativity about him to function well anywhere in the three behind the striker so thats the right side sorted. The problem with the Griezmann signing is how it will affect the midfield equation, Carrick and Herrera are, imo, too lightweight to carry a Pogba who is liable to go walk about so we'd probably need a solid DM in the Makalele mould to stand a chance of competing in midfield in the big games.
I agree that we need all of that. I just can't see us spending that kind of money in one window, esp if we miss out on CL. Griezmann/Semedo is already a rumoured 120m. With the market the way it is and clubs knowing the prices we've been paying for potential recently we'd do well to pay 40m a pop for the players you mentioned for those three positions.
We could build an industrious, Atlético type team without overspending to an extreme, and adding no more than 3-4 players:
-----------------------Martial
--------↗------------------------Griezmann
-----Pogba--------------------------------------------↖↑
-------------------Herrera----------Keïta-----------Mkhitaryan
Kolašinac-------------------------------------------------------Valencia
---------------------Giménez--------------Bailly
--------------------------------De Gea
Mandžukić and Torres alternated for them, and Martial is quite similar to the latter when he was at his peak. Will only happen if José is more flexible in his approach, though.
Mkhitaryan - Arda.
Pogba isn't entirely out of his comfort zone.
Ander is a bit like Gabi.
Keïta for Tiago - who could press and pass and dribble - in general, a good fit with Gabi.
Kolašinac only because he's a Mourinho type fullback in the Ivanović mold, is more refined than Shaw, provides better end product, and is available on a Bosman:
Depending on Shaw's improvement, he could easily make the spot his own, making Kolašinac a really good depth option as a leftback/central defensive option.
Giménez = Godín Jr.
Best part about it all - 2 of the most high profile additions have a buyout clause that can be activated if an agreement is reached with the player: Giménez Griezmann, so there might not be protracted negotiations with the selling clubs dragging its heels unnecessarily.
Keïta has been a revelation at Leipzig (like Kanté at Leicester), possesses a great engine to pair with Herrera and will not be super expensive, apart from being technically decent and only 22 years old - so he could be a long term addition (like Giménez and Griezmann).
With the right amount of planning, we could finish all the summer business by May/June and have a productive summer tour/training program - which should hold us in good stead come next season. Instead of dragging things till August - which is quite disruptive.
Dave/Tony (probably Dave because he probably speaks better English). If not I would like it if Herrera or Rojo gets it.
We could build an industrious, Atlético type team without overspending to an extreme, and adding no more than 3-4 players:
-----------------------Martial
--------↗------------------------Griezmann
-----Pogba--------------------------------------------↖↑
-------------------Herrera----------Keïta-----------Mkhitaryan
Kolašinac-------------------------------------------------------Valencia
---------------------Giménez--------------Bailly
--------------------------------De Gea
Mandžukić and Torres alternated for them, and Martial is quite similar to the latter when he was at his peak. Will only happen if José is more flexible in his approach, though.
Mkhitaryan - Arda.
Pogba isn't entirely out of his comfort zone.
Ander is a bit like Gabi.
Keïta for Tiago - who could press and pass and dribble - in general, a good fit with Gabi.
Kolašinac only because he's a Mourinho type fullback in the Ivanović mold, is more refined than Shaw, provides better end product, and is available on a Bosman:
Depending on Shaw's improvement, he could easily make the spot his own, making Kolašinac a really good depth option as a leftback/central defensive option.
Giménez = Godín Jr.
Best part about it all - 2 of the most high profile additions have a buyout clause that can be activated if an agreement is reached with the player: Giménez Griezmann, so there might not be protracted negotiations with the selling clubs dragging its heels unnecessarily.
Keïta has been a revelation at Leipzig (like Kanté at Leicester), possesses a great engine to pair with Herrera and will not be super expensive, apart from being technically decent and only 22 years old - so he could be a long term addition (like Giménez and Griezmann).
With the right amount of planning, we could finish all the summer business by May/June and have a productive summer tour/training program - which should hold us in good stead come next season. Instead of dragging things till August - which is quite disruptive.
We could build an industrious, Atlético type team without overspending to an extreme, and adding no more than 3-4 players:
-----------------------Martial
--------↗------------------------Griezmann
-----Pogba--------------------------------------------↖↑
-------------------Herrera----------Keïta-----------Mkhitaryan
Kolašinac-------------------------------------------------------Valencia
---------------------Giménez--------------Bailly
--------------------------------De Gea
Mandžukić and Torres alternated for them, and Martial is quite similar to the latter when he was at his peak. Will only happen if José is more flexible in his approach, though.
Mkhitaryan - Arda.
Pogba isn't entirely out of his comfort zone.
Ander is a bit like Gabi.
Keïta for Tiago - who could press and pass and dribble - in general, a good fit with Gabi.
Kolašinac only because he's a Mourinho type fullback in the Ivanović mold, is more refined than Shaw, provides better end product, and is available on a Bosman:
Depending on Shaw's improvement, he could easily make the spot his own, making Kolašinac a really good depth option as a leftback/central defensive option.
Giménez = Godín Jr.
Best part about it all - 2 of the most high profile additions have a buyout clause that can be activated if an agreement is reached with the player: Giménez Griezmann, so there might not be protracted negotiations with the selling clubs dragging its heels unnecessarily.
Keïta has been a revelation at Leipzig (like Kanté at Leicester), possesses a great engine to pair with Herrera and will not be super expensive, apart from being technically decent and only 22 years old - so he could be a long term addition (like Giménez and Griezmann).
With the right amount of planning, we could finish all the summer business by May/June and have a productive summer tour/training program - which should hold us in good stead come next season. Instead of dragging things till August - which is quite disruptive.
Yep!
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/jul/25/italy-brazil-1982
By relieving him of extra duties in a potential midfield duo, we'll afford him the freedom to explore the extent of his natural attacking potential.
Yeah, it's kind of an imperfect pairing, and to be fair - someone like Laporte would be a better aesthetic fit for Bailly. But Giménez is a marvelous pure defensive talent (arguably the best in football), and in a team that is likely to defend deep given the overall shape, his towering defensive fortitude will be a good fit. A strong and aggressive central defensive core is the hallmark of Mourinho teams, and while Giménez lacks the composure and passing range of a Carvalho, he is adept at bringing the ball out of defense on foot - in that sense, he's not too dissimilar to old Lúcio, who was part of José's second best defense with Samuel (more of a stopper who wasn't excellent on the ball) at Internazionale.
Kolašinac is hardly a Jordi Alba style rampaging wingback, though - he's a good defender and someone like Mourinho could further develop that side of him game. In terms of what José needs from his fullbacks, he has the requisite skillset - physically strong, not too eager in the offensive phase in terms of repeatedly forsaking his defensive duties, still young - so there's scope for improvement, and a fullback/central defender hybrid à la Gallas/Ivanović/Chivu.
Yep!
Pogba kind of bears resemblance to Sócrates - who was similarly tall and remarkably technical for someone of that stature, expect he is more athletic and a bit more industrious than Sócrates - who played that central-wide oscillating playmaker role to perfection for Brazil:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/jul/25/italy-brazil-1982
Even Pogba estimates that his game is ideally suited to more offensive roles:
By relieving him of extra duties in a potential midfield duo, we'll afford him the freedom to explore the extent of his natural attacking potential.
Yeah, it's kind of an imperfect pairing, and to be fair - someone like Laporte would be a better aesthetic fit for Bailly. But Giménez is a marvelous pure defensive talent (arguably the best in football), and in a team that is likely to defend deep given the overall shape, his towering defensive fortitude will be a good fit. A strong and aggressive central defensive core is the hallmark of Mourinho teams, and while Giménez lacks the composure and passing range of a Carvalho, he is adept at bringing the ball out of defense on foot - in that sense, he's not too dissimilar to old Lúcio, who was part of José's second best defense with Samuel (more of a stopper who wasn't excellent on the ball) at Internazionale.
Kolašinac is hardly a Jordi Alba style rampaging wingback, though - he's a good defender and someone like Mourinho could further develop that side of him game. In terms of what José needs from his fullbacks, he has the requisite skillset - physically strong, not too eager in the offensive phase in terms of repeatedly forsaking his defensive duties, still young - so there's scope for improvement, and a fullback/central defender hybrid à la Gallas/Ivanović/Chivu.
We could build an industrious, Atlético type team without overspending to an extreme, and adding no more than 3-4 players:
-----------------------Martial
--------↗------------------------Griezmann
-----Pogba--------------------------------------------↖↑
-------------------Herrera----------Keïta-----------Mkhitaryan
Kolašinac-------------------------------------------------------Valencia
---------------------Giménez--------------Bailly
--------------------------------De Gea
Mandžukić and Torres alternated for them, and Martial is quite similar to the latter when he was at his peak. Will only happen if José is more flexible in his approach, though.
Mkhitaryan - Arda.
Pogba isn't entirely out of his comfort zone.
Ander is a bit like Gabi.
Keïta for Tiago - who could press and pass and dribble - in general, a good fit with Gabi.
Kolašinac only because he's a Mourinho type fullback in the Ivanović mold, is more refined than Shaw, provides better end product, and is available on a Bosman:
Depending on Shaw's improvement, he could easily make the spot his own, making Kolašinac a really good depth option as a leftback/central defensive option.
Giménez = Godín Jr.
Best part about it all - 2 of the most high profile additions have a buyout clause that can be activated if an agreement is reached with the player: Giménez Griezmann, so there might not be protracted negotiations with the selling clubs dragging its heels unnecessarily.
Keïta has been a revelation at Leipzig (like Kanté at Leicester), possesses a great engine to pair with Herrera and will not be super expensive, apart from being technically decent and only 22 years old - so he could be a long term addition (like Giménez and Griezmann).
With the right amount of planning, we could finish all the summer business by May/June and have a productive summer tour/training program - which should hold us in good stead come next season. Instead of dragging things till August - which is quite disruptive.
Mostly because I'm not entirely convinced that the best use of Laporte will be in relatively deep defensive blocks - of the two young Athletic Club centerbacks, Yeray seems to be a better fit for that setup (prior to his surgery layoff). Laporte has always come across as a better fit for a team that's on the front foot in a more proactive style (like Barcelona, or maybe City under Guardiola), whereas Giménez/Yeray/Lucas Hernández seem to be better for deeper defensive lines that are quite reactive by nature - which we will likely have to employ if we go 4-4-2 and defend using two banks of four with an emphasis on defensive compactness and 1v1 marking skills (which Giménez excels at). He is proven in a very similar system at Atlético (which was the inspiration for the post), plus - he's more physical, tenacious and better in the air (despite being an inch shorter). The trade-off with Laporte's better distribution didn't seem to be that steep, all things considered - because in pure defensive terms, Giménez is the arguably THE best talent of his age group, IMO. With more experience, and polish, Giménez could become a Godín-like defender - not super smooth on the ball, but more than good enough to marshal the defensive line and instigate attacks from the deep (Godín's completion rate is often lower than it should be because he attempts more risky vertical passes).
Haven't seen a lot of Cyprien to be honest (maybe 4-5 highlight videos of Nice's matches), but I've heard good things about him, Jean Michel Seri and Ricardo Pereira. Of the three - Seri might be too diminutive in stature for Mourinho's United, but Cyprien and Pereira seem to have a good physical profile for the Premier League. Good thing is that there are a plethora of options for that role if we go 4-4-2 (ranging from Fabinho and Bakayoko - who play it at Monaco, to Strootman and Paredes from Roma in a slightly different style, N'Zonzi for a more experienced player, Krychowiak - if he were to leave PSG, or Saúl/Koke - if you wanna go the extra mile). Different types of players, but Herrera is versatile enough to accommodate most of them in a two man central midfield for the short term. Once that is in place, we can maybe explore upgrade options for the medium to long term.
They were saying with the signings from last summer the wage bill went up 11% or something like.
