What is the profile of central midfielder we need to sign?

André Dominguez said:
Looking at the names in this thread, no wonder we spend 100M€ per player. Most of those players are hgihly priced.

I miss the times where directors of football had balls to target players who weren't in top clubs of their respective countries yet, but you could see they had tremendous potential. We can't only buy estabilished players, it's unrealistic nowadays.
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I think you are right but it certainly seems more difficult to unearth proper gems for peanuts these days. Probably because agents hoovering over every decent talent out there. If our club comes sniffing the price seems to skyrocket.

Probably best to get them in early and develop them ourselves in the academy, but we don't have any really good talents coming thru at the moment so we will have pay up for midfielders this time i guess.
 
Kovacic is the perfect midfielder for us. All other options are lacking something for me, even better players than him. Thiago alongside Pogba and Matic would likely be defensively too weak, not enough ball-winning or covering. Jorginho will likely be too defensive and slow alongside Matic. Kroos lacks intensity for me, great passer but plays the game at walking pace.

For me, Kovacic is the only one who offers real creativity in terms of passing, has the press-resistant dribbling ability, and also the defensive ability to not leave it all to Matic back there.

Ultimately, I think the midfielder we need will do half of Pogba’s work and half of Matic’. Most candidates seem to lean to heavily to one side or the other, or just lack the intensity. Also, perhaps they can only pass, but I think dribbling is just as important to beat the pressing. Carrick, for instance, was a great passer, but always struggled with being put under pressure. I want someone who can skip away from that first press and set us on our way.
 
I read today City are planning a £50 mil bid for Thiago in the summer. Now I don’t think this is true but in all seriousness if that was the price we are talking then i’d be all over that. Somehow I just don’t think he’d go anywhere for less than 80.

Our midfield is going to need a few positions o would think come the summer but someone who as others have mentioned is a bit of a half measure between Pogba and Matic. You would think that would be Herrera but Something hasn’t been quite right there and really he doesn’t seem to have played that much in the 3. I’d personally go for Saul Niguez. Think he is a great player and can play in a holding role also.
 
Again, today showed that we are desperate for a midfielder who can dictate the pace. Someone to quicken it up when the tempo is slow, and someone to slow it down when we need to take kill the game.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
I read today City are planning a £50 mil bid for Thiago in the summer. Now I don’t think this is true but in all seriousness if that was the price we are talking then i’d be all over that. Somehow I just don’t think he’d go anywhere for less than 80.

Our midfield is going to need a few positions o would think come the summer but someone who as others have mentioned is a bit of a half measure between Pogba and Matic. You would think that would be Herrera but Something hasn’t been quite right there and really he doesn’t seem to have played that much in the 3. I’d personally go for Saul Niguez. Think he is a great player and can play in a holding role also.
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Have to ask. The main thing in this thread seems to be the need for a creative player.....what then is the purpose of Pogba? Obviously he has all the talent in the world, but a world record transfer, cant seem to play in a midfield two, certainly cant play as a defensive midfielder, doesnt seem to be peoples choice of a creative magician.....why have we spent so much money on him? Could say the same thing for Martial....worlds most expensive teenager wasnt he when we bought him, 3rd season at the club and he cant get a starting spot......is it that big a thing clubs being interested in him? Personally my answer to that one is we are wasting his talent....the guy is a striker, and a good finisher not a left winger, how he is always on the bench when Mr no first touch Lukaku is starting ever game is beyond me, same with Rashford........conclusion I am coming to, Mourinho isnt the same manager he was years ago and isnt the right manager for our club......we have made progress in terms of points and stats, with the money he has spent, we havent made much progress in terms of entertaining attacking football though
 
Someone creative.

We don’t have enough midfielders who can hit a forward pass.

If Modrid was available he’d be ideal.
 
I want Kroos or Alcantara, or both. Someone who makes every pass perfect and always keeps us in good shape. Too bad they are both playing for better clubs from more interesting cities.
 
jesperjaap said:
Have to ask. The main thing in this thread seems to be the need for a creative player.....what then is the purpose of Pogba? Obviously he has all the talent in the world, but a world record transfer, cant seem to play in a midfield two, certainly cant play as a defensive midfielder, doesnt seem to be peoples choice of a creative magician.....why have we spent so much money on him? Could say the same thing for Martial....worlds most expensive teenager wasnt he when we bought him, 3rd season at the club and he cant get a starting spot......is it that big a thing clubs being interested in him? Personally my answer to that one is we are wasting his talent....the guy is a striker, and a good finisher not a left winger, how he is always on the bench when Mr no first touch Lukaku is starting ever game is beyond me, same with Rashford........conclusion I am coming to, Mourinho isnt the same manager he was years ago and isnt the right manager for our club......we have made progress in terms of points and stats, with the money he has spent, we havent made much progress in terms of entertaining attacking football though
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I think the idea is that Pogba is the hammer but he needs someone to hold the nail. Need someone who can dictate play which I don’t think is Pogbas game. He has all the skills and attributes just not the mentality currently and we saw last weekend him doing what I think he should be doing more of. Breaking lines and committing to getting in and around the box. He isn’t helped by the lack of movement upfront or support from fullbacks. So right now I think quite a lot of his form isn’t helped by the system, the team and our tactics.

Modric I guess is the idea most people have in their minds. I do agree on the Jose part but I’ve felt like that since last season. Thankfully the potential within the team is there that I don’t think we’d sink in to some sort of abyss.
 
Andersons Dietician said:
I read today City are planning a £50 mil bid for Thiago in the summer. Now I don’t think this is true but in all seriousness if that was the price we are talking then i’d be all over that. Somehow I just don’t think he’d go anywhere for less than 80.

Our midfield is going to need a few positions o would think come the summer but someone who as others have mentioned is a bit of a half measure between Pogba and Matic. You would think that would be Herrera but Something hasn’t been quite right there and really he doesn’t seem to have played that much in the 3. I’d personally go for Saul Niguez. Think he is a great player and can play in a holding role also.
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I'd like to see Thiago as well. Perfect box to box number 8. He can dictate the tempo and pass short and long. Then if we can get Kante as a DM that would be my perfect midfield with Pogba as the other number 8. Whatever we do we definitely need 2 top class midfielders to walk straight into our team.
 
Fred for me looks like what we need. Has a bit of everything, dribbling, passing, tackling, looks a bit like a Brazilian Kante from what I've seen.
 
After the game against West Brom, I honestly don't know which player apart from De Gea deserves to wear the United shirt.
Pogba was jogging around and he had a lot of misplaced passes
Matic who assisted the goal
Herrera was difficult to spot
Mata once again all over the place but little to show
Lukaku had two clear cut opportunities which he didn't put away
Sanchez did a lot of running but nothing really to offer
Martial did run at the defense but not many opportunities created
Lingard once again a whole lot of running but nothing productive
Lindelof had a pretty decent game
Valencia was one of the worst performers in today's game

Our back 4 need to be freshened up
Midfielder wise, Pogba has been really annoying and I think he isn't consistent and deserves to be dropped from time to time. We need more fire power and more competition. More competition for Pogba.

Bringing in SMS may actually raise Pogba's level and make him take things seriously. Fred and Fabinho would be the other options but we definitely need 2 new midfielders.
 
I think everyone agrees its someone who passes the ball well. But I think the part many will neglect is that Matic has shown this season, he cant be counted on to do a good job defensively without a lot of help. So its just as important we get someone who sees danger and will track midfield runners back to our own box. So we need a passing DM/CM - We still need a new Carrick, rather than an attacking midfield passer.
 
abdo99 said:
I'd like to see Thiago as well. Perfect box to box number 8. He can dictate the tempo and pass short and long. Then if we can get Kante as a DM that would be my perfect midfield with Pogba as the other number 8. Whatever we do we definitely need 2 top class midfielders to walk straight into our team.
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Andersons Dietician said:
I read today City are planning a £50 mil bid for Thiago in the summer. Now I don’t think this is true but in all seriousness if that was the price we are talking then i’d be all over that. Somehow I just don’t think he’d go anywhere for less than 80.

Our midfield is going to need a few positions o would think come the summer but someone who as others have mentioned is a bit of a half measure between Pogba and Matic. You would think that would be Herrera but Something hasn’t been quite right there and really he doesn’t seem to have played that much in the 3. I’d personally go for Saul Niguez. Think he is a great player and can play in a holding role also.
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Thiago would be excellent. However, isn't he a tad injury prone?
 
Profile? Who cares what profile they have?

For me if they can carry the ball and pass the ball with urgency then they're an upgrade on what we saw against West Brom. As with many time this season we're so ponderous in midfield and there's a distinct lack of energy. Team looks very much like 3 units with little or no cohesion between them. The glue in the middle is the midfield, for whatever reason it's just not working. Herrera, Pogba and Matic should have completely bossed it against West Brom, no excuses, they're far superior in every way to Brunt, Livermore and McClean. This is something Jose needs to sort out one way or another, failing that United will need to find someone who can get the best out of them.
 
Is it ethical to clone a 25 year old Roy Keane? I know we don’t want 2 x opinionated versions once he retires, but we’d get 6 decent years.
Exactly the midfielder we need that grabs the other players by the scruff and doesn’t allow slacking.
Failing that, who is the equivalent in the current football playing world?
 
Ideal CM must be

1. Very good
2. Not a bottler

But seriously, think we need a playmaker who will take the ball in high pressure situations and dictate the tempo of our play. We had it with Scholes and subsequently Carrick and so a high energy hybrid of the two aforementioned players would be ideal. Obvious options would be Veratti or Modric, and a few seem to rate Fred or Jorginho. I like the look of Ruben Neves at Wolves. I'm no scout but there must be at least 5-10 players we could get who would improve us in that department.
 
Ekeke said:
I think everyone agrees its someone who passes the ball well. But I think the part many will neglect is that Matic has shown this season, he cant be counted on to do a good job defensively without a lot of help. So its just as important we get someone who sees danger and will track midfield runners back to our own box. So we need a passing DM/CM - We still need a new Carrick, rather than an attacking midfield passer.
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It's time to re-United Matic and Kante.
 
Ekeke said:
I think everyone agrees its someone who passes the ball well. But I think the part many will neglect is that Matic has shown this season, he cant be counted on to do a good job defensively without a lot of help. So its just as important we get someone who sees danger and will track midfield runners back to our own box. So we need a passing DM/CM - We still need a new Carrick, rather than an attacking midfield passer.
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I think we need something in between. With Matic' style of play we don't need our playmaker to also be sitting as deep as what Carrick would. If we had a Kante/Gattuso style of player than that is what I'd want, but next to Matic we need someone a bit more attacking minded. Not an out-and-out attacking midfielder, but someone who is capable of carrying the ball and drawing players to them because of their individual threat, while still doing their fair share of defensive work. All while taking over the responsibility of being the man to actually control the team around.

The latter part is the most important aspect, so as long as we get that we should see a significant improvement. Whether it's a Carrick or Modric style of player, the balance of the team will change a bit but it's easy to build around that as long as the basics are getting done.
 
Joao Moutinho has evolved himself into quite the classy midfield play-maker, yes he's 30 but still gets around the pitch and shows his quality
 
SMS - can play box to box in a three and can play as a 10. This is who we need to drive our team and to challenge Pogba. With this guy in the team if Pogba doesn't produce the goods we have someone who is his equivalent to take his first team place. I think it'll soon scare the complacency out of people.

Neves - a good cdm, can play a bit too, would be cheaper than Weigl and maybe could be a great player. He's wasted at Wolves.

Get in these two replace Mata with a proper winger, midfield is set.
 
Sell pogba get SMS and Neves. Dont sell pogba, get Neves and Fred / Dembele / Nainggolan.
 
Dier and one of Neves or Golovin to come off the bench.
 
I liked Paredes at Roma, was surprised he went to Zenit, see he is getting linked with us. Not seen him for Zenit at all, but getting good reviews. Not the finished article when he was at Roma, but seems the kind of player we need, technically very good and seem right for Mourinho in being disciplined with his positioning etc. I wouldnt be dissapointed with him or Neves rather than some of the big names or overhyped players being bandied about.
Never going to happen, but if you ask me its actually our attack really needs reshaping as much as anything. Lucacku is a Mourinho favourite, and a load of rubbish, then we have a lot of talented players around him playing out of position Martial and Rashford are strikers playing on the lft, Lingard and Mata are number 10s playing on the right. I wish we would dump Lucacku (yes typo purposely) signed a quality right winger and striker and had Martial, Rashford and Lingard to fight for the other positions.It isnt just our style that is makig us lack fluidity and imagination attacking wise, it is players out of position too
 
I love the idea of going after Kante and the thought of Kante alongside Matic with Pogba being allowed to do his thing further forward literally makes me salivate, Chelsea are going to be in upheaval with Conte almost certainly going and them not being in the Champions League next season so maybe throw money at Chelsea for Kante.

I’d love Kroos but I’d rather we didn’t deal with Real unless it’s for a player they want rid of (Bale or maybe Kovacic) as they’d ask for De Gea in return and losing De Gea weakens us no matter who we get in return unless it was Messi, if Kante isn’t a goer then Thiago would be my next choice followed by Verratti then Fred.
 
Upsets me greatly hearing city are after Thiago, he's exactly what we need.
 
I think it depends a lot on our plans for the fullback-positions & potentially our right-wing.
If we get a high-quality right-back who can be the tank-engine Valencia has been then someone like Eriksen (not himself, just the profile as I don't think we'll get him unless his contract is up) or for more physicality in someone like Savic could be good options. If we go for a right-winger like Mahrez and a less-than-world-class right-back then I'd say someone like Savic who is balanced both ways is a must.
In terms of upgrading all weakness-areas I'd prefer:
Alex Sandro (Get done with our left-side issues)
Meunier
Mahrez
Savic
Fabinho

Fabinho so we have a rotation-alternative for both Meunier & Matic, I think we're way too reliant on Matic to stay fit and would crumble if something were to happen to him.
Mind you all of these together is very, very unrealistic.

As for squad-space, I'd say these were or are the ones to make way:
Juan Mata for Mahrez:
More width and trickery, makes us less one-lined down our left side and we'll have more use for Pogba's cross out to the right)

Carrick & Fellaini for Fabinho & Savic:
Upgrade from Fellaini to Savic in all-around game without losing the tactical option of going long to bypass high-intensity pressing teams for a midfield-targetman.
Fabinho to add more depth to our defensive midfield & his versatility for the right-back position will be welcome as we can then let go of or minimize the use of Darmian.

Meunier for Darmian:
Let go of one of our weakest link in defense, while versatile I'd still have Valencia's loyalty & more rested legs than Darmian's qualities.

Alex Sandro for Luke Shaw:
It's obvious Shaw's time is up with us, so he has to go. We could easily keep Ashley Young as a backup for another year.

I also assume Blind & Martial will be sold even though I don't hope that the latter will happen. I'd like to see Sanchez more on the right instead but the manager doesn't seem to see it that way and the success of the club comes before a individual.

Out:
Daley Blind, Juan Mata, Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw, Matteo Darmian, Michael Carrick (retired), Marouane Fellaini (contract is up).
I believe Martial could fetch a decent fee, and Shaw, Blind, Darmain & Mata could get something put together to help with the acquisitions.

I don't think our purse is wide enough to get all of the players on my wish-list even with these sales, and some might not want to move to us or some might not be allowed to by their clubs, so having alternatives to them would be ideal. Alex Sandro being the one I'd put the most in the "must-have" part of the list as I'm extremely tired of seeing a failing left-side both offensively and defensively due to the lack of a proper left-back who can do the job both ways.

Alex Sandro I expect to be in the £60-80m range, Mahrez around £60m while I have no clue about the cost of Meunier, Fabinho & Savic, but I'd say we'd be looking at a £250-300m spending if it was to happen.

At that point however I think we'd be in a good position with our squad. Question-marks left being on our CB-qualities, but I think those are more in the good-side and could see if it functioned with a better team around them.
 
Does anyone think Wilshere on a free would be a good signing ? On his day he’s a great conductor, if we had to pay a fee I’d be wary because of his fitness record but I think on a free he’d be a good replacement for Carrick with his range of passing and it’d also allow us to spend more on other areas.
 
Defensive playmaker, 100%. Someone who will increase our tempo from in front of the defence.

Kroos, Moutinho, Jorginho, Rakitic, Dier (?)... Someone like that.
 
davidmichael said:
Does anyone think Wilshere on a free would be a good signing ? On his day he’s a great conductor, if we had to pay a fee I’d be wary because of his fitness record but I think on a free he’d be a good replacement for Carrick with his range of passing and it’d also allow us to spend more on other areas.
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God no
 
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