We need to snatch up a midfielder in the phase when Gündogan went to Dortmund or Vidal to Juve, someone in the price range of 5-10m € who can grow into a world class player and be a backup right away but not another youth player that will only be able to help 2-3 years down the road.
Which midfielder will we sign this summer?
- Thread starter pocco
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We need to snatch up a midfielder in the phase when Gündogan went to Dortmund or Vidal to Juve, someone in the price range of 5-10m € who can grow into a world class player and be a backup right away but not another youth player that will only be able to help 2-3 years down the road.
Might be worth watching the Bilbao-Madrid match tonight to see how Herrera's getting on. He'll be 24 in August which was the same age Javi Martinez moved on at and they're 14th in La Liga so it wouldn't be a huge surprise to see him move on. Madrid and Barca don't need him at all and he's good enough to move to one of the elite clubs so maybe, just maybe...plus he's already impressed against us at OT which always puts them in Fergie's good books and he should be more affordable than the likes of Cabaye or Moutinho. Despite being so low in the table only two players outside of Barca have made more passes than him this season and he's made the 8th most tackles (and more tackles than anyone in our team).
Judging from the Martinez fee, will he cost less?
And isn't Bilbao moving to a new stadium next season? Maybe he would want to play there.
And isn't Bilbao moving to a new stadium next season? Maybe he would want to play there.
Herrera looks like a player who could develop into something special but Athletic will be very reluctant to let him go seeing as they have already lost Martinez and will lose Llorente in the Summer. They still have some interesting prospects - Muniain, Susaeta, De Marcos, Itturaspe - but they can't afford to lose all their best prospects consistently as that'd put them even lower in the league. 14th is already very disappointing compared to what was expected of them, plus they had a very poor Europa League campaign.
If Javi & Llorente's sales were any indication, you'll need a special ops team to pry Herrera or any talent from Bilbao
Manchester United seek Benfica's Nemanja Matic to boost midfield
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/13/manchester-united-nemanja-matic-benfica
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/13/manchester-united-nemanja-matic-benfica
Anyone know how Defour is playing at Porto? I know very little about him to be honest except that he has a great engine and similar determination. Obviously Ferguson sent him "that" letter so you can only assume he has been following his progress.
We will stick with Carrick ( he can in every game and never gets injured after all) and partner him with converted striker, winger, defender, CAM...or with 38 yo Scholes, Anderson with terrible fitness level...th options are there
Who will be the first to say it then..
Rooney in midfield
Rooney in midfield
Fergie trusts Rooney over our midfielders - says it all.
Hard to disagree with that. If that doesn't tell us that Fergie will buy a center mid in the summer then nothing will.
Or it tells us we'll buy a striker and move Rooney to midfield.
Like blackburn last year with rafael and park in the middle?
Blackburn came in the fixture logjam during the New year, tbf and only Ando was available with injuries. Or Pogba who was untested.
Fergie has given his reawons for playing Rooney there against Stoke. He's not planning on making it permanent by the sounds of it.
Fletcher will show signs of fitness in July, Anderson will get one more year, Scholes will decide to carry on and Carrick will remain a one man show.
/thread.
/thread.
Wumderful assessment.
"I am 100 per cent sure that I will still be with Dortmund next season," Gundogan told Sport Bild.
"Rumours do not really affect me. I still have two more years on my contract with Dortmund and I know what I have at this incredible club.
"It is very likely that I will sign a new contract, although it obviously depends on how talks go."
.......
"Rumours do not really affect me. I still have two more years on my contract with Dortmund and I know what I have at this incredible club.
"It is very likely that I will sign a new contract, although it obviously depends on how talks go."
.......
We need to add both steel and finesse so for flair, speed and technique I hope for Isco. For box-to-box and hard tackles I hope for Vidal.
Ilkay Gündogan would be a dream come true. An excellent addition to our squad and one player that would thrive next to Michael Carrick.
Ilkay Gündogan would be a dream come true. An excellent addition to our squad and one player that would thrive next to Michael Carrick.
He's up there but I'd still take Vidal over him.
"Im happy with what i got"
"Return of Fletcher is like a new signing."
"Who needs Banega when we have Nick Powell?"
I like the look of Lars Bender and Ander Herrera, but I can't see United being interested in either of them.
Don't we usually make our signings pretty early on unless they're big money aka RvP? Therefore if after a month or so after the transfer window opens we still haven't bought a midfielder, we should start worrying...
SAF may shock everyone and do a Schweinstieger/Dembele with Rooney.
Is that the official term for it now? What about "a Scholes"?
If if Rooney dropped into mid we're still one short
I'd rather we just signed Schweinstieger but that's never going to happen.
Got to say I'm like Rooney in CM so far. He's such a good footballer I think he's already as good a CM as some of the names being thrown around.
I'd still advocate signing another midfielder though. One who partner or fill in for Carrick. Scholes and Ando are likely off and I'd rather see Giggs LM and Jones CB/RB than in CM, so yeah, still one short.
Rooney is fine in CM. All up to him though, if he doesnt actually want to play there full time he wont.
What we have now in RVP and Kagawa able to play behind a striker, is less of a reliance on Rooney to play there.
What we have now in RVP and Kagawa able to play behind a striker, is less of a reliance on Rooney to play there.
Scholes has been a midfielder for virtually all of his career, he started out as a striker in the youth teams but he wasn't played up front that much in the first team.
Dembele started off as a striker and Schweinsteiger was a winger and they were both played in those positions for a considerable amount of time.
Scholes continued to play as a second striker for England and also played a season there after moving to CM
O gosh!!! He can into the team in 95 by the time the 98 season hit he was a transformed centre midfielder. So basically.. he was a striker for 3years..
Scholes was a striker for his academy career, as well.
I assume you're saying we need to play a three man midfield. I don't think we need to play 3 in central mid to win the league, but I think we do if we want to win the CL.
I'd be fine with Rooney, Carrick and Cleverley, and I also think Kagawa could play there.
Reallyyyyy???
So basically, he was a striker for 9 years.
Yeah.. maybe we should count all his youth team and junior league goals too at this rate.
Basically.. doesn't mean much. I'm talking about his professional career.