Sarcasm
Which midfielder will we sign this summer?
- Thread starter pocco
- Start date
Rakitic please.
Schneider line....I'd love this guy at United
Not that I disagree with your sentiments but sacked by who, exactly ? The same Glazers that he has been in bed with since the before take over and subsequently went on to make a ton of cash for in the commercial arena ? If he proves totally incapable of this transfer lark they will simply head hunt a top football executive who is more aligned to the technical side of things and in tune with transfer strategy and politics and make him Chief Operating Officer or any high rank sounding title . I think Woodward is too integral to their long term strategic objectives to be that vulnerable .
Who? Sorry, I've not been keeping track of transfer news for a little while.
Sorry posted in the wrong thread.
Leroy Fer and Wesley Sniejder
Surprised that we are not looking to sign him.
I think this mentality has become some sort of a trap around the decision makers' neck at United, the assumption that only the absolute best will do for our midfield and such players aren't available or wish to come whilst on the pitch the issue is growing . Every summer we have midfield players that are not ready for our level, that are dismissed because their names aren't big enough and two or three years down the line we are all clamoring for the club to pay thrice what we could have got him for . Take James McCarthy, for instance, not one would have touched him last season and possibly this but we all know that he is capable of doing a job in our midfield atleast until we find the one we need, like how Bayern had to do with Gustavo until Martinez came along then Thiago etc . Why not make the signing that stabilizes the midfield situation, at least for a couple of years and strengthen from a position of strength when the opportunity presents itself ?
I'm not saying I don't want Kroos, Fabregas et al but as we have seen these type of signings are difficult to complete and not just for us only . Right now we have cracking creative and goal scoring options so we could get away with investing in a couple of solid central midfielders to protect the backline and make us a solid outfit ?
It seems to me there are actually quite a few midfielders in the bracket below the top, top guys (like Kroos, Vidal and Fabregas) who we should/could be thinking about signing. Just off the top of my head:
Song
Strootman
Kondogbia
Either of the Benders
Rakitic
Marchisio
These are all great options. Same sort of bracket as Fernandinho and Matic were when City and Chelsea signed them, and they've done alright haven't they? Same bracket as many had Modric in when Real went after him, and he's been the best in the world this season.
Song
Strootman
Kondogbia
Either of the Benders
Rakitic
Marchisio
These are all great options. Same sort of bracket as Fernandinho and Matic were when City and Chelsea signed them, and they've done alright haven't they? Same bracket as many had Modric in when Real went after him, and he's been the best in the world this season.
Examples, Morgan Schneiderlin, Tom Huddlestone?
Last edited:
I would pull out everything we have to sign Strootman, he would be perfect for the type of system LVG will want to build. RVP is LVG favorite player, Strootman is easily his second. he is build the dutch national side around those 2, and with the injurry of Strootman he had to change the system entirely, he rates him really highly and he would be pivotal for the team he'd like to build here I feel. negotiating with Roma won't be easy, but LVG will be able to persude Strootman and with a hefty salary increase (that Roma could not match) we could put enough pressure on them this summer to let him go, but we would have to pay the absolute top price, the time of £18m is passed that was last summer, I reckon we'll have to stump up atleast £35m to get him this summer and I think we should pay up.
We also need a good DM, Schneiderlin wouldn't be a bad player for us and wouldn't cost the world I reckon (around £15m-£20m)
For the wings I would go for Depay, he had a really good season (12 goals, 8 assists) at a club (PSV) where it was very hard to have a good season (says alot about his attitude and mentality). He is 20 years old and has alot of improvement margin on him, seems the kind of player LVG could mold into a worldclass player over time. He wouldn't cost much more than £12m-£15m max.
Leftback we'll have to pay up for Shaw £27m (or more but I wouldn't go over £30m, that is madness). Alternative if Souton doesn't want to let him go at any price is to get back after Coentrao.
Centreback is the one I'am struggling with, Hummels would be ideal but sadely not achievable I fear (Dortmund will say no an entire summer). Benatia seems destined to go to Barcelona and Mangala seems destined to go to City or Chelsea. What is important is that we get in a type that is a playmaking Centreback, not a Vidic replacement but a playmaker that can use the space the offence will make to provide distribution from the back. Not many of those available that I know off. Laporte would be another option, very expensive but destined for greatness i think (£30m however)
Possible Summer window:
Laporte (£30m)
Shaw (£30m)
Strootman (£35m)
Schneiderlin (£15m)
Depay (£15m)
Total: £125m
Hernandez (£18m), Fellaini (£15m), Young (£5m), Zaha (£8m), Büttner (£2m), Anderson (free), Vidic (free), Ferdinand (free) as outgoing players
Team for next season:
DDG, Lindegaard
Rafael, Varela, Smalling, Jones, Laporte, Evans, Shaw, Evra
Schneiderlin, Carrick, Fletcher, Strootman, Cleverley, Mata, Kagawa
Valencia, Depay, Nani, Januzaj
Rooney, Welbeck, RVP, Wilson
possible lign up:
-------------------DDG----------------------
------------Jones-------Laporte-------------
Rafael-----------Schneiderlin------------Shaw
-------Strootman-------------Mata----------
Nani----------------RVP--------------Januzaj
Bench: Rooney, Kagawa, Carrick, Depay, Smalling, Evra, Lindegaard
We also need a good DM, Schneiderlin wouldn't be a bad player for us and wouldn't cost the world I reckon (around £15m-£20m)
For the wings I would go for Depay, he had a really good season (12 goals, 8 assists) at a club (PSV) where it was very hard to have a good season (says alot about his attitude and mentality). He is 20 years old and has alot of improvement margin on him, seems the kind of player LVG could mold into a worldclass player over time. He wouldn't cost much more than £12m-£15m max.
Leftback we'll have to pay up for Shaw £27m (or more but I wouldn't go over £30m, that is madness). Alternative if Souton doesn't want to let him go at any price is to get back after Coentrao.
Centreback is the one I'am struggling with, Hummels would be ideal but sadely not achievable I fear (Dortmund will say no an entire summer). Benatia seems destined to go to Barcelona and Mangala seems destined to go to City or Chelsea. What is important is that we get in a type that is a playmaking Centreback, not a Vidic replacement but a playmaker that can use the space the offence will make to provide distribution from the back. Not many of those available that I know off. Laporte would be another option, very expensive but destined for greatness i think (£30m however)
Possible Summer window:
Laporte (£30m)
Shaw (£30m)
Strootman (£35m)
Schneiderlin (£15m)
Depay (£15m)
Total: £125m
Hernandez (£18m), Fellaini (£15m), Young (£5m), Zaha (£8m), Büttner (£2m), Anderson (free), Vidic (free), Ferdinand (free) as outgoing players
Team for next season:
DDG, Lindegaard
Rafael, Varela, Smalling, Jones, Laporte, Evans, Shaw, Evra
Schneiderlin, Carrick, Fletcher, Strootman, Cleverley, Mata, Kagawa
Valencia, Depay, Nani, Januzaj
Rooney, Welbeck, RVP, Wilson
possible lign up:
-------------------DDG----------------------
------------Jones-------Laporte-------------
Rafael-----------Schneiderlin------------Shaw
-------Strootman-------------Mata----------
Nani----------------RVP--------------Januzaj
Bench: Rooney, Kagawa, Carrick, Depay, Smalling, Evra, Lindegaard
If the McCarthy story has legs I think..he may be a temporary solution until we get Strootman in Jan.(van Gaal seems really keen on him)
Still think we will get Kroos....which means the Fabregas links are not real.
I doubt we will get Vidal.
Still think we will get Kroos....which means the Fabregas links are not real.
I doubt we will get Vidal.
I dont see how Strootman is an option when he won't pass a medical? Praps in Jan.
Wouldn't go that far even though he's had a good redemption season at Hull, I'm inclined to the players we ignored last season like McCarthy and Strootman but for this season I wouldn't mind Schneiderlin . How about in the Bundesliga, aren't there midfielders below the Kroos/Thiago/Gundogun bracket plying their trade there ?
Other than this injury Strootman had, what is his general fitness like? Is he injured a lot? What Im really asking here is would it end up being another Hargreaves, someone who is injured all the time? No reason to think he would I guess, but when people have these massive injuries like this it can have long term implications no?
Previous 2 seasons 46 and 42 games played for PSV, befor ehis injurry 28 games at Roma, I'd say he is not the glass type, he has just had a really bad injurry that puts him out for a very long time but I don't think it is a career threathing thing (ofc you can't be 100% sure with long time injurries). Also it is rumored he'll be back on the training pitch come end of September, begining of October so no way he'll miss half the season.
LVG had him at the dutch team, no doubt they had him thoroughly checked up and he knows the details of his situation, if he wants him I wouldn't be to worried about it all. Just be carefull not to rush him back to soon and build him up. ofcourse will be annoying that he won't train with the group in pre-season but that is a minor thing imo.
Completely agree. I find it bizarre how some of us turn our noses at some midfielders when the reality is they'd improve us.
I got the impression that is what we thought we were doing with Fellaini, but I do agree with you.
Why can't we sign some decent midfielder from South America or I don't know from where. Surely there must be somewhere a midfielder destined to play for us?
The day we sign a decent midfielder should be declared a public holiday for everyone attached to Man United!
The day we sign a decent midfielder should be declared a public holiday for everyone attached to Man United!
Its a nice idea but the whole pace/physicality of the PL means its a minefield, in that position more than most.
I think the football arguments for signing Fellaini just weren't sound enough and the Newbies were split into two camps regarding his suitability . I felt that he hadn't done enough in a deep role to warrant a move to United at that price when Strootman, McCarthy and Gustavo were available . It just didn't make sense for me then and it's needless to say that he hasn't done much to change my mind .
Couldn't agree more - go through the best midfields in Europe and there's basically no players that have been bought in the same fashion that we're trying to do it (from another big club), Yaya Toure is the only exception I can think of. It also stems from Moyes' inexperience and lack of belief in himself - afraid to take a risk, evident by the fact he stuck to what he knew with Fellaini instead of splashing out on Herrera. I'm confident van Gaal can put it right.
I think a lot depends on who Van Gaal rates from among Cleverley, Carrick, Fellaini, Valencia (if he moves him to CM as I think he might) and what he thinks of Kagawa, Mata and Rooney as 10`s.
I feel like he`ll pick one of the first 4, one of those attackers and we`ll see this. Off the top of my head, I`ll say Kagawa as the 10 with Mata playing wider, Cleverley because he is young, has talent and seems to have fear issues on the pitch which seems like something LVG could work on:
---Kagawa-----
--------Cleverley
-----Signing----
So based on that, I think we sign someone to play in front of the D; Kroos, Clasie, Carvalho, Mascherano, Schweinsteiger all fit.
At gunpoint I`d say maybe Kroos re-signs with Bayern and we get Schweinsteiger?
Then maybe Strootman next summer if he`s healthy.
I feel like he`ll pick one of the first 4, one of those attackers and we`ll see this. Off the top of my head, I`ll say Kagawa as the 10 with Mata playing wider, Cleverley because he is young, has talent and seems to have fear issues on the pitch which seems like something LVG could work on:
---Kagawa-----
--------Cleverley
-----Signing----
So based on that, I think we sign someone to play in front of the D; Kroos, Clasie, Carvalho, Mascherano, Schweinsteiger all fit.
At gunpoint I`d say maybe Kroos re-signs with Bayern and we get Schweinsteiger?
Then maybe Strootman next summer if he`s healthy.
Completely agree those deals rarely happen and when Barca got rid of Yaya they must have thought they were sending him into obscurity or into the football equivalent of Siberia, City were still starting out then . The thing is we should shop where the likes of Dortmund are shopping because the players they have bought have immediately looked like the ones we actually need, Gundogun looked the business the moment he got there and they didn't pay that much for him .
You do realise that Bayern have had no problems in fielding both Schweinsteiger, Kroos and Thiago ? For them it's not an either Kroos or Bastien so we need to kill those dreams, refuse to be sucked in these contract disputes/team politics and do what we have always done : buy young and build . The situation has reached alarming levels of desperation because we have waited for a Paul Scholes incarnate whilst trying to dictate to a sellers market what prices should be at .
I will emphasise, again, we have somewhere to start from in Van Persie, Rooney, Mata, Januzaj, Rafael, Evans, Smalling, Jones and De Gea, if Van Gaal is worth his salt then he can salvage some use from Cleverley and Valencia and if we get the aforementioned playing close to their best then the likes of Schneiderlin, Song or M'villa can definitely aid our cause for the next couple of years . We need not waste time chasing impossible targets but we should look at where the likes of Alonso, Gundogun and Vidal were before they landed at Pool, Dortmund and Juve, that level is where we find the midfielders we need who are actually available .
Kovacic for 20m + Martinez for 40m-ish would be a dream come true. Great blend of youth, experience, creativity and defensive solidity. 
I agree, but I don`t think we`re going to sign a great young midfielder at Europa or mid-table side like Alonso, Gundogan and Vidal were at.
Those guys were the best players on their teams, by far, so Song is a weird choice. I would think the best comparison for those 3 guys right now would be guys like Pjanic, Kovacic, Ander Herrera, Iturraspe, Goretzka, Kramer, William Carvalho and Ruben Pardo (but he just signed a new deal last week). I`d be very excited if we signed Pjanic, Kovacic or Herrera to play as a CM in front of Iturraspe, Goretzka, Kramer or Carvalho, or even some buzzed about young talent like Veretout, Vilhena, Hughes, Ginter, Rabiot or Allan but I don`t think we will.
Obviously I haven`t seen enough of all of these players to really trust they`d work out here (just Kovacic and Iturraspe, really), but there are exciting options at CM under 25. I just don`t think they`re coming here this summer.
Well neither have I but if the club think they can just get one of Bayern's best midfielders to solve our issues then we are going to spend a long time in mid table because that is not happening any time soon .
Same could have been said for Mata or Ozil. If they sign David Luiz then maybe Javi Martinez becomes a full-time DM and one of Kroos or Schweinsteiger can be gotten.
If we were offered Sweinsteiger and miss out on all our other midfield targets then we'd be nuts not to sign Sweinie
Gareth Barry is available on a free
Remember all those stories linking us to the Mexican midfielder Hector Herrera
just looked him up and he's still only 24 and now at Porto, for some reason I thought he was older. Maybe we should have taken him after all. In fact, I've just read that he is a "classic box-to-box midfielder who is equally adept at halting advances from opposing players as he is creating opportunities by distributing the ball or shooting on goal." Sounds ideal, let's get him!This post wins my vote. These players are not world class, but they can certainely reach such a level. Strootman as an alternative or an addition to kovacic in that box to box role. Midfield = solved.
carrick, fletcher, anderson, cleverley
it appears none - Louis has caught a case of the Fergies...
it appears none - Louis has caught a case of the Fergies...
"No value in the market."
That quote still leaves a very bad taste in my mouth after all those years. Someone was too chicken to splash the cash and accept that the game has changed (paying agents) in getting quality.
Can't see us signing Strootman until he's back playing football so forget that one for a while.