Why?
Which midfielder will we sign this summer?
- Thread starter pocco
- Start date
Why?
I just don't see any player out there around the £20million value be worth buying. I think Ferguson reckons he'd have to spend £30million or more to bring in someone to actually improve our midfield.
I personally believe he's overrated, but Fellaini should be gettable this summer. That is, if we really want to bring in a midfielder that badly. And he does tick boxes that our other mids don't tick.
Even so, I'd rather spend big on a true game changer, such as Bale or Ronaldo, rather than merely strengthening the squad. The depth of the squad is not our problem; our problem is the lack of an offensive player who can rescue a seeming lost cause.
Even so, I'd rather spend big on a true game changer, such as Bale or Ronaldo, rather than merely strengthening the squad. The depth of the squad is not our problem; our problem is the lack of an offensive player who can rescue a seeming lost cause.
How much did Spurs almost get him for a year or so ago? Think it was around 23 million, and while they generally do get massive fees, usually it's for foreign players, and attackers. Midfielders like that generally don't go around for crazy money (apart from Witsel, but teams like Zenit need to pay crazy money to lure players there).
You're right that they probably won't sell for 20m, but I think they would at 25.
Really hope we don't go for Fellaini. He's nothing more than an average midfielder, who looks good at Everton because he plays as a target man over there for them to lump forward into. Would be really disappointed if we were to get him.
Obviously it'd be great to get a game changer like Bale or Ronaldo, but first and foremost I think center midfield should be the priority. In my opinion, we need probably 2 midfielders for both quality and depth, and probably a winger to replace one of Young or Valencia in addition to Zaha. Think we'll be in for a busy summer even though we will win the title this year, because SAF will really want the Champions league, and even though we performed better tactically then Madrid for the most part, I think he will want to be able to play attacking football and go toe to toe with the best, rather then sit back and hit them on the break.
Fergie to sign midfielder Norton Ianelli.
We've got almost ZERO chance of landing Bale anyway. Ronaldo is more likely, but even then you can't really hang your hopes on prying him loose from Real (although I believe that's exactly what will happen...this summer).
Assuming a no-go for Bale or Ronaldo, there's always Modric. He gets in a few quality minutes, but it seems to me he plays second fiddle to Ozil. I could be wrong about that, though. Modric is not a goal scorer, but he does snake in the occasional goal; and we all know how good he is in the last third in creating chances through the middle. Luka provides the silky, wily touch we've sometimes been lacking in possession, the dual threat of going it alone or slotting in that beautiful final ball.
If you do Modric, I'm not sure why we'd need to bring in another central mid. Carrick has been sensational this season, but okay, he doesn't have that many seasons left in him. Cleverley hasn't developed as much as we'd like, but he's still been impressive for us this season. I'm not a fan of Ando, but if Fergie keeps him for another season maybe he's got it in him to justify the hype from 6 seasons ago. For proven depth, Giggs. For promising youth, Powell. And I actually like the job Jones has done as a defensive mid.
But yes, if a young Gattuso is out there somewhere -- feck, I wish we had landed Martinez -- I say go for it.
Every year we ask ourselves who is a good enough CM for Man United and wouldn't cost much.Every year many of us (when the club ends up buying no one) think there were none available as a result but then again every year we jealous certain deals made by certain when it comes midfielders.
I refuse to believe that there is no one good and cheap enough for Man United out there, it's just that SAF has never seen the central midfield as problematic as the fans have IMHO.
I refuse to believe that there is no one good and cheap enough for Man United out there, it's just that SAF has never seen the central midfield as problematic as the fans have IMHO.
You can never be sure around here
I don't think he's being serious.
With the title wrapped up, I hope we will do our business quickly.
Fergie does like Prem proven players but sometimes needs must, we have had success with players we have bought outside of our own league as well.
As for Lampard, I was of the understanding he was going to sign a new contract with Chelsea and honestly we really don't need to be signing stop gaps when Giggs is still around fulfilling the same role. Schneiderlin and these young players you are talking about aren't going to solve anything, one is merely ordinary and no better than Celverley and Anderson, and the kids are just that, we have plenty of our own we could give games to like Powell, Lingard and Petrucci rather than buying in more players who may be good enough in 4 years time.
I'm not suggesting that we can bully Barca and Real or even PSG, but players like Strootman, Matic, Gundogan and Bender are at clubs we should be able to force the hand of with the right offer, and even Juve with Vidal would not be out of United's reach IMO.
I hope I can come back and quote you and say you were wrong but I admit it's just as likely you will be able to do the same to me, but I just feel that fans don't need to aim so low with their hopes of who we can attract to this great club. Fergie doesn't always go safe as the Nani and Anderson double signing showed, and interest in Hazard and Lucas has shown he will go abroad for big money options as well, so there can still be some hopes at least until Fergie crushes them.
No need for Lampard's experience, what has he got that the team is missing ? PL winning experience, CL experience ? I'd take him for his goalscoring exploits from midfield and nothing else tbh
Lampard is a very good player that can do a job, but I really hope we go for someone like Moutinho, Bender x2 or Gundogan. A good player that can play every week if necessary, can compliment, cover or partner Carrick and has many years left.
I would like to take Lampard only if there aren't ant other options.
Do not want Lampard. He hasn't looked good in the deeper role to me this season while Gerrard is doing better there while we don't need a AM with already competition between Kagawa/Rooney to play SS and Powell also there.
We would have paid whatever Madrid signed Modric for if Spurs would have sold to us and he would have come. But his heart was set at Madrid.
Oh god please no! I'd rather us not sign any midfielders than sign Fellaini. He's such an average and overrated midfielder it's a joke that fans still want him. His strengths is up front, not in midfield.
I disagree. We have match winners in the squad. Our problem has been our inability to really control a lot of our games.
I've never seen a side dominate the league but fail to really dominate many matches as we have this season.
It was implied in my post as we all know SAF never signs young and proming central midfielders.It's the season in which we've come from behind more times than one can remember, and you come out with this rubbish?
Moutinho is possibly going to be available again in the summer but we won't go in for him anyway.
Agreed. We have plenty of match winners in the squad. What we seem to lack at times is the ability to dictate games and control them.
Quote from Ferguson in the summer:
The part I've put in bold goes against your argument, he seems to be acknowledging a problem in midfield but suggesting that players of sufficient quality are rare.
Meanwhile about 10 midfielders who would easily be good enough for us have moved in the past two or three years
He's just very picky about midfield because of his lack of success with previous acquisitions.
Its just strange how even though he has said there is a "problem", we have failed to address it over the last 3 years or so.
In that time there has been plenty of midfield options, the 1 in my head that would of been absolutely perfect was Vidal from leverkusen. He was out of contract and on the cheap, and was exactly what we needed.
Perhaps we were interested and he didnt want to come to England, but i cant help think we've just ignored it hoping a player from the academy will step up.
In that time there has been plenty of midfield options, the 1 in my head that would of been absolutely perfect was Vidal from leverkusen. He was out of contract and on the cheap, and was exactly what we needed.
Perhaps we were interested and he didnt want to come to England, but i cant help think we've just ignored it hoping a player from the academy will step up.
We don't need to dictate/control games. We just need enough presense in the midfield to avoid getting run over.
I think that quote is interesting in the sense that it seems to indicate that Ferguson's view on our midfield problem is very different to that of a lot of posters here. A lot of people here think our problem is that we don't have a more "defensive" midfielder, a la Gattuso, Martinez, or whoever. Ferguson, on the other hand, seems to be focusing on a lack of quality in our midfield, referring to Carrick and Scholes as the types of midfielder we're struggling to find. That would suggest that even if we do get a midfielder it may not be the type of "screening" midfielder so many here seem to want.
That's not how I read it at all, Scholes and Carrick are not the same type of player, I think Fergie was simply talking about quality in general as opposed to the type of player.
That's my point though, he's not saying "we have a problem in midfield because we lack defensive strength there", he's saying "we have a problem in midfield because it's hard to find players of the right quality". So his focus isn't on the type of player, it's on the quality of the player. So if a player like Thiago was available I think he'd be our midfield signing, even though he's not the "defensive" player so many want. (I'm assuming Feguson rates Thiago highly as we've apparently made a few bids for him over the last few years.)
Gundogan, Vidal, Moutinho (especially because he was available) Lars Bender would all improve our midfield, so this lack of quality that Fergie was talking about is weird.
It's not completely opposite, I didn't say he doesn't see the central midfield as without issues.Just not to the same extent as us fans and rightly so because he knows the team much than we ever will.This is why he doesn't wanna buy by panick.
Fergie may feel that none of them are quite what he's looking for; nor were any of the other CMs on the market in recent years, and preferred to wait in the hope that Anderson/Cleverley/Pogba/Morrison would do the business.
Imo, Powell represents the last hope of producing a CM of sufficient quality from within the club. The league run-in should be interesting. If Powell gets games and shines, it may encourage Fergie to keep his wallet in his arse pocket for another season. If not, surely, surely SAF will finally be forced into the market.
Fair enough, it doesn't totally contradict your point. It does show that he isn't satisfied with the midfield at the moment, quite unusual for him to say that there's "no doubt" we have a problem there. It also shows that he doesn't think there are many players "good enough and cheap enough for Manchester United", or at least ones who are available. Seems like he recognises a lack of quality in midfield but doesn't think it can be solved until a really brilliant player becomes available. So until that happens he'll make do with a midfield that's "good enough". Hopefully that means the midfielder we do eventually sign will be absolutely brilliant.
Well, then the people with hopes of getting Bale should rejoice, because it should be easy to get him from the Spurs.
Tottenham is afterall a club with less financial punch than Dortmund and Juventus (the difference will only widen in this season, because the latter two have impressive growth rates).
Then there is the fact that both clubs offer you a pretty much guaranteed spot in the CL and the title race of their respective leagues.
I say that as a United sympathizer for two decades, but statements like "forcing" the hands of clubs, who are multiple champions of top leagues, have some pretty arrogant undertone.
United may be the bigger club and pay more money, but that surely does not mean, that SAF just needs to snip with his fingers and lead players of clubs that have so much to offer as Dortmund and Juventus will come begging to play at the Old Trafford.
The truth is, that transfers as Vidal and Gündogan are very unrealistic in this summer for two reasons:
1. Dortmund as well as Juventus have absolutely no need or desire to sell such integral players. It would take a horrendous amount of money to make them reconsider those facts.
2. Both players have stated time and time again, how content they are at their current clubs. Gündogan plays before 80k crazy fans at every home game and under "the best coach I could ever hoped for" (direct statement by him). It is also the club, who contributes after Bayern the most players to the national team. Why would he risk a good chance of playing in the next world cup with a potential move into a completely different league and team system?
A footballer isn't one until he tested himself away at the Britannia on a cold winter night.
In the last few years where our midfields been shite we could have easily brought in a player or two on the cheap and seen if they were any good in the long run. Fergie just refuses to take a punt and its bloody annoying. Its going to get to the stage soon where he has to buy a no.1 choice midfielder because we are quickly running out of genuine top options in our squad
Ah, now it all makes sense
By the way, I just read an article about the current talks concerning Gündogan´s new contract (the old one runs until 2015). Both parties seem very positive about a renewal in the near future. Gündogan is cited about being very aware, what he has in Dortmund and owes to the club. A new contract would surely give him a hefty salary raise (probably on the level of Hummels, Reus and Götze), but could potentially bind him to the club until 2018, which would make a potential transfer to United pretty much impossible in the next years.
I would imagine he'll sign a new deal with a payrise but also they'll agree on a minimum fee release so that if he wants to move on anyway the club are rewarded with the kind of fee they deserve for him and nothing cut price.
Possibly, but not set in stone. Hummels for example has no buy out clause in his until 2017 running contract.
If there is a buy out clause, it will surely be tied to a certain date like in Reus´and Götze´s cases, though. And there, everything before 2015 makes little sense.
The WC coming up will make it even more difficult than before to sign already made and performing central midfielder not only from Germany but anywhere else.Man United really should have adressed it last summer and even the one befor