Which position should Ole prioritise in the summer?

If we only get Sancho I’d be happy. Rooney level signing.

I’d like -

Sancho
Grealish
M Dembele

I think we could do with a CB ideally and a DM but if we are being realistic I think we are gonna look at the business end of the field and our budget will be about £150m net . I’d love us to keep Pogba too but think he’d have to go to fund those three.

Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Axel, Shaw, Williams, Fosu, AWB is good enough for top four. Buying in the attacking positions is what’ll make us challenge
 
We need an RW. Thats for sure. Neither Rashford or Martial play well there and we need attackers on that level or higher.

James is a good and exciting backup. Sancho would be the dream signing.

We also need a striker, someone who offers something else than Martial. Maybe Igahlo on the cheap if he proves good.

We also need a AM and a CB. Smalling is most likely sold, so should Jones and Bailly be aswell. Both far to injury-prone and no need to not get a fee for them while we have the chance. Tuanzebe Lindelof Maguire and a new CB is enough depth there.

As for AM its quite clear that Andreas doesnt cut it there and neither does Lingard. We cant rely just on Bruno in that role. So we need someone there to cover. Hopefully someone who can play both CM and AM like Bruno.

Mata can be useful as a backup, he can cover alot of positions.

Will be exciting to see what happens..
 
There are 2 main priorities for me: Right winger and DM.

If Pogba leaves then replacing him with a top creative mid like Grealish or Maddison will also be a priority.
 
Woziak said:
Which players are key, it still depends on many things like ;
How we finish the season?
Does the team make CL either through finishing 4/5th or wining Europa League?
Will we appoint a DOF?
Will we have a new Manager ?

Assuming that United Come 5th, Ole is retained and the club benefits from Man City’s expulsion then I can see the club recruiting a maximum of 4 players and losing 4/6 players.

Players Sold
Smalling - 15M, Lingard - 20M, Pogba - 130M, S Romero 5M (3 of these players are Raiola clients and the club will want nothing to do with him going forward!)

Players Bought
J Grealish or J Maddison 70M, A Ramsey 55M, J Sancho 120M, M Dembele 60M
Ole will want 2 MDF, RW, CF

Players Promoted
D Henderson to compete with De Gea, E Laird to compete with A Wan Bissaka and Dalot turned into a right winger

Final 20/21 Squad
D De Gea, D Henderson, J Pereira (3)
A W Bissaka, E Laird, B Williams, L Shaw, A Tuanzebe, E Bailly, H Maguire, V Lindelof, P Jones, T Fosu Mensah (10)
N Matic, Fred, J Mata, B Fernandez, *A Ramsey, S Mctominay, *J Grealish, A Pereira (8)
* J Sancho, D Dalot(RW), D James, M Rashford, M Greenwood, A Martial, *M Dembele (7)

This would be a net spend of £140-145M in line with our actual Budget and create genuine competition for places all the way through the squad, plus completely removing the Raiola effect and allow the team to create and score more goals, Ole is no tactical Genius but he knows his team are 20/25 goals short this season in the league alone, had they scored those goals they would be comfortably in 3rd place this year, so his priority, if he’s still in charge will be attacking players and remove the toxic influences like Pogba, Lingard, etc!
The only subtle change he may feel that he only needs Grealish or Maddison and not Ramsey as well and therefore try and sell Andreas Perierra and P Jones and use the 55M saved from Ramsey plus the players sales to bid £80M to buy K Koulibaly if we can get him?
Ole ultimately is a centre forward so his priorities will be attacking players 100%, the more important question is whether he will still be Manager having obtained 58-60 points and our lowest points tally in 30 years including David Moyes tenure and potentially 40+ points behind Liverpool ?

My point it’s probably more likely a completely new Manager will be in charge and a new DOF and they will have completely different targets to Ole !
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Aaron Ramsey for 55M pounds? WTF. Also, no need to get rid of Romero mate, hes a great backup keeper. Henderson will also probably stay at Sheffield United for another year. We won't spend 300M pounds in one window mate, even if we sell Pogba and Smalling and Lingard for 150+ total. honestly i appreciate the effort in your post but this is just way too career modey this post.
 
The right wing has been a real problem for a long time. But I can't think of many realistic options in that position. Maybe Adama Traore? I hope the scouts unearth some gem we haven't heard of.

Assuming Pogba is going, I wouldn't mind seeing us pick up Ward-Prowse. Would have a good attitude and energy, can put a good ball in the box, and is a realistic target.
 
AneRu said:
RW, DM and Striker for me then replace Pogba like for like if/when he leaves. I don't know if we'd have the funds to finance a move for Sancho without selling Pogba first though.
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Yeah that would be the order of priority for me too,worrying that there has been so little talk of signing a DM this summer when it's so important for this team.
 
devilish said:
I say we need 2 RW rather then 1
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Qué? You're saying we don't even have anyone good enough to be a backup right winger?

My opinion on this would be coloured by who is available. If there are attainable young, verging on world class players out there e.g. Sancho at RW then great let's get them. Same for strikers, DMs, CBs though. Haaland would have been a great signing for example. I think we need quality now in whatever position, not particularly more squad players. We've plenty of youngsters for squad depth.
 
As almost everyone of this thread said, it's Right winger. We don't have one, tbf to Greenwood he has done very well to contribute around 15 goals this season but we need player who can improve first 11 from day 1. Someone like Sancho or player of that quality.

If Pogba leaves then we need his replacement and a defensive mid who can make the team tick.
 
TwoSheds said:
Qué? You're saying we don't even have anyone good enough to be a backup right winger?
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Who? Mata is shot, Runner is a LW, lingard is shit, he's a goner and on that salary he shouldn't be a backup player, Periera is worse and chong tops the shit list.

A cheapish winger to act as backup winger would be highly desirable. Id gladly see us sell them all and get buendia from relegated Norwich
 
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RW and DM take precedence. Another midfielder if/when Pogba leaves and a backup striker too.

We could probably use one or two defensive reinforcements too but we seem to have a model of targeting 3 or 4 new players and leaving it at that.
 
devilish said:
Who? Mata is shot, Runner is a LW, lingard is shit, he's a goner and on that salary he shouldn't be a backup player, Periera is worse and chong tops the shit list.

A cheapish winger to act as backup winger would be highly desirable. Id gladly see us sell them all and get buendia from relegated Norwich
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I don't know, maybe the kid who has 11 goals from RW? Or James who's actually had a number of good games at RW as well? With Chong and whichever of our other shite no.10s survives the overdue cull as backups of course. Plus Rashford and Bruno can play there in a pinch. And we've got the likes of Ramazani and Elanga in the reserves too. Buying a 2nd right winger as a backup would be mental.
 
devilish said:
Who? Mata is shot, Runner is a LW, lingard is shit, he's a goner and on that salary he shouldn't be a backup player, Periera is worse and chong tops the shit list.

A cheapish winger to act as backup winger would be highly desirable. Id gladly see us sell them all and get buendia from relegated Norwich
Click to expand...

James and Greenwood are good enough as backup.
 
TwoSheds said:
I don't know, maybe the kid who has 11 goals from RW? Or James who's actually had a number of good games at RW as well? With Chong and whichever of our other shite no.10s survives the overdue cull as backups of course. Plus Rashford and Bruno can play there in a pinch. And we've got the likes of Ramazani and Elanga in the reserves too. Buying a 2nd right winger as a backup would be mental.
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Greenwood is a striker while runner is a LW. Next summer's big question should be what position martial would be. If he is a striker then James can act as Rashford's cover with Greenwood acting as martial cover. Else we need a striker, Greenwood would act as cover, Martial moves on the left as Rashy competitor. The RW would need a major makeover either way
 
bosnian_red said:
A right winger by a mile, specifically Sancho. Would be a game changer for us. Also one injury to our main 2 attackers and we wouldnt be fecked as we'd still have 2 top dynamic players, before putting in a youngster like Greenwood or James.

2nd I'd have additional creativity in midfield (with Pogba leaving), someone who will challenge Fred and Bruno and rotate both so we dont overplay either or so we arent fecked if we get an injury. Grealish in my opinion is perfect for that.

All we need this summer IMO. Gives us a quality starting 11 and quality back up. Assuming Smalling stays, we can do:

De Gea, Romero
Wan Bissaka, Dalot
Maguire, Smalling, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe
Shaw, Williams
Bruno, Grealish, Fred, McTominay, Matic
Martial, Rashford, Sancho, Greenwood, James

Would be very confident going into a season with a starting 11 and squad like that.
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This is the ideal scenario. That squad should be challenging for the league. Very little outlay either assuming we get 150m for pogba, lingard, smalling, jones and rojo and spend maybe 170m on sancho and Grealish.

We differ in that I would probably allow smalling to leave but not against keeping him either as he is a very decent defender.

Maybe consider keeping Ighalo also if he proves useful as experience up front would be good.
 
RW - But dont we say this every year. If we could get a 15 goal RW it would make the biggest impact. Sancho is the obvious best candidate but the odds of getting him are about 20 percent and the cost involved will be 100 mill at least. Chelsea have already got the next best option in Ziyech. So whose is left? Not many options. Dembele again is highly unlikely and he also has his issues.
Second is Two quality CM's. One a box to box that will actually go beyond Fernandez and score goals and secondly a proper DM. I would take Grealish/Van de Beek and Partey.
Then another CB - Id take Koulibaly if there was ever an option.

Totally unrealistic but the dream would be:

---------------------De Gea----------------
Wan B-------Koulibaly---Maguire--------Shaw
-----------Partey---------Grealish-----
---------------------Fernandez-------------------
Sancho---------Martial---------Rashford

You can swap around midfield with Fred/McTominay/Matic if he stays and Greenwood would be better next year so can play a number of games up front/RW. Id make sure Lingard/Perierra are gone.
 
One position I hope we don't overlook is a back up AM. We need to get Lingard and Periera far away from the bench and the pitch. A solid backup AM incase of an injury or when we want to rest Bruno. Norwich would likely be relegated so I think we should be looking at either Buendia or Cantwell

Other pressing needs are

RW (Sancho) - Because we don't have one
DM (Phillips) - Because Matic's declining and he's our only natural DM
CF (Jimenez) - Because Martial is inconsistent

--------------------------De Gea---------------------------

-AWB-------Lindelof------Maguire---------Shaw

-----------------Fred------------Phillips---------------

--Sancho------------Bruno-------------Rashford--

------------------------Jimenez------------------------

Bench - Romero, Williams, Bailly, McTominay, Cantwell, Martial, James(or Greenwood).

Solid starting 11 with solid backups incase of injury or fatigue or competition
 
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The Boy said:
Reading through the threads lots of posters have very different priorities and ideas for which position you have to buy come the summer. Obviously RW is one that gets a lot of mentions, but also striker, centre back, left back, defensive midfielder are all positions posters have mentioned as the priority to replace.

For me a right winger should be your highest priority and I think left back and centre back are your lowest priority. If Pogba goes, which I think he will, then I'd put in Grealish as a high priority too.
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RW, when Pogba leaves get another creative cm or an attacking midfielder nd a dm. Then a back up striker. Will look at defense again summer 2021.
 
Sancho
Phillips
Graelish
Pukki
Aarons
Buendia
 
I think realistically we may be looking at 4 signings (if Pogba leaves). I think the 4 should be in the following positions.

- RW
- CM (deep)
- CM / AM (replace Pogba and also Pereira / Lingard)
- ST

In terms of players, could go as follows:

Sancho
Mcgregor (Celtic) - has not been talked about much, but think he is exactly the type of player that could add quality, depth and control in the midfield.
Grealish
Edouard (Celtic)

Although, if Ighalo does half decently and we get the other 3 positions may be worth keeping Ighalo as back up and using funds for a starting CB.
 
Right winger - we haven't had a proper, effective RW for decades it seems (exaggerating but you know)

CDM - I still feel that we lack decent protection for the back 4 when Matic plays. He's genuinely ok when on the ball but not effective enough to protect and cover. Fred isn't positionally disciplined to play a decent defensive role. The role needs a new player.

Left back - I think Shaw has more than shown he is capable in the LCB role but i'm still not sold on him at LB. Way too inconsistent for us to play effectively with attacking full backs. Williams is not ready I don't think. If we bought a good attacking LB, he could rotate with Williams when we play a back 3 of CBs. Maybe then we won't need another CB.

I don't think those is beyond a decent and reasonable summer transfer window for a club of our structure and finances.
 
UpWithRivers said:
RW - But dont we say this every year. If we could get a 15 goal RW it would make the biggest impact. Sancho is the obvious best candidate but the odds of getting him are about 20 percent and the cost involved will be 100 mill at least. Chelsea have already got the next best option in Ziyech. So whose is left? Not many options. Dembele again is highly unlikely and he also has his issues.
Second is Two quality CM's. One a box to box that will actually go beyond Fernandez and score goals and secondly a proper DM. I would take Grealish/Van de Beek and Partey.
Then another CB - Id take Koulibaly if there was ever an option.

Totally unrealistic but the dream would be:

---------------------De Gea----------------
Wan B-------Koulibaly---Maguire--------Shaw
-----------Partey---------Grealish-----
---------------------Fernandez-------------------
Sancho---------Martial---------Rashford

You can swap around midfield with Fred/McTominay/Matic if he stays and Greenwood would be better next year so can play a number of games up front/RW. Id make sure Lingard/Perierra are gone.
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That would be an epic transfer window, only bettered by selling Jones, Rojo, Fosu-Mensah, Smalling, Lingard, Pereira, Sanchez, Mata, Matic and Chong will extending Gomes' contract and finally giving himself and Gardner a proper chance in the first team squad. Hardly gonna happen but it would be great.
 
RUCK4444 said:
RW - Sancho is a must. He literally ticks all the boxes for us in a position we have neglected for what feels like decades.

CM - This one depends on what happens with Pogba. As much as I hate the Mino Circus I still loathe the idea of Pogba moving on and inevitably being a Ballon D'or candidate. If we do lose him in the summer we need to move fast for Grealish.

My choice would be to renew Pogba's contract. We need a team with multiple world class players if we are to challenge again, if we can get him to commit to United and continue to strengthen the team around him (as we have been) that is surely the better outcome.

At CB I would try to start integrating Tuenzebe as Maguire's partner. He has a higher ceiling than Lindelof if he can stay injury free. I would recall Smalling also, sell Rojo and Jones.
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You speak far too much sense which is why Utd would never employ you as a DOF,only need to look at the Kroos situation in 2014 for that
 
ben.heff10 said:
I'd prioritize Sancho, followed by a DM (let's say Neves for now), then Grealish.

This to me is a top 3/title challenging starting XI:

De Gea
AWB Lindelof Maguire Shaw
Neves
Grealish Bruno
Sancho Martial Rashford
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Maybe swap Lindelof for Koulibaly or when he gets fit again give Tuanzebe a chance to make that spot his own
 
Adamsk7 said:
If we only get Sancho I’d be happy. Rooney level signing.

I’d like -

Sancho
Grealish
M Dembele

I think we could do with a CB ideally and a DM but if we are being realistic I think we are gonna look at the business end of the field and our budget will be about £150m net . I’d love us to keep Pogba too but think he’d have to go to fund those three.

Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Axel, Shaw, Williams, Fosu, AWB is good enough for top four. Buying in the attacking positions is what’ll make us challenge
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Yeah part of me would like to see Pogba get a chance to build an understanding with Bruno and break the bank for a class DM,however another part knows we need to sell him to fund moves for Sancho & Grealish.
 
Under the recent regime and the time it takes for us to sign anyone and the fact that the Euros is on this could be a very tricky window. Getting deals done before this point is key and yet I'm not filled with confidence despite the Grealish chatter. Definitely need a central striker, good in the air, strong with enough pace to keep up with our front 2/3. Sancho as a midfield option would be great but worry for AWB behind him with space left. CB is needed and clear some deadwood. For me CF, RW and CB. If possible deep lying passer in CM but not a cheap window unless we lose a few.
 
We could do with a midfielder who can break up play and allow Fernandez ect to play their natural attacking game, bit like Fabinho does for Liverpool. Pogba will most likely be sold. would like a RW and a proper out and out number 9. Rashford is a class act and would be great to get someone along side him who will get you 20 plus goals a season. Martial on his day is class and hes been good recently but is to injury prone and his form goes off the boil to often for me.
 
Right sided attacker like Sancho has to be prioritised IMO. And if we can manage a CB and DM to add to Sancho, then it would be the way forward.

Sancho RW
Zakaria DM
Konate CB
 
Grealish
Sancho
Kalvin Philips
Striker

Optional:
Centre Back (Ben White)


1st team:
Rashford--------Martial---------Sancho
------------Grealish--------Bruno------------
-----------------------Philips--------------------
Shaw-----Maguire-----Bailly------AWB
------------------------DDG----------------------

Squad options:
James-----------Striker--------Greenwood
-----------------------Mata----------------------------
--------------Fred----------McTominay--------
Williams---White---Tuanzebe----Dalot
--------------------Romero-------------------------
 
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My sensible self expects us to get:
Defensive midfield - specialist. Who has 90%+ pass success even when pressed.
Striker - prefer tallish, powerful striker who can be Plan B too.
Right wing - Sancho or Grealish. I can't see both.

After just buying Fernandes, I'm baffled by the talk of Sancho + Grealish as well; plus a striker; but no CDM. United fans are like alkies in the Supermarket booze isles: they only think of buying attacking players.

Assuming Pogba, Lingard + Pereira leave, it leaves us with:
Strikers: Martial, Greenwood, New Striker.
Wings: Rashford, James, Sancho, Grealish?
AMs: Grealish, Fernandes, Mata
CDMs: Matic
CMs: McTominay, Fred

Matic is not our strongest player. Especially not against top sides playing a fast press. He must be replaced. I'm not happy with McTominay as Matic's replacement. McTominay wonders out of position too often (far from CDM) & pass success rate is not good enough. Nor with Fred who is too easily dribbled past.

I don't see where we get the money unless we sell Pogba, Pereira and Lingard. I assume the board will give Ole ~ £40m plus whatever we get for those 3. In total that may come to about £170m. Which is not enough to buy Sancho plus 2 others, never mind plus 3 others. I think we don't get Sancho.

I expect we'll get 3: Grealish, Striker & CDM. With Grealish playing RW or AM (when Fernandes needs a rest or is injured).

Summary: we need 2 specialist CDMs (starter & replacement). We have 1, who may leave, who isn't great against top teams when they press. This is obviously the most important position we must fill this summer. Fred & McTominay are not CDMs; neither can safely play as a single CDM.
 
Full football manager 2020/2021


Out:
Pereira played: 1650 minutes. £20m
Lingard played: 1484 minutes. £25m
Pogba played: 800 minutes. £100m
Sanchez played: 0 minutes £20m
Jones played: 340 minutes . £10m
Rojo played: 560 minutes. £10m
Matic played: 1332 minutes. £20m. would prefer him to stay another year, but there where interest in him in the summer.
Total: £205m

In:
Sancho £100m
Ndidi/Kante type player £50-70m
Toni Kroos type player £50-70m
Total: £240m


First XI

---------------------------------De Gea
AWB-------------Lindelöf/Smalling--------Maguire--------Shaw
-----------------------------Matic/new CDM
---------------------new CM-------------------Bruno
Sancho------------------------------------------------------------Rashford
----------------------------------Martial


Second XI/Cover

--------------------Henderson/Romero
Dalot----------Bailly-------Axel-----------Williams
---------------Mctominay----Fred----Matic
Mata----------------------------------------------Daniel
-----------------------Greenwood
 
If Pogba leaves we should prioritize an attacking mid like Havertz.

We should think about a traditonal striker to fill the roll Igahlo plays at the moment.

A right winger also.

And top quality defender.
 
Any chance that Ed would start working on some deals before the Summer start?
 
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