Your Hidden Gems or under the radar - Wanted Signings

Ekeke said:
He's great working down the left and his crossing is amongst the best in the league but he's a wingback not a leftback. We'd need to change our system and play 3 at the back and we never do that. If United or England want to play with wingbacks he's a really good option
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I do feel like this notion of players only being able to play as wingbacks is generally massively overplayed. People said Pedro Porro could only play RWB and now look at him. Frimpong is one of most attacking versions of a wingback out there and even he played excellent at RB for Celtic. Admittedly you should not expect him to rack up the same numbers (eg double digits for both Goals and Assists) as a RB in a back 4 but to say that a wingback categorically isn’t or cannot play as a LB or RB is, to put bluntly, dumb.

It’s largely about the system and how well the individual learns their role in the system as well as how well those around them support that system too. Keeping with Porro as an example, he looked all over the place last year in a disfunctional system, even when at RWB, now he’s arguable 3rd best RB in the league.
 
daba said:
I do feel like this notion of players only being able to play as wingbacks is generally massively overplayed. People said Pedro Porro could only play RWB and now look at him. Frimpong is one of most attacking versions of a wingback out there and even he played excellent at RB for Celtic. Admittedly you should not expect him to rack up the same numbers (eg double digits for both Goals and Assists) as a RB in a back 4 but to say that he categorically isn’t or cannot play as a LB or RB is, to put bluntly, dumb.

It’s largely about the system and how well the individual learns their role in the system as well as how well those around them support that system too. Keeping with Porro as an example, he looked all over the place last year in a disfunctional system, even when at RWB, now he’s arguable 3rd best RB in the league.
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So one player does well playing rightback when he normally plays wingback and every one can. Sure. There's been loads of attacking minded players played as fullbacks in the premier league and done a poor job and you've forgotten they existed. Porro is a £34 million player and has done well but still at times has looked vulnerable. He's obviously been worth it because of how good he is going forward and still puts in the effort to try and defend even if he isnt the best at it. That said he's also Spurs most dribbled past player with 1.9 times per game and none of their other defenders averaging being beaten 1 time per match let alone almost 2.

Spurs have also fallen off down to 5th and have conceded the same amount of goals as we have in one less game. This is absolutely not all on Porro, Udogie is still young on the other side and has had trouble at times too.

Just worthy information when talking about how well Spurs new wingback has done at rightback that Romero has been better than any of our CBs and we've had loads of injuries at the back and Spurs have still conceded the same amount as we have. Given their record they'll probably concede again in their match in hand and end up having conceeded more than we have.
 
Ekeke said:
So one player does well playing rightback when he normally plays wingback and every one can. Sure. There's been loads of attacking minded players played as fullbacks in the premier league and done a poor job and you've forgotten they existed. Porro is a £34 million player and has done well but still at times has looked vulnerable. He's obviously been worth it because of how good he is going forward and still puts in the effort to try and defend even if he isnt the best at it. That said he's also Spurs most dribbled past player with 1.9 times per game and none of their other defenders averaging being beaten 1 time per match let alone almost 2.

Spurs have also fallen off down to 5th and have conceded the same amount of goals as we have in one less game. This is absolutely not all on Porro, Udogie is still young on the other side and has had trouble at times too.

Just worthy information when talking about how well Spurs new wingback has done at rightback that Romero has been better than any of our CBs and we've had loads of injuries at the back and Spurs have still conceded the same amount as we have. Given their record they'll probably concede again in their match in hand and end up having conceeded more than we have.
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Oh yeah I’m not saying every WB can play FB equally adeptly, I was just challenging the notion that I keep hearing on here that players who play WB in their current system CAN’T play FB too, when they literally have done in previous systems. An example of that being that you implied Doughty cannot be a LB because currently he is playing well at LWB for Luton. If you didn’t mean that quite so categorically then fair enough.

On Porro, Spurs as a team play a very attacking high-line brand of football so comparing how many goals they concede versus us with a much deeper set-up at the back isn’t very useful. Worth also mentioning that although they’ve conceded the same as us they’ve also scored 18 more goals, and Porro himself has 7 assists and on FBref has a sea on 90th percentiles across attacking and defensive stats. Much better than any other our current fullbacks.

I guess it’s all about the system and what the Head Coach wants from his wide defenders. A lot of the most exciting and successful teams have WBs in back 3/5s or attacking FBs in a back 4 (eg. Leverkusen, Liverpool, Inter, Spurs this season - Man City being an exception due to their unique tactics). I hope Utd can be categorised as an exciting team to watch in the next couple of years, so with that, I’d like to see our FBs (or WBs if we change manager to one who plays a 352 or 343) provide more of an attacking threat. That’s why if I was playing Football Manager with the team this summer, I’d sign both Doughty and Frimpong, along with a couple of more athletic CBs who can cover the FB/WBs in wide spaces when they push higher up. Admittedly with our current CBs like Maguire and Lindelof this would not work haha.
 
Ekeke said:
James Hill was on loan from Bournemouth to Blackburn this season and played as both a CB and RB in the championship and he was very good. Got himself 4 assists and a goal from 20 appearances then he returned in Jan. Also played quite well at CB against Chelsea in the cup though Blackburn lost 2-0. Bournemouth are my local club now and I'm expecting to see Hill compete for CB and fullback spots going forward. He did a job for them at leftback against Liverpool in Jan although they were thrashed

Old vid from when Bournemouth originally signed him for about £1 million :




I expect at this point you could get him for less than £10 million and he'd be better cover than most of our CBs (Lindelof especially) as well as being only 22 and versatile able to play down the sides.

Zabarnyi is a year younger too but Bournemouth paid over £18.7 million for him and he's had a decent season for a youngster but theres still plenty to improve on and im sure he will over time. And Senesi has been mentioned on here but he's been top 10-15 CBs in the league this season so I can't see them letting him go for less than £30 million
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Nice video. I don’t normally like when a defender goes to ground but he seems to have good timing and be proactive. He seems to have a profile similar to what I think we will be targeting. Young, youth international and slightly under the radar.
 
Leo Querfeld, a very aggressive centre-back playing for Rapid Vienna in Austria. He’s built on his breakthrough season last year and has been terrific throughout this campaign in a rather average Rapid side. Not quite United quality yet, but some team will pick up a bargain in the summer as he reportedly has a release clause of just 2,5 million Euros.
 
Is it annoying to paste my recent post from the Striker Options thread? If its against the rules or something, I apologize.

Rodrigo Muniz turns 23 in May and Fulham got him for 8M from his Brazilian club a few years ago. So he is at a good age, is getting experience in the league, and it wouldn't take a ridiculous offer for Fulham to double their money on the investment.

I have been impressed every time I see him. He leads the line very well and from my uneducated perspective it looks like he would fit ETH's role as the number 9 perfectly. A few weeks ago he was a 22 year old playing at Old Trafford going up against two experienced CBs that both have loads of caps for their respective national teams, and I think Muniz more than held his own. I'd say it was a wonderful display of a battling center forward who was running the channels and in behind with energy, but also did well at winning headers and holding the ball up to play in teammates.

So far this season he has 5G and 1A in 16 league games, so he isn't exactly lighting it up, but that could help in keeping his price reasonable! It looks like he had a small injury in November and he missed a bit of time, but since he came back in the squad in December he is now a regular starter for them.

I think the talent and potential is there for him to be an excellent center forward and considering the budgetary concerns we will apparently be under this summer we probably won't be able to compete for the obvious big money signings like Ivan Toney or Watkins from Villa etc. So this would be a great option to increase our striking depth and quality for a good price. I really want us to sign him!
 
Bojan Djordjic said:
Matias Soule on loan at Frosinone from Juventus but perception seems to be that his future lies away from Juventus. Really great prospect at right wing. Good at dribbling and a really creative passer too.

Another name is Edon Zhegrova who is another dribble heavy right winger that loves a cross.
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Saw him over the weekend on something, looks an interesting player. Reminds me a bit of Hazard in how he carries the ball.

 
Ekeke said:
James Hill was on loan from Bournemouth to Blackburn this season and played as both a CB and RB in the championship and he was very good. Got himself 4 assists and a goal from 20 appearances then he returned in Jan. Also played quite well at CB against Chelsea in the cup though Blackburn lost 2-0. Bournemouth are my local club now and I'm expecting to see Hill compete for CB and fullback spots going forward. He did a job for them at leftback against Liverpool in Jan although they were thrashed

Old vid from when Bournemouth originally signed him for about £1 million :




I expect at this point you could get him for less than £10 million and he'd be better cover than most of our CBs (Lindelof especially) as well as being only 22 and versatile able to play down the sides.

Zabarnyi is a year younger too but Bournemouth paid over £18.7 million for him and he's had a decent season for a youngster but theres still plenty to improve on and im sure he will over time. And Senesi has been mentioned on here but he's been top 10-15 CBs in the league this season so I can't see them letting him go for less than £30 million
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Isn't the LB Kerkez highly rated? I think Bournemouth may have spent a fair bit on him - like £15m? So potentially may cost quite a bit to get him out of there.
 
From what I have seen of Rodrigo Muniz recently I must say I have been impressed.
We need another striker and he could fit the bill IMO.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Hull were a back 3 team the relegation season he was there
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It was actually Queen's Park who converted Robertson to being a full-back/wing-back. In the Celtic youths he was a left winger... they released him for being too small.

The funny thing is that Robertson complained that he couldn't play at wing-back when Gordon Strachan briefly flirted with three at the back.

We changed to a permanent three at the back under Steve Clarke... 2 successful qualifications later.

Anyway.

I'd love to see Billy Gilmour at United. He's had a brilliant season at Brighton and it's just a matter of time till he gets a big move.

A double pivot of Gilmour and Mainoo would be interesting.
 
Tosin would be a shrewd signing in my opinion. Being a freebie, we could then allocate the centre back budget on a lcb like Branthwaite.
 
Aaron Hickey from Brentford has always impressed me when he’s played. Can cover both full back positions and comfortably both footed too. Has a good strike and delivery from wide and set pieces on him too.

Been injured since October and no surprise since his injury that Brentford have struggled
 
It would be nice to get me of these guys available on a free transfer in their prime. If we can save money in this way to fill squad places as well as youth promotions I can see is us going hard for 3/4 regular starters too hopefully. Ie centre back, centre midfielder or two and a proven striker if possible to support up top.
 
TheBatman said:
It was actually Queen's Park who converted Robertson to being a full-back/wing-back. In the Celtic youths he was a left winger... they released him for being too small.

The funny thing is that Robertson complained that he couldn't play at wing-back when Gordon Strachan briefly flirted with three at the back.

We changed to a permanent three at the back under Steve Clarke... 2 successful qualifications later.

Anyway.

I'd love to see Billy Gilmour at United. He's had a brilliant season at Brighton and it's just a matter of time till he gets a big move.

A double pivot of Gilmour and Mainoo would be interesting.
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Personally Gilmour strikes me as another Carrick type like Garner. Won't be ready for a big team till about age 24
 
Rolaholic said:
May have been spoken into existence :lol: :nervous:

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He would be a shrewd signing, he’s been good this season. Ex City youth and he was extremely highly rated there at one point… we always seem to love them. Probably a very decent squad player at a top club with his experience. City’s youth setup was in much better shape than ours at the time. According to Wiki he was playing U18s football at 14 and he was their youngest ever player to play in the CL at one point. He looks to have developed into a really interesting player.
 
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Konstantinos Koulierakis would be a decent punt.

Plays for PAOK in the Greek League. 20 years old, 6ft 1 left footed CB. Has had some links to AC Milan quite recently. Price wise would be around 8-10 million potentially which isnt bad money for a good CB prospect. Obviously would be a punt but could be a good bit of business even if we only end up selling him for a profit

 
Borussia Teeth said:
Tosin would be a shrewd signing in my opinion. Being a freebie, we could then allocate the centre back budget on a lcb like Branthwaite.
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Any other clubs interested in him? Would have thought there'd be huge interest from overseas in a player like him.

Just seen Spurs and Liverpool apparently interested as are Milan.
 
Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber said:
Maximilian Mittelstädt left back. Abnormally good statistics....
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Which is completely insane. That guy is statistically one of the best leftbacks in the world this season. He is 27. He moved for 500k before this season and that was the first time ever that someone paid a transfer fee for him! (Ok, to be fair, he spend his full career at Hertha BSC before this move)

Really the big question if everything just clicked for him this season or if he really can keep and replicate this form in the long term as his new permanent level.
 
stefan92 said:
Which is completely insane. That guy is statistically one of the best leftbacks in the world this season. He is 27. He moved for 500k before this season and that was the first time ever that someone paid a transfer fee for him! (Ok, to be fair, he spend his full career at Hertha BSC before this move)

Really the big question if everything just clicked for him this season or if he really can keep and replicate this form in the long term as his new permanent level.
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Indeed
 
stefan92 said:
Which is completely insane. That guy is statistically one of the best leftbacks in the world this season. He is 27. He moved for 500k before this season and that was the first time ever that someone paid a transfer fee for him! (Ok, to be fair, he spend his full career at Hertha BSC before this move)

Really the big question if everything just clicked for him this season or if he really can keep and replicate this form in the long term as his new permanent level.
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He looked impressive at times at Berlin I remember, but I don't think he can fit as a left back. I think at Berlin as well they preferred Plattenhart at left back to Mittelstadt.

But I may be ofcourse wrong, it wasn't as if I was watching Berlin regularly and same case for Stuttgart this season, just weekly highlights on Sportschau. His defensive stats on fbref are insane!
 
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