See one of the papers has us linked with Ghoulam, along with a million others. I was very impressed with Ghoulam pre ACL injury. Has all the attributes;great cross,pace and can tackle. Sandro just looks like a towering player. Realistically, who could we get?
Aye if he can sustain and build on this form and remain injury free, it’d be a welcome relief and also save us a ton of cash which we can use elsewhere (RW, AM/CM & RB).
Don't need to get rid of Luke Shaw to make way for either Ghoulam or Sandro, we need a new LB, AND hope that Shaw continues to regain his pre-injury form. Infact we need two quality players for every position, on paper we have the numbers, but in reality many are not what I consider as top class.
Ghoulam just signed a new deal didn't he? Edit - yes he did http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/42241327
Sandro. Him and shaw should be our options at lb. Sell everyone else who can play there (darmian, young).
I'm quite happy with Young and Blind as back up. The money should be invested in more pressing areas of the team.
Alex Sandro by a mile. Emerson Palmieri will be the next thing if he'll recover well from injury too.
These Ghoulam links are BS. Tuttosport (not reliable) said Napoli are closing in on a deal for Alex Grimaldo, which will make Ghoulam exit more feasible. Tuttosport said United are known to be interested in Ghoulam, who now has a £54 m release clause. This is a non-story.
Agreed, we're no longer in an enviroment of one quality player for every position we need two. We need to follow City in this strategy and the club need to support Jose. If we are constrainted (people say we're not) then I'd actually say right back and midfield is a bigger concern.
Keep Shaw and spend the money on other areas like midfield and out wide right. Bring Fosu back for RB.
Why, he has a release clause doesn't he? I think that he's developed more than Sandro the last couple of years, If we can get Sandro for around the same money then by all means. But with Juve likely to play hardball it could be the wiser investment for us. He has an injury, but at 27 (next year) he's got time to regain form, Shaw and Young can hold the fort in the meantime.
I've been wanting to see Shaw get the chance at left back for what feels like forever so I'm not particularly sold on the idea of creating another obstacle between him and first-team football. We do need to invest in at least one full back this summer but whether that's a left or right back will depend on Mourinho. He seems to be throbbing for a left back but a right back is probably more important at this stage with injuries seemingly catching up with Valencia. A promising right back who can take the mantle from Valencia would be ideal with Fosu-Mensah deputising.
It's a risk to have Shaw (injury/fitness concerns) and Young (getting old + injury prone) as our LB, but unless there is a good value option (Ghoulam pre-injury on a free would have been ideal, but think he's signed a new deal), I feel the money should be invested elsewhere. Reports of Sandro for 50/60m, really wouldn't feel happy spending that much on a left back.
^^Agreed^^ We'd hope to be involved in 60 plus matches next season, one player cannot play in all of those, even without suspensions or injury, fatigue would run him into the ground. So I am all for keeping Shaw providing he can reach a high performance level, and bringing in a top class player. Ideally Sandro..!
Indeed, and the question of whether or not he can regain his pre-injury form won't be answered until next season. Not a risk we can afford to take, which rules him out in my view.
Pretty much this. City had a great window in summer because they bought two great players for the positions they needed to fill. We need to do the same.
Alex Sandro is a fantastic player, one of the best left backs i've seen at Porto but I think United should use the budget on other positions such as right winger and right back.
Cant believe I'm saying this but Luke Shaw is looking like he may yet turn out the player we all thought he'd be.
Signing someone straight after an ACL injury is such an enormous risk IMO, he's meant to be really good although I've not really seen him play. Sandro I know is a great player although according to Serie A fans he's been quite poor this season, even if he wants to leave or whatever that shows a bit of an attitude issue to me.
Just have faith in Luke Shaw, sell Darmian and get a young understudy to compete with Valencia for RB spot. That way the rest of the budget can be spend on a proper RW and CM to partner Matic and Pogba.
It's a tough injury but he should be back for next season and he's still relatively young (turning 27). We went after Van Nistelrooy right after he'd recovered from a torn ACL and that turned out well. Falcao of course didn't though, but eventually returned to form for Monaco. For me, this is all depending on how Shaw develops over the next few months. If the position has become stabilized come summer then we could gamble a bit more and try to get the bigger talent (Ghoulam IMO) at a better deal. If however Shaw goes injured again or he can't deliver on his potential then we should get Sandro or someone who can come in and perform from day one.
We should have faith in every player then by that logic. Don’t buy anyone and just keep on settling for average dross and missing out on top quality transfers. Shaw might be a good backup LB but he doesn’t have the crossing to make it as a regular here. Most of the best fullbacks are like traditional wingers now. They all have brilliant crosses on them. Sandro is miles ahead of Shaw. Miles. I would be livid if we slept on it and let a team like Chelsea have him.
If we look at it like that, we need a RB, a LB, a CM, another CM, a RW and a CF. But reality doesn't work like Football Manager. Throwing almost 1/3 of our budget on one defensive player is brainless, in my opinion.
We will not be signing a player for 60m who had an ACL injury . We should give Shaw one more chance and see if he can improve second half of the season. If yes, keep him and young . Spend this money on other areas. We just cant keep spending on defenders.
Ghoulam with his injury is not a good choice, if we sign someone, then sign someone who has not gotten a horrible injury.
Ruud was a great recovery but in general players rarely get back to their best level quickly if ever in the long term.
