Yeah, we all know how Jose loves his youngsters and never loans players out...
What players would Mourinho target?
- Thread starter Oo0AahCantona
- Start date
Yeah, we all know how Jose loves his youngsters and never loans players out...
José does use young players, provided they're good enough to break into the first team and make positive contributions. He's not going to promote youth just for the sake of it because the pressure at top, top clubs is immense. You promote youth and you could crash out of the Champions League, lose out on league titles, because it might sound harsh - but 99% of these players aren't cut out to play at the top, top clubs on a very regular basis. In the last sort of ~6 seasons, United have produced (or signed at 15-16 years of age) Pogba, Januzaj, Pereira, Morrison who had the potential to reach that level (first one already has, not looking so good for the second right now, Andreas hangs in the balance, and Ravel is doing a disservice to his talent).
It's not just about talent, but about patience, and relentless work ethic, and the ability to not be a deer in the highlights, and then the ability to hang on to first team spots by improving constantly. It's not as simplistic as people claim where you just keep giving chances to youngsters. And it's unrealistic to expect a manager who's only been at a club for 2-3 seasons on average to promote a handful of academy players when he's starting out. Success with the first team comes first always, once you've established a bedrock, then you can promote talented youngsters. Even Barcelona could not give a lot of chances to Sergi or Rafinha before this season, and the likes of Samper are still fixtures for the B team instead of the first team. In the past, Cesc, Piqué, Merida, dos Santos, Reina, Arteta, Bojan, Thiago, Deulofeu had to leave because they wanted playing time. It's very tough because you have to buy players to keep up, and it's not always possible to give chances to youngsters.
Wrt Januzaj in particular, Mourinho was effusive in praise when he had his stellar debut season:
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...es-as-he-builds-up-adnan-januzaj-9069686.html
Whether he is of the same opinion remains to be seen, but if José likes a youngster, he will not deny him first team opportunities. Robben at 20, Balotelli at 19, Varane at 19, Santon at 18 when he almost marked Ronaldo out of the game - they all played quite regularly under Mourinho, and he gave the likes of Morata his debut before using him as a substitute frequently too. Plus, he wanted to sign Shaw at 19, and Stones last season - so it's not just about established players with him.
Do not want!
http://metro.co.uk/2015/12/22/jose-...es-manchester-united-manager-report-5580108/?
(I know the source is bollocks, but I just wanted to see the fanboys reactions.
)
http://metro.co.uk/2015/12/22/jose-...es-manchester-united-manager-report-5580108/?
(I know the source is bollocks, but I just wanted to see the fanboys reactions.
)This is a weird one, because normally a manger would be linked with players who did well at his previous club, but in this case he's fallen out with them to the point that they appeared to be playing deliberately poorly so that he got sacked!
He won the league with Drogba only scoring 10 goals.
As long as a forward makes the right runs, stretches the play, creates space for the midfield and bullies defenders, he's contributing. Welbeck does all of those things as well as anybody, but allies it with an excellent touch and a Spanish level of one-touch play. He'd have been the fulcrum for any Mourinho attack.
...
Yes. Watch him play football.
So, the pressure at "top, top" clubs is immense. But I'd guess it's also pretty immense for clubs fighting against relegation and the loss of all that Prem money. And its pretty immense for clubs seeking to finish in the top 4 rather than outside it ... knowing the large difference in income and the increased ability to hold on to star players that comes with the CL.
So all this "top, top" stuff is just an excuse to disguise the fact that some managers give much more opportunities to younger players than other managers, and some managers are more obsessed with "big-name" and/or mega-bucks and/or "galactico" signings than others.
Also, the 99% figure is an exaggeration.
This is why I love this forum. There are no indications Jose is even close to signing yet here we are already hypothesising what players he's going to sign
Anyway...
I can see him converting Blind back into a CDM as he's so efficient with the ball.
Got to love these hypothetical situations, it's what we live for.
But looking into it deeper....
Just going by his former teams, he's always had some absolute warriors in his midfield and I can't see Blind fitting that mould unless he's accompanied by Schneiderlin and I suppose Blind would be playing the Xabi role as per his Madrid team.
For me, my main concern is in regards to who his #10 would be, there is so much expectation for them to perform (even more than their striker) and be a goal scoring source and provide at least 20 goals a season, (except for in Madrid as Ronaldo was given that burden and Özil added the balance as a prime creator) as they're usually accompanied by two defensive minded players therefore I'm really hoping we get someone like Griezmann:
----------↑
Maniche Deco
Costinha
Maniche Deco
Costinha
--------↑
Ballack Lampard
Makelele
↑
Lampard
Essien----Tiago
Makelele
↑
Sneijder
Cambiasso Zanetti
↑
Özil
Khedira Alonso
↑
Oscar
Mikel Luiz
↑
Oscar
Fabregas Matic
↑
Griezmann
Schneiderlin Blind
The only way I can possibly see Blind as CDM but personally I'd prefer Ruben Neves there, Blind makes for good cover.
(Poor Herrera)
Ballack Lampard
Makelele
↑
Lampard
Essien----Tiago
Makelele
↑
Sneijder
Cambiasso Zanetti
↑
Özil
Khedira Alonso
↑
Mikel Luiz
↑
Oscar
Fabregas Matic
↑
Griezmann
Schneiderlin Blind
The only way I can possibly see Blind as CDM but personally I'd prefer Ruben Neves there, Blind makes for good cover.
(Poor Herrera)
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Ruben Neves would be an amazing signing.
Zlatan has already said that he wished he spent more than just one season under Mourinho (08/09).
Zlatan has already said that he wished he spent more than just one season under Mourinho (08/09).
I'm actually very happy with Schneiderlin in the DM role. It's the attacking aspect that needs sharpening in my opinion.
Actually, I would like to expand that question: which players do we currently have that fit the Mourinho mould? And who would he get rid of?
and who would he fall out with
No need for weed anymore. This thread is quality!
This thread will be funny if they give Giggs the job.
Got to love these hypothetical situations, it's what we live for.
But looking into it deeper....
Just going by his former teams, he's always had some absolute warriors in his midfield and I can't see Blind fitting that mould unless he's accompanied by Schneiderlin and I suppose Blind would be playing the Xabi role as per his Madrid team.
For me, my main concern is in regards to who his #10 would be, there is so much expectation for them to perform (even more than their striker) and be a goal scoring source and provide at least 20 goals a season, (except for in Madrid as Ronaldo was given that burden and Özil added the balance as a prime creator) as they're usually accompanied by two defensive minded players therefore I'm really hoping we get someone like Griezmann:
----------↑
Maniche Deco
Costinha
--------↑
Ballack Lampard
Makelele
↑
Lampard
Essien----Tiago
Makelele
↑
Sneijder
Cambiasso Zanetti
↑
Özil
Khedira Alonso
↑
Oscar
Mikel Luiz
↑
Oscar
Fabregas Matic
↑
Griezmann
Schneiderlin Blind
The only way I can possibly see Blind as CDM but personally I'd prefer Ruben Neves there, Blind makes for good cover.
(Poor Herrera)
I don't remember Tiago being a regular, and not in a midfield 4 either!
From what I remember Tiago went to Lyon as part of the Essien deal.
My fault there, stole the lineup from a Chelsea review of the season
Same point applies though.
@Invictus you said it yourself - he only plays "youth" players who are already established and first team quality. Players like Hazard and Oscar who cost big money and already have plenty of appearances.
When I/we talk about youth, I am talking about a manager who actually develops young players. This doesnt mean just playing youth for the sake of it, but rather recognising when players are ready to be given a chance in the first team and giving them that chance.
Of course other factors are involved - specifically the policy and strategy of the club itself. In years gone by, Chelsea have obviously prioritised short term success, but Mourinho's track record at Chelsea, Real and Inter is always the same - spending a lot of money, virtually guaranteeing short term success, but - whether due to personality conflicts or otherwise - never anything more. Often when he leaves a club, the squad is in bad shape and there has to be some sort of post-Mourinho recovery period, and I think that this is at least partially due to the way Mourinho builds his teams.
While on the subject, Pellegrini is another who I have been pretty unimpressed with when it comes to youth. The Guardiola rumours that have gained momentum recently do go some way to explaining this - why should Pellegrini bother developing youngsters if he is due to be replaced next summer after all - but as a football fan I am always disappointed to see the careers of promising youngsters stagnate due to their managers/clubs simply not giving them a chance.
City have some great youth prospects such as Iheanacho and Denayer - but the latter was farmed out on loan after signing a new contract on the (supposed) basis that he would get some first team action this year (and the ink had barely dried on the paper before they signed Otamendi!), and Iheanacho has only had a few brief cameo appearances mostly due to injuries to the other strikers, with Pellegrini generally showing a reluctance to put any faith in him.
Meanwhile Chelsea have some thirty odd players out on loan at present. It surely is terrible for a young players development to keep being shipped out from club to club every year, playing under different managers in different systems, in different leagues etc.
Going back to Mourinho - for me he is a man with a specific set of skills. He can virtually guarantee short term success and competitiveness, but requires a lot of money to do so, with additional question marks over style of play. I was in favour of Mourinho taking over after SAF retired because he was a man who could come in and steady the ship for a couple of years and deal with the transition while we looked for a long term option to take over after that.
At present, I think that unless the club is virtually 100% sure that we can get Guardiola in the summer (highly unlikely) then we have to make a move for Mourinho now, as much due to a lack of alternatives as anything.
When I/we talk about youth, I am talking about a manager who actually develops young players. This doesnt mean just playing youth for the sake of it, but rather recognising when players are ready to be given a chance in the first team and giving them that chance.
Of course other factors are involved - specifically the policy and strategy of the club itself. In years gone by, Chelsea have obviously prioritised short term success, but Mourinho's track record at Chelsea, Real and Inter is always the same - spending a lot of money, virtually guaranteeing short term success, but - whether due to personality conflicts or otherwise - never anything more. Often when he leaves a club, the squad is in bad shape and there has to be some sort of post-Mourinho recovery period, and I think that this is at least partially due to the way Mourinho builds his teams.
While on the subject, Pellegrini is another who I have been pretty unimpressed with when it comes to youth. The Guardiola rumours that have gained momentum recently do go some way to explaining this - why should Pellegrini bother developing youngsters if he is due to be replaced next summer after all - but as a football fan I am always disappointed to see the careers of promising youngsters stagnate due to their managers/clubs simply not giving them a chance.
City have some great youth prospects such as Iheanacho and Denayer - but the latter was farmed out on loan after signing a new contract on the (supposed) basis that he would get some first team action this year (and the ink had barely dried on the paper before they signed Otamendi!), and Iheanacho has only had a few brief cameo appearances mostly due to injuries to the other strikers, with Pellegrini generally showing a reluctance to put any faith in him.
Meanwhile Chelsea have some thirty odd players out on loan at present. It surely is terrible for a young players development to keep being shipped out from club to club every year, playing under different managers in different systems, in different leagues etc.
Going back to Mourinho - for me he is a man with a specific set of skills. He can virtually guarantee short term success and competitiveness, but requires a lot of money to do so, with additional question marks over style of play. I was in favour of Mourinho taking over after SAF retired because he was a man who could come in and steady the ship for a couple of years and deal with the transition while we looked for a long term option to take over after that.
At present, I think that unless the club is virtually 100% sure that we can get Guardiola in the summer (highly unlikely) then we have to make a move for Mourinho now, as much due to a lack of alternatives as anything.
A lot of them weren't established first team quality from the perspective of the clubs he was at. Almost all of them had growing pains and inconsistent spells where Mourinho persisted with them. It's not like he installed them in the starting XI and they started producing right away. IMO José's persistence and patience with some of them just gets undermined because it doesn't align with the narrative.
Well yes, and wrt this particular argument, it takes time to develop youth players, and time is something Mourinho never really had at a lot of those clubs:
Porto - He promoted some young players but he had to move on, because Chelsea was a very big, emerging project in football at that time.
Chelsea - Was there for a little over 2 seasons (hardly enough time to properly develop youth at the grass root level), and Roman was very demanding. Infact, not just Mourinho, Chelsea haven't developed a lot of youth players of note for their team since Roman bought the club.
Internazionale - Their aim was to win the European Cup according to Moratti, and Mourinho was there for 2 seasons with that in mind. Again, not sufficient time to develop youth players per se.
Real Madrid - People underestimate the amount of pressure that was on Mourinho to surpass Pep's Barcelona in the league.
Developing youth players sounds good in theory, but the conditions weren't conducive at those clubs because of the expectations that were placed on Mourinho in terms of silverware, and especially in Madrid's case facing the greatest club team since Sacchi's Milan. He had to deal with that pressure first and foremost over the first couple of seasons beyond which there was no time left.
In fairness, that has been Chelsea's signature style for a while now, that's probably some kind of boardroom policy to farm the kids.
I think the money argument is kind of flawed to be honest.
Porto - Net transfer spend (yes, RAWK term) of negative €7 million when he was there.
Chelsea - This is where his numbers get inflated out of proportion. €250 million.
Internazionale - Net transfer spend of €42 million for the treble.
Real Madrid - Net transfer spend of €110 million over 3 seasons, which isn't much for a club like Real Madrid.
Chelsea II - €74 million over 3 summer windows, and 2 winter windows.
So really, he does not spend THAT much money. And wrt short term success, he had to leave Porto, Roman fell out with him at Chelsea, he had to leave Internazionale because Madrid is the greatest club in European football and Serie A was in decline, he was sacked by Fiorentino, and he was sacked by Roman. At a lot of those clubs, youth is not a priority at all, they demand success or you;re out the door, and the players wield a lot of power and they do not like a dictatorial figure like Mourinho who challenges their authority in the dressing room. I reckon even a young Fergie would be fired at clubs like Madrid and Chelsea because he would give the players a pieces of his mind (though TBF Fergie is a much better man manager, and got even better with age). This is the risk with powerful figures in the manager's position, and if they're not supported by the president/ board, they players will chew them up and spit them out no matter how great their CV is.
I really believe that if Mourinho finds a stable environment without the toxic presence of Florentino or Roman, he can stay at a club for several years, provided he has control over player personnel and can jettison troublemakers as and when he sees fit. He's never had that yet because of the type of clubs he's managed, and United might be a good fit because the manager will face no objections. I think his ousting from Chelsea will humble him, and knock his ego down a notch, and if he's employed by the club he always wanted to manage (and reportedly cried over the Moyes appointment), he'll be super determined to prove himself. Fairly speculative, but I really feel United would help him focus, and he'll get a level of support and cooperation he's not accustomed to, and it's not like he will want to another club - because he's been around the block. I think at this point in his career, Mourinho is aware of the fact that he hasn't really built a genuine legacy at one club (Chelsea is arguable) like 2 of his 3 biggest mentors - Bobby Robson and Fergie. That's something he might want to address, and following in Fergie's footsteps (who he still refers to as BOSS) will appeal to him.
Aye I just read that. I didn't know that they no longer have a paywall.
Ah the old "net spend".
itcertainly helped at Chelsea when he was shipping the likes of Mata to desperate goons like us for £37m! That helps the old figures.
He's a cheque book manager for certain. Porto aside he's had sh!tloads wherever he's been. Which erm...means he's probably right for us right now!
Be as it may, net spend is the most appropriate method for figuring out how much a manager is spending through his tenure. Whether other clubs are desperate, or overpay for certain players - is beside the point because he cannot control what other clubs do. All he can do is work within the parameters of the budget his own club sets, and exploit the market conditions (which Chelsea did with Mata). And one could make an argument that these days, pretty much every top manager employed by a top club is a cheque book manager (provided the club has ambitions to compete at the highest level instead of being consistent also-rans), in relative terms of course - because if you stand still and don't reinforce your squad, you will be overtaken sooner rather than later, unless the scouting department can extract a couple of obscure gems every season. And as you rightly pointed out, United can afford to let him spend whatever he needs to mold his squad.
v unlikely he signs a kid, far more likely to get someone like wanyama who can make it difficult for teams in CM, someone experienced as a short term fix to get immediate successRuben Neves would be an amazing signing.
Zlatan has already said that he wished he spent more than just one season under Mourinho (08/09).
Trevor Sinclair.
Looking at the squad and Mourinh's record, it seems like he'd likely want to sign the players everyone basically thinks we need, which is to say a 3rd attacker to go with Memphis or Martial, a 3rd CM to go with Schneiderlin and Herrera and then probably a CB to pair with Smalling.
The difference is which specific players we would target and who he would sell.
Does he see Martial as a 9 or a wide player with a stronger 9 to hold up the ball?
Does he want Herrera running around and getting forward as a sort of 10/8 Lampard hybrid and a deeper player to go with Schneiderlin? Does he want Herrera deeper and a more offensively productive 10 (maybe Mata for the rest of the season or beyond) like he had with Sneijder?
Does he want a partner for Smalling who can pass or does he not give a damn about that for CBs? Would Jones thus move ahead of Blind in the CB pecking order until the summer? Would we target a passer like Hummels or Stones (whom he seemed to want at Chelsea) or someone tougher and more defensively reliable?
And in terms of who gets sold, it's tough to say who he would rather have than their transfer fee. He did sell Mata and more bizarrely, De Bruyne. So maybe one or two we think of as unlikely to be sold (Shaw, De Gea, Martial, Smalling would be true shocks) from Herrera, Memphis, Blind or Darmian.
The difference is which specific players we would target and who he would sell.
Does he see Martial as a 9 or a wide player with a stronger 9 to hold up the ball?
Does he want Herrera running around and getting forward as a sort of 10/8 Lampard hybrid and a deeper player to go with Schneiderlin? Does he want Herrera deeper and a more offensively productive 10 (maybe Mata for the rest of the season or beyond) like he had with Sneijder?
Does he want a partner for Smalling who can pass or does he not give a damn about that for CBs? Would Jones thus move ahead of Blind in the CB pecking order until the summer? Would we target a passer like Hummels or Stones (whom he seemed to want at Chelsea) or someone tougher and more defensively reliable?
And in terms of who gets sold, it's tough to say who he would rather have than their transfer fee. He did sell Mata and more bizarrely, De Bruyne. So maybe one or two we think of as unlikely to be sold (Shaw, De Gea, Martial, Smalling would be true shocks) from Herrera, Memphis, Blind or Darmian.
Would Ronaldo come and play for Jose? Or have they fallen out? I lose track of it.
Or Bale?
Or Bale?
This is so poor even for the caf... We currently have a manager who just thrashed the media for suggesting he was fired... And here we have supposed Man Utd fans talking about what the "next manager in their opinion" would bring... LvG isn't fired yet and we are not even sure if mourinho will be the replacement... Is this what the typical fan has become
I'd like Stones, Pogba, Griezmann please
I'd like Stones, Pogba, Griezmann please
Net spending can be misleading though. You will be shocked at how low Real Madrid's net spend is. £34.16 million in the last 3 seasons, which comes to around £11.16 million per season. And they've bought Danilo (£22m), Kovacic (£20m), James (£56m), Bale (£65m), Kroos(£20m) ... No one can say Real Madrid are not heavy spenders despite their low net spend.
In the last years Real Madrid have ben very smart with their spending, buying only top young talent with good resale value, never letting contracts run out and selling very well. They cetainly didn't spend all over the place and net spend is much more relevant than total spend.
I don't think it was planned at all. It just turned out that way. Di Maria was a better fit than Bale. £22m on Danilo was unnecessary and they were willing to splash big money on DDG whom they didn't really need and was on a final year contract. They would have bought all those players anyway regardless of the netspend.
Edit: Btw Danilo was also in his last year of contract at Porto. That is not smart spending from Real Madrid.
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@Invictus which young players has Mourinho shown patience with their development?
Santon, Varane, Morata to name 3 at Internazionale and Real Madrid.
Santon was arguably the best up and coming Italian defender when José, who played a big part in his development left for Madrid (even got his Azzurri debut in that period). He gave him his Serie A and Champions League debut, and despite up and down performances persisted with him. Even trusted him to mark the best winger in Europe against United/ the reigning Ballon D'Or winner. Santon made almost 40 first team appearances under José, which is exceptional because Maicon was arguably the best rightback in Europe at that time, plus they had Zanetii and Chivu, both of whom could also play fullback.
Santon regressed without José, first under Benitez and was later loaned out under Leonardo.
José made Varane a very important player for Madrid, even made him starter at Pepe's experience (which annoyed him as the more experienced player). And Varane was not always consistent, he had ups and downs like most young players, but Mourinho showed patience.
Morata got his debut under José, and he made a lot of substitute appearances in his last season despite being 19 at that time, and playing in a team that already had Higuain and Benzema.
It's very easy to say that José doesn't give chances, and doesn't show patience because the managerial tenures are treated in a vacuum with no regards to the footballing culture of not promoting youth very quickly in Italy, or dealing with massive, massive expectations in Madrid when he was supposed to topple the greatest club team of the modern era - Barcelona. That insanely high pressure environment is not always suitable to show patience with young players (which is also why mid table, or lower table teams are the best at developing them) - because a couple of losses due to their mistaks and inconsistencies might mean the handkerchiefs will be out in full force, and Florentino will be on the manager's case.
I'm not going to argue the case of random Chelsea academy scrubs who aren't cut out for the top, top level despite winning the Youth Cup and whatnot; and will be playing in the Championship or mid-table at best in 3-4 seasons (this always happens - players get overhyped and found out once they're supposed to become first team starters, and they have to show their qualities consistently to merit a place in a top, top team). Persisting with them would prove to be a futile exercise.
Puts a different spin on things.
It's easy to repeat the rhetoric that he doesn't focus on youth. The same could be said of other managers at Chelsea as well - there hasn't been a lot of players come through under anyone there for a while.
The reality is, we're not producing first team standard players hand over fist either. If they're not as good as what you have it's difficult for players to break through. At top clubs they're often up against top players so it's not surprising so few make it.
Wow, i like this big time.
Santon was always tipped as a top star and he did develop well under Mourinho's influence. Probably his only success (Which ended in nothing mind you).
Mourinho bought Varane for €9m and he was absolutely one of the best talents of his generation. He came into Madrid and whilst inconsistent also put up performances against Barca which Mourinho couldn't ignore. He fast became Mourinho's favourite and it didn't take patience for him to be integrated. Also, he got injured soon after and Mourinho was sacked before he suffered an actual dip that young players have. So Mourinho wasn't around for that.
Morata was not given the playing time needed to develop sub appearances do not help a player. In the same way sub appearances aren't helping Chelsea's young players. That's not patience or trust, it's just Mourinho ticking off boxes. He also had fell out with a lot of stars in his last season and played the young players as a feck you to the established guys.
They aren't random scrubs, they are players who have performed well for Chelsea under different managers and are performing well despite being chucked out on loan. Or they are players Mourinho himself has identified as top class talents. Ake, Christensen and RLC to name a few.
I will tell you this, no United youth player will make it under Mourinho if he does join.
Exactly! If a player like say Barkley emerged at Chelsea when they had Lampard and Essien at their peak (which is when Mourinho managed them the first time around), how many chances would he get despite his talent? Or Stones who would be up against Terry and Carvalho. Even Gallas had trouble making appearances in their presence and had to play fullback as a consequence, and he was a full French international who already had almost 100 appearances for Chelsea. All these details get lost in the narrative. Apart from the facilities, and the coaches, a big reason why Southampton and Everton produce all these players quite regularly is that they can give a lot of opportunities to the likes of Barkley, Chambers, Stones, Ward-Prowse because there aren't a lot of very good players blocking their way, plus the pressure of expectations is relatively lower (Top 6 at best), as opposed to United or Madrid or Chelsea who are normally among the title challengers.
Loads of players are tipped to be stars. That shouldn't take anything away from the manager who gave him the opportunity. And for the 'ended in nothing' part, that's not on José because Santon's big decline happened under Benitez and Leonardo, so it's immaterial.
No. Varane was monitored by a couple of clubs like United and Juventus before he renewed his contract, but he played very, very few games for a Lens team that got relegated, and didn't make a lot of youth appearances with the French U-level team. He was touted one of the best talents of his generation after his performances for Madrid in his debut season and second season under Mourinho. He signed for Madrid mainly because of Zidane who thought he was like a young Blanc, not because he was one of the absolutely best talents of his generation by then. Let's not rewrite history.
http://www.marca.com/2011/06/23/futbol/equipos/real_madrid/1308844844.html
15 games is good enough for a 19 year old at a club like Madrid with Benzema and Higuain already playing in his position. You don't just throw a 19 year old into the deep end at a club like Madrid. You have to be careful about how you develop them. Too much too soon can be overwhelming.
If the're good enough, they'll eventually play, little at first and more when they improve and are ready to bear the responsibilities. If not, then that's ok, and I am fine with it. I don't think compulsively giving chances to youth players is a good strategy in this day and age of football when even youth factories like Barcelona are making players like Sergi Roberto regular first teamers after 4 seasons of waiting patiently, and having to find new positions to play them in.
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Di Maria was sold at his peak price for a large benefit and Bale was the best prospect to eventually replace Ronaldo and more marketable, even if it didn't work that well Bale could still be sold with benefit to an EPL club whenever they want in the next 2 or 3 years to finance the next big thing.
De Gea was a great oportunity to get a dominant Spanish madridista keeper after Casillas, what's not to like?
Arbeloa needs replacement and Danilo is of adequate quality and has the price that comes with it. Relatively good business considering the very small pool of top fullbacks.
Could see Herrera being his Oscar.