What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

Globule

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The one glaring spot that needs to be addressed is RW. That needs to be prioritised above all else.

If we manage to bring Sancho in we look like a top team on paper. The next step is replacing the filler in our squad, either by promoting youngsters (Laird replacing Dalot as second choice RB, for example), or through transfers.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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Short term, after yesterday’s game, I’m more confident Greenwood can play RW and have an impact there should we not be able to sign Sancho.

My biggest concern is that who plays when Bruno’s rested or injured? You take him out of the team and we look impotent, especially when the bench is Lingard or Pereria. That’s why Grealish is a must for me, we need someone of that quality to cover his position.

Hopefully we get both of these done but Grealish would be a priority for me.
Sancho should be number one priority. You say Greenwood can play there if we don't sign him but if Greenwood gets injured what's going to happen? Do you like seeing James on the right?

If Bruno gets injured we can move Pogba forward and play Fred in the pivot with Matic. But what if it's Matic that gets injured instead of Bruno? What other DM in our team can play with Pogba and Bruno
 

Bestietom

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Badiashile..... Left footed CB with skill and strength and ability to become one of the best..
Sancho.......... The Right Winger we are crying out for..
Von de Beek.... All action player, who can play DM or fit in anywhere in Midfield.
Moussa Dembele.. Centre Forward that will score plenty of goals.
 

Renegade

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Keep Pogba, get Skriniar and Haaland

DDG
Wan-Skriniar-Maguire- Shaw
Pogba-McT
Bruno
Rashford-Haaland-Martial
When have you ever been impressed with Rashford on the right ?

Sancho is a higher priority than Haaland for us right now.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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yes and what we need is to find a way to reduce the number of shockingly bad contracts we have on the books before we start thinking about buying players, especially at centre-back where we have a stupid amount of players.
Imagine if most of the posts in this thread was about selling our players.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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Badiashile..... Left footed CB with skill and strength and ability to become one of the best..
Sancho.......... The Right Winger we are crying out for..
Von de Beek.... All action player, who can play DM or fit in anywhere in Midfield.
Moussa Dembele.. Centre Forward that will score plenty of goals.
Do you watch him often? How many times have you seen him play DM for Ajax and how did he do?
 

Lynty

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Badiashile..... Left footed CB with skill and strength and ability to become one of the best..
Sancho.......... The Right Winger we are crying out for..
Von de Beek.... All action player, who can play DM or fit in anywhere in Midfield.
Moussa Dembele.. Centre Forward that will score plenty of goals.
We have Martial, Ighalo and Greenwood?
 

Mainoldo

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RW - Doesn’t really need explaining
LB - Shaw just needs upgrading he can’t attack. Williams might be the answer
CM - Preferably Matić‘s successor like an Ndidi
Back up RW - Don’t want to see Dan James as a go to back up winger. He’s not good enough.
 

ROFLUTION

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Sancho, Grealish, CB, LB(Chilwell), Ndidi if we have unlimited funds

Sancho + CB if we have to prioritize. Lindelöf will never reach the desired level of defending.
 

Jaxa

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Outs: Jones, Smalling,Sanchez, Lingard, Pereira potentially , probably make about £5 out of that lot

Ins: Sancho, M Dembele, Grealish,

Promoted: Mengi will be more prominent next year and will play more games for us, potentially laird, Angel too if he signs his contract.
 

Lynty

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Sancho (1) is a must. If he moves elsewhere, let Levy rip us off for Son (2) and call it a day for this window. It would hurt but we desperately need a ready made player, and there are very few available. If Spurs are adamant they aren't selling, Ferran Torres (3) would be my third choice, but i'm not overly impressed with the options.

If we still have some of the budget left, distancing Mata, Lingard and Andreas from the starting 11 should be next concern. Someone to be the 'go to' substitution/rotation player. Grealish (1) would be perfect and could offer quality cover for multiple positions and compensate for any drop in form of Rashford/ Pogba/Bruno. van de Beek (2) is obviously available and would fit a similar role. Buendia (3) likewise.

I think CB and DM will be addressed the following window, where we could justify a ridiculous price tag for someone like Upamecano and Ndidi or who ever is the flavor of the season, as the final jigsaw pieces. But I think we have enough development projects etc. and we have built a solid spine, we are now at a point where we need players to come in fully/mostly developed.
 

VeevaVee

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RW and Matic replacement are priority. Matic before it becomes critical. Preempt it for once. Get them in and settled while Matic is still decent.
 

reddevilchennai

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Priority wise:

RW - We have been playing with out a genuine RW since the days when Valencia was shunt out to RB. United looks like favorites to sign to Sancho and he will be missing puzzle in the Jigsaw. Signing Sancho is the most important thing in this transfer window.

CDM - An inform Matic playing along side with Pogba & Bruno showed that midfield is no issue,until and unless Matic can keep his form and is not injured. But he is in the 30s and can not play week in week out and we need a young back up who can understudy from him. Garner from our academy can be brought in to the team next season. Singing someone like Denis Zakaria or Camavinga would be a nice statement of intent from the club that United are building a youth team who can challenge for titles in two to three years. On the other hand, Thomas Partey seems like a readymade option available to replace Matic.

CB - Maguire needs to be paired along with a CB who is fast, aggressive and one who can compliment Maguire. Problem with playing Lindelof & Maguire together is that, both of them have similar traits and are slow. Bailly is fast, aggressive and can compliment Maguire well. Bailly on his 1st United season was such a treat to watch and reminded me of Vidic. But the problem with Bailly is that he is injured frequently & slightly prone to simple errors due to lack of concentration. I would love to see Bailly paired along with Maguire for the rest of this season. If they can form a formidable partnership, he can be the ideal partner to Maguire for the next season. If Bailly is still making errors, we need to move to a new fast attacking CB. Konate could compliment Maguire well. If not we can try to buy Upamaceno who is fast, aggressive & can play from the back.

ST/CF:
Martial & Greenwood will be the main forwards going on to next season. Would like to have a good backup forward in his early 30s & one who would be a good option to start from the bench. There are not many options out there. So it is better to make Ighalo deal a permanent one. Or if Sanchez is not sold this summer, can try him as a ST.

LB:
2020/21 will be a defining season for our LBs. Shaw off late has been good and Williams is a good back-up option going for the next season. If Shaw & Williams don't perform well, we need to move to a new LB.
 

Fosu-Mens

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RW - Sancho. If not, give Greenwood more time on the pitch or ask Roma about Zaniolo. They need the money.

CDM - Partey. Should not really be a debate. While Ndidi is a better defensive player, Partey is much better on the ball and a superior passer. Tonali would be my second pick. Mercurial talent.

Left back - Shaws passing decisions in the buildup, his crossing and positioning in the final third are shockingly bad. He is defensively ok, but not so ok that it will be hard to replace him with someone of similar capability at defending but far better when the team is on the ball. Having some capability out wide on the left side would make it more difficult for teams to just clog the middle of the pitch and thus giving PP and Bruno more space in the final third. Options: Not really sure... Chilwell is great on the ball, but would be costly. Telles moved to PSG. Grimaldo and Ait Nouri are good crossers and can pass.

CB: Someone quick and able to defend 1v1 in the air and on the ground. Ake is a good option especially if Bournemouth goes down. Don't see why he is not rated higher. He plays in a team without any other decent defenders...

Getting rid of some of the players on bad contract: Jones, Rojo, Lingard, Shaw, DDG if someone is offering a decent sum and trim the squad relative to the incomings.

If PP goes, go for Grealish and Tonali.
 

paulscholes18

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Hopefully Liverpool winning the league hurt the Glazers and them with Ed went into Ole’s office and said we are getting 21 before liverpool get to 20, who do you want.

Sancho, a must buy

Grealish, covers us if something happens to Pogba, Bruno or Rashford he’s heads and shoulders above James, Mata, Lingard and Pereira

Tonali, if we can get him to leave Italy the we should, spend the season as cover for Matic before taking over for the start of the 21/22 season. But if he does go to Inter as expected.
Then Donny Van de Beek or Declan Rice. DVdB would be more in the Carrick mould getting on the ball and detecting the tempo of the game and is far superior on the ball then Fred and McTominay , while Rice would be a ball winner and simple passes to the more talented ball players Pogba and Bruno. (I would be happy with signing Rice and using Fred in a swap deal for Van de Beek even if it meant giving Ajax a few quid to help with Fred’s wages)

1st XI

DDG/ Henderson *
AWB Lindelof Maguire Shaw
Matic Pogba
Sancho Bruno Rashford
Martial

* Keep DDG and loan Henderson or keep Henderson and sell DDG

2nd XI

Romero
Dalot Tuanzebe Bailly Williams
Tonali Mctominay/ Fred*
Greenwood Grealish James*
Ighalo

* other option is to play Fred and McTominay, James drops to the bench, Grealish goes LF in a 4-3-3,
 

PogBruno

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We could manage with our current options at CB and LB for one more season, so I would love to get a proper RW and a CDM
 

croadyman

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We could manage with our current options at CB and LB for one more season, so I would love to get a proper RW and a CDM
My gut feeling is that the priorities in this window are as follows

RW Sancho
AM Grealish/Van Der Beek
CB Rodon/Torres/Badashile/Salisu (dependent on getting rid of at least one)

I think that we will assess both the CDM & LB situations over next season and also continue to monitor Haaland at Dortmund because I am certain he is our top striker target. I noticed Tonali was mentioned in a post above but thought he was set to join Inter according to Romano but that could have changed of course.
 
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bosnian_red

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Between this summer window and next summer window, to have ready by the start of 21/22 season:

Sell:
  • Sanchez - €0m - just get off the wage bill
  • Smalling - £15m - good player but likely gone.
  • Jones - £5m - deadwood
  • Lingard - £10m - no role
  • Mata - £0m - contract expiring, no role
  • Pereira - £15m - not good enough
  • Rojo - £5m
  • Grant - Retire
  • Romero - £0m - contract expiring
  • Ighalo - loan expiring
  • Gomes - contract expiring
Buy:
  • RW - sancho - £100m
  • CB -
  • Creative midfield depth - Grealish?
  • Front 3 depth - ??
Promote:
  • Garner
  • Laird
  • Mengi
  • Mejbri
  • Henderson
  • Chong (backup wing)
Squad:
De Gea, Henderson, youth gk

AWB, Dalot, Laird
Shaw, Williams
Maguire, NEW CB, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Mengi

Matic, McTominay
Pogba, Fred, Garner
Bruno Fernandes, NEW CAM (Grealish?) Mejbri

NEW RW (SANCHO), NEW DEPTH, Chong
Rashford, James
Martial, Greenwood

29 players, of which the 3rd GK, laird, Mengi and Mejbri would be just fringe youth players that give additional depth but bounce around between loans and youth sides at first before having more of an impact. Same with Chong and Garner, albeit older (but hopefully with a decent loan next season under his belt). So 23 first team players and 6 youth level players of varying levels to provide the additional depth is good enough IMO.

Grealish is doable this summer, but id only do it if it doesn't hurt the prospect of signing Sancho. There are many backups to Grealish like Van De Beek, and the question is would they even want to join if they are behind Pogba and Bruno in the pecking order. Sancho they key one, but with another season of development and the right players in, we can challenge in 21/22 IMO. Maybe the year after to make the last step though.
 

Redjedi

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Priority number one is a right winger (gaping hole in the team for some time)
  • Jadon Sancho
  • Ferran Torres
  • Adama Traoré
Priority number two is a CDM (Matic replacement)
  • Ruben Neves
  • Wilfried Ndidi
  • Danilo Pereira
Also important will be keeping hold off Pogba and starting up talks to renew his contract.

Outgoing I hope we can get rid off Pereira, Lingard, Jones, Smalling and Rojo to bring in some funds

Players we should take a good look at for promoting them to the first team are James Garner (CDM) and Ethan Laird (Fullback). If Garner is deemed ready than maybay a purchase of a CDM could be postponed to next season when Matic's contract runs out.

I think the striker position is still something to keep our eye on but with the current form Martial is in and the options of Ighalo and Greenwood as backup for the position i think we are fine to ride it out until the next winter transferwindow. That is also when Ighalo's loan runs out and I think we should evaluate the situation then to see what is the right decision to make. If Martial would be doing great and scoring alot of goals for us it wouldn't make alot of sense to sign a top striker for alot of money and we would be better off getting in a cheaper back-up (which could be Ighalo on permanent transfer or someone else). But if Martial isn't doing a great job and all the doubts around him are still there then I think it is time to invest in a top striker.
 

Fosu-Mens

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I think the main consideration this summer is whether we spend all on Sancho or prioritize other positions in the squad.

We have some holes to fill regarding quality in the first 11 and those that are to replace those players in case of injuries and rest. For us to first become a lock-in for top 4 and closing the gap to Liverpool and City (dependent on what happens at the Ethiad over the next few months) next season, there are some considerations to be made based on the needs of the squad, not only for this summer but the next as well.

GK: DDG and Romero are more than good enough for top 4 and beyond. The questions here are;
1.1 Should we give the first spot to Henderson and sell DDG if anyone will pay his wages?
1.2 Should we sell Henderson and invest the money (DDG will be our GK for the next 3/4 seasons)
1.3 Loan Henderson to Sheffield for another season with the risk of his value crashing (if we are unsure about DDG long term)?

Fullbacks: AWB is great defensively while struggling going forward. This would not be an issue if Shaw was better going forward and in the build-up, which he is not (And we did not play James at RW). We have 2(3) talented fullbacks in Laird and Williams(Dalot) that can serve as 4th choice at least, so the number of available players is not a problem, nor are their suitability to attack or play on both sides. I think it is fair to say that we need an upgrade on Shaw this summer, with the new player coming in being better at crossing and contributing in the build-up. The considerations to be made are;
2.1 What potential leftbacks are available and suits our needs;
2.2 What we do with Shaw?
2.3 Are the talents good enough to fill in long term in case of major injuries and Shaw being sold?

Centrebacks: Maguire is good enough for top 4, not great but good. Lindelof is a liability in physical duels and the partnership, while working, struggles when they are not protected and there is space around them. We have enough players, but lacking quality. We should sign a central defender and Rojo, Jones and Smalling/Bailly should be out the door. 3.1 The only question should be who we bring in.

CDM/CM/CAM: Our starters being Matic, PP and Bruno are more than good enough for top 4. And we have enough players, but in games where two of these players are not playing, we will struggle due to the backups are not good enough on the ball or lacking quality in general. Matic is also a concern due to age; will his level be the same next season and how many games does he need before rest? McT and Fred are decent squad players, but when they are playing at the same time we struggle when in possession. Lingard, Mata and Pereira are not good enough as second string, but could be difficult to sell.
4.1 Do we focus on finding a replacement for Matic this summer or finding a backup for PP/Bruno?
4.2 Or can we get both?

RW/LW/ST: While a small sample space, if Greenwood can continue on the level he has shown in his last two starts, then a starting front three of Him, Rashford and Martial are good enough for a top 4, especially if Bruno and PP stay healthy. Ighalo is decent and an adequate backup/substitution and starter in cup games. James is limited and dependent on space. Mata has not had the legs for two seasons to operate in any wing/isolated role in the attack. If either Martial, Rashford and Greenwood get long term injured, our attacking threat would be considerably weakened. Ideally we would have another attacking player at their level and another backup. The positive thing is that Martial, Rashford and Greenwood can play in the different positions if needed, so if one gets injured, we do not necessarily need a direct replacement for that position which creates some flexibility in what player to bring in. When Ighalo leaves our only "target man" option up front will be gone, and would make our attacking setup less diverse.
5.1 Do we splash all/most of our available funds on Sancho?
5.2 Greenwood is our only capable RW option.
5.3 The quality and number of options behind the current starting front 3 are seriously lacking.


So, would our team become better if we the majority of our funds on Sancho, or would we be better served by improving on our CB and LB, and getting some capable options to our front 3 and midfielders? I lean more towards postponing Sancho, this is, of course, dependent on players available in other positions and their cost.
 

Motorman

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Next season, first XI #1

De Gea
Wan-Bissaka Lindelof Maguire Williams
Grealish Pogba
Sancho Bruno Rashford
Martial
First XI #2

De Gea
Wan-Bissaka Bailly Maguire Shaw
Matic Pogba
Sancho Bruno Rashford
Greenwood
First XI #3

De Gea
Wan-Bissaka Lindelof Maguire Williams
Pogba Bruno
Greenwood Rashford Sancho
Martial
So many options, means that if we make signings, they arent necessarily bench players, i.e. Grealish, they are rotating in and out as and when is needed. Some games will suit them better than others, we can rest key players without worrying about quality.
 

Jezpeza

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Personally, if we could move on a couple (any from smalling, jones, rojo, mata, lingard, pereira, sanchez) would be good.

would still have maguire, bailly, vic, tuanzabe, TFM and possibly menghi at cb.

signing sancho or another top rw player and then some squad players could be a good window in circumstances.

might be some useful players about from relegated sides - looking at current bottom 3, cantwell, callum wilson, grealish and others
 

Devil may care

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I don't know about thinking too far ahead like some of these lists simply as we have several players who can progress and that will dictate future spending, so for me I think guessing beyond next season is difficult.

Sancho is the key signing without question, he can play RW, LW and AM, get him and it eliminates Grealish or VdB as a must, they'd be a luxury 3rd signing.

The other key signing is a holding midfielder, not a cruncher but essentially the heir to Carrick or Matic's replcement if you like. I rate Zakaria but his injury rules him out, I also like Bruno Guimaraes and Tonali. If we are looking at a younger understudy then Camavinga is by far the standout option.
 

van Persie

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Sancho is what I'm hoping for while clearing out a bunch of deadweight, but even that will be hard this summer given the circumstances. We have a lot of contracts expiring in 2021 that we will happily get off the books. The likes of Mata (all the respect), Romero, Rojo, Lingard and Fosu-Mensah. Shame Bailly, Sanchez and Jones isn't on that list as well.

Find a solution to the Henderson situation. I'd loan him out another season and make a decision on what direction we should go after it since Romero will leave when he returns.

I would go all-in on Sancho this summer and maybe look to add a CB and a DM but only if the right option is available. We have so many talented young players, ready to get a chance now that there's no reason for us to be rash in the market.

2021 is really the summer season where we should find the few missing pieces and possibly go big if needed for a final push.
 
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Number32

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For me DM is the priority, because LVG had made a mistake when he didn't found Carrick's replacement, and Mou thought Matic is more than enough. This position is very important in modern games, so please don't make the same mistake.

DM: Partey or Ndidi or Ruben Neves for 50M
RW: Willian (free) or Sancho 100M?
CB: Salisu (17M) or Malang Sarr (free)
 

Resch

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Once again, because of his fantastic freekick esterday. I would still sign Szoboszlai as a talented young backup. You ask me why, look:

1st goal yesterday
2nd freekick and 2 goals

11 goals and 17 assists as an 19 year old, he is linked to PSG, Neapel, AC Milan, Arsenal, Hertha BSC. Could play on as a 8, as a 10 and on the left. Would give us the much needed creativity, corners and freekicks. He is 186 cm tall, which makes him perfect for the PL
 

Lam

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Most important thing we need is to clear out the deadwood

Sanchez
Lingard
Pereira
Mata(?)
Smalling
Jones
Lee Grant (?)
Rojo

Two CBs - one who is a much better version of Lindelof and one prospect

Sancho

Probably one more midfielder for the future
 

ManRed

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We don't really need to go crazy this summer and 2 good additions will add depth and quality to the side.

We need a player who will get us 25-30 goals next season in attack either as a top quality CF or RW. As we have extended Ighalo loan I think we will go for Sancho or another RW option.

DM / CB - Eric dier would be a good signing for us who can play both positions when needed. He has 12 months left on his contract so price should be negotiable.

Sell Sanchez, Smalling, Lingard, Rojo
Loan - Chong and Garner
 

Resch

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I do not see us buying a striker. Untied should and will wait for Haaland. Next year you could buy him for 70-80 millions. This year we should adress RW (like the years before), a back up 10/ 8 and one signing based on what is available (CB, DM, ...)
 
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We don't really need to go crazy this summer and 2 good additions will add depth and quality to the side.

We need a player who will get us 25-30 goals next season in attack either as a top quality CF or RW. As we have extended Ighalo loan I think we will go for Sancho or another RW option.

DM / CB - Eric dier would be a good signing for us who can play both positions when needed. He has 12 months left on his contract so price should be negotiable.

Sell Sanchez, Smalling, Lingard, Rojo
Loan - Chong and Garner
That ship has sailed, he'll be signing a new contract with them soon. There's better options out there anyway.

 

Fosu-Mens

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I have asked this before but; Would we be better off by spending all on Sancho or would we be better off by buying players that make the team not dross when we rest certain players?

Sancho is extremely talented, but we could also improve our attack by getting someone capable at attacking as a leftback and not having to play McT/Fred/Pereira/Mata etc when PP and/or Bruno are unavailable/needs a rest.
 

Baneofthegame

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I have asked this before but; Would we be better off by spending all on Sancho or would we be better off by buying players that make the team not dross when we rest certain players?

Sancho is extremely talented, but we could also improve our attack by getting someone capable at attacking as a leftback and not having to play McT/Fred/Pereira/Mata etc when PP and/or Bruno are unavailable/needs a rest.
McSauce and Fred are at least serviceable, we should get Sancho and try to sell a couple of players (Smalling, Lingard, Pereira) and use it on Koopmeiners/Buendia.
 

Solius

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We need better depth. If we don't make the most of this momentum in the summer I can see it being really bad for us.

We've got a good thing going now but we can't rely on people like Pereira and Lingard as backups. The quality of the squad needs to be improved.

I'd get rid of the aforementioned two along with Jones and maybe Dalot. The rest are good enough to stay.

Buy a midfielder, a CB, RW and maybe a striker.
 

AneRu

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Sancho is what I'm hoping for while clearing out a bunch of deadweight, but even that will be hard this summer given the circumstances. We have a lot of contracts expiring in 2021 that we will happily get off the books. The likes of Mata (all the respect), Romero, Rojo, Lingard and Fosu-Mensah. Shame Bailly, Sanchez and Jones isn't on that list as well.

Find a solution to the Henderson situation. I'd loan him out another season and make a decision on what direction we should go after it since Romero will leave when he returns.

I would go all-in on Sancho this summer and maybe look to add a CB and a DM but only if the right option is available. We have so many talented young players, ready to get a chance now that there's no reason for us to be rash in the market.

2021 is really the summer season where we should find the few missing pieces and possibly go big if needed for a final push.
I think we need a RF, a DM and a CB ( I don't like or trust the Maguire - Lindelof partnership and I think it will get more exposed the more we start to play expansively). Unfortunately that means we will need something in the region of £200m to spend £90m - £100m on Sancho and £50m apiece on a DM and CB.

Considering the above and that De gea just signed a new five year deal I think we need to agree a £30m deal with Sheffield to sell Henderson with a set buyback clause. This would give us funds to continue the rebuild but with the security of replacing De Gea when we absolutely need to.

Considering that we would be looking at signing a DM and CB that means that a couple players who look safe now could find themselves surplus to requirements. I think we would then have to sell Bailly, Jones, Smalling and Rojo which could give us about £35m. We could also sell Dalot and Pereira to supplement our funds.
 

Fosu-Mens

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Fred | 2019/20 Performances
McSauce and Fred are at least serviceable, we should get Sancho and try to sell a couple of players (Smalling, Lingard, Pereira) and use it on Koopmeiners/Buendia.
Serviceable if one of them is played with two of PP, McT and Bruno. When both of them plays, in combination with the limited on-ball abilities of Shaw and AWB, we really struggle to progress the ball forward.

Our current starting 11 is good enough for top 4, but we need players that can fill in if certain players are unavailable, and we need a fullback that can actually function when the team is in possession and a CB that does not get bullied by any attacker weighing more than 70kg and can make up for Maguire's lack of agility.

I agree that Sancho would drastically improve our starting 11, but not improving other positions and rotational players is a risky approach if we end up getting injuries and needs to rotate due to CL games during the season.
 

Havak

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What do people actually think of this squad if we sign Sancho?

GK: de Gea, Romero, Grant
FB: Wan-Bissaka, Shaw, Dalot, WIlliams
CB: Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Jones
CM: Matic, McTominay, Fred
AM: Fernandes, Pogba, Mata, Lingard, Andreas
FW: Rashford, Martial, Sancho, Greenwood, Ighalo*, James

You can maybe include Chong & Garner. That's 28 players, but a good few of them don't need to be registered yet.

I assume that there is no coming back for Rojo, Smalling, or Sanchez. For argument's sake, we got £50m for them combined and bought Sancho for £80m. I also assume we loan Dean Henderson out for another year - it seems to be the plan or Grant would have been released once this season is over I imagine. Grant is here until the end of the 2021 season.

* Ighalo would potentially leave in January 2021.

What else do we do?

I personally think any further business, despite it looking like we could have a reduced wage bill and spare funds on the face of it, would require departures first. The likely departures are only Jones, Lingard, and Andreas IMO. Ighalo and Grant would be gone by the end of the following season which would leave room for another signing and Henderson's return.

If Jones is sold, I think we have to buy a CB.

I think we would only sign another midfield player if both Lingard & Andreas were sold. Otherwise, I think we'd make do with one of them being effectively 7th choice and Garner challenging.

With the signing of Sancho in this scenario, I think we wouldn't rush into buying another attacker, we'd either wait until the January Window (whenever that happens) or just try and hold out until the end of the season I reckon.

Are we close enough to challenging here because other than maybe Dalot who I still think is fine as cover, I can't see anyone else being pushed out of the club until the end of the 20/21 season at the earliest. It would be at that stage we maybe start looking at Mata & Matic replacements, but I'd expect them to play the 21/22 season (more-so Matic, but probably both).