We have 4 big holes in our starting 11 imo- CB, CDM, RW and striker. That’s a lot of £££££ that the Glazers don’t want to spend.
Erling Haaland
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I could definitely see City coming in for Haaland and offering Dortmund a huge whack of cash and either a solution at striker, whether that's Ferran Torres, Gabi Jesus or even Delap or Pablo Moreno if Dortmund rate them as backups for 2 years on loan, or more likely someone like Zinchenko or Pedro Porro permanently or that Couto kid for a 2 year loan could be a little sweetener, or some sort of convoluted 3 team thing like the Batshuayi/Giroud/Aubameyang thing with like Griezmann and money from City going to Dortmund, Haaland to City and Aguero and money from City to Barca.
Just seems like they have to be mad about the finishing issue and they have lots of CB depth now and guys like Bernardo Silva not even in the team every week. Maybe they'll sign an LB too and shift Mendy off the books, but even an expensive option like Digne or Theo Hernandez probably isn't going to mean they can't spend big on a 9.
Just seems like they have to be mad about the finishing issue and they have lots of CB depth now and guys like Bernardo Silva not even in the team every week. Maybe they'll sign an LB too and shift Mendy off the books, but even an expensive option like Digne or Theo Hernandez probably isn't going to mean they can't spend big on a 9.
Exactly!
No one is going for that at Dortmund. Haaland alone will be worth more than 100m this summer, Sancho is just as good filling a different need for a bunch of teams that can pay up. Martial is completely shooting down his value this season and Dalot's value is nowhere near impactful in any kind of deals of that stature. It's going to have to be one or the other, and while Haaland is an amazing talent, I think Sancho would be more transformative but it's really option 1A or 1B at this point, either would be tremendous, however I don't think Haaland would have the same impact at United than he does at Dortmund, especially without Sancho with him. Getting both would be the muppet's dream, but it's most likely going to have to be one or the other and the club would be lucky to even get that.
Gabriel Jesus and Sterling aren't guys you can trust to score goals. Their finishing is worse than Firmino at his best. They get cold feet in front of the goal and love to miss easy chances. Aguero is all the time injured, so City really needs a top-striker for next season. Their lack of reliable finishers for the big games might be the difference between them winning the Champions or not. Just look at Sterling vs. Lyon.
For me it's in 3 tiers:
Tier 1 - CB and RW
CB
I don't see a clear starting CB ready to carry Maguire, Lindelof or Bailly next year. Ideally we're talking about a left-footed defensive leader, but really the main concern is a proper CB who can defend, run and pass.
RW
Diallo should be the backup RW next year and James should be Rashford's backup at LW. Need a starter here. If we sign Grealish as our big signing instead of Haaland or Sancho, I think Rashford at RW or basically Mason at RWF with Rash up top and Grealish and Bruno behind them in more of a 4-2-2-2 is fine too.
Tier 2 - Striker, DM
Striker
Greenwood is 21 in 89 for us, largely playing out wide, looks more comfortable in the buildup as a 9 and clearly has the skill to link play (and unlike Martial the desire to then get into the box after) and will be 20 early into next season. If Cavani or Martial is here to allow him to blood into the team you could argue that's not really going to be a hole by Xmas.
And against a high line, I'd be fine with Rashford as the 9, though James or Pogba (if he's around) on the left might not be up to it at LW so he might be needed there.
DM
If Pogba stays, I could easily see him or VDB having a nice season or combining to have one as our 8, with Fred and McTominay doing the job at the 6 as their more defensive partner.
Tier 3 - RWB
We need an attacking player who can give Wan-Bissaka a rest and maybe play ahead of him when we got 3 at the back and need a wing-back there, and come on with 20 to go when we're attacking. Lamptey really does make perfect sense here for us and for them, and it's not like we couldn't send them a loanee that would immediately help them, like Brandon Williams, Laird or Diogo Dalot to replace him, or Pellistri or Tuanzebe.
This is lower because I could see one of the 3 RBs mentioned above taking the role and also it's a backup role and Wan-Bissaka is doing fine playing 90% of the minutes anyways if healthy, even if ideally he's closer to 65-70 with a better attacking player around 30-35.
Dalot is worth 10m and Martial should be still worth 40m.... So that would be a 200m deal for Dortmund. Dortmund will lose both Haaland and Sancho this summer. Haaland has a release clause of 65m or something of that sort in summer 2022. Given the finance issues, Dortmund will sell both and for 150m in cash and one being a direct replacement, I think it could work out.
Apparently the release clause is closer to a number over 100m. Who knows what's true but if that's the case, then at worse Dortmund can hold off and get another season of Haaland plus 100m. It will need to be a far better offer than that IMO.
https://www.republicworld.com/sport...mmer-despite-release-clause-complexities.html
This link has Fabrizio Romano's twitter quote as well which indicates the release clause being 75m euros which is approximately 65m pounds. Dortmund would be foolish to keep him for one more season when they can bank around 35m more this coming summer. If Real, Bayern or Chelsea cough up that 65m in 2022, Dortmund cannot ignore it. And Haaland's current contract runs till 2024, so I don't see him signing an extension either. I think 100m would enough to price him this summer. United are not going to get him if they wait for summer 2022 as the other teams would be a more lucrative option. And getting both Sancho and Haaland would help since they've played together.
Rashford/ Haaland/ Sancho (starting 11)
James/ Greenwood/ Diallo (bench options)
He is worth more than the buy out clause. He would need to sign again for Dortmund to remove the buy out clause. We have seen recently that players have done so. TBH I don't know that I have heard a solid amount of the buy out clause, just that is below 100M. The only way I see him staying is if they either make a change to his contract that does not create a commission for his agent, I doubt this option. They could do a new contract that does create a commission for his agent. Dortmund and he could do it either way.
You seem to think the buyout clause is for this summer? It's not, it's for 2022.
And quite generally his contract at BVB runs until 2024 so he can always stay if he wants?
I'm not sure I agree. 35M is a lot, but Haaland's annual value has to be close to that right? If Haaland is the difference between going out at the group stage or making the final 8 of the CL, I believe that's close to half the money right there.
Also I'll add that being able to offer Martial on loan or in full, or Greenwood on loan for a year, might have real value for them.
Greenwood on loan for a year + 90M seems like a much better deal to me than 100M from another club but Dortmund have to immediately find a starting #9 who's better than Greenwood, who seems like he'd score a bunch of goals for them with Sancho, Reus and Reyna setting him up.
Greenwood on loan for a year + 90M seems like a much better deal to me than 100M from another club but Dortmund have to immediately find a starting #9 who's better than Greenwood, who seems like he'd score a bunch of goals for them with Sancho, Reus and Reyna setting him up.
Haaland alone is worth more than that.
You're mad. This is the Dortmund that wouldn't accept a penny less than 120mil just for Sancho last summer, and Heal and is worth more than that. And Martial has had the worst season of his professional career, I don't think many clubs would take him for 20mil, let alone 40.
Will City have any academy players left once they've finished offering them part exchange for Haaland?
In all seriousness, this is how American professional teams do their player trades. One established player goes one way, and the other team empties their cupboard in exchange.Will City have any academy players left once they've finished offering them part exchange for Haaland?
Yeah does feel like we will rely on Bailly staying fit rather than buy a CB and then putting far too much expectation on Amad to be the answer on our RW instead of buying someone established who is used to playing there
Yeah but Dortmund aren't doing well financially. The difference between going out at group stage or making final 8 is theoretical. There's no guarantee about it. Without Haaland, they can still manage to get out of the groups.
Why would Dortmund take Greenwood on loan? They are not going to help Greenwood develop for United to benefit especially when they'll need to pay a loan fee.
Haaland is worth around 100 - 120m (this summer).... his value drops to 65m in summer of 2022 (based on the release clause) and will probably hit 150m after that summer transfer window.
That was different. They didn't realize how much they would suffer financially with COVID and not having fans in the stadiums. They've got to balance the books and will need to sell some of their prized assets.
I think their board now realise that was a mistake because no team will pay 120m now for Sancho with the current Covid situation in Europe and how botched the vaccine program is in Germany. Their finances took a massive hit too this year since they must have thought that crowds would be back this season and they rely more on gate earnings than comparable English sides.
I think they’ll definitely sell if they get a big bid but short of the oil clubs flouting FFP, most other clubs are constrained by the current financial climate.
We won’t sign him as long as he’s associated to Raiola. Period. Once done with Pogba we will never deal with that twat again.
As for Haaland - while he is an undoubted talent, I really don’t think he is on the level of Mbappe.
Once he leaves Dortmund for a tougher league I genuinely believe he will plateau as he will be marked out and he doesn’t have the pace of Mbappe or natural skill of other top players.
we’ve seen it many times before, a player that looks unbelievable at one club doesn’t look the same elsewhere.
Will be interesting to see where he ends up, but wherever, he will have enormous pressure on his shoulders due to his price tag.
As for Haaland - while he is an undoubted talent, I really don’t think he is on the level of Mbappe.
Once he leaves Dortmund for a tougher league I genuinely believe he will plateau as he will be marked out and he doesn’t have the pace of Mbappe or natural skill of other top players.
we’ve seen it many times before, a player that looks unbelievable at one club doesn’t look the same elsewhere.
Will be interesting to see where he ends up, but wherever, he will have enormous pressure on his shoulders due to his price tag.
This bullshit must stop here. Pogba wants to leave therefore Raiola has said it. Pogba is the problem and not Raiola.
Raiola would earn more money if Pogba leaves the club for free in 2022.
Whatever Haaland will not joins us because there will be 7-8 better clubs in for him!!!!!
Haaland is the classic, mythical number 9 in its purest form. While he is not a dribbler like Ronaldo Phenomenon was (you can count on your fingers how many dribblers were of his level), he has the ruthlessness, movement, coldness and hunger for goal as the likes of Romário and Van Basten had. He is not as good as those names yet, but we might be seeing the arrival of the best number 9 in the game ever since those legends and the best striker in 21st century! The hallmark of a number 9 is wanting to score at all costs, trying even tough angles (such as Van Basten's goal in the 1988 Euro final), and take your chances even if you don't touch the ball much in some games. And you often don't need to.
People already made the same criticisms about Haaland before he came to Bundesliga, people saying that he wouldn't keep the level if he went to a far better league better than the Austria one.
Also, Haaland has 20 goals in the UCL. He shot 28 times!
And Haaland, while not as skilled as Mbappé, seems to be a far more clinical finisher.
The problems started when Erling got injured for two months and the boss lost the dressing room when Erling was out, and in the end got sacked. They have been fine with Brauten at place.
I know the buyout is in 2022. It would not make sense for him to stay if he can get a larger contract right now. It would not make sense for Dortmund to hold him another year and get less money in 2022. All that is solved if they do another contract right now. Also solved if he is sold this summer. He is unique, I doubt teams that have the money right now want to wait for 2022.
Ah right, now I understand your point.
Well, I think he can get a larger contract next summer when the transfer fee is fixed and, from what is reported, relatively low.
And I don't think Dortmund will mind selling him for less money if it means he stays another season, it's what they're planning. (Besides it's not clear just how low the release fee really is..). As you say, he is unique, also to them.
Teams that have the money this summer, these are only Chelsea and Man City. No offense, but I think he will stay another year at BVB (if they finish in top 4) to have more options in 2022.
Yeah if Haaland tells Raiola "make Utd deal happen" he will move heaven and earth for it to happen. He gets paid for it, its his job to make sure his clients get what they want.
Think that's the big if and the key to the whole saga, to be honest.
I think BVB are resolved to keeping him, but yes, if they fail to reach Champions League, there will be a struggle. So this might indeed be a deciding factor.
Dortmund chose to let Lewandowski go for free to bayern rather than giving him new contract that he wanted and that was when they were in top 10 of richest club in the world dealing with less complicate agent.
Their choice will be either selling him now more than his release clause to get the money they lost due to covid year or letting him go next season as per the release clause which still good amount of money. The idea of dealing new contract with Raiola right now is probably going to cost them more money which something probably they can’t afford in covid year.
I think the chances of Haaland moving to Utd are slim.
Assuming Dortmund want to sell this summer, they will ask for more than €100m - maybe closer to €120-130m. Then you add on his wages and various fees for Raiola. I expect his wages would be at least €400-500k per week so I think this deal would be a €300mm deal assuming a 5-6 year contract.
if we get rid of Pogba, DDG (remove the wages), Martial, and don’t do any other significant business, then perhaps we can afford him. Issue is that these 3 gents are not easy to move given high wages basically meaning that we won’t be able to afford him.
Assuming Dortmund want to sell this summer, they will ask for more than €100m - maybe closer to €120-130m. Then you add on his wages and various fees for Raiola. I expect his wages would be at least €400-500k per week so I think this deal would be a €300mm deal assuming a 5-6 year contract.
if we get rid of Pogba, DDG (remove the wages), Martial, and don’t do any other significant business, then perhaps we can afford him. Issue is that these 3 gents are not easy to move given high wages basically meaning that we won’t be able to afford him.
So the Mail (yes, I know, believe m no one hates them more than me) says:
- Manchester United are reluctant to enter into a bidding war for Erling Haaland this summer, with Manchester City now favourites to sign the Dortmund striker
If true, you could rewrite that by saying: United refuse to pay for a striker who would pretty much guarantee making them genuine title contenders... and tell us all we need to know. Fine if he chooses somewhere else. Nothing you can do about that but think if that had been our template in the Nineties...
If any other manager in the game was City manager other than Guardiola then I’d go with it BUT Guardiola hates playing with proper centre forwards as seen throughout his career, the one time he did was Zlatan and look how that turned out ?
I can see City wanting to replace Aguero but with someone much more ‘false 9’ like so you’d look at the likes of Lautaro Martinez at Inter even though the dream for them is obviously Messi, from what I’ve seen of City this year they’ve been trying lots of players in that ‘false 9’ role but nothing has clicked.
Wouldn't surprise me one bit if we lost out
We had our chance to sign him before he went to Dortmund. I would say the only slim chance we would have again is next summer when his buy out kicks in. As of now its fair to suggest we cannot afford him and we would not be his first choice. Blaming Raiola and us having some high moral ground would just be saving face. No way our owners would sanction a deal this expensive even if we were the only team he wanted to play for.
Surely this summer we can buy two very good players, in other positions we are crying out for and pay them both well for less than the cost Haaland. Even this though I'm not sure we will successfully pull off.
Surely this summer we can buy two very good players, in other positions we are crying out for and pay them both well for less than the cost Haaland. Even this though I'm not sure we will successfully pull off.
Is Lewa not a proper Centre Forward?
Anyway, City are already working on a potential Haaland signing for this summer. If another team wants him they’ll have to enter the race quickly or the window of opportunity will be closing.
If City cannot get him their fallback options would be Lautaro Martinez or Joao Felix.
Nonsense. It wont be a bidding war, there hasnt been a bidding war since 1997. Convince the player to join you then negotiate with the club
I'm surprised that so many United fans are so unconfident about the possibility of signing Haaland. I actually think there's quite a feasible chance.
Granted, you probably have bigger areas that you need to improve in before you focus your attention on to a striker; a winger comes in to mind, as well as a centre back to play alongside Maguire. But you'd be foolish to not at least attempt to match us, and possibly Real, blow for blow because this lad is a generational talent. His like only come around once or twice every ten to fifteen years and for this reason, exceptions should be made in your transfer plan and model to get his signature. You can then focus on your other issues in subsequent windows. If he chooses someone else, then fair enough. There's nothing more you could've done.
I would definitely say that we are favourites to sign him, but for me United are a very close second. He's always wanted to play in the premier league and has already worked under Ole so that could definitely be a contributing factor. I only wonder if Ole will be strong enough to maintain his job throughout the entirety of next season. I've also observed from his character that he might prefer the more challenging job than the obvious counterpart in City. He would be guaranteed more game time and freedom at United than City, where his strengths would probably be integrated more within a system rather than being the main man. I think it's truly dependent on his own character and what he might think is the best next step for his development.
If he wants the challenge, United.
If we wants the philosophy and the finished article, City.
A move to Old Trafford is far more plausible than most of you seem to think.
Granted, you probably have bigger areas that you need to improve in before you focus your attention on to a striker; a winger comes in to mind, as well as a centre back to play alongside Maguire. But you'd be foolish to not at least attempt to match us, and possibly Real, blow for blow because this lad is a generational talent. His like only come around once or twice every ten to fifteen years and for this reason, exceptions should be made in your transfer plan and model to get his signature. You can then focus on your other issues in subsequent windows. If he chooses someone else, then fair enough. There's nothing more you could've done.
I would definitely say that we are favourites to sign him, but for me United are a very close second. He's always wanted to play in the premier league and has already worked under Ole so that could definitely be a contributing factor. I only wonder if Ole will be strong enough to maintain his job throughout the entirety of next season. I've also observed from his character that he might prefer the more challenging job than the obvious counterpart in City. He would be guaranteed more game time and freedom at United than City, where his strengths would probably be integrated more within a system rather than being the main man. I think it's truly dependent on his own character and what he might think is the best next step for his development.
If he wants the challenge, United.
If we wants the philosophy and the finished article, City.
A move to Old Trafford is far more plausible than most of you seem to think.
If I was a betting man, I’d wager he ends up at city. They’re losing Aguero this season so have a gaping hole at CF.
We’re crying out for more creativity anyway, we don’t create anywhere near enough to enable our strikers to score as it is, Grealish and/or sancho would make a huge difference.
We’re crying out for more creativity anyway, we don’t create anywhere near enough to enable our strikers to score as it is, Grealish and/or sancho would make a huge difference.
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