Luckhurst: United prepared to move for a holding midfielder in January

[rotherham_red]

Next summer it is then...

Considering we only have two major needs, I should hope that we are able to get them in.

Rice and Haaland would be amazing.

 

[Sandikan]

Next summer it is then...

Considering we only have two major needs, I should hope that we are able to get them in.

Rice and Haaland would be amazing.

These "major" needs never end though.

We had "major needs" for a top centre back, goalscorer and right winger this summer!

 

[caid]

Not if Bruno insists on this second striker position he's been taking up more and more. If he plays more like he did earlier on with us then yes because you'll actually have a player that Pogba can connect play through instead of having to pull of worldly long passes to find our forwards every time.

Even if he finds Bruno, Bruno is immediately going to play a first time pass forward or shoot. Cause thats how he rolls. Pogba is much the same. They're not patient players who are going to hog possession and wait for the perfect opening, they wont give you the 60%+ possession stats that protect your defence from being countered every 5 mins. Even ignoring that, you're still looking for a dm who can get the ball forward when a midfield of both Fred and Pogba cant.

 

[Flytan]

These "major" needs never end though.

We had "major needs" for a top centre back, goalscorer and right winger this summer!

Yup its almost certain another need or two creeps up this season. Shaw hasn't started well. Who knows about our goalkeeping situation (ddg started out fine) and rb is already a minor need. Pogba may leave and I think we need two midfielders already unless Fred remembers how to play. Matic probably leaves too

 

[Sandikan]

Yup its almost certain another need or two creeps up this season. Shaw hasn't started well. Who knows about our goalkeeping situation (ddg started out fine) and rb is already a minor need. Pogba may leave and I think we need two midfielders already unless Fred remembers how to play. Matic probably leaves too

I think we all need to accept that we'll always be 2 midfielders away from a top midfield.

 

[Flytan]

I think we all need to accept that we'll always be 2 midfielders away from a top midfield.

It has been like that for 12 years or so now hasn't it? Except for that 2 month period when matic first got here

 

[Sandikan]

It has been like that for 12 years or so now hasn't it? Except for that 2 month period when matic first got here

I think a lot of people had dismissed Matic as "declining" even before he got here

 

[CG1010]

We are setting up as an aggressive boxer who attacks more than they defend. And sure we will take a lot of blows but we will try and make sure we hit harder. Last game's failing wasn't as much as midfield control but failing to consistently threaten due to poor wing play and Pogba's role in the first half. Which were both rectified in the second half with Cavani and Martial coming in, and Pogba raising his game. Like it or not, this is how we will be playing and the role of our midfield would be to protect our defense and chug the ball along as much as they can, while the transition from defence to attack would be done by Shaw and AWB.

 

[DutchCruijff]

£20m for James + £20m for Lingard (or just less than that), surely we should be going for a CDM over the next few hours.

Especially if Saul is a potential loan. Just chuck £10m + an option to buy for £20m (they're looking for £35m permanent)

 

[Blood Mage]

Idiocy from the club to waste a year with Ronaldo by not fixing the midfield issue now. But it's the kind of idiocy we've come to expect under this ownership.

 

[groovyalbert]

£20m for James + £20m for Lingard (or just less than that), surely we should be going for a CDM over the next few hours.

Especially if Saul is a potential loan. Just chuck £10m + an option to buy for £20m (they're looking for £35m permanent)

Saul is not the midfielder we need to accommodate a midfield including both Bruno and Pogba. We would need someone far more defensive.

 

[Noc-Z]

Saying pair was my bad. I don't specifically mean a double pivot with AM or a midfield 3 with two 8s because I don't know which will be best. But I'd like us to definitely try a DM with Pogba and Bruno as the two 8s and if it doesn't work then we should revert back to the double pivot but with the new DM and one of Fred/Vdb/Scott while Pogba goes to the left midfield

Ah yes, I agree with you then 2 x is and a CDM is what I want to see too.

 

[djembatheking]

I think we all need to accept that we'll always be 2 midfielders away from a top midfield.

The United Way.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

I think I'm setting myself up for disappointment hoping the James sale is the sale reports say we need to fund a midfielder. Even though this selling James is probably to cover the Ronaldo money

 

[DutchCruijff]

Saul is not the midfielder we need to accommodate a midfield including both Bruno and Pogba. We would need someone far more defensive.

Why not? I don't see Pogba playing centrally. He's better off as a LW with Fernandes #10 and a double pivot of two central midfielders, Saul can do the job there.

In the case of more so open matches, can have Pogba go back central with McTominay who he partners reasonably well with.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

It’s mental that I’m still going to be disappointed with this window if we don’t sign a midfielder

I think it’s fine. This window has been fantastic but think how much more we would get out of our attacking talent (Rashford Sancho Ronaldo Greenwood Cavani etc) if we had a CM with the same quality as the rest of our squad.

I rate McTominay but he shouldn’t be the guaranteed starter that he will be, and beyond him you’re relying on Fred to improve greatly overnight, Van De Beek to come from the abyss, or Matic to discover a Ronaldo lifestyle that takes 5 years off him.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

£20m for James + £20m for Lingard (or just less than that), surely we should be going for a CDM over the next few hours.

Especially if Saul is a potential loan. Just chuck £10m + an option to buy for £20m (they're looking for £35m permanent)

Doesn't seem to be much interest for Lingard judging by the latest updates. Last I heard of any interest was when we signed Ronaldo, and that update was about how West Ham were thinking of low balling us with a 15m offer because they thought we'd need the cash after signing Ronaldo.

 

[lysglimt]

The fact we havent signed a central midfielder thus window demonstrates we still arent a serious football club. Still not sure why we signed donny when ole seems to think he can only play in brunos position

Signing ronaldo is good but find it hard to shake the belief it was driven by the glazers commercial interests rather than for football reasons

The fact that you write stuff like this demonstrates that you aren't serious enough not to be a newbie.

 

[Affirmation]

A lot of speculation going about that we are trying to get Kalvin Phillips included in the deal with Leeds, not seen any reliable journalists reporting it though.

 

[ReallyUSA]

The fact that you write stuff like this demonstrates that you aren't serious enough not to be a newbie.

Bully

 

[RetroStu]

It’s mental that I’m still going to be disappointed with this window if we don’t sign a midfielder

Midfield has always been one of those problems with us since the Carrick and Scholes days, and we have never really adressed it. We tried with Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin whihc didnt really work out, but apart from those 2 centre midfield has been a problem area where for whatever reason we dont really address it, we always concentrate on the wings, strikers, and defence .

 

[Walters_19_MuFc]

It’s mental that I’m still going to be disappointed with this window if we don’t sign a midfielder

Haha, it's crazy, right. Don't even think i'd be able to pull this window off on fifa but we do really need a midfielder.

We have offloaded James. Potentially Lingard and Martial and we're looking at minimum 60M.

Can Ole spring one more surprise? Watch this space!

 

[lysglimt]

Bully

"The fact we havent signed a central midfielder thus window demonstrates we still arent a serious football club"

We have signed Ronaldo, Sancho and Varane - and he says we are not a serious football club. In fact I was kind to him

 

[Ikon]

I think a lot of people had dismissed Matic as "declining" even before he got here

My Chelsea mates certainly did, they had been saying for 12 months previously, that he was on the wane and his legs were not what they once were.
Yet here we are 4 years on....haha

 

[Sandikan]

"The fact we havent signed a central midfielder thus window demonstrates we still arent a serious football club"

We have signed Ronaldo, Sancho and Varane - and he says we are not a serious football club. In fact I was kind to him

I think he'll realise his error when he signs in and sees 73 notifications basically saying "you clown - what rot".

 

[Sandikan]

My Chelsea mates certainly did, they had been saying for 12 months previously, that he was on the wane and his legs were not what they once were.
Yet here we are 4 years on....haha

He'll be here another couple of years yet I'm sure.

Mata gets renewed every year for goodness sake, and he turned up with zero mobility.

 

[Judas]

Big day tomorrow.

 

[We need an rvn]

I think we all need to accept that we'll always be 2 midfielders away from a top midfield.

we weren't with Keane / Scholes and shame we are now blessed with an amazing array of attacking talent, defence but central def mid is the worst out of the top 4....yet of all the positions this is the one I would address first

 

[ThinkTank@Cafe]

Watching a Five episode. While discussing Fred‘s performance, Rio literally said: “we need a player who prevents trouble“, rather than a player who can sniff the danger and attack.
If we sign someone he should fit Rio’s description in my opinion.

 

[UTD_Since_1978]

I think lingard and James will move. Saul on loan would be worth the risk but it seems unlikely we will see any more players coming in.

You just know that loads of EPL clubs will make deadline day signings right up to the wire (it happens every summer), I see no reason why UTD should not be one of those EPL clubs doing last minute business, we will find out tomorrow but we all know a quality midfielder is needed.

 

[red thru&thru]

Just listened to the latest Vibe with Five and 0 on about any transfer incomings from Rio.

Clearly people misunderstood what Rio said the other day.

 

[Sandikan]

Just listened to the latest Vibe with Five and 0 on about any transfer incomings from Rio.

Clearly people misunderstood what Rio said the other day.

He said their show was the only place to spend tomorrow.
And that was the "Only hint" he'd give.

So there's something happening, but it'd be massively optimistic to think we're suddenly going to bring another player in after Ronaldo.

 

[UTD_Since_1978]

It’s mental that I’m still going to be disappointed with this window if we don’t sign a midfielder

I still give it 8 out of 10 despite Sancho being pants so far, 10 out of 10 if we get a quality midfielder who will be an instant starter instead of Fred.

 

[rotherham_red]

These "major" needs never end though.

We had "major needs" for a top centre back, goalscorer and right winger this summer!

I disagree. We had massive holes in the first XI last season in the DM, RW, CB areas and they were areas which have needed resolving for years, some of them for almost a decade. We got most of those sorted now, and most are at a decent age. The team is at a young age. The plan will be for them to grow together and coalesce into a unit.

Of course, we'll need to buy here and there to refresh but the core of the team is pretty well set for the foreseeable. All we'll need to do is refresh the pieces around it here and there, but the actual back breaking team building element, which is the hard part, should be done next year if those above the manager do their jobs properly.

 

[Paxi]

Surely 30 million for James will mean that we will go for a midfielder?

 

[rotherham_red]

It’s mental that I’m still going to be disappointed with this window if we don’t sign a midfielder

I'd rate it at a strong 7.5, borderline 8/10

The good thing is we don't have to look too strenuously to know where our focus will be next year

 

[Sandikan]

Surely 30 million for James will mean that we will go for a midfielder?

Why surely?
Surely it's just as likely we're using that 30m to deal with Ronaldo's wages, fee, and Varane & Sancho outlays.

 

[TMDaines]

I'd rate it at a strong 7.5, borderline 8/10

The good thing is we don't have to look too strenuously to know where our focus will be next year

If our focus next summer is not Haaland, I'll be very surprised. That doesn't mean I think we will sign him, but whatever happens that will dominate our focus until he has moved somewhere.

 

[Paxi]

Why surely?
Surely it's just as likely we're using that 30m to deal with Ronaldo's wages, fee, and Varane & Sancho outlays.

Because it will take our net spend to under 100 million. Therefore, we should have enough for a midfielder.

 

[Fooza]

Because it will take our net spend to under 100 million. Therefore, we should have enough for a midfielder.

As much as I'd want that, I have a feeling it'll go on Ronaldo's wages