What about the dutchman Koopmeiners? I wouldn't mind a deep lying playmaker along with de jong.
Have we signed anyone yet? | Yes, with stupid tax
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I imagine our scouting Dept being handed a list by ETH and a couple days later they just changed the font and presented it to murtough as their own analysis. They are stealing a living that lot. 
if we somehow bag de Jong, Malacia and Eriksen this week, things all of a sudden don't look so grim anymore. It's still a big "if", but dare I say there's some ground for optimism right now.
went to Atalanta last summer I think
Hopefully this thread can die soon. It lasted too long.
Am I being too optimistic in thinking by this time next week we could have Malacia, De Jong and Eriksen all signed?
Hopefully then working on a couple of other players (Martinez and Antony?)
Not to be too greedy, but RB is an absolute must for me this Summer too.
Am I being too optimistic in thinking by this time next week we could have Malacia, De Jong and Eriksen all signed?
Hopefully then working on a couple of other players (Martinez and Antony?)
Not to be too greedy, but RB is an absolute must for me this Summer too.
behind liverpool, villa, arsenal, leeds, brighton, wet ham, forest, city, wolves, southampton, spurs and newcastle.Have I forgotten anyone? (Chelsea haven't done any confirmed business yet but looks as if there's will come in a rush)
This is a really important point. Teams that were either ahead of us or close behind have already strengthened, whilst we have weakened our squad.
De Jong and Malacia should make a big difference, but I don't think they even cover the loss of Pogba, Cavani and Matic. Then of course we also have the generational talent Greenwood who may never return.
We almost certainly have to rule him out this season. First there is the question of if and when a charge does come and let's assume by this point there is enough that something is coming, which would then leave the question of how long would a court case take. It would have to be scheduled and play out over a presumably long time.
If we put it in simple numbers that is 4 regulars out, 1 in and 1 who might be and if it is a might you are really comparing more to Lingard and Mata!
I guess we have a Garner who might offset some of Matic and maybe you take a chance on a Garnacho to replace Cavani as the backup, but no sensible person can tell you that this isn't a downgrade in both cases initially.
Cavani may have been injured a lot, but he scored important goals and is clearly elite class. Those are heavy boots to fill. Although last year he only got 2 in 20, so I think that can easily be covered. Its the 17 in 39 that stands out more on his first season, especially as many of those appearances were as a sub.
There’s always one. I’ll repeat, patience is your friend.
actually he’s probably not now after your posts this summer
we just need to get that reserve youthteam GK over the line, and then the dominoes will fall....
We might have 3 in by next week. I think it’s time to start enjoying the rebuild, one that seems to be actually well thought out and not the scatter gun approach of the past. I think we’re all cynical after a decade of failure but it seems things are trending in the right direction and many of us (including myself) are about to have our negativity proven wrong.
What's that in Celsius?
I’m feeling way more relaxed now, could have 3 players done before the end of this week. (FDJ, Malacia and Eriksen)
then I think the rest of the window will be taken up by us trying to get Ajax to bend over in a double swoop of Antony and Martinez.
then I think the rest of the window will be taken up by us trying to get Ajax to bend over in a double swoop of Antony and Martinez.
nice to have a fellow Cavani fan here - he seems to be latest in a line of "let's blame xx" - following in the footsteps of Carrick and Rooney!
I'd like to see Garnacho given a chance although I don't think he's the No.9 we need. I don't think we'll miss Pogba much: he didn't do anything last season and has never been the world-class player at OT some thought he was
I'll believe it when I see it.
Still no business complete and very few outwards rumours. The closer than close deals look good, but still arguably worse than last season for now. More work needed.
My whole damn year has involved difficulty and patience. Now is the time for momentum! I need positivity!
Ten Hag with sales alone improves us. Football isn't played on paper, and our biggest downfall last year was squad harmony, an overly bloated squad, and shit coaching. That's all solved without signings. Then Frenkie de Jong alone is the first time since Carrick that we have an actual playmaker who is a natural at picking the ball up off the defenders and starting plays (assuming we get it over the line). Seriously. Don't underestimate the impact of the right manager and finally having a midfielder like him.
Don't underestimate the negative impact of a bloated either. You're saying that Pogba/Cavani/Matić aren't even replaced so we are "weaker" than last season? They contributed feck all last season. Them not existing doesn't make us weaker. If anything, the negativity they provided (not Matic) not being around anymore is more a help than whatever they did in their limited time on the pitch.
Anyway, comparing squad before vs after over different managers is entirely pointless. Our entire team last year was "shit". They aren't all shit players. A new coach should improve them massively right off the bat, provided they fit. No reason to suggest that guys like Sancho won't absolutely thrive under Ten Hag and look every bit a world class player. So yeah. On paper before the season last year, many would have said that we should be comfortably 3rd but they wouldn't put us top 2 due to the massive manager difference. Well, hopefully now that is no longer a big negative difference for us. Because on paper, we still have some very good players, and if you plug the gaps with the players we are linked with, then it starts to look extremely encouraging. De Jong for example is instantly up there with the best midfielders in the league if used correctly (which ten hag will). Sancho has the talent to be one of the best wide players in the league. Shaw 2 years ago was up there with the best left backs, and then had an injury riddled year. We're replacing our shit backup with a highly rated younger fullback in Malacia. Varane has been a world class CB for a decade, but the whole system around him was a disaster so you can't look good in that. And so on. You're comparing teams who were not too far off from us for most of the season, but it's a season where we were a complete disaster, while they were decent on the balance. So you fix the manager/squad harmony so we aren't a disaster, and you're back to an even keel, at the very least.
It’s coming!
when the de Jong and Malacia double announcement takes place i think everyone will be happy and with a slight sense of relief....
i certainly hope we see a few players sold as well which may help with the signings of a couple more players of need at CB and Forward
i certainly hope we see a few players sold as well which may help with the signings of a couple more players of need at CB and Forward
Good post. Not saying that buying good players who can instantly improve the team is not important, but the relative importance of it is very commonly overstated here (as opposed to improving existing players, signing players with potential, tactics, squad cohesion etc).
For instance, summer 2006 springs to mind. We finished 2nd behind Chelsea, lost RvN and signed only Carrick who was a good player but hardly a star and many were unsure about him at the time. At the same time Chelsea signed Ballack, Shevchenko and Cole. So on paper we should have fallen further behind, yet we all know what happened.
What I am saying is that even if the squad feels thin after many departures, there very fact of us signing, let us say, only 3 players this summer would not be indicative of us going into wrong direction at all. I would rather see us promoting youth, playing attractive recognizable brand of football, improving existing players (maybe not achieving great results first seasion) and then making further signings over next transer windoes, than buying 6-7 players at once with many good on paper but most of whom ending up as misfits and continuing with disjointed, bloated and unbalanced squad.
Hindsight is 20/20 but there were multiple transfer windows under all of LvG, Jose and Ole with which Caf was very happy only for the majority of the signings (many of whom on paper very good or even world class players) joining everyone's deadwood lists 1-2 years later. Remember excitement over Di Maria and Falcao? Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin? Pogba? Lukaku? Alexis? Ole's "brexit window" of 2019? And, of course, last summer. At the time the vast majority here (myself included) were quite optimistic and excited. It is not like after each transfer window after Fergie everyone immediately recognized that it won't end well, far from it.
At the same time we were hardly panicking en masse when Klopp was signing Mane and Salah as neither of them was perceived as world beater they became. Our failure over the years has NOT been the "on paper" quality of the signings but (leaving obvious elephants at the top aside) rather improving the players at the club, identifying players with potential AND improving them once they come stemming from the failure to install a proper structure similar to other top clubs and corresponding poor manager choices.
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Today is a huge day. We haven't gone a whole June without a signing since 2010!
Its a huge transfer window for us and progress needs to be taking off.
Rivals who have strengthened already are lining up their next big moves.
Its a huge transfer window for us and progress needs to be taking off.
Rivals who have strengthened already are lining up their next big moves.
What the hell are those Ronaldo reports 
I am expecting the official announcement of FDJ, Malacia, Eriksen this week.
Anyone else a little underwhelmed with who we're going for? There is a lack of forwards being touted apart from Antony. We really can't afford to go into the season relying on players like Rashford, Martial and Elanga imo. The jury is still out on Sancho too tbh but I like him.
An injury to our 37/38 year old forward and we’re fecked. Its a World Cup year too, our lack of depth is worrying.
An injury to our 37/38 year old forward and we’re fecked. Its a World Cup year too, our lack of depth is worrying.
Let’s keep the faith here.
It seems reasonable that FDJ is the initial piece of the puzzle ETH has insisted on as our first signing. That sounds like a matter of when not if. The fact we’re in for Eriksen as well suggests there will be another addition in midfield no matter if he comes to us or stays at Brentford.
The Antony links suggests a forward will be on the way, plus we have Garnacho who I think will show what he’s got over the coming season.
If we’re looking at Martinez as well it sounds like a defensive focused player is on the way as well.
I don’t really see any major gaps here. For a first window I would assess that as our major needs being filled and with players ETH trusts and rates.
As long as we get De Jong, another midfielder, and a forward, those are my bare minimum for a decent window.
I’m getting hyped up even watching the way he takes training. Can’t wait for the pre season game at Trafford, should be such a positive moment and hopefully a turning point after last year.
It seems reasonable that FDJ is the initial piece of the puzzle ETH has insisted on as our first signing. That sounds like a matter of when not if. The fact we’re in for Eriksen as well suggests there will be another addition in midfield no matter if he comes to us or stays at Brentford.
The Antony links suggests a forward will be on the way, plus we have Garnacho who I think will show what he’s got over the coming season.
If we’re looking at Martinez as well it sounds like a defensive focused player is on the way as well.
I don’t really see any major gaps here. For a first window I would assess that as our major needs being filled and with players ETH trusts and rates.
As long as we get De Jong, another midfielder, and a forward, those are my bare minimum for a decent window.
I’m getting hyped up even watching the way he takes training. Can’t wait for the pre season game at Trafford, should be such a positive moment and hopefully a turning point after last year.
I think we should temper our expectations for this year. We just need a solid enough window to start the rebuild and go from there. There are quite a positions we are short of and lots of work to be done
Top 4 looks tough anyway with Chelsea and Spurs looking very strong going into next season. I think we can't go in with 5-6 signings to try and fix everything in one go. It's a process where we look to bridge the gap to those above us over 2-3 windows
Top 4 looks tough anyway with Chelsea and Spurs looking very strong going into next season. I think we can't go in with 5-6 signings to try and fix everything in one go. It's a process where we look to bridge the gap to those above us over 2-3 windows
All I know is if we can replace Pogba and Lingard with FDJ and Eriksen…. It will be the best business since SAF left!!
Saying that, in terms of relative strength of the PL and to compete for top 4, we need more!!
A quick player able to dribble past people like Sancho (not Rashford who just smash into defenders as his ball control is hideous) on RW!
We need a DM and need a defender who can play in different positions and systems!!
If we get the above, with ETH at the helm, we should be good contenders for 3rd spot
Saying that, in terms of relative strength of the PL and to compete for top 4, we need more!!
A quick player able to dribble past people like Sancho (not Rashford who just smash into defenders as his ball control is hideous) on RW!
We need a DM and need a defender who can play in different positions and systems!!
If we get the above, with ETH at the helm, we should be good contenders for 3rd spot
I am underwhelmed we aren’t seemingly linked to any RB/CDM's, in regards to forwards I just don't think after Nunez there are many decent options
Are we planning to see someone? Pereira and Hendo are the only ones so far who have offers. Jones, Martial, AWB, Bailly, Telles were the ones who we want to sell by the rumours. But there is nothing about them so far
We would definitely be very fecked if Ronaldo is out for weeks.
Who are we gonna play up top, Rashford? Martial?
Who are we gonna play up top, Rashford? Martial?
Great Post
Could be -17.8 Celcius or 32 Farenheit or 273.15 kelvinThat IS in Celsius. In Fahrenheit it's 32
Totally agree, I mean, even our potential star signing this summer (FdJ) was (by all accounts) very average last season for Barca & his stats for last season were as bad as Fred & Mc T & that's really saying something...I consider myself...underwhelmed with a capital UNDER.
... Nope!
So any chance of #TyrellThursday and #FrenkieFriday over the next 24 hours? I’m sure the United social media are gagging to get that going.
Don't do this. I think 4th is VERY best scenario this coming season.
Very quiet day today isn't it
Calm before the storm.........hopefully.
We will end June without signing or selling a single player. Just saying..
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