Sofyan Amrabat | signs for United on loan

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Amsterdam Devil

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It’s not an illogical idea but I just don’t see it happening a lot, possibly as an in-game switch if Antony is having a mare. Mostly I think we’ll see three out of Case, Bruno, Mount and Amrabat depending on form fitness and tactics.
And Eriksen and Mainoo, we’re getting some depth in our squad finally.
 

OrcaFat

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And Eriksen and Mainoo, we’re getting some depth in our squad finally.
Yeah I hope Eriksen finds some stamina from somewhere but if not he can be a game changer from the bench, I hope. Mainoo should be able to get some minutes if he continues his upward curve.

If we get Amrabat it makes a big difference to the depth imo because he is quality in the deeper part of midfield. At present, an injury to Casemiro leaves us rather exposed.
 

Bojan Djordjic

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The type of player who would give us a horrid time when playing against us, but if he’s in our team… I don’t know. He’s stronger and better on the ball than McT, less of a goal threat but I would much prefer relying on McT or Amrabat for goals. So if we can sell McT for 40m and bring Amrabat in for under 30m then it’s certainly good business. Plus he’s another warrior, so maybe not a significant upgrade playing wise but character wise could be good for the team.
Disagree because in fairness to McTominay, his biggest strength seems to be his character. Seems to have genuine leadership qualities and his post-match interviews were much better than Maguire's for example (not taking a cheap shot at Maguire).

McTominay is just not a very good player though. Think he was brought into the team by Mourinho to shame Pogba and get a rise out of him but somehow he's stuck around despite being neither a good fit or at the required level. He has a great physical profile but isn't very strong technically, has no creativity but is also a defensive liability as he can't sniff out runs and is one of the worst midfielders I've ever seen out of possession in that he never makes himself available for the football and frequently hides in cover shadows. Amrabat should be a big improvement. He retains the ball well (and not just through ultra conservatism) and can pass the ball forward through lines. If we can get rid of the lesser player and hire the superior player while making a profit, it will be a very good day's business.
 

Bojan Djordjic

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It wouldn’t merely be a surprise…it would be a shock. Casemiro was arguably our best player last year. His rough patches generally followed suspensions when he was working off rust. People, as usual, overreacted to those games. However, Casemiro raised our midfield play significantly last year. There was no player whose absence more impacted our play than Casemiro’s. His presence transformed this team. Without him last year, we might not have been top 6.
He was terrible after he came back from his big suspension (or was it an injury). Casemiro could develop into a big problem if his legs go like Eriksen's. His passing is way to erratic (swings between astoundingly good and bad often seconds apart), he's insecure in possession and he picks up way too many cards. At his best, he's up there as one of our best players but he was worryingly bad at the end of the season.
 

Witchking

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Good! I still haven't forgiven them for the draw at Upton Park in 94/95 allowing Blackburn to win the league. Game raising cnuts.
Or the 15-16 win against united which kicked us out of the cl spot.

Can't forget the stone pelting at the United bus and Lingard's socal media photo :mad:
 

Devil You Know

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"Talks are on player side"

So we're working on the contract before even considering talking to the club. It's been a big theme of our summer so far.

If it's true Amrabat wants to come here, hopefully this stage of the process won't take too long.
 

Adnan

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"Talks are on player side"

So we're working on the contract before even considering talking to the club. It's been a big theme of our summer so far.

If it's true Amrabat wants to come here, hopefully this stage of the process won't take too long.
The new football structure is now in place and they've had one year to prepare for the current window, so things are smoother. The only person late to the party was Matt Hargreaves who Murtough hired several months ago but he only started his new role as the chief negotiator on June the 12th.

Murtough has basically ripped Woodward's structure apart and replaced the football structure with ten Hag as the head coach, Mayorga & Wells running the recruitment department, Dominic Jordan head of data science, Andy O'Boyle assistant DoF, and Hargreaves as the head of negotiations.

And all the players that are being signed are a collective effort between the scouts, analysts and ten Hag. And Hojlund is a young striker who United's scouts in Denmark and Austria have been following for several years now. And scouts like Tommy Nielsen (sadly passed away) and Armand Benneker who either operated in Denmark or still operate in Austria (Benneker) have long been following the player, per reports.

Now we're waiting to see how the new players will fit into the team in the mid to long-term.
 
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croadyman

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Good! I still haven't forgiven them for the draw at Upton Park in 94/95 allowing Blackburn to win the league. Game raising cnuts.
For the older ones there was also that 1-0 win in 91/92 when Kenny Brown scored at Upton Park
 

Borys

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I feel Amrabat might only be a good Europa League level midfield rather than the next level up. His dribbling is interesting but have some concerns that it would be less impactful in the PL than in Serie A, a little one paced for that style in England I fear.

However if we can get him for a decent fee and a reasonable wage that would allow him to be shifted on if necessary then it is deffo worth a gamble.
Yeps my feeling as well. He seems all good all round player but nothing that will change us dramatically. Seems to be playing in much lower tempo as well. If he is defensively sound and can play deeper then it's sensible move talks about him replacing Casemiro are ridiculous. There are levels between them even if Casemiro is showing signs of decline.
 

mikeyt

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Imagine signing this guy and pipping Liverpool to Lavia with us selling VDB and Fred. Won't happen but would be nice.
 

Highfather_24

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Think this guy will be our last signing, apart from maybe a young backup GK.

I think/fear we are setting up Evans as the Maguire replacement for our 4/5th choice CB behind Varane, Martinez, Lindelof and Shaw.
 

Bondi77

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Amrabat will not sit on the bench he will play a lot of games because of his quality and versatility. The long term plan is that he takes over as elder statesman when Case moves on in a year or two. Mainoo will be coming through or we look to buy again in a couple of years. Lavia’s a good player, of course, but Amrabat is a better fit for us just now and very much fits the “long term plan”.

You probably heard EtH say that he is always planning for the long term. I guess you don’t like his plan but it exists.
Casemiro is on a loadsa money 5yr contract so he won't be going anywhere unless the oil money comes in for him and it makes sense to bring Amrabat in as he will get a lot of game time and Kobbie will have two experienced guys to learn from.
 

OrcaFat

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Casemiro is on a loadsa money 5yr contract so he won't be going anywhere unless the oil money comes in for him and it makes sense to bring Amrabat in as he will get a lot of game time and Kobbie will have two experienced guys to learn from.
Yeah. I was very much thinking of Saudi when I suggested Case will move on. Let’s hope he keeps his level up for a few years yet!
 

Sir Chapman

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Think this guy will be our last signing, apart from maybe a young backup GK.

I think/fear we are setting up Evans as the Maguire replacement for our 4/5th choice CB behind Varane, Martinez, Lindelof and Shaw.
Agree, Amrabat will be our final transfer if we sell Fred/McT/VDB (one, two or even all three of these) and we have a great combination of squad players.

I do not fear at all having Evans as backup as our 5th choice behind Varane, Martinez, Lindelof and Shaw. He is by no means worse than Maguire and, especially, doesn't earn 200k and came for free. With Evans and Mengi as backups, considering Maguire and Bailly leave, we have six players in total for two positions which is definitely enough.
 

wolvored

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What else can he say? "Im committed to joining Utd" and it doesnt materialise, would make him look stupid and alienate the fans. He has to play the 'who knows what the future holds' card, for now.
 

wolvored

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Casemiro is on a loadsa money 5yr contract so he won't be going anywhere unless the oil money comes in for him and it makes sense to bring Amrabat in as he will get a lot of game time and Kobbie will have two experienced guys to learn from.
Yes maybe the earliest he will move on is next summer, more likely the summer after, obviously depending if any drop off in play. Plus if we have decent new owners by then, they might want that shiny new thing that summer.
 

wolvored

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And Eriksen and Mainoo, we’re getting some depth in our squad finally.
Yes, but I think Eriksens role will go to Mount and he probably be a late sub coming on for 90% of the Premier/Ch Lge games. Domestic cup games he will probably be a starter though.
 

Crimson King

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Think this guy will be our last signing, apart from maybe a young backup GK.

I think/fear we are setting up Evans as the Maguire replacement for our 4/5th choice CB behind Varane, Martinez, Lindelof and Shaw.
I'm not sure, maybe if Maguire does leave late in the window that could be an option. We don't have a young up and coming CB to take that role, so I don't think it's the worse thing in the world.

Evans just feels like a signing where he's basically brought in to be semi-retired. He's still good enough to play PL so is useful to have in training, he won't expect to play and will be happy to be back at the club he grew up at and started it all with. He'll probably start to do a bit of coaching, maybe not officially at first, but maybe next season if he decides to retire.

Plus, his wife works for MUTV, so it might be more convenient for them as a family than maybe it was when he was at Leicester.
 

VP89

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Name me a better player analysis channel.
I dont have to. Youre acting like you've seen them all :lol
I get the support for a follow caf member but there's no need to go overboard.
 

Highlyevolved

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Disagree because in fairness to McTominay, his biggest strength seems to be his character. Seems to have genuine leadership qualities and his post-match interviews were much better than Maguire's for example (not taking a cheap shot at Maguire).

McTominay is just not a very good player though. Think he was brought into the team by Mourinho to shame Pogba and get a rise out of him but somehow he's stuck around despite being neither a good fit or at the required level. He has a great physical profile but isn't very strong technically, has no creativity but is also a defensive liability as he can't sniff out runs and is one of the worst midfielders I've ever seen out of possession in that he never makes himself available for the football and frequently hides in cover shadows. Amrabat should be a big improvement. He retains the ball well (and not just through ultra conservatism) and can pass the ball forward through lines. If we can get rid of the lesser player and hire the superior player while making a profit, it will be a very good day's business.
Agree on his character and your opinion on his technical qualities. However I feel that to level up the club and be able to compete with the likes of City across 4 competitions we need strength in depth. Realistically you’re not going to keep many happy with limited game time. McTominay I feel would be happy being a squad player, he’s committed but also aware of his own limitations, it would be a privilege for him being a part of the squad, in the same way a Phil Neville, or a Fletcher did in the past.

One area I would like to see explored more with him is his forward play. I believe he started his career in a forward role, he has excelled for Scotland when called into this role as well. He has physical attributes that could offer a different option in a forward role depending on the game, in late stages as an impact substitute for example, if we believe a team is vulnerable in set pieces, or dare I say, vulnerable to an old fashioned long ball, or their defence would be susceptible to some physical testing from us. In addition he has the ability to cover in both midfield and even in defence as we have seen. The ultimate substitute.

I believe he has high ability to read a game, and adjust his play to suit several positions, yes not in any way a world leader in any, but I would argue he could be a “world class”squad player if that makes sense.
 

OrcaFat

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Agree on his character and your opinion on his technical qualities. However I feel that to level up the club and be able to compete with the likes of City across 4 competitions we need strength in depth. Realistically you’re not going to keep many happy with limited game time. McTominay I feel would be happy being a squad player, he’s committed but also aware of his own limitations, it would be a privilege for him being a part of the squad, in the same way a Phil Neville, or a Fletcher did in the past.

One area I would like to see explored more with him is his forward play. I believe he started his career in a forward role, he has excelled for Scotland when called into this role as well. He has physical attributes that could offer a different option in a forward role depending on the game, in late stages as an impact substitute for example, if we believe a team is vulnerable in set pieces, or dare I say, vulnerable to an old fashioned long ball, or their defence would be susceptible to some physical testing from us. In addition he has the ability to cover in both midfield and even in defence as we have seen. The ultimate substitute.

I believe he has high ability to read a game, and adjust his play to suit several positions, yes not in any way a world leader in any, but I would argue he could be a “world class”squad player if that makes sense.
The first part of this post seems to be an argument for keeping McT because he isn’t good enough to get in the team but will be happy anyway.

The second part doesn’t follow from the first, surely?! He can never be world class at anything. That’s not to say he won’t be useful to have around if we get a spate of injuries. I’d rather we sold him but with Mainoo already injured it wouldn’t be a disaster if he stayed as long as it doesn’t prevent us bringing Amrabat in.

For his own sake he should leave before he turns round and finds he spent most of his career as a rarely-used sub.
 

Abraxas

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It may take a while till Fred or VDB leaves (if at all). Season may well have started already by that time - we need Amrabat earlier
I'm not sure we absolutely "need" Amrabat earlier. We have all of the same midfield options available to us that did reasonably well last season plus the addition of Mount.

It can run its course right down the last day if necessary as long as we're in contact with the player and ensuring there aren't any other moves for him.
 

OrcaFat

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I'm not sure we absolutely "need" Amrabat earlier. We have all of the same midfield options available to us that did reasonably well last season plus the addition of Mount.

It can run its course right down the last day if necessary as long as we're in contact with the player and ensuring there aren't any other moves for him.
They didn’t do reasonably well! Not to my eyes.

If Case was absent or below par we were pretty terrible in MF for the most part. We have lots of MF options but they are all a bit turd-ish. Before Eriksen ran out gas we looked great with Case, Eriksen and Bruno. Beyond those three, there was near collapse. Mount has come in to compete with Eriksen and will win his place most of the time. We’re still light in deeper MF.

Amrabat is inexpensive. I think we’ll find a way to bring him in.
 

croadyman

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I'm not sure we absolutely "need" Amrabat earlier. We have all of the same midfield options available to us that did reasonably well last season plus the addition of Mount.

It can run its course right down the last day if necessary as long as we're in contact with the player and ensuring there aren't any other moves for him.
Surely with Fred's valuation dropped that will finally see some actual movement on this
 
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