What do we still need? Aka The never ending story

Better wingers. Our wide goalscorers are pretty poor.

I think that overall this might sound crazy but we need to go the Chelsea way with transfer policies in a way. Of course I don’t mean pay crazy money but United have to accept that this rebuild will take a long time and won’t be easy. Stop signing old players on big contracts would be the first idea. The garbage idea of experience needs to be put away. Accept that we would be middling for a while but you need to buy players who under the right manager will peak in 2-3 years time

3 x Cb’s
1 x RB
1 x LB
1 x DM
3 x CM
1 x RW
1 x ST
1 x LW

Since there is no way we could bring in people for all these positions in 1 window, order of importance and who is available comes in to play.

For me we need at least 2 Cb’s this window and 3 midfielders, then the back up striker. We are going to have to get creative.

Issue is there are players available this summer that would make sense but are in different positions. We need a new RW and Olise fits that bill at a decent price. Just seems like there are other more important positions even though it in itself is not in a great position.

Frimpong if he wanted to move is available for 42mil. He’d add a lot to us at RB, but again we could probably lumber through with what we have.

Striker, I know many would like a more seasoned striker but if Sesko has a buyout of 42 then again probably a good bit of buisness to do.

But central defence and midfield is just a shambles and has been for a while. We desperately need first team quality and bench options in there.

Its just an absolute mess.

First of all, Tuchel in, ten hag out.
Player wise...
Outgoing

• Maguire
• Varane
• Lindelof
• Casemiro
• Mount
• Eriksen
• Van de beek
• Hannibal
• Sancho
• Antony
• Martial
• Pellistri
• Greenwood

Incomings

• Toney
• Todibo
• Tosin Adarabioyo
• Miguel Guttierez
• Onana
• Andre
• If there's a buyer for Rashford, replace with Nico Williams.

Squad of:
Onana, Altay, Heaton/youth GK
Dalot, Wan Bissaka
Todibo, Tosin, Martinez, Shaw*, Kambwala
Guttierez, Malacia, Shaw*
Onana, McTominay, Mainoo, Andre, Bruno
Garnacho, Rashford/Williams, Amad
Toney, Hojlund

22 man squad for a club not in European competitions is more than enough.

Ayush_reddevil said:

I think that overall this might sound crazy but we need to go the Chelsea way with transfer policies in a way. Of course I don’t mean pay crazy money but United have to accept that this rebuild will take a long time and won’t be easy. Stop signing old players on big contracts would be the first idea. The garbage idea of experience needs to be put away. Accept that we would be middling for a while but you need to buy players who under the right manager will peak in 2-3 years time

Click to expand...

I agree. Look at where Chelsea are now? Yes it will take some time for things to gel and click but I think we can all agree the squad needs gutting and with a lot of the squads contracts in selling territory (ie. Only 0-2 years left) we should act aggressively this summer IMO.

New manager.

Guirassy - 15m
Olise - 55m
Joao Neves - 85m
cheap defensive mid, maybe Guido Rodriguez (free)
Todibo or Bremer - 45m
another cheap or free centre back
another cheap winger

roughly 240m spent

sell Sancho (30-40m), Greenwood (30m) , Antony (20m) , Pellistri (7m) , Hannibal (7m) , A.Carreras (6m)

Roughly 105m brought in.

So around 135m net spend.

We could obviously sell a few more too.
Surely doable.

I would take Tuchel at this stage on a short contract.

Wilcox will surely see that we need at least one new winger.

To become a PL contender we need a complete overhaul of the squad, which will probably take 4 seasons at a minimum.

But to challenge for top six, we need a CDM and CB. And a striker. If Shaw returns to fitness, a backup LB although I do like Alvaro.

Do that and of course a proper manager and we can return to top six glory.

Andersons Dietician said:

3 x Cb’s
1 x RB
1 x LB
1 x DM
3 x CM
1 x RW
1 x ST
1 x LW

Since there is no way we could bring in people for all these positions in 1 window, order of importance and who is available comes in to play.

For me we need at least 2 Cb’s this window and 3 midfielders, then the back up striker. We are going to have to get creative.

Issue is there are players available this summer that would make sense but are in different positions. We need a new RW and Olise fits that bill at a decent price. Just seems like there are other more important positions even though it in itself is not in a great position.

Frimpong if he wanted to move is available for 42mil. He’d add a lot to us at RB, but again we could probably lumber through with what we have.

Striker, I know many would like a more seasoned striker but if Sesko has a buyout of 42 then again probably a good bit of buisness to do.

But central defence and midfield is just a shambles and has been for a while. We desperately need first team quality and bench options in there.

Its just an absolute mess.

Click to expand...

So much needed but I don’t see why 7 or 8 can’t be done this summer.

In defence, I think CBs are our biggest issue tactically and in terms of fitness - so I think getting 3 CBs in with at least one being comfortable at RB (Geertruida). That being said if Frimpong is interested then you’d have to go get him but I struggle to see it happening. LB is an interesting one, I don’t see us selling Shaw or getting the kind of offer we would want and I don’t see any club touching Malacia. Probs best hoping Malacia is more available next year and give Amass some more opportunities.

Out: Maguire, Lindelof, Varane, AWB, Alvaro (50m)

In: Todibo, Geertruida, Tosin/Kelly (70m)

In midfield, Casemiro appears to be done, Amrabat was never good enough and McTominay is a hindrance to how any top team should want to play. A proper ball winner to give us some grit in midfield like Ugarte or Hjulmand is the most important signing here. Then IMO we have the option getting a 6/8 like Thuram along with a young 8/10 prospect like Doue, or going for O’Riley at Celtic as more of straight 8 and a young 6/DLP like Zambrano. Both options give us a nicely balanced set of midfielders.

Out: Casemiro, Amrabat, McTominay, Hannibal, Donny, Eriksen (80m)

In: Ugarte/Hjulmand, O’Riley/Thuram, Doue/Zambrano (105m)

Forward line is pretty straight forward. 100% need another CF and Toney makes a lot of sense as someone who’s experienced in the league and can rotate with Hojlund. I expect one of Antony or Amad to leave, but if we can’t shift Antony we can maybe use Amad in the Olise conversations. The other ours are pretty self explanatory.

Out: Pellistri, Martial, Antony/Amad, Sancho, Greenwood (100m)

In: Olise, Toney (110m)


This would give us a 24 man squad of something like…

Onana, Bayindir, Harrison

Dalot, Geertruida, Todibo, Kelly, Martinez, Kambwala/Evans, Shaw, Malacia, Amass

Mainoo, Hjulmand, Thuram, Doue, Mount, Bruno (+ youth in emergencies)

Rashford, Garnacho, Olise, Antony, Hojlund, Toney (+ youth in emergencies)


I’d be pretty happy and confident going into the season with that group of players. I also think despite the number of new faces, there’s a good enough balance of prem experience given 3 of the 8 signings are from Prem sides and the new faces this year have a season under their belt.

For a £55m net spend who says no?

Can't sell Antony he's on to much money he won't go .. Casimero can go Maguire, lindelof Eriksen , Amrabat can go back he's pants as well, can't sell Mount he's on silly money..

I'd only keep .. Mainoo, Garnacho, Højlund ,Bruno, Martinez, Dalot AWB, Willy , the rest can go but you can't get rid of them all.

Eth can first. And take that Keeper with him

BusbyMalone said:

A plan

Click to expand...

This was back in 2018.

Michael Olise
Joao Neves
Exequiel Palacios
Jean-Clair Todibo
Santiago Gimenez

I'm on Transfermarkt, looking at contracts expiring. 24 and 25 are very lean but 26 looks like a good cohort of players that could be potentially available.

Emile Smith Rowe - Contract ends in 24 months, see if he would run it down etc.

Andre - We should be signing this guy, not trying to sign him in two years time for £80m

Aït-Nouri - Left back cover, Shaw and Malacia cannot stay fit.

Tammy Abraham - PL proven, strong, quick, will probably want to come back to England, wouldn't break the bank.

GK: We're good

RB: AWB should be sold (15m?) as he's heading into his last year of contract. We should go for Frimpong (34m - minimum fee clause)
CB: Varane is leaving, Evans is ancient, Martinez has been injured for a long time while Lindelof and Maguire (10-15m) are at their last year of contract. We need at least 2 CBs. I'd go for Todibo (40m), Tosin (free agent) while keeping Lindelof for the remainder of his career. If we do manage to find a buyer for Lindelof then we should cash in and bring someone like Kelly on a free.
LB: Shaw had always been injury prone and we haven't seen Malacia for a year. I'd go for Leif Davis. He's ripping the Championship apart this season and he's got just 1 year left in his contract (15m)

DM: Casemiro should leave. Fingers crossed we can get 20m for him. I'd get Onana to replace him. Everton needs to cash in so maybe we can get him for 40m.
MC: McT should be sold at this point and Eriksen should leave as well. Hopefully we get 30m-40m for the pair. I'd get Thuram from Nice as cheap cover/competitor for Mainoo. He's got 1 year left in his contract, he's a decent B2B and well, he's from Nice.

RW: Greenwood and Sancho are out. We hopefully get 60-70m from the pair and I try to cut my losses with Anthony. Meanwhile I'd add Olise for 60m.
LW: I doubt we'll be able to sell Rashford. With Garnacho there as well then I think we're set in that position

STK: We need someone on the cheap who doesn't mind playing the squad player role. My favorites are Jonathan David (1 year left in his contract), Vitor Roque (his agent is furious that he's not getting enough game play. Maybe a loan + right to buy might cut it) and Guirassy (17m minimum fee clause)

Summary

Out: AWB (15m), Maguire (15m), Casemiro (20m), McT (30M), Eriksen (5m), Greenwood (35m), Sancho (35m)- 140m
IN: Frimpong (34m), Todibo (40m), Tosin (free), Davis (15m), Onana (50m), Thuram (20m), Olise (60m), David (35m) - 264m

Considering that we'll reduce salaries significantly and certain fees can be broken in very comfortable installments (especially regarding Todibo and Thuram). Then I can see us adhere to a 100m + sales net spend.

We can assume that all of Martial, Varane, Evans, Williams and Amrabat leaves for free when their contracts expires in the summer. I think that only Heaton would be offered another year as a 3rd GK, from the ones on expiring contracts.
Lindelof, Wan Bissaka, Eriksen and Alvaro Fernandez all enter their last year so I assume they will all be sold, hopefully for a combined 35m approximatley.
Then we have the persona-non-gratas in Sancho, Greenwood and Donny that the club would obviously want to sell, so let's hope for a 40-50m combined for the three of them.
I think this is what we can "expect" of outgoings this summer - and that any big sale of i.e. Casemiro, Rashford, Antony etc. would be big bonuses and offer us extra resources for our rebuild.

Release: Martial, Varane, Evans, Williams and Amrabat.
Sell Lindelof, Wan Bissaka, A Fernandez, Eriksen, Greenwood, Sancho and Donny. 80m in total?

In my oppninion that means that our primary needs is to recruit 2 CBs (LCB and RCB), RB, DM and a Striker. Any further additional outgoings needs a direct replacement. This is what I think is somewhat realistic transferwindow for us:

LCB: Mario Hermoso, 28. Free transfer.
Left footed, proven at a high level for Atletico, and can play both CB and LB. Got pace, ability on the ball, as well as the required aggressiveness and physicality. IMO would be a competitior for both Martinez and Shaw for a starting role.
RCB: Jean-Claire Todibo, 24. 40m?
An upgrade on Maguire in terms of how we should aim to play with a high line and with posession.
RB: Ben Johnson, 24. Free transfer.
Unorthodox pick perhaps, but I would argue that he fits the role of a Dalot backup better than AWB in terms of similarities. Home-grown, and young ish, versatile and potential to improve. Played 69 PL-matches for West Ham. Perhaps not more than a stop-gap-backup but a AWB sale and Johnson on a free would give us more room financially. Fun fact; Paul Parker ex-Man Utd is his uncle, and Ledley King is his cousin.
DM: Johnny Cardoso, 22. 30m?
I genuinely believe this guy is a hidden gem and that he will prove to be bargain for Real Betis and for whoever that buys him from them. Only arrived at Real Betis in January but has proven more than capable of playing at that level. Great technique, defensive work, bravery and physicality, but also very tidy on the ball. Could be rotated with Casemiro as the DM or play as CM next to a DM. I would argue that he is an imidiate upgrade on Casemiro though. No idea if there's a release clause for him, as is often the case in La Liga, or what Real Betis would ask for? They bought him for 6m in January and Transfermarkt indicates 10m market value..
STRIKER: Jonathan David, 24. 50m?
Proven himself over the last three seasons for Lille scoring 15, 24 and 17(so far) in Ligue 1. A versatile striker that could cover/rotate with Hojlund as well as playing together with him (as a Second Striker/AM or as a pair if we go that route). Reminds me somewhat of Gabriel Jesus in his playing style.

I believe the proposed outcome would be a sensible one and an outcome that would both improve our starting 11 as well as our imidiate squad depth. For CB squad depth I would suggest that we keep both Kambwala and Will Fish as the 5th/6th choices next season. "Hopefully" we wont have to deal with the Conference league so that a slightly leaner squad is sufficient.

It's going to be a very difficult Summer, especially if we don't get any form of European football (which I believe is the most likely scenario). Out of those first team players whose contracts are expiring this year or next, I'd only extend Kambwala, Diallo and McTominay and sell the rest. I'd hope to get some of the young ones integrated to help keep everyone on their toes and potentially have some stars emerge. We'll have to be smarter with signings. As much as I want Joao Neves and think he'll be one of the best midfielders in the world in a few years, I feel that £100m on him is not appropriate this year. Maybe next year when hopefully more gaps in the squad are filled.

New signings in bold, youngsters promoted or on the periphery of the squad underlined -

GK: Onana, Bayindir, Harrison
RB: Dalot, Kambwala (out of position I know), Ogunneye
LB: Shaw, Gutierrez (30m release clause), Amass
CDR: Tosin (free), Anselmino (20m)
CDL: Martinez, Valentin Gomez (10m)
CM: Mainoo, Gourna-Douath (20m), Zambrano (10m), McTominay, J. Fletcher, McAllister
AM: Fernandes, Mount, Ibragimov
RW: Olise (60m release clause), Amad, Lacey
LW: Garnacho, Rashford, Williams
ST: Hojlund, Sesko (45m release clause), Wheatley

Basically an expenditure of £200m but offset by sales of Sancho, Greenwood, Casemiro, Maguire, Malacia, AWB, Antony etc.

Onana
Dalot Todibo Martinez Gutierrez
Mainoo Rabiot Bruno
Olise Dovbyk Rashford/Garnacho

Onana
Lindelof Tosin Lucumi Shaw
Mount McTominay Thuram
Amad/Antony Hojlund Rashford/Garnacho

JE-365 said:

Positions	Names	Fees	Wages (per week)
Starting RCB	Todibo	£40m	£100k
Backup RCB	Tosin	£0	£75k
Squad depth LCB	Lucumi	£20m	£85k
Starting LB	Gutierrez	£30m	£100k
Starting DM to replace Casemiro	Rabiot	£0	£200k
Mainoo’s backup or Eriksen’s replacement	Thuram	£25m	£75k
Starting RW	Olise	£60m	£120k
Striker who can hold the ball	Dovbyk	£25m release clause	£100k

Total:

£200m

855k pw

Onana
Dalot Todibo Martinez Gutierrez
Mainoo Rabiot Bruno
Olise Dovbyk Rashford/Garnacho

Onana
Lindelof Tosin Lucumi Shaw
Mount McTominay Thuram
Amad/Antony Hojlund Rashford/Garnacho

Click to expand...

We can’t take any more chances on a striker we need a PL proven goal scorer who can hold the ball up and run in behind, If we are truly a big club then we make this a priority and look at Watkins, Isak, Toney and Solanki.

The minimum one of those players will cost you is £55m to maybe £100m for A Isak. Don’t see any point in letting Maguire go when he’s been one of our best players this season, would keep, the rest make total sense but if Sir Jim is serious he’d go buy J Neves rather than Thurham, pay the additional £50m and pay the additional £30-50m for a striker too!

Based on the targets we seem to be linked with and some guesswork, it'll probably look something like below.
I'm not overly happy with a lot of the players we're linked with tbh, and I'd rather we not lose the likes of Sancho because our squad depth is incredibly weak imo. We have so many players with only 1 yr left on their contracts, which will tempt INEOS to sell bodies that we need. I fear we aren't going to spend enough or bring enough players in. Olise is massively injury prone and will likely be unavailable for a lot of the season, so the lack of depth there concerns me too.

Joao Neves is probably the least likely of the suggested ins due to his price. Would love Alan Varela as an alternative, but have seen no links whatsoever. Unsure about Onana if the idea is to move towards possession. We might go after a rb because we would be so lacking in depth there, but I fear our budget won't stretch that far. Could see us going for Toney instead of Guirassy, but the latter is better value imo. Saw some links with Gutierrez recently, so maybe he'd be the choice ahead of Maatsen.

In:
Olise (£55m)
Maatsen (£35m)
Todibo (£35m)
Branthwaite (£50-70m - expecting Everton to lower price out of financial desperation to sell)
Guirassy (£15m)
Joao Neves (£80-120m)
Amadou Onana (£40-55m)

Out:
Varane (free - £17.68m/yr)
Martial (free - £13m/yr)
Evans (free - £3.38m/yr)
Heaton (free - £2.34m/yr)
Brandon Williams (free - £3.38m/yr)
Alvaro Fernandez (free - £0.38m/yr)
Amrabat (end of loan - £3.38m/yr)
Casemiro (£34m - £18.2m/yr)
Greenwood (£30-45m - £2.6m/yr)
Sancho (£40-45m - £13.15m/yr)
Lindelof (£10-15m - £6.24m/yr)
AWB (£10-20m - £4.68m/yr)
VDB (£5-10m/loan - £4.68m/yr)
Pellistri (£5-15m - £1.04m/yr)

Possible outs:
Eriksen (£5-10m - £7.8m/yr)
Rashford (£70-130m - £15.6m/yr)
McTominay (£20-35m - £3.12m/yr)
Hannibal (£5-10m - £?m/yr)
Diallo (£10-15m - £1.5m/yr)
Antony (£10-20m - £10.4m/yr - unlikely to get a club that would pay his wages)
Shaw (£25-40m - £7.8m/yr)
Vitek (£1-5m - £?m/yr)

Squad:
Andre Onana - £6.24m/yr
Bayindir - £1.82m/yr
Vitek/Mee - £?m/yr

Dalot - £4.42m/yr
Ogunneye - £?m/yr
Maguire - £9.88m/yr
Martinez - £6.24m/yr
Malacia - £3.9m/yr
Kambwala - £0.3m/yr
Amass - £?m/yr
Shaw - £7.8m/yr
Branthwaite - £?m/yr - current wage: £1.82m/yr
Todibo - £?m/yr - current wage: £1.02m/yr
Maatsen - £?m/yr - current wage: £1.05m/yr

Bruno - £12.48m/yr
Mainoo - £0.52m/yr
Mount - £13m/yr
Dan Gore - £?m/yr
McTominay - £3.12m/yr
Eriksen - £7.8m/yr
Hannibal - £?m/yr
Joao Neves - £?m/yr - current wage: £0.96m/yr
Amadou Onana - £?m/yr - current wage: £5.2m/yr

Garnacho - £2.6m/yr
Shea Lacey - £?m/yr
Rashford - £15.6m/yr
Antony - £10.4m/yr
Diallo - £1.5m/yr
Olise - £?m/yr - current wage: £5.2m/yr

Hojlund - £4.42m/yr
Guirassy - £?m/yr - current wage: £1.86m/yr
Wheatley - £?m/yr

Too much:

Manager
LB
2 CBs
RB
DM
CM
RW
Sub striker

And just as important is shifting the dross that has stunk up the club for far too long:

Rashford
McTominay
Maguire
Lindelof
AWB
Antony
Casemiro
Varane
Wan Bissaka
Sancho
Greenwood

Josep Dowling said:

Too much:

Manager
LB
2 CBs
RB
DM
CM
RW
Sub striker

And just as important is shifting the dross that has stunk up the club for far too long:

Rashford
McTominay
Maguire
Lindelof
AWB
Antony
Casemiro
Varane
Wan Bissaka
Sancho
Greenwood

Click to expand...

I think we can postpone the bolded, not ideal but we can make do with what we have especially if we can not shift Greenwood and Sancho for good money. If we can get 60m - 80m for the pair the by all means we can sign a RW. I just think that our central defense, defensive midfield and LB are crucial to the stability of the team and should be given top priority.

We should also look to utilise the free agent market, if we can get Rabiot, Tosin and Barkely for free then it would be such a boon to our rebuild as it means we could then go all in for a striker or for Jao Neves.

AneRu said:

I think we can postpone the bolded, not ideal but we can make do with what we have especially if we can not shift Greenwood and Sancho for good money. If we can get 60m - 80m for the pair the by all means we can sign a RW. I just think that our central defense, defensive midfield and LB are crucial to the stability of the team and should be given top priority.

We should also look to utilise the free agent market, if we can get Rabiot, Tosin and Barkely for free then it would be such a boon to our rebuild as it means we could then go all in for a striker or for Jao Neves.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I am not convinced Höjlund is ready to lead the line next season so we might need a rather expensive starting CF.

AneRu said:

I think we can postpone the bolded, not ideal but we can make do with what we have especially if we can not shift Greenwood and Sancho for good money. If we can get 60m - 80m for the pair the by all means we can sign a RW. I just think that our central defense, defensive midfield and LB are crucial to the stability of the team and should be given top priority.

We should also look to utilise the free agent market, if we can get Rabiot, Tosin and Barkely for free then it would be such a boon to our rebuild as it means we could then go all in for a striker or for Jao Neves.

Click to expand...

While I'm not against using the free transfer market, 2 of those players aren't good enough for Utd imo and Rabiot is too old and would demand extortionate wages. We shouldn't be signing players just because they're free. They need to be good enough and the right profile too.

Solanke would be really good - but have no idea how much Bournemouth would be asking for

Before compiling a list, I think the question needs to be completed. ‘To achieve what, exactly?’. What we want to avoid is buying a bunch of decent journeymen/senior pros in the hope of getting us to the CL next year. I think we should have a vision beyond that.

Our final list will of course be largely dictated by who leaves. Due to contract situations alone, a number of players will leave, and there are players where we find ourselves with a decision to make of whether to extend or sell. I can see a departure of at least 10 players.

I would say:

Heaton (out of contract)
Evans (out of contract)
Varane (out of contract)
Casemiro
Amrabat
Eriksen
Van de Beek
Martial

are all pretty much certainties to leave from the first team squad. Then there are also a few probable/possible departures in:

Wan-Bissaka
Maguire
Lindelof
McTominay
Fernandes
Sancho
Greenwood
Rashford

Then after this, there are likely supplementary outgoings in:

Hannibal
Amad
Williams


A lot will come off the wage bill this summer, and the most significant fees we can get will come from the likes of Fernandes, Rashford, Sancho, Greenwood, McTominay, Maguire, Amad, AWB, Lindelof.

Not all of those players will go, and not all those that will go will require a replacement. I think we should look to bring in players who we hope will be the players that will help us compete for the CL some day, rather than those who will all need to be sold long before then.

We definitely need:

CB x2 (Varane and Evans leaving, with probability of at least one more)
LB x1, or possibly one of the two CBs who can play there too.
DM x1 (replacement for Casemiro)
CM x1 (Mainoo cannot play 50+ games yet, and Eriksen, Amrabat and possibly Scott will leave, in addition to the likes of VDB and Hannibal)
WF x1 (I expect Amad to leave, as he clearly has little trust here. Aside from him, Sancho and Greenwood will probably leave, which would leave us with 3 players for two roles in Garnacho, Antony and Rashford - of whom up to two could even leave)
CF x1 (Martial will leave, leaving us with only one recognised striker, who himself is probably not ready to play every game)

Depending upon departures, we may also need a RB, an additional CB (Kambwala), an additional CM, an additional forward if Rashford leaves.

To have a go at some names, I’d love to see:

Araujo
Adarabioyo
Lucumi/Kelly (I don’t think we’d be able to move on Shaw or Malacia this summer, so prefer a LCB who can play there when needed).
DM - can’t think of any options that really appeal who are available at a decent price point. I like Baleba at Brighton, but he’s young and will coat a lot. Danilo at Forest is a shout too.
Neves - dream target.
Olise - ready to go straight into the team.
Toney/Sesko - Toney is ready to go straight into the team, Sesko may end up being what we want Hojlund to be.

If Rashford goes, I cannot see any ready made player that I think is good enough to come in and give us what he gives us at best, so I’d prefer to get talent that we hope can get close to that Vinicius type of bracket rather than one we know cannot. I like the look of Desiré Doué and Antonio Nusa in that respect. I’d have said Estevão too, but looks like Chelsea are close to doing that deal. If Wan Bissaka goes, then we should get Frimpong.

Admitedly short term but just noticed Rafa Silva is available on a free in the summer. He's great! We should get him for squad depth if we're letting go of Sancho and Greenwood, because trust me Olise will be injured A LOT

Dazzmondo said:

Admitedly short term but just noticed Rafa Silva is available on a free in the summer. He's great! We should get him for squad depth if we're letting go of Sancho and Greenwood, because trust me Olise will be injured A LOT

Click to expand...

Always liked Silva, find it odd that nobody has ever taken a chance on him yet from Benfica.

I think it's actually easier to say what we don't need. I'd say we don't need starting RB as've got Dalot. Attacking midfielder as Bruno is most probably staying. Everything else is uncertain. Rashford has been really poor, Hojlund is not starting ST, Casemiro can't continue, Shaw is injury prone, same for Varane and Martinez. Onana looking at season as a whole has earned to keep his spot but who knows if we'll be saying the same during next season.

absolutely bloody everything

Good luck to whoever has to decide where we start this summer!

BorisManUtd said:

I think it's actually easier to say what we don't need. I'd say we don't need starting RB as've got Dalot. Attacking midfielder as Bruno is most probably staying. Everything else is uncertain. Rashford has been really poor, Hojlund is not starting ST, Casemiro can't continue, Shaw is injury prone, same for Varane and Martinez. Onana looking at season as a whole has earned to keep his spot but who knows if we'll be saying the same during next season.

Click to expand...

We need that magical centre mid who complements Mainoo and Bruno.

We either need to be certain Shaw & Malachia might play more than 25 games between them, or buy a starter there.

Obviously a centre back, obviously some forwards.

Sandikan said:

We need that magical centre mid who complements Mainoo and Bruno.

We either need to be certain Shaw & Malachia might play more than 25 games between them, or buy a starter there.

Obviously a centre back, obviously some forwards.

Click to expand...

Neither can be relied upon.

Going by highest priority:

Tier 1: CB, DM, Striker, preferably starter quality.
Tier 2: LB, Winger, CM
Tier 3: Backups in CB, CM, winger.

Build a spine of the team first and foremost. No team moves forward or wins anything without a strong spine. Ever. That includes
Gk
CB’s
DM
AM
Striker

Onana not good enough but we have to deal with it later prioritising other needs.
CB - Todibo and Bremer, if not then I’d really like Andersen from palace.
DM - Palhinha
AM - Bruno is fine for now I guess
Striker - ???

If we have a budget of £150m after sales, I’d go for
Todibo - 35m
Bremer - 40m
Kerkez - 10-15m
Palhinha - 40-50m
Guirassy - 15m

daba said:

So much needed but I don’t see why 7 or 8 can’t be done this summer.

In defence, I think CBs are our biggest issue tactically and in terms of fitness - so I think getting 3 CBs in with at least one being comfortable at RB (Geertruida). That being said if Frimpong is interested then you’d have to go get him but I struggle to see it happening. LB is an interesting one, I don’t see us selling Shaw or getting the kind of offer we would want and I don’t see any club touching Malacia. Probs best hoping Malacia is more available next year and give Amass some more opportunities.

Out: Maguire, Lindelof, Varane, AWB, Alvaro (50m)

In: Todibo, Geertruida, Tosin/Kelly (70m)

In midfield, Casemiro appears to be done, Amrabat was never good enough and McTominay is a hindrance to how any top team should want to play. A proper ball winner to give us some grit in midfield like Ugarte or Hjulmand is the most important signing here. Then IMO we have the option getting a 6/8 like Thuram along with a young 8/10 prospect like Doue, or going for O’Riley at Celtic as more of straight 8 and a young 6/DLP like Zambrano. Both options give us a nicely balanced set of midfielders.

Out: Casemiro, Amrabat, McTominay, Hannibal, Donny, Eriksen (80m)

In: Ugarte/Hjulmand, O’Riley/Thuram, Doue/Zambrano (105m)

Forward line is pretty straight forward. 100% need another CF and Toney makes a lot of sense as someone who’s experienced in the league and can rotate with Hojlund. I expect one of Antony or Amad to leave, but if we can’t shift Antony we can maybe use Amad in the Olise conversations. The other ours are pretty self explanatory.

Out: Pellistri, Martial, Antony/Amad, Sancho, Greenwood (100m)

In: Olise, Toney (110m)


This would give us a 24 man squad of something like…

Onana, Bayindir, Harrison

Dalot, Geertruida, Todibo, Kelly, Martinez, Kambwala/Evans, Shaw, Malacia, Amass

Mainoo, Hjulmand, Thuram, Doue, Mount, Bruno (+ youth in emergencies)

Rashford, Garnacho, Olise, Antony, Hojlund, Toney (+ youth in emergencies)


I’d be pretty happy and confident going into the season with that group of players. I also think despite the number of new faces, there’s a good enough balance of prem experience given 3 of the 8 signings are from Prem sides and the new faces this year have a season under their belt.

For a £55m net spend who says no?

Click to expand...

Something off about Toney.....do we think he would actually help Rasmus?

We need two at the back. A starting RCB and ideally a versatile LCB who can fill in at left back too. Someone like a young Azpilicueta would be good unless it looks like Shaw is just unable to stay fit. Varane plus one of Maguire and Lindelöf have to go.

In midfield, we just can't count on Amrabat, Eriksen or Casemiro. Maybe one of them will stay just to have numbers (most likely Casemiro considering his contract) That leaves us needing a starting midfielder who is strong defensively and maybe a squad option depending on if we are involved in the Europa League next season.

The attack is probably the most difficult one since difference makers up top are the rarest commodity in the game. I have never been convinced that Rashford can be a starting player for a top team and I haven't changed my mind. He is a squad option for a big team or a starter for a Villa or West Ham type of team. Højlund needs help and the less said about Antony the better. I think adding 3 players would not be overkill but just to be realistic, we need 2. The specific positions are not as important up front in my opinion since the vast majority of top players there nowadays are versatile. The best front players interchange and the specific skills are more important than the position but we really need some top quality in there.

All in all, we need minimum 5 players, maybe 4 of them starters. The most important thing however is to give whoever we buy a platform where they can show their stregths and cover their weaknesses. Our tendency to buy players and expect them to make the difference and be the talisman which is based on some deep cultural identity our club has really needs to stop. There are no more than maybe half a dozen players if that, who can make a difference to any team regardless of the setup and environemnt they play in. The top teams bring in players to fit in what they do. They don't ask them to be what they do.

If Im Utd I start Greenwood at 60 and work down from there.

kaku06 said:

If we have a budget of £150m after sales, I’d go for
Todibo - 35m
Bremer - 40m
Kerkez - 10-15m
Palhinha - 40-50m
Guirassy - 15m

Click to expand...

It’s almost like our DNA to spend £40m or £50m on 29 years old like Matic or Casemiro. I hope we don’t spend such money on him though.

If Kelly and Adarabioyo are available on a free, we should be in for them.