We need 3 new CMs. Who do we sign?

Insanity said:

I don't know how we are going to sort it out but I find our central midfield and defense situations pretty grim. Besides Mainoo, Dalot and a fit Martinez, I don't see any other players we have for those six positions as part of the long term solution.

In Defense:

- Varane, Maguire, Lindelof, AWB and Evans need to leave.
- Malacia is terrible, even as a back-up.
- We need to find solution for Shaw. He can stay another season as back-up LCB/LB, but I don't see a use for him beyond that.

In Central Midfield:

- Casemiro and Eriksen need to leave.
- Amarabat is shit and won't have his loan extended.
- McTom is as mediocre as they come. We need to find a solution for him as he only has one year left on his contract. Ideally I wouldn't give him a new contract. Our serious lack of numbers in the position might force us to extend his contract. On top that he is homegrown, so that is a bonus.
- I personally think that Mainoo should be playing in the #10 position for now rather than in central midfield.

Too much to do. It would be interesting to see how this is managed in the transfer window. 3 CM's and 5 defensive addition in one summer is impossible and won't happen.

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Mainoo is not a 10, he doesn't fit that type of player.

Sick of us being overun, I have solved the issue, buy these three players.

Kephram Thuram
Yousseof Fofana
Amadou Onana

Pace, Strength, Stamina.

Hammondo said:

Mainoo is not a 10, he doesn't fit that type of player.

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What is this special sauce that "that type of player" has that Mainoo doesn't?

Ross Barkley on a two year deal for free makes total sense to me if we are losing Eriksen and others. We need a squad filler and he seems to have found his hunger for the game again.

Other than that we need to invest in a defensive midfielder with mobility and he also needs to be a good footballer. We had high energy and a tackler in Fred but he was a pretty average footballer. We need to full package this time round.

Insanity said:

What is this special sauce that "that type of player" has that Mainoo doesn't?

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He's not a creative passer, he's not a dribbler of that level, he's just generally not an attacking player like that. He's an 8, exactly what type I'm not sure though.

Pscholes18 said:

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1. Serhou Guirassy - £17.5m
2. Barkley - Free
3. Benjamin Henricks - 1 year left on contract
4. Amadou Onana
5. Alessandro Bastoni
6.Ousmane Diomande

I agree with Barkley for Eriksen and Onana as CDM.

Not sure about the others.

Murder on Zidane's Floor said:

Sick of us being overun, I have solved the issue, buy these three players.

Kephram Thuram
Yousseof Fofana
Amadou Onana

Pace, Strength, Stamina.

Click to expand...

I agree somewhat but these players will be the omission of the managers system with two 8's in front of a standalone 6. It will also condone the sale of Bruno.

Even build up from the back this season has been a 3-1-6 shape but on evidence of what Erik has stated he's not reverting this approach.

It doesn't matter who United sign, the holes in midfield will persist if the manager is still in charge next season.

Mainoonited said:

1. Serhou Guirassy - £17.5m
2. Barkley - Free
3. Benjamin Henricks - 1 year left on contract
4. Amadou Onana
5. Alessandro Bastoni
6.Ousmane Diomande

I agree with Barkley for Eriksen and Onana as CDM.

Not sure about the others.

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This would be great business for me. I watched him a lot this year and think he could be a great squad player for us and I bet he jump at the chance to play for United....but what do I know.

I think we should just give Sociedad 100 mill for Merino and Zubimendi. Then get Barkley for free.
Don't think you can get a better 3 for 100 mill.

UpWithRivers said:

I think we should just give Sociedad 100 mill for Merino and Zubimendi. Then get Barkley for free.
Don't think you can get a better 3 for 100 mill.

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Rabiot, Barkley, Neves?

jeepers said:

I was looking at Angelo Stiller recently on fbref and youtube - he looks like he reads the game well, has good positioning, and his clear strengths are his short and long passing. He would give us another option with a left-footed set piece taker since Shaw is almost always out injured.

There are the usual names that pop up as well - Maxime Caqueret, Youssouf Fofana, Enzo Le Fee, Angel Gomes. From Championship - Hayden Hackney, Gabriel Sara, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

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I haven't seen much, but he sounds like a sensible option. Stuttgart would probably ask for a lot with 3 years left on his deal and them playing in the CL next year, though, one would think, especially since it seems like they're getting a 23M fee for their winger Fuhrich via his clause it looks like. So maybe more of a 2025 summer move sadly.

Hackney sounds interesting too, though I've also never seen him play.

Dewsbury-Hall is a tidy player and left-footed, but a bit lacking in power and pace so might be a bit similar to Mainoo even if he gets around the pitch more. I think he might fall under the category of guys we should have just signed for 25M instead of paying 55M or whatever for Mount and spent the 30M on a young CB or a solid mid-table/2nd tier league #9 in his mid-20s and gotten one of Gyokeres, Moffi, Boniface or Cabral last summer.

Mainoonited said:

1. Serhou Guirassy - £17.5m
2. Barkley - Free
3. Benjamin Henricks - 1 year left on contract
4. Amadou Onana
5. Alessandro Bastoni
6.Ousmane Diomande

I agree with Barkley for Eriksen and Onana as CDM.

Not sure about the others.

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I’ve said this in other threads but Onana as CDM only works if we play a double pivot. He’s not good enough to play as a sole DM. Watch him. When he’s the sole DM and he gets the ball facing his own goal, he almost always goes backwards. His first you h isn’t good enough to be able to turn and progressively pass forwards, which is absolutely essential if you have a single pivot. He and Mainoo could work if they both play as 6/8 hydrids in a double pivot system. He’s big and strong yes, but his first touch and play under pressure isn’t good enough to be the only pivot in our midfield. Our build up play will suck.

If we keep Mainoo, Fernandes and Mount - which seems extremely likely. And ship out Amrabat, Eriksen and Casemiro (no idea what will happen with McSauce, I’d sell him - so much FFP upside), I’d personally go for Joao Neves as a priority, with him and Mainoo forming the basis of our midfield. I wouldn’t mind Onana as a second line option to understudy them, but again have concerns about his ability to play as a single pivot, so would probably go for someone like Joao Gomes. Third player would be a really young one with loads of upside like Mastantuouno.

Defensively, Yoro, Diomande, Inancio, Silva, give me any two of those four. Up front, Vítor Roque and Olise. I’m pretty much exclusively looking at young, hungry players, with their best years in front of them, loads of upside, and tons of room to grow. Players on the verge of stardom, but not quite there yet. Already playing at a high level. Wirtz is the ultimate dream, but that isn’t happening this year, and likely never. And in the right system, with a good coach, I think we are blessed to have Fernandes and Mount rotating as 10s. We need a left back too. Not to replace Shaw but to rotate with him. Someone under 23, good enough to start and with lots of potential to improve.

Neves is the one though. Fabulous player. Going to be brilliant. Him and Mainoo together, two proper footballers. Would love to see that.

simonhch said:

I’ve said this in other threads but Onana as CDM only works if we play a double pivot. He’s not good enough to play as a sole DM. Watch him. When he’s the sole DM and he gets the ball facing his own goal, he almost always goes backwards. His first you h isn’t good enough to be able to turn and progressively pass forwards, which is absolutely essential if you have a single pivot. He and Mainoo could work if they both play as 6/8 hydrids in a double pivot system. He’s big and strong yes, but his first touch and play under pressure isn’t good enough to be the only pivot in our midfield. Our build up play will suck.

If we keep Mainoo, Fernandes and Mount - which seems extremely likely. And ship out Amrabat, Eriksen and Casemiro (no idea what will happen with McSauce, I’d sell him - so much FFP upside), I’d personally go for Joao Neves as a priority, with him and Mainoo forming the basis of our midfield. I wouldn’t mind Onana as a second line option to understudy them, but again have concerns about his ability to play as a single pivot, so would probably go for someone like Joao Gomes. Third player would be a really young one with loads of upside like Mastantuouno.

Defensively, Yoro, Diomande, Inancio, Silva, give me any two of those four. Up front, Vítor Roque and Olise. I’m pretty much exclusively looking at young, hungry players, with their best years in front of them, loads of upside, and tons of room to grow. Players on the verge of stardom, but not quite there yet. Already playing at a high level. Wirtz is the ultimate dream, but that isn’t happening this year, and likely never. And in the right system, with a good coach, I think we are blessed to have Fernandes and Mount rotating as 10s. We need a left back too. Not to replace Shaw but to rotate with him. Someone under 23, good enough to start and with lots of potential to improve.

Neves is the one though. Fabulous player. Going to be brilliant. Him and Mainoo together, two proper footballers. Would love to see that.

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Would you play them as double pivot in midfield and don't you think that midfield pairing is lacking in size and I for one can't remember the last time a team was successfull in competing for highest honours without physicality along with size in midfield especially in the deeper areas .

gajender said:

Would you play them as double pivot in midfield and don't you think that midfield pairing is lacking in size and I for one can't remember the last time a team was successfull in competing for highest honours without physicality along with size in midfield especially in the deeper areas .

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There is one that always stuck in my mind, KDB Fernandinho Silva trio midfield.

gajender said:

Would you play them as double pivot in midfield and don't you think that midfield pairing is lacking in size and I for one can't remember the last time a team was successfull in competing for highest honours without physicality along with size in midfield especially in the deeper areas .

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Yes I’d play them as a two with Bruno in front. And whilst I agree they lack size, I don’t think they lack physicality. Mainoo is very good at intercepting and putting his foot in. His positioning is also superb. And Neves is a terrier. He really gets stuck in and works very hard.

You’d need height and some brutish force elsewhere in the team for sure, and I’d personally like a back four with two big center backs, who are good on the ball, like Yoro and Inacio, and I’d move Martinez to LB as an inverted FB. That’s just how I’d like to play. I don’t expect many to agree. Whilst I’d like one full back pushing on, in the case Dalot, I’d like the other to an auxiliary CB/DM. I love Martinez competitiveness, and technically he’s really good and I think suited to that role of pushing into midfield. We already know he’s good at CB. I just prefer my primary two CBs to be big presences.

I think it all depends on who the new manager is. Neves is the sort of player that elevated the whole team. Onana is so average. Great physical gifts but the rest of his game really doesn’t stand out. I’m hoping we get a manager that’s wants to play real football, with a functioning team unit. Trying to keep and use the ball, and setting up the team intelligently. We are so painfully naive and disorganised under Ten Hag.

Im also not afraid to play players out of position, nor am I against having good players on the bench. I don’t believe in a “starting XI”. I believe in a good squad that can be flexible and tailor itself to specific games. You also need to be able to rotate to keep players fresh. I personally love the idea of Martinez at LB in the role I proposed.

To be frank, if I was manager, I would also probably look at converting Antony to be an LCM next season. He doesn’t have the cutting edge to be a winger in the premier league, but he has way more about his game than people give him credit for. Every time I watch him play, he looks like a midfielder playing on the wing to me. He’s got decent pace and ball carrying skills, but not enough guile to be a tricky winger. He’s got an incredible work rate. A good first touch. And is very good at receiving it under pressure. Tactically he’s very well disciplined. I could honestly see him excelling as part of a midfield three. People will call me crazy, but I really don’t think it is.

Hammondo said:

He's not a creative passer, he's not a dribbler of that level, he's just generally not an attacking player like that. He's an 8, exactly what type I'm not sure though.

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His amazing ability to keep the ball under pressure will help him tremendously if played in that position. Also, he is a very good passer and has excellent vision. His dribbling isn't that bad either; it's better than Bruno's. I think long term he would be a #8. He should get stronger and faster with age and that'll help him become a good #8. However, right now I feel that he is lacking in that area and that's why I think he'd be suitable to play in a more advanced midfield role.

JE-365 said:

There is one that always stuck in my mind, KDB Fernandinho Silva trio midfield.

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Yes I forgot about them you are right but Fernandinho was one real nasty and highly adept in dark arts fecker immune to getting cautioned while being coached by one of the greatest in Guardiola .

And still they didn't do much in Europe though .

Murder on Zidane's Floor said:

Sick of us being overun, I have solved the issue, buy these three players.

Kephram Thuram
Yousseof Fofana
Amadou Onana

Pace, Strength, Stamina.

Click to expand...

This would be a backwards step. The tactics need to be more cohesive with less gaps between defence and the midfield first.

I would prefer shorter, lower centre of gravity passers to get a foothold on the game possession wise. Mainoo is the only midfielder we have now who is both fit enough and has this asset.

To build a championship winning side you need at least 3 of these types first. Worry about adding physicality when you have the style and possession sorted.

Rodri for City for example, Busquets for Barcelona these were elite passers but tall. Very very rare. When one comes up you break the bank to go for them like in all honesty we should have for Rice but just didn’t.

Son said:

This would be a backwards step. The tactics need to be more cohesive with less gaps between defence and the midfield first.

I would prefer shorter, lower centre of gravity passers to get a foothold on the game possession wise. Mainoo is the only midfielder we have now who is both fit enough and has this asset.

To build a championship winning side you need at least 3 of these types first. Worry about adding physicality when you have the style and possession sorted.

Rodri for City for example, Busquets for Barcelona these were elite passers but tall. Very very rare. When one comes up you break the bank to go for them like in all honesty we should have for Rice but just didn’t.

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Zubimendi is the one we need. His ability on the ball is something we have missed since Carrick, and he has the same ability at positioning himself in a way that blocks the passing lanes.

He has a good stature and is actually pretty good in the air. He would sit slightly behind Mainoo and make us much better on the ball from day 1.

Hammondo said:

Mainoo is not a 10, he doesn't fit that type of player.

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I would say one of Mainoo main assets is his ability to play in all the midfield positions, but obviously to different levels currently. I’ve seen him play number 10 for both the youth teams and England youth too.

Attributes he has that suit the role are good vision, can play with back to goal and pick the final pass amongst others.

Conversely to that I’d still play him deeper to get him on the ball as much as possible. He can do for us what Xavi did for Barca with the right midfield partners.

It’s going to be wide open transfer season but United clearly need ;
DM/CM Options - Zubimendi, A Onana,
A Wharton, A Rabiot
No 8/PM/BTB options; J Neves, A Gomez, K Dewsbury Hall, Merino

We will definitely get 2 of these type not so sure about 3, last year I said we should be all over Tielemans and M Kudas and got derided so this year no recommendations just hope we buy hungry young technical players.

daba said:

Rabiot, Barkley, Neves?

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That would be hugely impressive and a massive upgrade on what we have currently.

Murder on Zidane's Floor said:

Sick of us being overun, I have solved the issue, buy these three players.

Kephram Thuram
Yousseof Fofana
Amadou Onana

Pace, Strength, Stamina.

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How much are those three?
150,160 or £175m never going to happen we need a blend of pace, Physicality, stamina but we also need technical players, Rabiot on a free and any one of the above three with Angel Gomez at £20m would be a spend of £70-75m allowing us to improve the defence and the attack as well.

Well I'll tell you what we definitely won't sign: three new CM's.

McTominay will stay, Mainoo of course, and Mount as well as Bruno.

I reckon we'll end up with one, maybe two new midfielders if we can get a free transfer or something. I would expect us to go for Onana and end up getting him on the last day for a high price.

Woziak said:

How much are those three?
150,160 or £175m never going to happen we need a blend of pace, Physicality, stamina but we also need technical players, Rabiot on a free and any one of the above three with Angel Gomez at £20m would be a spend of £70-75m allowing us to improve the defence and the attack as well.

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Eh?

I reckon £120m

Von Mistelroum said:

Well I'll tell you what we definitely won't sign: three new CM's.

McTominay will stay, Mainoo of course, and Mount as well as Bruno.

I reckon we'll end up with one, maybe two new midfielders if we can get a free transfer or something. I would expect us to go for Onana and end up getting him on the last day for a high price.

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If that's the case we may as well give up on next season as well from now.

Hammondo said:

Mainoo is not a 10, he doesn't fit that type of player.

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Exactly, playing Mainoo as a 10 would be similar to when Pirlo was played as a 10 early in his career and it saw him struggle to play his natural game.

Woziak said:

It’s going to be wide open transfer season but United clearly need ;
DM/CM Options - Zubimendi, A Onana,
A Wharton, A Rabiot
No 8/PM/BTB options; J Neves, A Gomez, K Dewsbury Hall, Merino

We will definitely get 2 of these type not so sure about 3, last year I said we should be all over Tielemans and M Kudas and got derided so this year no recommendations just hope we buy hungry young technical players.

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Wharton would be excellent and a great compliment to Mainoo.

If Ten Hag stays I can see Raboit signing. He was his back up plan when the De Jong deal fell through. I would love to see a ball winning midfielder CDM to replace Casimero. A new CM Thuram, Neves both great options Neves very unlikely. I think Bruno has one year left here. So long term replacements could be Martin Baturina or Alex Scott.

I want a DM a traditional CM and a more forward thinking CM. Eriksen, Amrabat, Casemiro and McTominay should all leave. It’s also possible that Bruno leaves.

If Bruno leaves, I would prefer we don’t play with a classic 10. A 6, and a double 8 works for me, with one of the 8s having a lore forward thinking CM. Mason Mount can play this role, but it’s a role I’d like to see Mainoo grow into ultimately.

Neves is my dream choice for CM, and Varela is my dream choice for DM. After that, I’d be happy with Barkley on a free transfer, giving us options of Varela, Neves, Mainoo, Mount and Barkley. We’d probably still be one short there, but Bruno and/or Scott could yet stay.

Murder on Zidane's Floor said:

Eh?

I reckon £120m

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Everton want £60-65m for onana alone ?

Woziak said:

Everton want £60-65m for onana alone ?

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Meh, what they want and what they get etc. Give them Scott and £35m

Woziak said:

How much are those three?
150,160 or £175m never going to happen we need a blend of pace, Physicality, stamina but we also need technical players, Rabiot on a free and any one of the above three with Angel Gomez at £20m would be a spend of £70-75m allowing us to improve the defence and the attack as well.

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If the reports are true, Thuram would be 15m, Fofana around 25m and Onana would be the most expensive at 60m. So definitely not 175m.

Edit: I'd go after Thuram, Zubimendi, Hackney and Gourna-Douath and sell / release Casemiro, Amrabat, Eriksen, McTominay and Van de Beek.

Murder on Zidane's Floor said:

Meh, what they want and what they get etc. Give them Scott and £35m

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Scott scores goals, More like £15m plus Scott

Murder on Zidane's Floor said:

Sick of us being overun, I have solved the issue, buy these three players.

Kephram Thuram
Yousseof Fofana
Amadou Onana

Pace, Strength, Stamina.

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And zero creativity

All three players need to be adept at keeping the ball and controlling tempo for extended periods of time. Joao Neves, Koop and one more. This is obviously based on if the clearout being touted in the papers happens.

aeh1991 said:

If the reports are true, Thuram would be 15m, Fofana around 25m and Onana would be the most expensive at 60m. So definitely not 175m.

Edit: I'd go after Thuram, Zubimendi, Hackney and Gourna-Douath and sell / release Casemiro, Amrabat, Eriksen, McTominay and Van de Beek.

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Thurham at £15m never that’s transfer market ridiculous values that never happen, last summer we were in at €40m and Nice wanted more?

https://thepeoplesperson.com/2023/0...rated-star-midfielder-khephren-thuram-261973/


Foffana is in his last year but I thought he was Milan bound already at €30m I’d rather have Angel Gomez at £17/18m

we need so many players everywhere on the pitch. Club should be focusing on players with low release clauses/up and coming talent. Want to see zero big money signings this window and instead put our vast resources towards finding the next big players.