Soumare, Havertz, Ziyech.
6 realistic signings to improve us?
- Thread starter Schmeichel's Cartwheel
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
You’re comparing stats from the championship though. I don’t really see much sense in doing that. I don’t doubt Phillips is showing great promise right now but do we need another “learn on the job prospect”? I wouldn’t say no to bringing him in but not straight to the first team which is what we need desperately.
I think you’re being pretty harsh. We’ve seen plenty of midfielders handle the transition from the Championship to the premier league well enough.
Phillips is turning 24 in a month with 140+ appearances for Leeds to his name, so he’s no rookie although lacking a bit of experience at the highest level of course.
Second best passer? We really need someone in midfield that will share the creative burden with Pogba. Would a midfield of Pogba Mcctominay and Phillips work? Is it creative enough?
I can’t see how going for a 24 year old with with no experience outside the championship should help us elevate to the level we want. The title challenging level. He’s not the Kante, Fabinho or Fernandinho caliber we should be looking for. He is a decent cdm, and might very vell make the transition to PL, but that is not enough. It shouldn’t be anyway. We should definitely aim higher.
James Maddison Maguire Abraham Mount James Tuanzebe Henderson McGinn, all quickly off the top of my head who didn't have to much Prem experience but have managed to hit the ground running straight from the Championship, sure there are a shedload more.
My issue is that our "aiming higher" is going after Rice for 70m, personally rather go after the Leeds lad myself.
Kante/Fernandinho/Fabinho were not all world beaters when they were bought but have grown into their roles (especially Kante when he went to Leicester)
I don’t doubt he could make the step up in the premier league, I just feel we have to many prospects and potential players in the staring team currently. It would be a huge burden to expect this kid to come in and fill the huge void in we have currently.
In our current situation I think we should have a go for the following 3:
Erling Haaland - because we desperatly need another top striker, and Haaland could besvime the next top striker in the World - in the same league as Lewandowski and suarez were for the last 7-8 years or so. He’s a diffent kind of striker than Martial and can play in our counterattack-system, can be a link up player, and can add som quality in the box. He’s only a possible signing because of Ole and their personale relationship.
Ndidi - as the DM we need. He could be quite expensive and har to get without CL, but I believe he could be an option.
Jarrod Bowen - Should be available with only 18 months left on his contract. He’s english, he’s fast, he’s a natural goalgetter, and he could be the solution to our RW for years to come.
Erling Haaland - because we desperatly need another top striker, and Haaland could besvime the next top striker in the World - in the same league as Lewandowski and suarez were for the last 7-8 years or so. He’s a diffent kind of striker than Martial and can play in our counterattack-system, can be a link up player, and can add som quality in the box. He’s only a possible signing because of Ole and their personale relationship.
Ndidi - as the DM we need. He could be quite expensive and har to get without CL, but I believe he could be an option.
Jarrod Bowen - Should be available with only 18 months left on his contract. He’s english, he’s fast, he’s a natural goalgetter, and he could be the solution to our RW for years to come.
Arthur
- is listed at £63m in Transfermarkt
- suits the PL less well than other Brazilians I've already listed who could cost a quarter his price. In particular: Matheus Henrique makes both more tackles and more dribbles than Arthur; will cost a third to half the price; is still younger so has more scope to improve and adapt to the PL.
- Phillips at Leeds is far more suited to the PL. Phillips is not totally defensive. He makes twice as many key passes as Arthur.
- The subject line says "realistic signings"
I really like the idea of Olmo.
1. AM and at the same time a backup on LW/RW.
2. Should be possible to buy in January
3. Price of €30-50m depending on clauses etc, not bad in todays market.
1. AM and at the same time a backup on LW/RW.
2. Should be possible to buy in January
3. Price of €30-50m depending on clauses etc, not bad in todays market.
16 Games, 6 goals, 4 assets - already beating last year's numbers
All great signings and will instantly improve United, however, I think among all three Ndidi would be hardest to get, I'd rather we go for Sander Berge or Kalvin Phillips in January as Matic replacement, and then go all out for Ndidi during summer.
I simply don't want us to go for make shift signings like Mandzukic, even if they come out good in short term, we should absolutely be going for a top draw striker talent like Haaland or even Werner during Winter window.
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On paper I’d say he belongs in the most suitable profile for our needs. Phillips only averages .5 less key passes compared to Pogba as a DM whilst completing 3.9 tackles per game compared to McTominays 2.3.
We need a defensive midfielder and we need playmakers, Phillips fit both and should be an easier target compared to other prospective targets such as Ndidi, Rice, Luis, Neves.
If he’s the required quality is really not for me to say though.
Maybe not, but who of their caliber is out there?
McGinn is someone who’d definitely could play for us and who was being talked about before Villa made promotion, Robertson and Maguire had little experience too but are currently and could definitely play for title challenging teams.
Never heard of him, looks awesome in that vid!
My 3 dream signings would be Haaland, Ndidi and Sancho.
Well done, now the realistic
Having seen a fair bit of Matheus at Grêmio (after stumbling across this video last year), I'd say he's a similar profile of player as a budding regista but a step below the magisterial level Arthur reached in Brazil. That isn't to discount his potential or to say that he wouldn't represent a good signing for United, no (especially considering we need quantity and quality)! Just that the latter was and is a bit special (which can admittedly be a hard quality to define in concrete statistical terms), and his maneuverability/quick-feet in tight spaces, ability to make abrupt turns at any given moment as well as consistent eye for line-breaking passes is among the best in football (a lot of that was evident even when he played for Grêmio). Fine differences, but it's like comparing Pjanić (a very good player in his own right) with Modrić (who has a lot of similar qualities but also extra dimensions in his game). All of that being said, Arthur won't leave Barcelona — they're not that daft, so I'd be all for United signing Henrique (hopefully soon because he reportedly has other suitors).
Bruno Guimarães is also a player I like very much — archetypal volante who can pass well and likes to be at the heart of the action in central midfield, and could also develop as an enforcer style anchor from his usual box-to-box/-deep-lying-playmaker role if he's trained by a good coach (though that might be a slight waste of his vertical drive and penetrative ability). Hope Chelsea keep their paws off him after persisting links in recent months. Shades of Allan, but sometimes he also plays like the Brazilian Bastian Schweinsteiger (erm, Bastião Porcomineiro)? (・Д・)!?
I watched Eze for England under 20s on several occasions and he didn't look a star player in the making but he's clearly developed a lot in the last year. It's great to see him performing like he is and one to watch for certain.
Phillips takes the set-pieces for Leeds. I'm a fan though.
I see, to be fair though we could really use a set-piece taker aswell.
I’ve only watched compilations but his passing range looks fantastic, so I wasn’t surprised to see that he had decent numbers of key-passes, level with Maddison aswell who I believe takes the majority of Leicesters set-pieces.
Do you watch Phillips regularly, could he make the step up?
—————-De Gea—————-
AWB - Victor - Maguire - Shaw
——T. Partey —— Pogba——
—-Sancho——— Rashford—-
———-Håland - Martial——-
Can this team work out? Partey Pogba and Sancho are all creative. Rashford and Martial have good link up play as well. Is this team good enough both defensively and offensively. We'd have a pretty decent bench too with Romero Williams James Mctominay Fred Pereira and Tuanzebe
AWB - Victor - Maguire - Shaw
——T. Partey —— Pogba——
—-Sancho——— Rashford—-
———-Håland - Martial——-
Can this team work out? Partey Pogba and Sancho are all creative. Rashford and Martial have good link up play as well. Is this team good enough both defensively and offensively. We'd have a pretty decent bench too with Romero Williams James Mctominay Fred Pereira and Tuanzebe
Yeah mate one of them, taking the chance. We normally leave it to the Leicester/Palaces to take the chance then the bigger clubs look to take them a year or two later, look at Dan James no one expected him to do what he has but give them the chance.
Time will tell mate just as long as we don't pay 70m for Declan Rice I will be happy haha
Then delete Ndidi, perhaps. Haaland and Maddison is realistic (next summer), Sancho is possible, but United need a DM as well, and I´m hoping for something better than Declan Rice.
No, I don't watch the Championship regularly, but he's got impressive stats and looks good in the videos. You've got people like Bielsa singing his praises too, so he might be worth a try.
That team would be overran in the middle with ease.
I’d love to see us be proactive and sign Phillips and Olmo in january.
I think they are perfect profiles for our needs and it wouldn’t surprise me if the pair of them could be aquired for less than we sold Lukaku for. Leeds record sale is still Rio Ferdinand almost two decades ago and Dinamo Zagreb’s never sold anyone for more than £20 million.
If they turn out good we could save ourselves alot of money on other, higher profile targets such as Maddison DM such as Ndidi, Rice, Luis etc who’d probably require us to pay triple that fee in the summer whilst still leaving us with alot more work to do. Especially with Pogba potentially leaving and the improvements that needs to be made in our attacking department.
At the very least we’ll have strenghtened our squad with young players who’s got their prime years ahead of them and will have some resale value.
Forward line is solid...Partey is also well placed, but Pogba, Sancho and Rashford shouldn't be used in those roles in a 4-2-2-2/4-4-2/diamond hybrid — not enough rigor and defensive intensity there, and the entire top-heavy structure could collapse like a house of cards as a consequence (especially against fast-breaking counterattacks that will bypass the midfield quite easily). IMO, something like this, while dour in comparison, would be more effective (and cheaper) in 4-2-2-2/4-4-2/diamond shapes. Swapping one Norwegian for another, just to give an example:
Though one snag with the implementation of a 4-2-2-2 hybrid at United is that you need fullbacks that can effectively and consistently provide width, and get into threatening positions to keep the opposition occupied — like Mendy and Sidibé from Monaco's 2016/17 season where the in-game flexibility of Bernardo and Lemar allowed them to use intermediary 4-2-2-2 shapes behind the forward line of Mbappé and Falcao. Shaw and Wan-Bissaka are not very accomplished in that regard, and while Williams is promising he is too inexperienced to bear that burden.
P.S. Another example of a team with a flexible 4-2-2-2 model in recent years is Leipzig. Note the presence of Sabitzer (who has a fairly high workrate for an offensive player) and Forsberg (who seamlessly transitions between wide midfielder and #10/8 and works really well with Werner through the channel):
https://spielverlagerung.com/2016/10/17/leipzigs-intensity-claims-another-opponent/
He only has 6 months on contract left
If James and Rashford cement their places on the right and left of our attack, then Ole will scrap plans to sign another winger like Sancho.
If that's the case then 3 outstanding summer signings might be
1. Erling
2. Maddison
3. Kalvin Phillips
If that's the case then 3 outstanding summer signings might be
1. Erling
2. Maddison
3. Kalvin Phillips
Lovely video. Actual football art. United should get both: Henrique and Guimarães.
I would like to see Soumare, Havertz, and Haaland coming here in January, but it's asking for miracles I know.
If we're looking for an immediate reaction in the team, then I would look at Abdoulaye Doucoure (£30 million). Unless they improve, Watford may well be looking at relegation, so could be tempted with a bid. Mario Mandzukic (£8 million) looks like he is definitely leaving Juve, so a short term fix would be on the cards, and another Juve player, Emre Can (£22 million) could be a welcome addition to the squad. All of these are for strengthening the team now, so we hopefully could be looking at a top four finish. Could cost in the region of £60 million. I personally would like to see Haaland arrive asap, along with Maddison and Phillips, but not sure we could get any of them in January. Matic should certainly be on his way in January.
Seen today that they reckon Mandzukic is all pretty much agreed, wants to move to England in December to get up to speed as I think he is allowed to train with anyone now he is not around the Juve squad.
Be a good back up for a year, good winning mentality, bit of a leader/experience in the dressing room, loads of European pedigree and seen today it could even be for as little as 5m.
Not a big fan of Can and think if we pay 30m for him there are far better out there, even Rakitic in January might be worth a 40m bid.
Mandzuckic and a CM would be ideal to get us to the summer.
Just hand over everything we have for Saul Niguez and Haaling. Would even take Mandzukic for a season, different type of player that would be able to help out the youngsters. Including Haaland.
Rakitic could be a good move, similar to Mandzukic, he would be a short term fix until (hopefully) the academy players come through. I think £30 million is too much for Can, but again as a short term fix he would be ok.
Yeah defo, think Rakitic for a January signing would be unreal, rare someone of his quality is potentially available, would slot in nicely next to McT with Pogba further ahead.
Realistic
Partey/Zakaria
McGinn
Ziyech
honourable mentions to fernandes (if Ole is so determined to stick with 4-2-3-1 he leapfrogs mcginn) or havertz
muppet unrealistic
Partey
Maddison
Sancho
all the players listed are at clubs that would be willing to sell at the right price - obviously we can’t afford them all, and would they sign?
we also need a striker. Werner or Haland
Partey/Zakaria
McGinn
Ziyech
honourable mentions to fernandes (if Ole is so determined to stick with 4-2-3-1 he leapfrogs mcginn) or havertz
muppet unrealistic
Partey
Maddison
Sancho
all the players listed are at clubs that would be willing to sell at the right price - obviously we can’t afford them all, and would they sign?
we also need a striker. Werner or Haland
Can is 25, about at his peak with room to improve too. Better than Rakitic who is on decline.
I hope we avoid these short term fixes, if they don’t come in and hit the ground running they soon go from a quick fix to deadwood, like Bastian and Matic. It’s asking a lot of players past their peak to come in and adapt to Premier League midseason.
We’re short of players and have plenty of deadwood still in the squad, there will be plenty of room for academy players even if we make some signings that aren’t just for short term.