Wow. The fact that there dont appear to be a more attracting and realistic option than Maguire or Koulibaly for £100 mill or something...
Maybe Andersen or Hermoso could be good options?
Maybe Andersen or Hermoso could be good options?
Centre Back... Who do we go for?
- Thread starter Macern
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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.
If we're looking at alternatives like Tah, Milenkovic, Dias who aren't exactly amazing then why not consider these guys too:
Christophe Herelle, Gianluca Mancini, German Pezzella, Armando Izzo, Berat Djimsiti, Alessio Romagnoli, Malang Sarr, Ferro, Nico Elvedi
Christophe Herelle, Gianluca Mancini, German Pezzella, Armando Izzo, Berat Djimsiti, Alessio Romagnoli, Malang Sarr, Ferro, Nico Elvedi
Rather take a risk and try one of these signings for £20-30m than spend over £80m on Maguire. That would be terrible business. He's a good player and would improve us but he comes with his faults and I can't see him improving much. £80m would be staggering.
Then no doubt youd moan when another bailly or lindelof doesn't quite cut it.
Agreed. No point in spending so much on one player when benefit is going to be marginal. What’s the point when both of your best ball playing CBs are goint be slow.
We need two ball playing CBs with potential to grow in the PL. That’s the long term picture we need to envision.
I'd like maguire but would sooner trust bailly than spend 80m on him. Bailly had a really encouraging first season with us, he was basically a shell last season. He's fast, physical and I think still has huge potential if ole can rebuild his confidence. Not saying we should do that but would rather alternate he and Smalling than spend close to 100m on a non world class player. It's a three year rebuild, use the money this summer for targets we know will improve us
No. For a start, Maguire isn't much of an improvement on Lindelof. Lindelof had a better season last year.
There's alot of under the radar CB's in Europe that can be bought with the potential to be a top quality CB.
For £80m, you want the best in their position or someone who is clear to become that sort of player i.e. Van Dijk. Maguire wasn't even in the top 10 CB's in the Prem last year.
Would you be so keen to sign Maguire if he was not English? He is simply not much better than what we already have .
Perhaps people who support the buying of Maguire and an the so called "English core" are happy to continue to fight with Wolves Everton and Watford for 6th place
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If we are looking at alternatives with auch quality why we dont try Smalling, Jones, Bailly, Rojo, Tuanzebe.
Our CB are not that bad. Therefore just the top class would improve us.
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Do you actually believe the shit that you type?
Name me the 10 CBs in the league that were better last season.
I dont understand why we haven't sold any players yet ?
Surely we need to start moving the existing players out of the team and bringing in new ones asap.
If Ole really thinks that Smalling, Jones, Rojo and Lindelof are good enough at this level then there is rely no hope.
Surely we need to start moving the existing players out of the team and bringing in new ones asap.
If Ole really thinks that Smalling, Jones, Rojo and Lindelof are good enough at this level then there is rely no hope.
There are other leagues to buy from !
Would Maguire get in the team at City (they have not the slightest interest in him ) , Liverpool , Madrid , Juve , Barca ? Of course not .
Thats the level we need to be aiming for .
Maguire would be perfectly fine at 30-40 million as a squad player , nothing more
He's much better than what we have.And you know this because?
Wasn't initially directed at you but seeing as you've decided to chirp in, name me 10 better CBs in the league last season.
Yes I do.
Van Dijk, Laporte, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rudiger, Lindelof, Diop, Ake, Boly, Evans, even Gomez but he only played half a season due to injury.
Not saying all of them are better than Maguire. By reputation and past performances, Maguire would probably be top 5 or nearby but in 18/19 he didn't have the greatest of season and these all outperformed him.
Boateng is on the market. I belief he still has ~ 3 good years in his tank. He needs a new motivation and support from his coach. Bayern is willing to sell, he shouldn´t be to expensive. Could be a steal.
The likes of VVD and Laporte, sure. The rest? They really didn't.
So Maguire was the 3rd best CB in the league this season? Even Leicester City fans acknowledge that Evans was the best CB for them this season.
Uli? Is that you?
Yeah steal for Bayern.
They are on new long term contracts mate.
Jones is here for another 4 years....and is allegedly on on a similar weekly wage to Harry Kane!!
I could be completely wrong, but my gut feeling is that we are not even 'in' for a new CB, the noises and actions coming out of the club just don't convince me.
I seriously hope to be proven wrong, but I see us sticking with the same group of Jones, Smalling & Lindelof next season.
Maybe one of Rojo or Bailly will be moved on, but that player will only be replaced by Tuanzebe.
May not be far from true. Squad engineering logic says unless you can ship out two of those guys, no more CB's will come in.
I thought we would be in the same situation with CBs this summer as we were last summer and currently it looks to be the case.
There are a lot out there who would improve us but Woodward is doing his '£100m on Varane or bust' thing again. We will either pay a massive fee, probably a world record, for a CB or we will sign no-one. There won't be a sensible and cheaper signing like Ake or Diallo.
I hope I'm wrong but that's what it looks like to me at the moment.
There are a lot out there who would improve us but Woodward is doing his '£100m on Varane or bust' thing again. We will either pay a massive fee, probably a world record, for a CB or we will sign no-one. There won't be a sensible and cheaper signing like Ake or Diallo.
I hope I'm wrong but that's what it looks like to me at the moment.
It was reported in December last year by Di Marzio, that we were trying to sign Nikola Milenkovic. And if we failed in January we would return in June 2019 for the Fiorentina CB.
Personally I hope we go for him and I think he'd cost far less than Maguire and Diop. I think we could get him for between £40m to £50m and he's potentially better than both players as far as his allround game goes.
A no brainer for me. Will develop into a dominant CB who is good on the ball and strong in the air. The Serbian tower is the way to go.
Personally I hope we go for him and I think he'd cost far less than Maguire and Diop. I think we could get him for between £40m to £50m and he's potentially better than both players as far as his allround game goes.
A no brainer for me. Will develop into a dominant CB who is good on the ball and strong in the air. The Serbian tower is the way to go.
Mcguire would get into City and Liverpools teams he is better than either french CB at barca also. He might not be Varane or VVD quality but he is a very good CB
Id rather start Phil bloody Jones than Boateng he is shocking .
Would it be possible to take the reported £80 million for Maguire and go to RB Leipzig and take Konate and Upamecano as a pair both young and used to playing together, they will continue to progress and could be centre back pairing for years.
I don't think either player would come cheap from the RedBull club.
Upamecano himself would probably cost £60-70m.
We need to move out Darmian, Rojo and Bailly asap.
I don't know why we are not going for Ruben Dias. He is available for € 60m. If we want premier league proven quality I think issa diop is definitely the right move forward.
I don't know why we are not going for Ruben Dias. He is available for € 60m. If we want premier league proven quality I think issa diop is definitely the right move forward.
You can see the trend of many top coaches putting left-footed CBs to left (Laporte, Chiellini, Vertongen etc). We have all seen that Lindelofs ball distribution is better when he played on the right side. I think Koulibalys characteristics would make a perfect fit on paper at least, if Napoli can consider selling him, we should splash the cash.
Anyone have any opinions on Diallo and Zagadou at Dortmund?
Two very different players but both are left sided CBs who could be good signings for United. Diallo is the more experienced, somewhat technically better and possibly more intelligent player but Zagadou is far from a dumb donkey and is the superior athlete. I think Diallo + Smalling would be a good partnership but Lindelof would do better alongside the quick and aerially strong Zagadou.
With Dortmund signing Hummels I think at least one of these players might be available this summer. Which would you prefer United sign? Either or neither?
Two very different players but both are left sided CBs who could be good signings for United. Diallo is the more experienced, somewhat technically better and possibly more intelligent player but Zagadou is far from a dumb donkey and is the superior athlete. I think Diallo + Smalling would be a good partnership but Lindelof would do better alongside the quick and aerially strong Zagadou.
With Dortmund signing Hummels I think at least one of these players might be available this summer. Which would you prefer United sign? Either or neither?
We need a defensive Rock. Not a very good cb.
Spiderman?
Ake?
Of Bournemouth?
Have I been watching a different player? He’s their weak link from what I’ve seen. Makes a mistake every match
Ake won the Bournemouth fans player of the year for the past 2 seasons. He's not the perfect defender but he's certainly not their weak link.
I really wish someone could sort Bailly’s head out and remove the rashness from his game. Other than that he’s exactly what the modern CB needs to be. Athletic, quick, hard as nails. That’s what you need these days to compete against smaller, agile forwards like Salah, Aguero etc.
Have to agree that he's never really impressed me when I've seen him, figured I'd just caught a bad selection of his games since most seem to rate him.
I think Tah is the one to go for, especially if we're sticking with Lindelof. No idea how much he'd cost mind you.
Milenkovic also looks to be a good fit there as the dominant 'Vidic' side of that partnership, but with Fiorentina's new owners I can't see him moving.
Upamecano? Looks good on YouTube but I've not seen enough of him really, expensive too I'd bet.
It's a tough one. I just hope to god we start to shuffle the likes of Rojo / Jones / Bailly off to the glue factory before their testimonials roll around, incorporate Tuanzebe & a new signing alongside Smalling & Lindelof (whichever of the walking-wounded is still left can stay as deep cover) and let's try and build a defence which can play more than three games in a row before collapsing in on itself like a dying star.
Any truth in this Jones plus cash for Diop?