Elliot Anderson | Athletic: United's main target

[RedRover]

Am I the only one glad we're not signing him? £100m+ for a player that's just had one decent season is madness. We could potentially get 2-3 players for that price in France for goodness sake.
Adam Wharton + another and we're good.

And will any of them be good enough?

Club's wasted too much money trying to buy potential. If we're going to step up, PL proven players are a must. Mbuemo and Cunha highlight that.

Also, how may clubs anywhere in Europe are letting their top young players move to the PL for £30 million? orld.

 

[ron86]

Am I the only one glad we're not signing him? £100m+ for a player that's just had one decent season is madness. We could potentially get 2-3 players for that price in France for goodness sake.
Adam Wharton + another and we're good.

He hasn't just had 1 decent season, he was quality the season before as well with plenty wanting him then.
This season has proven he wasnt jsit a 1 season wonder unlike Baleba and to a certain extent Wharton (who has been hampered by injuries, but thats its own concern)

 

[Hammondo]

You were though. Let’s have it right.

I don't, I just have an opinion on whoscored ratings. Anderson is difficult to judge because of hype and lack of competition. He might be the best option, but is that because other options are poor? Worth close to the price suggested? I've no idea, it's hard to judge.

 

[Slick Bastardly]

He's another no brainer, excatly like Caicedo or Rice were.

There comes a time watching Premiership games you absolutely see the gems shinning.

He's one of those players. Pay whatever the money they want for him, he's that good.

 

[caid]

Isn't Morgan Gibbs White a #10? With a not great injury record?
Dont think we need either of those things.

 

[goldenboy]

Club's wasted too much money trying to buy potential. If we're going to step up, PL proven players are a must. Mbuemo and Cunha highlight that.

Mbeumo and Cunha had proven themselves to be in the top few players in their respective positions in the PL last season though.

Only Anderson out of the names being discussed can come close to being put in a similar bracket for his position as Mbeumo and Cunha were before United bought them.

I don't, I just have an opinion on whoscored ratings. Anderson is difficult to judge because of hype and lack of competition. He might be the best option, but is that because other options are poor? Worth close to the price suggested? I've no idea, it's hard to judge.

Whoscored ratings are actually quite good overall. Albeit Sofascore's, while generally looking pretty similar, are perhaps marginally better.

People here and elsewhere keep pointing to Mbeumo and Cunha as being successful signings because they were "PL proven". That is true, but they were PL proven to the extent that they were both in the top 10 for PL players in whoscored's rankings!

Looking at this list below, would many people argue against this having been a fair representation of the best players in the PL last season (24/45)? I think it looks fairly reasonable:

Going back to Anderson, he is currently 13th in whoscored's rankings for this season, with a total of 7.12. He is 6th of all PL CMs listed, behind Bruno Fernandes, Rice, Bruno Guimaraes, Garner and Stach. Again, that sounds not wildly out of whack with what many people would have observed.

He's close enough to say Cunha and Mbeumo to be considered PL proven. But I would also consider that those much further down the rankings eg Wharton, Baleba etc. haven't "proven" themselves to be pretty much top-tier in their positions in the PL to the extent that eg Cunha, Mbeumo and Anderson now have.

 

[RedRover]

Mbeumo and Cunha had proven themselves to be in the top few players in their respective positions in the PL last season though.

Only Anderson out of the names being discussed can come close to being put in a similar bracket for his position as Mbeumo and Cunha were before United bought them.

That's who this thread is about though isn't it?

My point was that buying £30 million players from France is taking a punt on players at a level where most of them won't be good enough for the PL at all, let alone replace an established first team player at a club who would hope, soon if not immediately, to be challenging for titles.

The club could have spent half the money they spent on

Every thread where we're linked to an expensive player sees comments which effectively amount to: "we should just buy somebody just as good for less money", as if every club isn't trying to do just that.

 

[romanian_fan]

That's who this thread is about though isn't it?

My point was that buying £30 million players from France is taking a punt on players at a level where most of them won't be good enough for the PL at all, let alone replace an established first team player at a club who would hope, soon if not immediately, to be challenging for titles.

The club could have spent half the money they spent on

Every thread where we're linked to an expensive player sees comments which effectively amount to: "we should just buy somebody just as good for less money", as if every club isn't trying to do just that.

In reality even a 100 mil player is a punt but, the better the due diligence, the better the fit in the team.

There are a lot of 5-15-30 mil punts from France who turned out to be generational players in the EPL and other leagues.

 

[the_12th_devil]

Anderson is a good player with room for improvement and would definitely strengthen our midfield. I think he could complement Kobbie well and brings energy and balance to our midfield. That said, I am not overly concerned if he decides to join City and we miss out on him. I remember how frustrated I was when we missed out on players like Hazard and Ronaldinho and always wondered what we might have achieved with talents of that level. Anderson is not quite in that elite category, so I wouldnt lose sleep over it if we miss out on him. In the same way, I wasnt particularly worried when Liam Delap chose Chelsea.

 

[bosskeano]

personally....i'd love to see us bring in both Anderson and Guimaraes....bit more of a gamble with Guimaraes just considering he's 28 however he fits the profile of what Carrick would want in a 6

 

[ron86]

personally....i'd love to see us bring in both Anderson and Guimaraes....bit more of a gamble with Guimaraes just considering he's 28 however he fits the profile of what Carrick would want in a 6

If youre a city you may have your wish, otherwise....

 

[Reds Under The Bed]

We need to replicate last summer's window by signing up the best available talent that's PL proven and not past it. Anderson would certainly fit that profile.

 

[neverdie]

best young midfielder in the league, up there in world terms.

my number one signing personally.

not going to pretend he's shit if city beat us to him (though i will want him to fail if he does go that way, obviously).

 

[kkengvib]

Personally I like Wharton more as a player but I think Anderson fits the profile of player we arguably need more (based on our current squad).
I'd be happy with either but wary we'd probably be paying over the odds for either

 

[croadyman]

He's tweeted this today.

"Manchester United are briefing they like Elliot Anderson but they can't compete on wages. They were told weeks ago the player is going to City"

Well let's see if the usual Utd sources say we have moved to alternative targets for the midfield area then

 

[McLvnsMuse]

I like him but I don’t love him at the price being quoted. Best available does not mean special in my opinion.

Going to City is a gamble for him. Pep will happily bench a 100m player for some technically superior random spawn.

Only time will tell if he’s more Rodri/Fernandinho or Kalvin Philips?

Slightly biased view - United feels like a better style fit. That said, I’m not dying to burn 100m+ when we can rebuild our midfield for that price with better scouting.

 

[red_de_pologne]

We won't get him, not because of the transfer fee but because of the wage package, City will offer him 2x more than us (or more).

That's why we still think about Baleba, he'll accept wages within our structure, like Cunha and Mbeumo.

I would imagine the recruitment will realize there is no Mbeumo type transfer for our midfield from PL this summer and we'll shop abroad.

 

[Zumbi]

Understatement of the year this. Carrick was a phenomenal midfielder for us.

Decent career dear me.

Thank you for posting this. I read decent and was fuming.

Maybe it’s just me but I understood that “decent” to mean “oustanding”, in the classic British tradition of understating things massively.

The same way someone might say “not ideal” for something that’s a complete fecking disaster, or “it’s a bit wet” for when it’s absolutely pissing it down.

 

[KM]

Theres a City ITK they all seem to hang off on Bluemoon and on X that basically insists Anderson will be a City player in the summer.

Whether you give that any credence I don't know but he basically said Guehi and Semenyo had agreed to come before others reported it apparently.

Assume that's Tolmie?

He's a moron and has proven to be wrong a lot of times before. But for what its worth, he has said that Baleba is coming to us too.

 

[Nomologic]

I like him but I don’t love him at the price being quoted. Best available does not mean special in my opinion.

Going to City is a gamble for him. Pep will happily bench a 100m player for some technically superior random spawn.

Only time will tell if he’s more Rodri/Fernandinho or Kalvin Philips?

Slightly biased view - United feels like a better style fit. That said, I’m not dying to burn 100m+ when we can rebuild our midfield for that price with better scouting.

There's no doubt he's an excellent player but the question of style fit keeps nagging at me. I watched last weekend's NFO game to with an eye to seeing where exactly he played. And while for England he usually plays DM in front of the back four, allowing Rice to go box-to-box, for NFO it seemed at is he was the box-to-box guy (with Sangare?) as the DM. And for us I think he needs to be a DM who frees up Mainoo. Casemiro does find himself in scoring situations quite often but he has the experience to know when to sit and when to roam, and can manage his movements in synch with the rest of the troops (usually; there was a period last year when it seemed he was moving in slow-mo :-(). But Elliott Anderson, for 100M, needs to be a warm electric blanket for the back four.

 

[GoonerBear]

Assume that's Tolmie?

He's a moron and has proven to be wrong a lot of times before. But for what its worth, he has said that Baleba is coming to us too.

Yeah, that's him. My City supporting mate thinks he's right more than wrong, think it was from him he was telling me in December they were signing Semenyo and Guehi. But yeah, no doubt there will be times he's wrong as well, and this might be 1 of those times.

The midfield situation this summer will be very interesting, and a bit of a carousel. I'd imagine at the very least Utd, City, Liverpool and maybe even Arsenal will try and sign a centre midfielder, maybe even Chelsea, Newcastle, Villa.

I'd imagine the likes of Anderson, Wharton, Baleba, Tonali might all look to move within the league, think it might just be who moves where.

I can imagine something like Anderson - City, Wharton - Liverpool, Baleba - Utd. Maybe even Tonali - Arsenal although that might be the longest shot out them all.

 

[SuperiorXI]

This is exactly the type of signing we should avoid. Rat himself came out and said he wants the "next Mbappe". Anderson would cost shit loads in wage and fee and is just a blatantly obvious choice anyone can make. Use the fecking scouting network and find the next top midfielder.

 

[RedRover]

In reality even a 100 mil player is a punt but, the better the due diligence, the better the fit in the team.

There are a lot of 5-15-30 mil punts from France who turned out to be generational players in the EPL and other leagues.

Every player is a punt. A £100 million pound player should be much less of a punt, is the reality and if proper due diligence is done. There's a reason why the top clubs often generally want the same players.

The highlighted comment misses the point I'm making entirely. Obviously there are players who didn't cost the earth and have proved to be good enough ("generational" is a bit much, unless you can give any decent examples) but the point is that the vast, vast majority of them prove not to be, and you end up saddled with players on four or five year contracts who you end up loaning out to other European leagues, or lower PL clubs because nobody will pay then what they get at a top PL club. So a £30 million transfer actually costs you a lot more.

United need a ready made fit in a key position, and therefore buying from the PL is a much safer option in this instance.

Look at the impact Declan Rice has made at Arsenal. Top player, in a key position who everyone thought was over priced, and it may pay off with a league title.

 

[RedRover]

This is exactly the type of signing we should avoid. Rat himself came out and said he wants the "next Mbappe". Anderson would cost shit loads in wage and fee and is just a blatantly obvious choice anyone can make. Use the fecking scouting network and find the next top midfielder.

And that's the point isn't it. All top clubs will be scouting the same players around the world. We might have players in the youth team who are the next top players, but what do we do next season?

Also, you assume our scouting network is better than those at other clubs or at least good enough to identify a player capable of coming in and being as good as (for example, if this is who we want) Anderson. Recent evidence would suggest otherwise.

 

[bond19821982]

How many midfielders signed from PL has actually been a success for us, lets say in the last 20 years?

For us, we will have to go back to Matic .
Matic, Carrick ?
Not sure if thats down to quality or just a mere coincidence.

 

[roonster09]

How many midfielders signed from PL has actually been a success for us, lets say in the last 20 years?

For us, we will have to go back to Matic .
Matic, Carrick ?
Not sure if thats down to quality or just a mere coincidence.

How many CMs did we sign from PL clubs in last 13 years? I can think of only 3. Matic, Schneiderlin and Fellaini.

 

[red_de_pologne]

This is exactly the type of signing we should avoid. Rat himself came out and said he wants the "next Mbappe". Anderson would cost shit loads in wage and fee and is just a blatantly obvious choice anyone can make. Use the fecking scouting network and find the next top midfielder.

So ... like Anderson?

 

[bond19821982]

How many CMs did we sign from PL clubs in last 13 years? I can think of only 3. Matic, Schneiderlin and Fellaini.

Yep, we seem to be signing less midfielders from the league. Not sure if its down to quality available.

 

[criticalanalysis]

Maybe it’s just me but I understood that “decent” to mean “oustanding”, in the classic British tradition of understating things massively.

The same way someone might say “not ideal” for something that’s a complete fecking disaster, or “it’s a bit wet” for when it’s absolutely pissing it down.

Hook line and sinker. Cheers for explaining.

Kobbie's biggest weakness for me is that he hasn't got the legs to be constantly running box to box and backwards. That's not just his issue but our whole team's tbh. Ideally you'd want a Matic regen i.e height, length, legs, ball winning and very good ability on the ball.

If you can't find that, then similar to what Carrick has done as manager for the past 5 games, we'll need to find a way of playing that reduces our issues in defensive transition by playing more of a flat two in front of the defence. The goal would be then to rely on more intricate spells of possession in between the spaces and when we win the ball get it to our attacking players to their feet in transition/higher up the pitch.

Mainoo absolutely needs to increase his volume, intensity and variety of passing but I think the whole 'long passing' thing is overstated. If as a team we're going to be looking to control games for longer periods then those opportunities for long passing and open areas will reduce a lot anyways. I'd focus on bringing in midfielders that can retain the ball in tighter spaces, draw in the opposition and play in between the spaces.

I'm not saying Anderson and Mainoo is the answer but it can work to a degree if the manager really wants to make it happen. I'd add further to that in expecting Bruno to play more in a traditional midfield 3 rather than the roaming almost 2nd striker/box-to-box role he's been playing for the past 5 games.

To be on topic, this is what I said before the Everton game, which sort of played out the issues I have with Casemiro and Bruno. Ergo, a player like Anderson (with Mainoo) would have mitigated some of the rushed/inpatient football we played in the 1st half and control issues we had in the 2nd.

 

[Andycoleno9]

I fail to understand why he is rated this high. Good player without question but 100 mil? For what exactly?
He doesn't score, he doesn't dictate tempo, he doesn't assist and he is not defensive monster (like Caicedo).

Help me to understand in what exactly is the hype around him.

 

[Brophs]

I fail to understand why he is rated this high. Good player without question but 100 mil? For what exactly?
He doesn't score, he doesn't dictate tempo, he doesn't assist and he is defensive monster (like Caicedo).

Help me to understand in what exactly is the hype around him.

£50m per surname.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

Funnily Garner would be a better fit for us. Can spread the play much better and equally as good defensively.

 

[Mcking]

I fail to understand why he is rated this high. Good player without question but 100 mil? For what exactly?
He doesn't score, he doesn't dictate tempo, he doesn't assist and he is defensive monster (like Caicedo).

Help me to understand in what exactly is the hype around him.

Did you mean he is not a defensive monster?

 

[croadyman]

Funnily Garner would be a better fit for us. Can spread the play much better and equally as good defensively.

Has he not just signed a new deal at Everton though?

 

[Mcking]

Funnily Garner would be a better fit for us. Can spread the play much better and equally as good defensively.

Oh please. James Garner cannot spread the game much better than Elliot Anderson. Unless spreading the game better means something entirely different from how it sounds.

 

[MrWilliams]

In reality even a 100 mil player is a punt but, the better the due diligence, the better the fit in the team.

There are a lot of 5-15-30 mil punts from France who turned out to be generational players in the EPL and other leagues.

Glad you mentioned this. No player is Prem proven until they are

 

[Isotope]

Hook line and sinker. Cheers for explaining.



To be on topic, this is what I said before the Everton game, which sort of played out the issues I have with Casemiro and Bruno. Ergo, a player like Anderson (with Mainoo) would have mitigated some of the rushed/inpatient football we played in the 1st half and control issues we had in the 2nd.

Anderson has 85% passing rate, while Case is on 81%. Not really a big jump on retaining.

 

[Poborsky's hair]

Oh please. James Garner cannot spread the game much better than Elliot Anderson. Unless spreading the game better means something entirely different from how it sounds.

He's much better passer, but what do you know

 

[Poborsky's hair]

Has he not just signed a new deal at Everton though?

That's the catch yes. Id'd be too expensive now to bring back our academy player for 60-70m.

 

[DJ_21]

Funnily Garner would be a better fit for us. Can spread the play much better and equally as good defensively.

Id rather we didn’t become a laughing stock again and re sign a player for ridiculous money that we let go instead of develop.