To be fair one of his coaches said to someone that he's the most complete teenager he's coached.I haven’t seen this much hype about an Irish player since Aaron Connolly
So it's not just Irish hype, there's substance to it.
Evan Ferguson - Top Irish Prospect
- Thread starter Pogue Mahone
- Start date
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
So it's not just Irish hype, there's substance to it.
City's backup winger cost £100 million.
He'd be a backup striker with a view to shortly becoming first choice. That's different and warrants a good amount of money.
'Shortly' is doing a lot of lifting there. If Kane comes in, he's going to be first choice for minimum 3 seasons and probably longer. Ferguson is just not going to want to be backup with no prospect of being the main striker for that long.
One of those situations which makes me wonder why we never sign a young talent with a view to immediately sending them back to their current club on a long-term loan. Seems like such an obvious solution.
I don't understand this idea that you can have one striker be first choice for all the games when a club can end up playing close to 60 or more games a season if they reach the semi finals of all cups and Europe. A single injury, suspension or unplanned fatigue for a key player can doom the team for a crucial month. Hell, even the current squad is stitched together with loan deals for the likes of Weghorst, who starts every game despite being nowhere near the required level.
Was talking with a friend the other day and was curious what the caf would prefer regarding our squad building up top.
Let's say we have a budget of £100-120m for strikers this summer.
Would you spunk it all on a big signing like Kane or Osimhen? Big risk if they get injured or don't gel with the team but pretty nailed on in terms of quality.
Or, would you hedge your bets and sign 2 young strikers with top potential and hope at least one comes good. I reckon we could sign Ferguson and Sesko with this budget. Worst case scenario, they're both hype jobs (unlikely), best case scenario, we have quality in depth up top for a generation.
After considering this, I think I'd rather see us go young. We have an ageing squad as it is and depth up top is a serious issue for us. Ferguson and Sesko along with a CM would be a dream summer
Let's say we have a budget of £100-120m for strikers this summer.
Would you spunk it all on a big signing like Kane or Osimhen? Big risk if they get injured or don't gel with the team but pretty nailed on in terms of quality.
Or, would you hedge your bets and sign 2 young strikers with top potential and hope at least one comes good. I reckon we could sign Ferguson and Sesko with this budget. Worst case scenario, they're both hype jobs (unlikely), best case scenario, we have quality in depth up top for a generation.
After considering this, I think I'd rather see us go young. We have an ageing squad as it is and depth up top is a serious issue for us. Ferguson and Sesko along with a CM would be a dream summer
I think you misunderstand me. It would absolutely work from a United perspective. I'm saying that Ferguson will not want to be a clear second choice striker for the next 3 or 4 years.
I really like him. I wouldn't be opposed to our striker business being something along the lines of:
Sign Kane - 4 Year Contract.
Sign Weghorst - 1 Year Contract.
Sign Ferguson - 5 Year Contract, Loan back to Brighton for 1 Year.
Sell Martial.
Might be best managed if this was possible, but who knows these days? I think it would set us up very nicely though!
Sign Kane - 4 Year Contract.
Sign Weghorst - 1 Year Contract.
Sign Ferguson - 5 Year Contract, Loan back to Brighton for 1 Year.
Sell Martial.
Might be best managed if this was possible, but who knows these days? I think it would set us up very nicely though!
I agree. For Ferguson, he has more capacity for improvement at Brighton than he would at United with Kane.
You could even argue that if we went balls to the wall on Ferguson and signed just him for the CF position, it has the potential to backfire for him. It could be difficult to move to the most scrutinised club on earth for a big transfer fee while still developing and deliver immediately. Look at the pressure on Sancho right now- and he was a few years older when he moved here.
Are we signing Kane?
And if so there's no guarantee he stays at this level and is fit for the next three years.
We got one good year out of RVP at roughly the same age.
That didn't seem to matter for Julian Alvarez when he signed for City, knowing fully well that they had Haaland lined up.
I don't even think Ferguson has to be a clear second choice, as he'll be competing with Kane and if he is as good as hoped, he'd at least be splitting games with a 32 year old Kane in 3 seasons.
There's a huge difference in profile and value between Alvarez before City signed him and Ferguson now.
Look, people seem to want to believe we can get this guy in as well as a Kane/Osimhen. There's no harm in being optimistic, but I'm just saying the chances are basically nil.
Of course, every smaller club has to do that and I agree with you about their scouting. But as far as Irish prospects go. This lad is the most valuable player in years. There isn’t another one just knocking around to just go and get. He looks tailor made for the PL
Not really sure why his nationality has a bearing on their ability to replace him.
But that point will come anyway at some point and ultimately its their problem.
I get everyone saying the sensible thing is for him to stay and develop. But that's not usually how it works in football. The much more exciting option would be to join Manchester United, win trophies, earn a shitload.
Players sign for clubs all the time knowing they won't be automatic first choice.
Gakpo signed for Liverpool knowing they had Dias in his position. Grealish knows he's not an automatic starter moving to City. Antony comes here when only a season earlier we'd signed a much more high profile player(Sancho) in his position.
Is he playing tonight?
if he really is a United fan - he will come to be our 2nd striker in my opinion.
Just seems too much of a good opportunity for a fan. Especially if you can learn from players like Kane.
Just seems too much of a good opportunity for a fan. Especially if you can learn from players like Kane.
All of those players had genuine reason to believe they could have a shot at first choice. Grealish was £100m! Gakpo can also play in Firmino's position and Diaz was out with a long term injury. Antony knew Sancho had been underwhelming, and the manager had huge faith in him.
Honestly, I'm bewildered by the wishful thinking here. Harry Kane (if it is him) will be nailed on 100% first choice for United for years. Ferguson will know that it will be 2-3 seasons at least before he can be genuinely competing. I just don't think that's an attractive proposition for him, much as it would be perfect for us fans.
If we pay £100 million for Ferguson would that mean he's first choice?
If City had gone huge on a £130m ball carrying left winger who was clearly acknowledged to be one of the best in the world in that position just before getting Grealish, you better believe Grealish would have had second thoughts!
Anyway, let's sit back and see how this develops. I'm certain that events will not prove me wrong, let's put it that way. (as usual, hope I'm wrong!)
People living in Disneyland thinking the club can land both Kane and Ferguson this summer. 
Genuinely weird how people are really pushing this as even a remote possibility.People living in Disneyland thinking the club can land both Kane and Ferguson this summer.
Apparently.
Good opportunity to see him although I guess he'll be taking it easy.
There is a world where getting Ferguson could work for United - if we also sign an experienced alternative on the cheap. Eg Dembele or Thuram. That way we could ease him into first choice over the next season or so. Then spend big on midfield.
It’s important to remember the following caveat - Ireland’s midfield is crap.
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Disneyland you say? Bring back EddiePeople living in Disneyland thinking the club can land both Kane and Ferguson this summer.
I’d say a young sheringham
For comparison, Dalot has already played 33 games this season, and AWB has played 22. Personally, I think Ferguson would gain from one more season out of the spotlight at Brighton before joining us, but I agree that we should want to manage players' minutes, and I expect our reserve striker should be getting plenty of minutes. This season we have had Ronaldo and Martial, and more recently Weghorst and Rashford rotating up front. I wouldn't worry that Ferguson wouldn't get enough opportunities.
Weghorst is a top guy, but not good enough.
Martial is not going to be bought by anyone, so he will stick around as our back up until his contract expires in 2024.
Kane and Ferguson plans.....
I don't want to put too much pressure on young Ferguson but he is definitely going to win the Ballon d'Or and lead Ireland to our first World Cup in decades.
If he’s half as good as his da Duncan and takes the mentality of his grandad Alex then he will be grand
Yeah its years since we won it
People pushing for Ferguson(like me) aren't suggesting we get Kane as well. It's just others who've decided Kane is a done deal and so are asking how Ferguson would fit in.People living in Disneyland thinking the club can land both Kane and Ferguson this summer.
I don't think there's any chance we get Kane.
Good for youI haven’t seen this much hype about an Irish player since Aaron Connolly
I'm all for Ferguson going Man Utd this summer, Bohs will land a large chunk of money from the deal.
In all seriousness though, Brighton is by far the best place for his development and playing time right now.
In all seriousness though, Brighton is by far the best place for his development and playing time right now.
I get the feeling I could list 100 players moving without being sure they'd be first choice but you'd find a caveat for each one.
Josh Cullen is good but the rest are lacking.
Hoping on Smallbone or Hodge to step up.
I agree Ferguson would get his opportunities whether we brought in Kane or someone else. My sense of things is that Levy will sell Kane on the new project, pay him handsomely for it will remain with Spurs even if that means going trophyless for the rest of his career. It's his boyhood club and even though Spurs aren't going to win a major trophy any time soon, they'll still be a club that the British media will pay attention to.
But even if we did bring in Kane we need a second striker as there really is not much hope of Martial being relevant any longer. As for the player who wears the No 11 shirt, more likely than not United cut him loose it seems to me.
Yeah but its probably too late for that already. We say we should take punts on the 5-10mn players because they're free hits. What you would pay for Ferguson would be a big chunk of your transfer budget and he's nowhere near a guarantee as good as he looks.
He said Ferguson was the most complete forward he'd worked with. He also said the best kid he'd worked with was Andrew Moran who is promising but still to break through despite being older.