So who on that list should we have bought that would have come and would have immediately made us better?The ignorance is stunning.
Harry Maguire | Signed
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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?
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They will, provided the money is 150m which is the price they quoted us.
Why would they accept Harry Maguire money for Koulibaly? It's not like they don't see the difference between the two either.
The fact that nobody appears to even be trying to sign Koulibaly tells you how much Napoli are demanding.
Ajax won the CL in 1995. By that time their team had been sold off and most of their defenders had proved to be either meah (de Boer) or utter dunces (Reizeger, Bogarde). Stam was a risk. Back then the dead certs were the likes of Maldini and Costacurta. Stam was a bigger gamble to the likes of Campbell and Nesta who were doing an excellent job at a top league. Which is why we were able to sign him at a time when the EPL was still the third choice league in Europe
As said I don't mind us spending 100m on a prime Rio Ferdinand. Hell, I don't mind doing that (or pay slightly more then that) for Koulibaly either. However spending 100m for a CB whose clearly not WC simply because he's EPL proven is mad. The guy is nowhere near to WC let alone Rio or Vidic standard.
Under such circumstances Id rather spend the money on a decent CB and a mobile DM. Defence is not a 1 man thing, it requires a good defensive unit were one covers for the others weaknesses. Juventus in the 90s for example had a fantastic defensive record despite not having WC players in defence. If DDG signs a new contract and AWB settles down quickly then I think we can easily achieve that with a mobile DM and a decent CB whose good in air and whose a decent passer of the ball.
For a World record fee...... He was not even close to be the lower cost gamble or punt you have been extolling in this thread the last couple of pages. I think that's what is not being grasped here.
When we bought Stam, Johan Cruyff said that we could finally win the Champions League that season and he was proved right.
Great stuff, we can expect a bid prepared for roughly 2022 then ey.
I think there's a good crop of promising young CB's out there at the moment who would represent far less risk than Bailly, who came having had experience of what, 1 and a half years professional football?
I think Ake / Tah would be smarter purchases than Maguire (who I'm not against signing btw, think he'd do well), as-well as a whole host of other less prominent names.
Milenkovic, Upamecano, Konate, Godfrey - I'm no scout but I'm sure there are plenty out there who will improve us. As long as the fundamentals of their game are solid then we'll be out of Bailly territory to start.
We couldn't do otherwise else he would become a target of Spanish/Italian clubs who could offer way better salaries then we do.
The least we can do is test their resolve. Italian clubs talk big but things never work out that way. If we were to put in a 80 million quid bid for him, they'd consider it.
De Ligt is better than Maguire and hes gone for less than what we've offered for Maguire. These things never make sense. Prem clubs are always ready to take clubs to the cleaners.
He won't be an easy signing. Ancelotti threatened to leave Napoli if they dared selling Koulibaly. Having said that, I think they are more likely to accept a fee + player deal then Leicester would.
Personally I really don't care whether we sign Maguire or not, as long as we sign someone at CB and move on. Every option I see mentioned is either overpriced or a risk so just accept that and take our chances with whoever seems like the appropriate balance of talent to cost. As long as we're sure they'll improve us at least somewhat, which shouldn't be that hard, then we can risk them ultimately failing to live up to any higher expectations.
Kounde, Anderson, Diallo and Hermoso are all ball playing CBs. Their strength despite being at smaller clubs last season (Diallo withstanding) was their ability of passing the ball, all of whom were high up on passes last season despite being at relatively weak clubs. These are the types of punts we should be going for, players who are comfortable in possession at the back and playing the modern game. None of our CBs except Lindelof can do this.
Can I ask, why isn't Maguire worth £80m? Because he's English?, Because he's young?, Because he has little European experience?, Because he's only won the Prem once? VvD was a gamble for £75m and look at him now, potentially a Ballon D'or candidate and he went from a mid table, so-so team to a top 6 team and has made a massive difference. He's big, strong, athletic, determined and can lead from the back. I personally think in Maguire, if we purchase him, we will have the English version. If it takes £5m more than VvD to get him, then so be it. For christ's sake, we are still paying a fortune for barely average players, maybe Woody should bite the bullet and get him, god kknows we need someone like him. As fans, we would have happily sanctioned £100m+ for Koulibally.
I take the point about their ball playing skills but as you said yourself, they are punts. I would rather sign a Maguire who is PL proven and better than what we have or failing that try and see if Ole can develop Bailly and Tuanzebe and spend the money on the midfield instead. I quite liked the look of Anderson but he got some pretty negative commentary in his thread from posters who watch a lot of Serie A and the fact that Lyon got him for such a low fee and with seemingly no competition suggests he is not the level we are looking for.
Whilst I agree with the general point, maybe not Kounde (don’t know enough), but the rest are shite in the air in comparison to Maguire. We do need a player that can do both, sadly.
Incredible that this takes so long. A far from world class but decent CB that wants to join us after a pretty underwhelming season. We are inept.
I’m not following your logic? We have his interest but Leicester don’t want to sell this decent centre back for less than £85m.
Do you think we should have paid £85m by now?
And has been discussed this was an exception due to his agreement with the club.
No I don’t but I think you should have move do on by now, Maguire may want his “dream move” but he won’t force it having just signed a new deal last year.
Is that your other account?
I think Maguire is the best defensive option out there. Great player.
The grass is always greener.. The foreign unknown is of course more exciting, but I doubt we'll get anyone close to Maguire's quality for similar money.
The grass is always greener.. The foreign unknown is of course more exciting, but I doubt we'll get anyone close to Maguire's quality for similar money.
Oh apologies I thought it was an open question.
Hopefully not.
He'll still come. not at all surprising we are leaking stuff that we are moving on. Clearly a leak from us given the lack of names he has used.
He's our number 1 target and should be brought in for the manager.
There are countless CBs that weren’t deemed wc before they signed. Vidic was a surprise. Stam was coming from the Dutch league. Brilliant ‘lesser’ players like Berg and Johnson wouldn’t have been anyone’s first choice. Point being Maguire is a good player. I suspect a great many, me included, don’t watch 90 mins week in week out...and it just might be that upon signing we actually realise how good/great he really is. He could be CB saviour in the mould of VVD at Liverpool. And if his attitude and application is what the media suggest, then the attitude of the squad will also be greatly improved
Yeah or just moved on. Not waste half the freaking window trying to lowball.
Massive show of ignorance in this post, inept even.
Glad you are happy that we waste half the window chasing this guy when we have still lots to do in the market.
Hope it's worth the wait. This is taking so long
Reckon the wait is due to that Leicester probably made sure nothing is official until they have secured a replacement.
I think it’s off.
I actually think you need more than the one player and need to replace Matic too.
In terms of CBs-
Aké
Romagnoli
Skriniar
Elvedi
Djene
Akanji
Tah
Konate
Milenkovic
Upamecano
N’Dicka
Llorente
CDMs
Gbamin
Neves
Brozovic
Zubeldia
Roca
Tonali
If you spread the £80,000,000 over two of those, I actually think you’d be better off personally.
In terms of CBs-
Aké
Romagnoli
Skriniar
Elvedi
Djene
Akanji
Tah
Konate
Milenkovic
Upamecano
N’Dicka
Llorente
CDMs
Gbamin
Neves
Brozovic
Zubeldia
Roca
Tonali
If you spread the £80,000,000 over two of those, I actually think you’d be better off personally.
I never got this argument, any club receiving a bid from Leicester for a CB will know it’s a Maguire replacement. It seems At the minute Leicester do not want to sell and Maguire so far has kept his own council.
I think it's on.
Lowball?
Wouldn’t you say it is a fair strategy in order to not inflate a price for a replacement? Meaning that they leak fake news to the media via intermediaries, and secure a better deal? Would think Leicester could afford Dunk/Tarkowski easily without the Maguire transfer, but after it, they could be asked for silly money - like United are btw.
Well wasting our time negotiating that ridiculous price they ask for him more like. Either pay up or move on is what we should do at this stage. We have more than enough to do still in the market.Lowball?
He was relegated with Hull when Leicester won the league. Leicester's CB partnership that season was Wes Morgan and Robert Huth.
That’s exactly the attitude that has got us where we are. We’ve signed several CB’s already, though none were fit for purpose.
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