How many players do we need to sign this summer?

manunited1919

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Three potential first team players. Defence, midfield and attack. Two potential squad players. Defence and midfield. Potential as in Telles I assume was ment to be a squad player and DvB and Cavani were ment to be potential first teamers, at the very least squad. Sell those never playing along with DvB, Pogba and possibly Martial. Extend Cavanis loan
Don’t forget a Goalkeeper.
 

CasaStreets

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OK folks, let's take a look at our net spend on transfers (purchases minus sales):

2020/21 = +$70 mil
2019/20 = +$160 mil
2018/19 = +$60 mil
2017/18 = +$170 mil
2016/17 = +$150 mil
2015/16 = +$60 mil
2014/15 = +$160 mil
2013/14 = +$80 mil

I won't go further back than this since there's been meaningful price inflation on players over the last decade. However, what we can see is that we never spend (net) more than roughly $150 mil on players over the course of a season. It is also extremely unlikely that we would spend on the high end this summer because revenues are down badly across the sport due to COVID.

The truth is even if we make a little money from unloading Lingard, Dalot, and possibly Jones, I don't think anyone expects us to bring in more $30-40 mil on outbound transfers. The only way that is not true is if we offload De Gea or Martial, no other significant player who would command a large fee is likely to be sold. Pogba and Romero will likely leave on free transfers.

If you agree with this thinking so far, it means that we will not spend more than $100-120 mil on inbound transfers. In other words, net spend +$60-80 mil, the low end of our range over the last few years. That immediately rules out Haaland, which is why I think anyone who even mentions him is not serious. That said, we could still spend enough for a strong attacking option (Sancho) and trust that Matic + Mata + VdB are good enough cover in midfield (behind Fred + McT + Bruno) with Pogba gone. Big gamble, but maybe our best option that I've seen so far.

But the point I am making is that expecting multiple game-changing players all over the pitch to arrive this summer is a ridiculous expectation both in the current context (COVID revenues) and based on consistent historical evidence. I will probably only be forced to eat my words if a few clubs are in dire financial straights by the end of this season and need to offload big names - Barcelona comes to mind but I don't know if there are any others.

Bottom line, given our expected inbound revenue this summer, we will be lucky to get one signficant acquisition.
 

manunited1919

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OK folks, let's take a look at our net spend on transfers (purchases minus sales):

2020/21 = +$70 mil
2019/20 = +$160 mil
2018/19 = +$60 mil
2017/18 = +$170 mil
2016/17 = +$150 mil
2015/16 = +$60 mil
2014/15 = +$160 mil
2013/14 = +$80 mil

I won't go further back than this since there's been meaningful price inflation on players over the last decade. However, what we can see is that we never spend (net) more than roughly $150 mil on players over the course of a season. It is also extremely unlikely that we would spend on the high end this summer because revenues are down badly across the sport due to COVID.

The truth is even if we make a little money from unloading Lingard, Dalot, and possibly Jones, I don't think anyone expects us to bring in more $30-40 mil on outbound transfers. The only way that is not true is if we offload De Gea or Martial, no other significant player who would command a large fee is likely to be sold. Pogba and Romero will likely leave on free transfers.

If you agree with this thinking so far, it means that we will not spend more than $100-120 mil on inbound transfers. In other words, net spend +$60-80 mil, the low end of our range over the last few years. That immediately rules out Haaland, which is why I think anyone who even mentions him is not serious. That said, we could still spend enough for a strong attacking option (Sancho) and trust that Matic + Mata + VdB are good enough cover in midfield (behind Fred + McT + Bruno) with Pogba gone. Big gamble, but maybe our best option that I've seen so far.

But the point I am making is that expecting multiple game-changing players all over the pitch to arrive this summer is a ridiculous expectation both in the current context (COVID revenues) and based on consistent historical evidence. I will probably only be forced to eat my words if a few clubs are in dire financial straights by the end of this season and need to offload big names - Barcelona comes to mind but I don't know if there are any others.

Bottom line, given our expected inbound revenue this summer, we will be lucky to get one signficant acquisition.
“C’mon man”
One thing is the players we need, and quite another, as you point out, our financial reality.
 

drunkmonkmeth

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City have used a core squad of 22 players to compete in 4 competitions with ease.

Pep must not be very smart either.
They had a few injuries last season and what happened? The fell apart. Same with liverpool this season.
 

pocco

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To compete for the title next season with Ole in charge:

Sancho
Grealish
Striker to put pressure on Cavani/start
2x CM (1 athletic, good defensively and tidy on ball and 1 to replace Pogba whilst being decent defensively)
CB
Maybe a GK
RB that is good in attack vs smaller teams

£500m should do it :lol:
 

bosnian_red

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To compete for the title next season with Ole in charge:

Sancho
Grealish
Striker to put pressure on Cavani/start
2x CM (1 athletic, good defensively and tidy on ball and 1 to replace Pogba whilst being decent defensively)
CB
Maybe a GK
RB that is good in attack vs smaller teams

£500m should do it :lol:
Why do we need both Sancho and Grealish? Take out Grealish at 150m from that list and that still addresses every issue we have, both squad or depth. RB we don't need anything crazy. Trippier on cheap to be depth and experience, our right should improve loads with Sancho anyway. And goalkeeper we have De Gea who is decent and Henderson who is pushing. Just promote Henderson. We'll have:

Cavani
Rashford Bruno Sancho
New dm New cm
Shaw Maguire New CB Wan bissaka
Henderson

Greenwood
Martial Van de Beek Diallo/James
Fred McTominay
Telles Lindelof Bailly Trippier
De Gea
Neither Bruno or Rashford are going on the bench anytime soon, nor should they for any reason. So its one of Grealish or Sancho. Or just Sancho since Grealish just signed a new contract and Villa won't sell and Sancho is 5 years younger and more natural on the right and much cheaper.
 

Bwuk

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5 if money was no issue and we stick with 4231.

Back up RB/rotation for AWB.
CB
Creative passer from #6
ST
RW
 

gerdm07

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RW and a good passing DM. If we get quality there we could compete with anyone.
 

The Oracle

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I'm not convinced by Sancho - when he's played for England I've not been impressed. That is why I would take Grealish over him any day of the week. Grealish is Premier League proven after all.

Haaland would be a good signing.

If only we could keep Bailly fit then we wouldn't have to worry about a partner for Maguire.

De Gea is too much of a liability (has a mistake in him at any moment) if we really want to challenge for trophies. Unfortunately he is on a huge long-term contract so isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Martial is also on a huge long-term contract, so whether we like it or not, he's going to continue to stink the place out with his attitude.
 

RazorOz

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The thing is to challenge we'd probs need a CB, RW, ST at a minimum, and that's probably like 250m to get the quality we actually need in those positions, which won't materialise.

The other problem is if Pogba goes that's just another position to replace as nobody in the squad can do what Pogba can otherwise.

The window needs to not be the usual sh*t show, ie. sign actual targets, not throw money about at the last in a desperate bid to sign anybody. The money spent last summer we'd probably be better off if we just spent nothing if it gave us an extra 70m to spend next summer, the players brought in have added virtually nothing.

In reality it won't happen anyway, I can't even really remember the last season it didn't feel like the board left us short going into the season, expect the same next season. Easy to hide behind covid for not buying players. and problem is the owners likely view the current results level as success. Especially if we finish 2nd, they will point to this as progress and us getting closer to winning it even if we're 20 points behind. Allows them to do the bare minimum in terms of spending to get the maximum returns, whereas taking the next step would require ploughing in hundreds of millions.

The problem with the main, obvious target of Haaland is there is bound to be huge competition for his signature, most top clubs want/need a striker right now, he's the hottest commodity likely on the market, and he seems ultra ambitious making me think he's unlikely to join us unless there's a stark change in the ownership's ambition for the club.
 

AgentSmith

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They had a few injuries last season and what happened? The fell apart. Same with liverpool this season.
Is there any team that has a viable squad in your opinion then?

In the 98/99 season Sir Alex used 23 different players to win the treble. In the 07/08 season he used 25 different players to win the double. Further afield, Bayern won their treble last season using a core of 22 different players*. Most teams operate with roughly a 25 man squad supplemented by the academy. The point you might be unintentionally making is that you need good luck with injuries throughout a season to do well; a valid but obvious one.

I proposed selling the following players and replacing them with specific upgrades:

Dalot = 0 appearances — Replaced by Trippier
Jones = 0 appearances — Replaced by Milenković
Pereira = 0 appearances
Lingard = 3 appearances
Chong = 0 appearances

Fair enough, the other 3 have played more:

Mata = 12 appearances
James = 15 appearances — Replaced by Sancho
Pogba = 28 appearances — Replaced by Camavinga

I don't see how the squad is weaker in this scenario. Most of the players being sold haven't played at all and the ones that have are being upgraded. If you really want we can extend Mata's contract.

The main issue United have atm is a lack of top quality; not a lack of depth. Utilising our unused depth to fund the starting XI is a smart thing to do given our owner's unwillingness to do it themselves.

*They technically used 29 players in total but these extra 7 were youth players who equated to 106 minutes of football between them.
 

UDontMessWith24

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I hope we can move Pogba on, hopefully Martial as well. This would add £70-80 mill in these covid days.
I would buy a CD, DM, RWB, and CF in that order as we could get by with Cavani, Greenwood even Rashford as cover for CF if the money runs out before we get to the CF signing. Not ideal, but managable.
Along with Pogba and Martial, we also need Jones gone as a minimum. Mata will be out of contract so he will be gone as well.
Who’s replacing Pogba?
 

Green_Red

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I'd go with 3 top quality first team options, right up the spine. CB, CDM and CF would be my preference.

Having said that, knowing what we need and actually filling those holes is a different story.
Spot on. If we add three starting XI players for those positions it will take us a few more steps forward.
 

croadyman

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We need 5 players which are CB, RB (backup), DM, RW & ST but we know with our owners it will be a CB and a cheap young prospect in one of the other positions because that's how we operate
 

lysglimt

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OK folks, let's take a look at our net spend on transfers (purchases minus sales):

2020/21 = +$70 mil
2019/20 = +$160 mil
2018/19 = +$60 mil
2017/18 = +$170 mil
2016/17 = +$150 mil
2015/16 = +$60 mil
2014/15 = +$160 mil
2013/14 = +$80 mil

I won't go further back than this since there's been meaningful price inflation on players over the last decade. However, what we can see is that we never spend (net) more than roughly $150 mil on players over the course of a season. It is also extremely unlikely that we would spend on the high end this summer because revenues are down badly across the sport due to COVID.

The truth is even if we make a little money from unloading Lingard, Dalot, and possibly Jones, I don't think anyone expects us to bring in more $30-40 mil on outbound transfers. The only way that is not true is if we offload De Gea or Martial, no other significant player who would command a large fee is likely to be sold. Pogba and Romero will likely leave on free transfers.

If you agree with this thinking so far, it means that we will not spend more than $100-120 mil on inbound transfers. In other words, net spend +$60-80 mil, the low end of our range over the last few years. That immediately rules out Haaland, which is why I think anyone who even mentions him is not serious. That said, we could still spend enough for a strong attacking option (Sancho) and trust that Matic + Mata + VdB are good enough cover in midfield (behind Fred + McT + Bruno) with Pogba gone. Big gamble, but maybe our best option that I've seen so far.

But the point I am making is that expecting multiple game-changing players all over the pitch to arrive this summer is a ridiculous expectation both in the current context (COVID revenues) and based on consistent historical evidence. I will probably only be forced to eat my words if a few clubs are in dire financial straights by the end of this season and need to offload big names - Barcelona comes to mind but I don't know if there are any others.

Bottom line, given our expected inbound revenue this summer, we will be lucky to get one signficant acquisition.
You are both right and wrong - our spending depends on Covid yes - but not on what has been, but what will be. If fans are allowed back into the stadium before next season, we will probably be allowed to spend fairly big again. But the uncertainty that there might be future lockdowns will influence it. So it probably depends on how sure the board is that there wont be lockdowns.
 

WR10

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How many? Haaland
 

gajender

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We need 5 players which are CB, RB (backup), DM, RW & ST but we know with our owners it will be a CB and a cheap young prospect in one of the other positions because that's how we operate
Depending on Goalkeeper's and Pogba's situation we might need 2 more.
 

pocco

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Why do we need both Sancho and Grealish? Take out Grealish at 150m from that list and that still addresses every issue we have, both squad or depth. RB we don't need anything crazy. Trippier on cheap to be depth and experience, our right should improve loads with Sancho anyway. And goalkeeper we have De Gea who is decent and Henderson who is pushing. Just promote Henderson. We'll have:

Cavani
Rashford Bruno Sancho
New dm New cm
Shaw Maguire New CB Wan bissaka
Henderson

Greenwood
Martial Van de Beek Diallo/James
Fred McTominay
Telles Lindelof Bailly Trippier
De Gea
Neither Bruno or Rashford are going on the bench anytime soon, nor should they for any reason. So its one of Grealish or Sancho. Or just Sancho since Grealish just signed a new contract and Villa won't sell and Sancho is 5 years younger and more natural on the right and much cheaper.
Because I don't think the team you have put together would win us the league, not without a new manager. I think Ole needs players that can provide the ideas for him, like Bruno, and come up with the off the cuff moments. Rashford isn't that player and I don't think Sancho would be enough, so Sancho and Grealish. The rest looks reasonable, GK was just a maybe.
 

Trequarista10

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Why do we need both Sancho and Grealish? Take out Grealish at 150m from that list and that still addresses every issue we have, both squad or depth. RB we don't need anything crazy. Trippier on cheap to be depth and experience, our right should improve loads with Sancho anyway. And goalkeeper we have De Gea who is decent and Henderson who is pushing. Just promote Henderson. We'll have:

Cavani
Rashford Bruno Sancho
New dm New cm
Shaw Maguire New CB Wan bissaka
Henderson

Greenwood
Martial Van de Beek Diallo/James
Fred McTominay
Telles Lindelof Bailly Trippier
De Gea
Neither Bruno or Rashford are going on the bench anytime soon, nor should they for any reason. So its one of Grealish or Sancho. Or just Sancho since Grealish just signed a new contract and Villa won't sell and Sancho is 5 years younger and more natural on the right and much cheaper.
Agree with this. Still wouldn't say no to Grealish but it's not a priority and unlikely IMO.

Not sure we'll get two starting CMs in one summer though. Think Matic has an extra year doesn't he? We might get one first teamer and a younger one, or even promote Garner or Mejbri as 5th choice with Matic 4th choice.

Also I can't see us signing a striker. I don't think we can get a Haaland or Mbappe, so we'll end up sticking with Cavani and Martial and waiting another year to see what's available. I may be overlooking someone of course, but I don't think we need to buy another good but not great striker, especially as we also have Greenwood who should perhaps play CF and would get a lot less games RW if we sign Sancho or whoever else for that spot.
 

Chaky_Best

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If we want to win the title, I may say 4 players. (CB, CM, RW, CF)

If we just want to qualify and go through in CL, I may say 2 (CB, RW)
 

A-man

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I think we have quite an interesting squad, taking step by step towards the top. The most important would be a new coach imo, but there are plenty of threads for that to be discussed..
Being realistic and pragmatic:

Goalkeepers, leave as is
Defence, FB are good with decent rotational options, leave as is.
CB, get one who is average PL level, about 27 years old, with good injury record. Not a development project. Should not complete Maguire, but also be able to take his spot if he's injured. Don't think it is realistic to aim for a top CB at 60+ millions, instead Telles approach. A new CB realistically means the end station for Tuanzebe at this club.
Midfield, DM, this is where I would put the money. Think this could make a big difference.
Attack, we need either a top striker or a top RW. IF we don't have the money or there is no interesting opening, wait until next season.

This means I would want:
CB 20-30 mill
DM 60+ mill
St or RW 70+ mill

where DM and CB are most important
 

Paul_Scholes18

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A new quality manager and a top striker and we could fight for the title.

A right back and central defender would help too.
 

Mike Smalling

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High priority: CF, RW and DM
Medium priority: RB and CB
Lower priority: GK

The tricky thing is, that all of the above needs to be improvements on our current options (possibly excluding RB). It's not going to be cheap, and we can't expect to get top tier players for 3-4 positions.
 

Tallis

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I don’t know how many we need to win but think we can meaningfully improve if we can sign 3 starters - one in CB, one in MF and one forward.

I think Pogba willl leave in the summer so hopefully that raises enough cash to sign a MF.

We have discussed Milenkovic in the transfer forums and he could be a cost effective improvement to our defense - at the minimum, he is pacey and aerially dominant (will get some goals too). Hopefully can be funded by selling Lingard and Dalot.

Then we can blow our money on a forward - Haaland or Sancho or someone around that level.

If we can get rid of DDG, that saves some money.

Then, I am hoping some of our youth can step-up. If we can get some of Amad, Mason, DVB, Mejbri playing consistently at this level, we could become an exciting team.
 

rotherham_red

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We need four (a RW, DM, CB, and Striker) but I think we'll only get 2 at most this season. If it was up to me, the two I'd get would be Sancho and a DM ahead of a CB. The CB is a need, but a DM who can properly make that first pass out of the defensive third is our biggest need.
 

RedRonaldo

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Haaland, Sancho, Grealish, Camavinga, Kounde.

Just do it Woodward, your sins will then be forgiven.
 

CM10

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2 or 3 first team quality players at a minimum. If Pogba leaves you can add another to that list.

We need to be positioning ourselves for a proper title challenge next season. We've shown some signs this year but it's clear for all to see that we still lack quality in key areas.
 

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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Haaland, Sancho, Grealish, Camavinga, Kounde.

Just do it Woodward, your sins will then be forgiven.
When have you ever known United sign 5 big money starting players in 1 window? The only one I can think of is 14-15. We’ll get 1 name signing & maybe 1 or 2 bench players.
 

Kag

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We need five players. Our squad is in a good position (we’ve churned out the wankers and have way more balance) but it won’t be if we don’t finally get it over the line with some investment.

In four windows, Ole has been given Bruno and Cavani on loan. Oh, and Dan James. And Ighalo. These are Manchester United’s attacking purchases. That isn’t enough. We need a serious centre forward and a serious right winger. We need a midfielder who is better than McTominay, Fred and Matic at being a midfielder. Wan-Bissaka desperately needs some attacking cover. We also need a fit version of Bailly to partner Maguire at the back.

We are not getting any higher than second while we start the likes of Lindelof, Fred, McTominay, James and (on current form) Martial on a regular basis. None of them are bad, but we need more.

Back Ole properly or we’re up shit creek, as there is no fancy Dan coming in to turn these lads into title-winning footballers.
 

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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Realistically how much do you think we could get for both martial and pogba?
Pogba- Injury prone, inconsistent, publicly looking to leave, last year of his contact. Expect low-ball bids. Probably £35-40m.

Martial- I think we’d ask for about £60m & nobody will take him at that. Maybe PSG would give us £40m max for him to sit on their bench. We’d probably have clubs like Inter & AC trying to do a loan with a clause to buy option if we try to offload him.
 
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I really wished that instead of how many players do we need to sign... we’d get a “what areas of their game do each players need to be improved on” post. Surely this is what management and coaching is all about. Imagine if in 2005 SAF thought well Ronaldo doesn’t score 20+ goals a season, he’s decision making in the final 3rd isn’t always great let me buy and top quality number 9 and established winger.

So anyways.
Rashford= needs to be coached to make better decisions, look up more , stop dribbling into blind alleys, pass and cut back instead of shooting when someone is in a better position. I’d add the same for James and Amad, not seen much of Amad but it’s usually something that wingers need to be taught. Basically they need to add the intelligence of playmaking number 10 to their game

Martial = Needs to be coached to make better movement, find space and utilise his pace to open up defences.

Central Defence as a whole need to be coached to compensate for their lack of pace by positioning better and reading the game more.

AWB... coached more on attack. Great thing I noticed yesterday. Instead of crossing blindly, he cut back for McTomminay.

Shaw... coached more on not getting caught out of position.

Fred/McTominay need to be coached more on transition play, launching play from deep with a quick incisive pass.
 

pocco

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We need five players. Our squad is in a good position (we’ve churned out the wankers and have way more balance) but it won’t be if we don’t finally get it over the line with some investment.

In four windows, Ole has been given Bruno and Cavani on loan. Oh, and Dan James. And Ighalo. These are Manchester United’s attacking purchases. That isn’t enough. We need a serious centre forward and a serious right winger. We need a midfielder who is better than McTominay, Fred and Matic at being a midfielder. Wan-Bissaka desperately needs some attacking cover. We also need a fit version of Bailly to partner Maguire at the back.

We are not getting any higher than second while we start the likes of Lindelof, Fred, McTominay, James and (on current form) Martial on a regular basis. None of them are bad, but we need more.

Back Ole properly or we’re up shit creek, as there is no fancy Dan coming in to turn these lads into title-winning footballers.
Ole has signed Maguire, Wan Bissaka, VDB, Cavani, Bruno, Telles, Ighalo, James. About roughly £260m in a couple of years.

He's also inherited the apparent most expensive player in the world in Rashford and a super talent in Greenwood.