If Bruno were to leave, who are the realistic replacements available? | Bruno stays

Status
Not open for further replies.
For 100M id roll the dice, have to put faith in INEOS to use the funds appropriately or what's the point? We need money to buy players and this is a bit of a silver bullet nobody really saw coming.

We need Mbuemo, Gyokeres plus another attacker, (maybe Eze) a midfielder and a decent goalkeeper.

This could all doable with existing kitty, homegrown Garnacho out, homegrown Rashford out, Sancho money, and this potential Bruno money.
 
Last edited:
None. There is nobody to replace him with. I love Bruno. His is the only name I have on a United shirt. He's the best player we have by far and if he went well i would worry about our very existence in the Prem next season. We needed three Brunos not one last season.

It hasn't officially happened yet but it looks like Brunos people have been talking. And if it is actually 100m for a world class midfielder who is 31 in September, then it would for a second make your eyebrows raise.

But is the club so f*cked that it has to do this..and then you have to think with it's record how you replace him. Kane was £100m at the same age. I'd argue he is worth far more to United than that.

Money can't be the issue here. It's the message this sends out. For all his flaws he was always available, never injured and covered every blade of grass for us. His one flaw is he tried to do too much.

It would be disastrous to sell him now at this time when you want next season to be transformational. Totally disastrous. And indicative again of how totally and utterly f*cked this wreckage of a club [that I still unbelievably love] is.
 
Would be a interesting poll to see how many on here would sell Bruno if it meant we could sign Osiheim or Gyokeres. I know people will say we will miss Bruno's creativity but we have Cunha now and if the club bring in another 10 i.e. cherki or Mbeumo then the blow is softened.
Cunha isn't in the same league as Bruno. He's the number one walker in the Prem and has a suspect attitude. He won't put in the hard yards that Bruno has done for this club. I cannot believe how many are accepting of this development and thinking that his leaving for £100m (if it is actually that) solves everything. It doesn't. It adds to our issues.

Right now we can't even attract bloody Delap. So on what parallel universe does Gyokeres come.
 
I think you'd need a goal-scoring right sided attacking midfielder (Mbuemo or Cherki) and a strong passing/progressive CM (Ederson or Wharton) to replace him. But loads of clubs seem to be circling around Mbuemo/Cherki. Ederson could be realistic but no chance Wharton goes this summer imo.
 
Cunha isn't in the same league as Bruno. He's the number one walker in the Prem and has a suspect attitude. He won't put in the hard yards that Bruno has done for this club. I cannot believe how many are accepting of this development and thinking that his leaving for £100m (if it is actually that) solves everything. It doesn't. It adds to our issues.

Right now we can't even attract bloody Delap. So on what parallel universe does Gyokeres come.
Bruno is our only WC player, but him playing as CM causes lots of issues with our midfield and the deeper midfield area. It's a reason why we are so easy to play through.

6:00min -8:30min, The Athletic explain why Bruno as CM causes problems for Utd structurally and that if we did let him go, yes we would miss his goals and creativity but structurally we would become a better team and harder to play through (if they bought in the right CMs to strengthen that area).

 
IF he goes you get the best midfielder possible that will come to us, no idea who that is though
The Athletic Sensible Transfers for Utd video, I posted on this page, has Baleba from Brighton as the ideal midfield DM/CM signing but he may prove to be too expensive. They are suggesting Utd pay big for that role like Chelsea did with caiceido and arsenal with rice. Therefore nailing down that position for years to come.
 
Bruno is our only WC player, but him playing as CM causes lots of issues with our midfield and the deeper midfield area. It's a reason why we are so easy to play through.

6:00min -8:30min, The Athletic explain why Bruno as CM causes problems for Utd structurally and that if we did let him go, yes we would miss his goals and creativity but structurally we would become a better team and harder to play through (if they bought in the right CMs to strengthen that area).


I don't need to listen to the Athletic to know this. He doesn't fit a structure. He never has. I'm bored with inflexible structure. Sometimes you need a bit of mercurial genius. That player who will work his arse off for the cause. That slice of pure magic that gets you off your seat. There is far too little of that in the Prem now. Look at Grealish. Stifled by structure. McTominay...stifled by our structure.
Bruno is world class. And we needed/and need to build a team around him.
And if he needs to be in a structure why has no coach done that. He has a free role and you build around that. If you want structure going forward you simply say we need you to do x and y. It's not difficult. But no coach has ever wanted to stifle and constrain Bruno to that extent. And I fully get that.
He is a bloody frustrating player sometimes but undoubtedly the one true world class player that we have.
 
I'd definitely be looking at Cherki on the creative side of things.
A player that is wanted by multiple clubs in the CL? Yeah no chance!

I think we should focus on buying a long awaited holding midfielder instead of a direct replacement. We have players that would probably say they operate best in that number 10/attacking midfield role like Mount, Zirkzee, Cunha, Mainoo and we’re crying out for a holding midfielder more than anything. I’d love Wharton.

It would be great if we could get a promising creative AM for around £30m too but think we should buy to fit a system this time round, rather than just big names that become available on the market.
 
How is his injury record? Whatever little I have seen of him, he has that arrogance and skill to step up.
Am I one of the only people that thought Cherki wasn't all that when we played against them? He looked a silky player of course, but I didn't think he looked to have the speed or strength to excel in the Premier League.
 
I'm sure it's already been said, but you don't replace Bruno with a like for like, go and get two midfielders with mobility, intelligence and technical security and sort out the engine room once and for all.

I'd be sad to see Bruno go but it's probably the best thing for the club if he did, and we bought two midfielders.

Will we buy two midfielders of the pre requisite quality? That's another thing.
 
it's not about replacing Bruno it's about improving the team as a unit. 2 midfielders who compliment each other has been missing for us for years and years.
 
it's not about replacing Bruno it's about improving the team as a unit. 2 midfielders who compliment each other has been missing for us for years and years.
Exactly, Baelba and Wharton from the top of my head would make a much stronger team through central midfield.
 
I don't need to listen to the Athletic to know this. He doesn't fit a structure. He never has. I'm bored with inflexible structure. Sometimes you need a bit of mercurial genius. That player who will work his arse off for the cause. That slice of pure magic that gets you off your seat. There is far too little of that in the Prem now. Look at Grealish. Stifled by structure. McTominay...stifled by our structure.
Bruno is world class. And we needed/and need to build a team around him.
And if he needs to be in a structure why has no coach done that. He has a free role and you build around that. If you want structure going forward you simply say we need you to do x and y. It's not difficult. But no coach has ever wanted to stifle and constrain Bruno to that extent. And I fully get that.
He is a bloody frustrating player sometimes but undoubtedly the one true world class player that we have.

I largely agree with all of this. We should have played to his strengths and built the team around him. We did at times, but then kept moving him around, tweaking his role.

Pedantically, I would say he does fit a structure. He's a number #10, and always has been, and would be perfect in a 4231 with the right players around him. A solid base behind him, energetic attackers who make good runs off the ball. Additionally, his work rate off the ball is far superior to most #10s, so he is hardly a luxury player.

Overall I don't think it's the way he has been used throughout his United career that has been the biggest problem. It's simply been that the players around him haven't been good enough.
 
Bruno scored the bulk of our goals and he was our main creative outlet. I always thought that he was unsuited in a deeper role cause he lacked the discipline and the positioning to play there. However I could see why the manager plays him there. Bruno is a workhorse. He's a real engine in midfield and will give his very best in any position played.

So how I would replace Bruno

a- our midfield gets overrun so easily. It lack work rate, physicality and bite. Casemiro is ancient, Ugarte can't do it on his own, Mainoo isn't athletic enough and Eriksen is gone. ederson possess the overall skill to cover the 8th role. I am also a big fan of Rovella who seem to be the love child of pirlo and gattuso.

B- Simon's would be my dream to partner Cunha upfront. Morgan Gibbs-white)mbuemo are decent players while Guessand would be interesting prospect with the latter adding quite some height and physicality upfront

C- we need a striker. Osimhen, Gyokeres, Retegui...take your pick
 
Mastantuono is a serious talent. He's been River's best player this season at age 17. There's a reason why Madrid and PSG are very interested. The same Madrid paid like £60m for a teenage Vini Jr. No one queries that move now.
It took until Vinicius' fourth season for him to start seriously contributing to them team. I'm not sure United can afford such a long wait for a replacement to their most influential player.
 
Could eze possibly be a shout??

If not give mainoo or diallo more responsibility further forward

If Bruno does go pity we couldn’t keep eriksen for another year as backup we really really lack the final pass
 
If you look at it with just names on a list with their skillsets then it wouldn't/shouldn't be hard to replace. IMO he is a classic 10 and the team seems to be moving away from this. There have been clear indicators that he is going to be moved back to a CM role, especially now with Cunha looking to be wrapped up. I don't like to say it but Bruno is a liability at times in the CM position and over a full season there, I can see it becoming a problem and or hinderance to how we want to play. If our backs are to the wall and this is our last chance to get a huge fee for him then reluctanty I think it's at least worth considering.

Bruno, for me he isn't a great carrier of the ball or at least not good enough to be one of our main carriers through out a season. His passing can also be very erratic, especially his shorter passing and he is not exactly quick or strong either. I hate to sound like I'm beating on one of our only genuine bright sparks for the past few seasons but fans wanting him moved on is warranted for the reasons stated alone.
Now all of that comes with the assumption that the club would at least use the money generated and pump it back into the squad.
We need to fully commit to Amorim or put him out of his misery. I don't understand why the club stressed that he came mid season or forget it when there didn't seem to be any sort of preperations in place for how he demands his teams look and play. We have often looked a complete mess this season due to having a variety of mismatched players coming from different managerial setups. The only plus side is we should now have a very good idea about who can and cannot adapt to the system and we can look to replace and add to enable us to function as a cohesive unit.
 
I largely agree with all of this. We should have played to his strengths and built the team around him. We did at times, but then kept moving him around, tweaking his role.

Pedantically, I would say he does fit a structure. He's a number #10, and always has been, and would be perfect in a 4231 with the right players around him. A solid base behind him, energetic attackers who make good runs off the ball. Additionally, his work rate off the ball is far superior to most #10s, so he is hardly a luxury player.

Overall I don't think it's the way he has been used throughout his United career that has been the biggest problem. It's simply been that the players around him haven't been good enough.
Totally right. Bruno will play anywhere for United. He is ideally a ten. But we are so short at 8 and 6 that he has had to adapt to his detriment.
 
If we're looking at versatile box to box midfielders to slot in how about Javi Guerra at Valencia? Tackles well, covers ground and is comfortable on the ball, good at carrying it past a man and finding a pass. Rumours of Atleti agreeing a €25m fee but it didn't go through.

I think he'd be a good option, young and shouldn't cost more than a third of a Baleba.
 
As people have said, there isn’t a like for like replacement for what he has brought for us.

I hope Mbeumo replaces his goals, I hope we sign a player who can hold a mantle to his knack of creating chances.

It’s looking more ominous that he’s going, I just hope it’s for stupid money. £80m would be a pisstake and would show that INEOS are just as bad as our previous regime when it came to selling players.
 
You replace him with multiple players, Mbeumo and then a younger creative player like Mora, Gloukh, Rigg, Karetsas or El Khanouss etc. Maybe a couple of cheaper youngsters as well like Maksimovic or whoever else Vivell identifies.

You’d hope then that other sales will free up cash to invest in a couple of players for the midfield. As much as I rate players like Eze and MGW the prices you’d have to pay just can’t be justified.

If you take this deal the money has to be spread around and not risked on just one player, we just can’t afford to take that risk and fail.
 
We really need Bruno at United next season, but the money he's been offered is crazy.

Realistically, what are the options for a replacement who could fulfill his role?

Captain and leader
Has bailed us out countless times
Goals and assists averaging 30 odd a season
Would actually be up for participating in a project to take us back to the top, but might take a few years.

Assume a big budget for a proven player.

I mean, can we even cover the first one?

Candidates:
- Maguire: absolutely not good enough as a defender to get us to where we need to be
- De Ligt: probably my pick as he’s a leader
- Martinez: out for ages
- Shaw: never in
- Dalot: maybe?
 
I mean, can we even cover the first one?

Candidates:
- Maguire: absolutely not good enough as a defender to get us to where we need to be
- De Ligt: probably my pick as he’s a leader
- Martinez: out for ages
- Shaw: never in
- Dalot: maybe?

Problem is all of them need replacing on the basis of quality or reliability (or both).
 
Utterly irreplaceable. Not saying we shouldn't take mega money for a 30 year old if it's on the table, but we aren't going to just go out and replace his impact. The few comparable talents are impossible for us to get

Just a shame he was wasted here playing in crap teams
 
Status
Not open for further replies.