I'm worried about the Summer, it's simply NOT looking good.

[jeepers]

Ralf's got a track record of talent spotting, I'm sure that's part of the consultancy role. After managing the squad he should have a good idea what's needed and will advise the club/new manager accordingly.

Let’s hope his advice and opinions are taken into consideration.

We don’t know the board’s true intentions, but if bringing Rangnick on board is any indication, let’s hope they are serious about this rebuild because we have wasted ten years by adopted a scattergun approach. If they are serious, I would support clearing out and starting the kids, and keeping certain integrious, trustworthy players then starting fresh.

 

[JJ12]

Just looking at possible free agents for problem positions this summer on Transfermarkt:

CB - Christensen, Rudiger, Romagnoli, Ginter, Tarkowski, Zagadou, Stark, Luiz Felipe
RB - Mazraoui, Aurier (lol), Djibril Sidibe, de Sciglio, Vrsaljko
CM - Kessié, Brozovic, Kamara, Tolisso, Gross, Sergi Roberto
AM - Isco, Fabio Carvalho, Eriksen
RW - Dembele, Brooks, Bernardeschi, Januzaj (), Cristian Pavón, Bale (lol), Di Maria ()
CF - Mbappe (), Dybala, Belotti, Lacazette, Kramaric, Danilo, Origi, Welbeck ()

Not exactly an outstanding bunch, but if we are going mass exodus this summer and we only have a small budget if we miss CL, there are options to pad out the squad, and most of them are the right side of 30 to have some value to sell on in 1-2 seasons to turn a profit if they don't work out.

We’ve been linked with Kamara, Zagadou and Kessie I think.

Also Araujo from Barca.

Probably using us for a deals with other clubs.

 

[jeepers]

Just looking at possible free agents for problem positions this summer on Transfermarkt:

CB - Christensen, Rudiger, Romagnoli, Ginter, Tarkowski, Zagadou, Stark, Luiz Felipe
RB - Mazraoui, Aurier (lol), Djibril Sidibe, de Sciglio, Vrsaljko
CM - Kessié, Brozovic, Kamara, Tolisso, Gross, Sergi Roberto
AM - Isco, Fabio Carvalho, Eriksen
RW - Dembele, Brooks, Bernardeschi, Januzaj (), Cristian Pavón, Bale (lol), Di Maria ()
CF - Mbappe (), Dybala, Belotti, Lacazette, Kramaric, Danilo, Origi, Welbeck ()

Not exactly an outstanding bunch, but if we are going mass exodus this summer and we only have a small budget if we miss CL, there are options to pad out the squad, and most of them are the right side of 30 to have some value to sell on in 1-2 seasons to turn a profit if they don't work out.

If reports are accurate, Brozovic is close to renewing with Inter. Unfortunately so because he would be a decent addition. Kessie seems to be most heavily linked with Barca, and I don’t think we have been linked with Kamara since the Jan window closed. Perhaps Belotti? Rudiger would be great.

 

[KikiDaKats]

I get that people like potential but at this point we don’t know what route he will go. Personally im not convinced he’s ready for a full season of 1st team football. On one hand he has been said to have been prepared to play the Pogba role, but on the other hand I wouldn’t mind him getting 6 months of a loan. I have concerns over his self control. He’s hit headed

Maybe am from a different school of thought but up till Ronaldo and Messi., the greats in football have a bit of something uncontrollable about them. You iron it all out you lose some of hjs personality. My example is Rooney, we managed to get ourself a model pro but lost the supernaturally talented footballer that broke through.

 

[Member 101269]

We all believe the Glazers don't like spending money (despite £1BN being spent since Fergie left but that's a discussion for another day) but this Summer is going to require £300M - £400 MINIMUM. If we want to keep challenging. We are in danger of losing so many players.

Lingard - Gone
Pogba - I'm still hopeful he'll stay but think he's gone.
Cavani - Gone
Ronaldo - Question marks over his future, but I'd like him to stay.
Marital - More than likely sold or loaned out - he simply does not want to be here.
Bailly - Wants out
Greenwood - Less spoken about him the better
Henderson - Is more likely to go than to stay.
Mata - We can't keep him for another season can we?

Need a DM and a CM if Pogba goes - Can Garner fill the void, don't think we can expect to fill a WC player with Garner and expect the same quality.
Need TWO strikers (in my opinion)
There's talk of a CB after Maguire's poor form. Is he on the chopping block too?

We are in serious danger of having a ridiculously small squad, going from one extreme of a bloated squad to the other in a ice thin squad.

Then there is DVB, Chong, Jones, Williams, Tuanzbe, Pereira..

Car boot sale?

 

[pratyush_utd]

I get that people like potential but at this point we don’t know what route he will go. Personally im not convinced he’s ready for a full season of 1st team football. On one hand he has been said to have been prepared to play the Pogba role, but on the other hand I wouldn’t mind him getting 6 months of a loan. I have concerns over his self control. He’s hit headed

This is simply not true. He reacts when he is subjected to horrible challenges which most players do even at top level. Infact in most games he reacts after being at the end of 4-5 horrific challenge and then that become the talking point. Bruno complains and rolls around and he is one of our main starters. If thats not an issue with him then why should it be with Hannibal. It seems like he has earned this unfair reputation with no fault of his. His complaints have recently started after getting no concessions from referees for almost a year.

 

[tenpoless]

Greenwood - in jail with Giggs

 

[Red&Black]

I can honestly tell you, as a fan of a club who is now profiting from hitting reset 2-3yrs back, it can be a wonderful climb back up if done properly.

But you cannot half arse it. You can't. The entire structure, top down, has to believe in it. You'll have the luxury of the EPL and EPL monies... So it could/should go at least 1yr quicker than ours did, but if Milan can do it, so can Utd.

 

[golden_blunder]

This is simply not true. He reacts when he is subjected to horrible challenges which most players do even at top level. Infact in most games he reacts after being at the end of 4-5 horrific challenge and then that become the talking point. Bruno complains and rolls around and he is one of our main starters. If thats not an issue with him then why should it be with Hannibal. It seems like he has earned this unfair reputation with no fault of his. His complaints have recently started after getting no concessions from referees for almost a year.
[/QUOTE
So do you think he’s ready for the rough and tumble of the PL?

 

[golden_blunder]

Maybe am from a different school of thought but up till Ronaldo and Messi., the greats in football have a bit of something uncontrollable about them. You iron it all out you lose some of hjs personality. My example is Rooney, we managed to get ourself a model pro but lost the supernaturally talented footballer that broke through.

I’m not sure if we ironed it out or whether Rooney matured but he became more of a team player, which is not a bad quality to have. Also ge ended up club top scorer of all time, so he must have been doing something right!

 

[moses]

Maybe am from a different school of thought but up till Ronaldo and Messi., the greats in football have a bit of something uncontrollable about them. You iron it all out you lose some of hjs personality. My example is Rooney, we managed to get ourself a model pro but lost the supernaturally talented footballer that broke through.

Maybe if Rooney boozed less he could have done more on the pitch? Like I love Rooney and he was great, but if you are starting a conversation about him maybe not meeting his potential you have to start with the fundamentals before you get abstract?

 

[The Irish Connection]

It can definitely be done given the amount of decent players available on free contracts or in the last year but knowing how we work at recruitment you’re right to be worried.
The way things are with the club at the moment, we’re closer to relegation than winning a title, look at Everton.

 

[sullydnl]

Conversely the sheer number of players who are leaving or actively want to leave makes me feel strangely positive. Or at least positive relative to how I currently feel watching us play football.

I've already accepted that we're going to have to rebuild the team. And at least now it looks like a lot of players I don't particularly want here might actually leave, as opposed to the usual situation of us struggling to offload players.

If we don't qualify for the CL the best outcome might be for us to be out of Europe entirely next season, reduce the squad down to fairly bare bones with just domestic competitions to deal with, fill the gaps with young players and start the rebuild from there.

 

[IrishRedDevil]

Hit the rest button. My body is ready.

 

[Offside]

Mental people on here still want Pogba to stay. He’s the embodiment of post-Ferguson United. Extreme talent beset by inconsistency and lack of progression. Fitting that he was actually given the boot by Ferguson for being such a tool. He’d be one of the first I’d want out the door.

This Summer we just really need to focus on the midfield. There’s enough talent in the rest of the squad to come back relatively strong next year.

 

[Roboc7]

The two big problems are firstly the person who is best qualified to help recruit the kind of players we need is spending majority of his time managing the team so it will be all the same faces involved in all the failings doing all the preparation for the summer. We also have no idea who the manager will be so I can see us being under prepared us usual.

We should be looking to offload lots of players even with players leaving who are out of contract and bring in more than we usually do.

However I think the exodus of a number of players on free transfers will probably mean we won’t want to sell anyone and only be 3-4 players come in. Players who are out on loan will be brought back and used to bulk up the squad and be another year of mostly same players. Pogba is only regular starter I see leaving this summer.

 

[UnitedSofa]

It's been proven over the past years that we are terrible at doing deals and struggle to do two at once. I just see struggle and little movement this window. Expectations are way too high for a lot of fans when you look at our past record

It’s Arnold’s/Murtough’s first summer together so hopefully they come through.

Plus it’s Murtough’s first summer (2nd officially I think?) when I say that I mean he’s had a full season to scout how he wants his scouts to work and scour players he and the club want. In that sense I’m excited, plus with Ralf consulting it may turn out good. Hopefully.

Just the sheer number of players wanting out and our seemingly tight purse strings, where things get a little concerning. Danger of falling further and further behind. Especially if next season is even worse.

I mean 4th/5th isn’t too bad, but 7th,8th,9th and it takes even more convincing for players and then it goes into the danger of waving fat wages of players to join, which attracts the wrong players (LVG era) and we’re stuck in an infinite loop of playing catch up and trying to shift deadwood for years on end

 

[Deanor44]

This summer is going to be one of the most important summers in 30 odd years. There needs to be a recognition that roughly this squad of players have now gotten 4 managers sacked with a consistant record of lack of effort (opta stats dont lie...for a very long time now teams have consistantly out ran utd and out worked utd) and inhouse fighting. So I think an acceptance has to be made that players will have to be moved on with the club having to take huge hits financially to get them out the door and hiring a manager with the mandate to do this. Then as someone else posted utd need to start looking at players who will not be world beaters but players who will give their all and are solid giving 6 or 7 out of 10 most weeks and importantly that the fans recognise are trying. With them I would promote players from the youth setup so they see that honesty of effort and see it as the minimum. I would keep DDG, Lindeloff, Elanga and Varane with the rest available to be moved on but they have to get the poison, the leakers and the social media wannabes out the door. Once you get honesty of effort and honesty of character.....you then sprinkle it with stardust... This will take time and patience and an acceptability of not being in contention for the league for probably at least 5 to 10 years.... but the way things are currently we are nowhere!!

 

[KiD MoYeS]

I'm way past the worried stage.

 

[Giggsy13]

We need a minimum of 5 players to fill out the squad and we likely won’t have the budget to do it. Departures of Ronaldo, Pogba, Lingard, Jones, Bailly, Mata and Cavani will save a lot on the wage bill but it may not be enough. Utilizing the free transfer market along with 2 to 3 purchases is the best route.

I’ve read someone pointing out that the bosman market is underwhelming. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. There is an abundance of talented players that could compete or instantly slot into our starting 11. We have little chance of getting Rudiger, but you can only hope we’ve at least had talks with his agent. Blow them out of the water with a big offer- huge bonuses wage matched up with Varane and see what he has to say. Kessie and Kamara also fill the need to adding quality to our midfield. Dembele is also worth a look where we need a right sided attacker.

This will be the summer where we will officially be booted off the big club table. We have no chance for players like Haaland and will need to take a clever approach, which we haven’t since the Fergie/Gill years. Players who are off the radar, a “Kante” type before he became highly sought out. If we have a manager like Ten Hag these are players worth taking a risk on where patience can be emphasized over a win now approach. When’s the last time we signed that type of player? The only one that comes to mind is Chicharito. That’s far too long and just goes to show how terrible our transfer approach has been over the years. The good clubs make these signings and improve these players to world class levels. Liverpool have done it well with Robertson, Salah and Mane, it’s time we did the same.

 

[Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber]

We all believe the Glazers don't like spending money (despite £1BN being spent since Fergie left but that's a discussion for another day) but this Summer is going to require £300M - £400 MINIMUM. If we want to keep challenging. We are in danger of losing so many players.

Lingard - Gone
Pogba - I'm still hopeful he'll stay but think he's gone.
Cavani - Gone
Ronaldo - Question marks over his future, but I'd like him to stay.
Marital - More than likely sold or loaned out - he simply does not want to be here.
Bailly - Wants out
Greenwood - Less spoken about him the better
Henderson - Is more likely to go than to stay.
Mata - We can't keep him for another season can we?

Need a DM and a CM if Pogba goes - Can Garner fill the void, don't think we can expect to fill a WC player with Garner and expect the same quality.
Need TWO strikers (in my opinion)
There's talk of a CB after Maguire's poor form. Is he on the chopping block too?

We are in serious danger of having a ridiculously small squad, going from one extreme of a bloated squad to the other in a ice thin squad.

We not in danger of losing players. A clear out is long over due. Time to promote our youth and only fill key roles with useful players we actually need.

 

[Red4Ever]

We don't play in the summer so it's looking very good

we can look forward to them not ruining our weekends! Can’t wait

 

[M Bison]

Night is always darkest before the dawn...

I think the appointment of Ralf was a good move from the club, i thought the debate Neville had with Richards on Sunday was quite telling as Neville must have the inside track. This season is a write off, its been a car crash and the sooner we move on the better.

The approach for next season seems to be along the lines of:

1. The club now realise what a mess its in, with players set to leave at the end of their contracts and clear discontent on the field
2. Ralf's end of season report will be delivered highlighting these points, and it will form the basis of the new era, working with the new coach to address where the core problems are on the field
3. Our investment in new players will be supported by Ralf's knowledge of the past few months, and not just a new manager coming in and buying aimlessly
4. We'll see other players depart and i expect at least Hannibal and Elanga to be part of the first team squad next season, with further possible youth supplements

 

[WR10]

You’ve got a ‘fans’ perspective. A business outsider perspective: glazers are unlikely to be running this club next season.

They have been firmly selling shares in the past year. Their commercial machine has run out of juice. The $Man Utd stock price has collapsed -40% in the past year. It is currently headed to all time lows. In fact, the stock has been sold all the way down to where it was 10 years ago in 2012 when united became a publicly traded company. For all that have listened to me, you know that glazers can’t give a rats ass about our on field performances (obviously) it’s been firmly about providing a return for their shareholders. Well that’s over now.

Come the summer they’ll be begging for a buyer. It will finally be at a cheap enough price for people to take it off their hands.

That’s of course if we don’t have harry fighting WWIII in Ukraine come summer.

Calm down, it’s over soon

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

We all believe the Glazers don't like spending money (despite £1BN being spent since Fergie left but that's a discussion for another day) but this Summer is going to require £300M - £400 MINIMUM. If we want to keep challenging. We are in danger of losing so many players.

Lingard - Gone
Pogba - I'm still hopeful he'll stay but think he's gone.
Cavani - Gone
Ronaldo - Question marks over his future, but I'd like him to stay.
Marital - More than likely sold or loaned out - he simply does not want to be here.
Bailly - Wants out
Greenwood - Less spoken about him the better
Henderson - Is more likely to go than to stay.
Mata - We can't keep him for another season can we?

Need a DM and a CM if Pogba goes - Can Garner fill the void, don't think we can expect to fill a WC player with Garner and expect the same quality.
Need TWO strikers (in my opinion)
There's talk of a CB after Maguire's poor form. Is he on the chopping block too?

We are in serious danger of having a ridiculously small squad, going from one extreme of a bloated squad to the other in a ice thin squad.

If we let them go then it's something the club has done differently for the first time, which could be a good thing. Before, we used to give them new contract to protect their value and we are stuck with them. Man City sold their deadwoods and players who want to leave, that's why they have good quality squad depth now not just good XI.

There are players available for free that we can target like Brozovic or Kamara for DM, Rudiger for CB, Kessie for Pogba's replacement if he goes. And then use the remaining budget and selling fees to buy two attackers.

 

[Hester_manc]

We all believe the Glazers don't like spending money (despite £1BN being spent since Fergie left but that's a discussion for another day) but this Summer is going to require £300M - £400 MINIMUM. If we want to keep challenging. We are in danger of losing so many players.

Lingard - Gone
Pogba - I'm still hopeful he'll stay but think he's gone.
Cavani - Gone
Ronaldo - Question marks over his future, but I'd like him to stay.
Marital - More than likely sold or loaned out - he simply does not want to be here.
Bailly - Wants out
Greenwood - Less spoken about him the better
Henderson - Is more likely to go than to stay.
Mata - We can't keep him for another season can we?

Need a DM and a CM if Pogba goes - Can Garner fill the void, don't think we can expect to fill a WC player with Garner and expect the same quality.
Need TWO strikers (in my opinion)
There's talk of a CB after Maguire's poor form. Is he on the chopping block too?

We are in serious danger of having a ridiculously small squad, going from one extreme of a bloated squad to the other in a ice thin squad.

The two only real losses here are Pogba and Greenwood. And with Pogba I am not even really sure - it seems like he is better in a league, where he can have more touches on the ball before someone tackles him. Henderson is only a big loss, if De Gea falls out of form again. Lingard is not good enough, but an ok squad player, Cavani, Mata and Ronaldo are finished, Bailly gets injured every 5. minutes. Greenwood is a big loss, and he would have been important in the current situation, where we create many chances, but cant score. But he is finished.

I will be more worried, if we lose Maguire and Rashford. They have been poor this season, but they have both showed high class before, and I am sure, they can find back to that form, like De Gea did.

 

[Matthew84!]

Load of rubbish, just another transfer thread

 

[Bennie Blanco]

We all believe the Glazers don't like spending money (despite £1BN being spent since Fergie left but that's a discussion for another day) but this Summer is going to require £300M - £400 MINIMUM. If we want to keep challenging. We are in danger of losing so many players.

Lingard - Gone
Pogba - I'm still hopeful he'll stay but think he's gone.
Cavani - Gone
Ronaldo - Question marks over his future, but I'd like him to stay.
Marital - More than likely sold or loaned out - he simply does not want to be here.
Bailly - Wants out
Greenwood - Less spoken about him the better
Henderson - Is more likely to go than to stay.
Mata - We can't keep him for another season can we?

Need a DM and a CM if Pogba goes - Can Garner fill the void, don't think we can expect to fill a WC player with Garner and expect the same quality.
Need TWO strikers (in my opinion)
There's talk of a CB after Maguire's poor form. Is he on the chopping block too?

We are in serious danger of having a ridiculously small squad, going from one extreme of a bloated squad to the other in a ice thin squad.

You want both Pogba and Ronaldo to stay?

Father forgive them, for they know not what they are doing.

 

[Von Mistelroum]

We have huge problems with the squad to the point where it would take multiple very good summers of spending to fix and make us competitive. In order to be close to the top two we would need multiple new signings and a new manager. To be competitive for top 4 next year we'll need at least 4 new signings and that's extremely unlikely. I don't think the Glazers will be looking to invest heavily and we'll likely have to sell to buy. The days of competing at a high level are long gone.

 

[RedChisel]

We need to be smart, use our scouting system and buy young up and coming players and promote the right youth. We aren't competing for the title any time soon so we need to concentrate on building a young exciting team, hopefully with the right manager at the helm.

Saying all this, the idiots in charge will now go and hire Ancelloti and spend the summer putting in middling offers for Declan fecking Rice.

 

[Infra-red]

We all believe the Glazers don't like spending money (despite £1BN being spent since Fergie left but that's a discussion for another day) but this Summer is going to require £300M - £400 MINIMUM. If we want to keep challenging. We are in danger of losing so many players.

Lingard - Gone
Pogba - I'm still hopeful he'll stay but think he's gone.
Cavani - Gone
Ronaldo - Question marks over his future, but I'd like him to stay.
Marital - More than likely sold or loaned out - he simply does not want to be here.
Bailly - Wants out
Greenwood - Less spoken about him the better
Henderson - Is more likely to go than to stay.
Mata - We can't keep him for another season can we?

Need a DM and a CM if Pogba goes - Can Garner fill the void, don't think we can expect to fill a WC player with Garner and expect the same quality.
Need TWO strikers (in my opinion)
There's talk of a CB after Maguire's poor form. Is he on the chopping block too?

We are in serious danger of having a ridiculously small squad, going from one extreme of a bloated squad to the other in a ice thin squad.

That's not happening.

£50m if we fail to make the Champions League places. £75m if by some miracle we manage to qualify (according to The Telegraph yesterday).

 

[Ish]

I’d rather we gut the squad and start building it back up over 1-2 years. Pad it up with a mixture of youth and free signings. It would be a good start for a new manager (hopefully ETH) buying into the “project” (yes, that fabulous word!).

If we’re shrewd enough, we’d also try shifting players with some resale value: like AWB or Dalot, then promote Laird as backup. Use the funds to plug gaps in the squad.

Question being: does no UCL impact the choice of manager? Hopefully not.

 

[Gandalf]

That's not happening.

£50m if we fail to make the Champions League places. £75m if by some miracle we manage to qualify (according to The Telegraph yesterday).

With the caveat that any incoming fees can be added to that. We do stink at selling our players but potentially could add a decent amount to that budget if we are really set on a clear out. We need to ensure that whatever we spend is only spent on players that are a perfect fit for what we need and if the right player is not there then plug in someone from the academy until the next window. In the best case we discover that we had the answer to our problems right here at home and worst case academy players can easily be moved on and will likely generate at least some sort of fee with first team games under their belt to help fund the next window.

 

[pratyush_utd]

So do you think he’s ready for the rough and tumble of the PL?

No one can answer that with certainty but he can certainly be a squad member and slowly introduced in the first team. I dont think his temperament is an issue.

 

[The Dane]

For the first time I am more interested in, and excited about, who we get rid of than who we get in.
If Maguire, Lindelof, AWB, Fred, Bailly, Pogba, Jones, Martial, DVB, Ronaldo, Cavani and Lingard are not at the club when next season starts then I am satisfied.
If that means promoting 3-4 youngsters then fine with me. I would like Rashford to stay but we should not beg him to do so, and if we can find a role for Mata within the club that’ll be great.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

We aren't going to cover the gap in a summer and hence won't have to spend that much. The focus should be on hiring the right manager, and single mindedly working towards his/the club's vision. Results and good football will come and we will improve over time as we all want to see but those key decisions - which manager, which signings to be able to implement his tactics etc will be crucial.

The point is to be on the path towards something good rather than solving things in one window.

 

[flappyjay]

The doom and gloomers have all ya' ll going crazy.

AWB Varane Lindelof Shaw

New DM be CM

New rw Bruno Sancho

New Striker

Ronaldo, Pogba, Cavani, Matic, Mata, Matic, lingard will leave a huge hole on our wages.

Promote Hannibal, Laird and Garner.

Out:

Lingard free minus 3.9m yearly salary
Cavani free minus 13m yearly salar
Pogba free minus 15m yearly salary
Matic free minus 6.2m salary
Mata free minus 8m
Ronaldo probably free minus 26.5m
Dalot 10m(I think he will have a year left)
Henderson 20-25m
DVB 20-25m
Andreas 6m
Chong 8-10m
Tuanzebe 15m
Total from sales =79m at minimum pricing.

Total wages reduced by 90.4m (I used players wages reported by spotrac)

All in all that looks good to me we have a chance to let go of a few high earners who are not considered pivotal to our plans. If we do the sales right and not try to be too greedy we can get some money. Then it's all about wise spending and managing our wage bill.

Edit: I didn't know we gave Matic a contract until 2023. Face palm.

 

[UTD_Since_1978]

I will be more worried, if we lose Maguire and Rashford. They have been poor this season, but they have both showed high class before, and I am sure, they can find back to that form, like De Gea did.

Maguire would be the first one I would kick out if we could find a club daft enough to take him.

 

[Hester_manc]

Maguire would be the first one I would kick out if we could find a club daft enough to take him.

People forget fast (i do not know, if that is the case with you). In the season 2020/21 Maguire was ranked 4th best defender in the league. (And Shaw was 2nd). This season has been awful from Maguire, but he is human. He has shown, what he can do. The question is whether he can find that level again

 

[The Corinthian]

I think we need to start getting some our talented youth in the first team. I’d get Mengi, Laird, Garner and Mejbri into the first team, possibly Chong if he’s not sold.