Let's talk 'keepers: who do we buy and why?

I think we need to do what Arsenal did and get a GK from the prem. At least we know they know what to expect from the atmosphere and game style (dealing with crosses and the physical pressure from corners etc)

Personally i'd have liked Martinez from Villa back when he was gettable but that ship has sailed, he's got the hateable arrogance and ability you want in a GK at this level. Pickford, as much as i can't get over how thick he is would be a much safer option than getting another keeper in from a different league. But, neither of those are coming for less than 50mil i'd assume.
 
Martinez is too old for the price it will cost to get Villa to sell.

I kind like James Trafford as a shotstopper - but havent seen enough of him to decide how he is with the ball at his feet.
 
Mmm-Qatarian said:
I'd sooner go for an older head who is fairly dependable if not spectacular than take another gamble on someone like James Trafford.

I'm not denying he could be a very solid keeper in a few years but last season he was in the Prem he was really shaky at Burnley, suggesting he was probably put in a bit too soon (Again, no shame in that - 20 years old is considerably younger than most keepers start out in the Prem). With that said, I don't see the value in replacing Onana with another keeper who can be very good on their day but doesn't yet bring consistency.

A further point I'd make is that I don't think we should be forking out a load of money for a keeper. I do think at the very least we need to bring in someone to really light a fire under Onana's ass if we do decide to keep him; Bayindir had a great match against Arsenal in the cup but has generally been a mixed bag when he's played. With that said, I think you could bring in a keeper who will do the job for a fairly good price whilst much needed improvements are made to the rest of the team.

A suggestion I'll offer up is PSV's Walter Benitez. He's regarded by PSV (and previously Nice) fans as a solid keeper, at 32 he's an experienced head which I don't think is any bad thing given our young squad, as I've just mentioned he'll be familiar to our owners given that he previously played for Nice, and perhaps most pertinently he's out of contract in the summer.
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Definitely think given our young squad, and the lack of funds meaning we are probably going to continue to buy young are more positions, GK and ST are the two positions where I would like an older, experienced player, ideally a free transfer or short term cheap option.
 
Lunin from Real Madrid is now mentioned in some papers. A price around 20 mio pounds mentioned.

He did really well for them when Courtois was out. Might be worth it.
 
Kovar! Around 7,7 mil pound buy back.. It's the easy option and he should have never been sold in the first place.
 
Mmm-Qatarian said:
I'd sooner go for an older head who is fairly dependable if not spectacular than take another gamble on someone like James Trafford.

I'm not denying he could be a very solid keeper in a few years but last season he was in the Prem he was really shaky at Burnley, suggesting he was probably put in a bit too soon (Again, no shame in that - 20 years old is considerably younger than most keepers start out in the Prem). With that said, I don't see the value in replacing Onana with another keeper who can be very good on their day but doesn't yet bring consistency.

A further point I'd make is that I don't think we should be forking out a load of money for a keeper. I do think at the very least we need to bring in someone to really light a fire under Onana's ass if we do decide to keep him; Bayindir had a great match against Arsenal in the cup but has generally been a mixed bag when he's played. With that said, I think you could bring in a keeper who will do the job for a fairly good price whilst much needed improvements are made to the rest of the team.

A suggestion I'll offer up is PSV's Walter Benitez. He's regarded by PSV (and previously Nice) fans as a solid keeper, at 32 he's an experienced head which I don't think is any bad thing given our young squad, as I've just mentioned he'll be familiar to our owners given that he previously played for Nice, and perhaps most pertinently he's out of contract in the summer.
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It'd be just my fecking luck that I propose this dude a few days before he goes and ships seven to Arsenal :lol:
 
I don't think onana is a bad keeper, but he'd be one of the first players I'd sell if we're strapped for cash and need funds for players. Has too many clangers in him.
 
stepic said:
Go all in on Costa
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City bound at this point, I fear.

Has a rick in him as well imo, although so does Ederson. City is the perfect club for a keeper like that, they dominate the ball so much your passing comes to the fore and your weaknesses are less exposed.
 
Increasingly think that Freiburg's Noah Atubolu is someone we should take a chance on this summer. Benfica's Samuel Soares is perhaps another to keep an eye on.
 
Not sure if it's any truth to it - but Trafford (Burnley) and Pears (Blackburn) have been linked to us the last few days. Pears I haven't seen much so have no clue about him. But he is the guy who gave away that freakish owngoal about a year ago. And he is the son of former United-youth and Boro-keeper Stephen Pears (for those of you who remember the 80s and 90s

Regarding Trafford - I havent seem enough of him with the ball at his feet to determine if he is good enough in that area - but he is a beast and will become the next England goalkeeper - I am quite certain about that
 
lysglimt said:
Not sure if it's any truth to it - but Trafford (Burnley) and Pears (Blackburn) have been linked to us the last few days. Pears I haven't seen much so have no clue about him. But he is the guy who gave away that freakish owngoal about a year ago. And he is the son of former United-youth and Boro-keeper Stephen Pears (for those of you who remember the 80s and 90s

Regarding Trafford - I havent seem enough of him with the ball at his feet to determine if he is good enough in that area - but he is a beast and will become the next England goalkeeper - I am quite certain about that
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He's technically good and this was supposed to be a strength of his, but being that he's at Burnley it's not something we are getting to see of him at the moment.

I do think he has the potential to be England #1 and he's been good in the Championship this season - the only issue is A) a lot of his clean sheets are down to the Burnley defence and B) he was poor with them in the PL last season.
 
lysglimt said:
Not sure if it's any truth to it - but Trafford (Burnley) and Pears (Blackburn) have been linked to us the last few days. Pears I haven't seen much so have no clue about him. But he is the guy who gave away that freakish owngoal about a year ago. And he is the son of former United-youth and Boro-keeper Stephen Pears (for those of you who remember the 80s and 90s

Regarding Trafford - I havent seem enough of him with the ball at his feet to determine if he is good enough in that area - but he is a beast and will become the next England goalkeeper - I am quite certain about that
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Trafford is going to Newcastle isn't he? Deal fell through at last minute in the summer but seems interest is still there.

I think Cooper at Sheffield United is a better long term prospect, he's one to watch over the next few years.
 
Bertie Wooster said:
It's a tough one.

We obviously desperately need to add more goals - definitely with a #9, and maybe even another attacking role (one of the #10's or a more attacking wing back).

And we also need to address the continual central midfield issues (to find a partner for Ugarte).

But the GK issue is also a hugely important area that desperately needs addressing just as much as well.

It's hard to say which areas are more pressing really. I certainly wouldn't downplay any of the areas as being less urgent. We desperately need more goals and creativity in the squad. We desperately need a better midfield to instill some control into games. And we desperately need a far more consistent and reliable keeper who won't regularly gift opponents soft goals.

I'll be happy whichever of those areas we manage to strengthen, just so long as it looks like we've got our scouting right and targeted and attainable and affordable option that looks a likely upgrade.
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Fergie used to say Peter S won us 10 points a season… I reckon that’s a large under estimation. Onana needs replacing
 
SalfordRed18 said:
I don't think onana is a bad keeper, but he'd be one of the first players I'd sell if we're strapped for cash and need funds for players. Has too many clangers in him.
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Too many clangers and practically no presence. Makes himself look small. He's top of my list to be replaced because you have to build from the back to get anywhere.
 
Shark said:
Too many clangers and practically no presence. Makes himself look small. He's top of my list to be replaced because you have to build from the back to get anywhere.
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This is a myth. A world class attack papers over far more cracks than a leaky defence. Onana would be fine in an elite side anyway, our attackers not so much...Id happily see our entire budget go on attacking talent this summer (including midfielders).
 
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic could be a decent buy, having a strong season at Torino and only a year left on his deal + the United connection. Not sure how he is with his feet though, but he's a gigantic fecker who appears to be a good shot-stopper and dominant aerially.
 
Costa (if not City bound yet), Guillaume Restes, Bart Verbruggen, Marteen Vandevoordt, Lucas Chevallier, Anatoliy Trubin…
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
This is a myth. A world class attack papers over far more cracks than a leaky defence. Onana would be fine in an elite side anyway, our attackers not so much...Id happily see our entire budget go on attacking talent this summer (including midfielders).
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A myth? SAF used to literally always say you always build from the back.
 
Shark said:
A myth? SAF used to literally always say you always build from the back.
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It’s easy to say that when you have a world class attack. In his final season he didn’t add a new defender, he added Van Persie who won us the league. Look at the title winners and the one thing they mostly have in common is scoring a lot of goals!
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
It’s easy to say that when you have a world class attack. In his final season he didn’t add a new defender, he added Van Persie who won us the league. Look at the title winners and the one thing they mostly have in common is scoring a lot of goals!
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If you look at Sir Alex’s first group of signings at United it was mainly on defence or defensive midfielders as he signed Jim Leighton, Viv Anderson, Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin, Paul Ince, Mal Donaghy, Mike Phelan and Les Sealey with Brian McClair and re-signing Mark Hughes as signings for up top.

It wasn’t until Sir Alex brought in Cantona, Kanchelskis and Dion Dublin along with Giggs coming through in the early 90’s that he really started bringing in forwards and wasn’t it Sir Alex that said attack wins you games but defence wins you titles ? We had a world class forward line under Sir Alex by 1993 but he built an entire defence in first.
 
davidmichael said:
If you look at Sir Alex’s first group of signings at United it was mainly on defence or defensive midfielders as he signed Jim Leighton, Viv Anderson, Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin, Paul Ince, Mal Donaghy, Mike Phelan and Les Sealey with Brian McClair and re-signing Mark Hughes as signings for up top.

It wasn’t until Sir Alex brought in Cantona, Kanchelskis and Dion Dublin along with Giggs coming through in the early 90’s that he really started bringing in forwards and wasn’t it Sir Alex that said attack wins you games but defence wins you titles ? We had a world class forward line under Sir Alex by 1993 but he built an entire defence in first.
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I'm a defender so I'm in no way trying to diminish their impact, but attackers are the stars and the players that win you games. He did say that, and I think it's skewed a few perceptions over the years. You're right he built the defence first, however it wasn't until the world class attacking players came in that we actually started to win titles.

Anyway, that point aside, in the context of the current Man Utd team, our defensive unit is clearly better than our attacking unit. We can keep all the clean sheets in the world, but it won't matter if we can't take our chances at the other end. I also think it's severely underrated the impact a strong attacking unit has on the whole team and particularly the defence. Look at a team like City for instance; even at their best, they have carried some largely mediocre defenders and keepers, but that's because their midfield and attack were so dominant they wouldn't really need to be tested in the same way they are at Utd. This attacking unit is one of the weakest Utd have ever had in my opinion and I would happily swap with the vast majority of teams in the league. A world class attacker (not easy to find, buy or attract I accept) would easily have the biggest impact on this current side.
 
Don't think we'll be replacing Onana. We're very cash poor so we'll have to prioritise 1-2 players max this summer.
 
Experienced PL keepers would come at a cost. Yet they bring with them relevant experience. Certainly worthy of consideration.

Costa has a very high profile name, is constantly linked to the biggest clubs around, including United...but he makes some shocking errors. The transfer fee & wages would both be high & for that, I am not sure he is worth it.

Lunin, the reserve at Real Madrid, had a superb spell when called upon. He is young (26), has a good sized frame and would likely cost half of some of the other, more recognized names being thrown around. He lacks the extensive experience of some of the others but 40 games or so during the last season and this at Madrid, is surely enough sample size for consideration.

Kovář is an interesting option. His frame and age (24) are likeable but he probably has half the experience of Lunin, for example, with his game time being almost exclusively in the European cup competitions. That said, United know him and have had the foresight to add the reported buy-back clause. They obviously believe that he has something.

United also have some promising keepers on their books, not least, the big Czech lad Radek Vítek. This guy is huge (standing 6'6" - almost 2m tall) but at 21 and with limited experience, he may be one that the club would rather offer more exposure to whilst out on loan - he is currently playing for Blau-Weiss Linz in Austria's top tier. Three other young keepers, Mee, Graczyk & Harrison are also all rated, yet as with Vítek, experience is lacking.

Altay Bayindir is at least as dependable as Onana, perhaps more so. Offloading Onana and going forward with Bayindir, with the plan of trying out Vítek or one of the other young & promising keepers is another option.

There are so many ways to go forward with this particular squad issue...but none should include having Onana between the sticks in the future. All keepers make mistakes but his are far more frequent than a club like Manchester United should tolerate.
 
TRUE NUMBER 9 said:
Kovář is an interesting option. His frame and age (24) are likeable but he probably has half the experience of Lunin, for example, with his game time being almost exclusively in the European cup competitions.
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And it is limited because he can't get past a solid but aging Hradecky. Some rumours already speculate that Leverkusen is looking for an upgrade over both of them. That doesn't really sound like a keeper who would be right to lead United back to the top.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
I'm a defender so I'm in no way trying to diminish their impact, but attackers are the stars and the players that win you games. He did say that, and I think it's skewed a few perceptions over the years. You're right he built the defence first, however it wasn't until the world class attacking players came in that we actually started to win titles.

Anyway, that point aside, in the context of the current Man Utd team, our defensive unit is clearly better than our attacking unit. We can keep all the clean sheets in the world, but it won't matter if we can't take our chances at the other end. I also think it's severely underrated the impact a strong attacking unit has on the whole team and particularly the defence. Look at a team like City for instance; even at their best, they have carried some largely mediocre defenders and keepers, but that's because their midfield and attack were so dominant they wouldn't really need to be tested in the same way they are at Utd. This attacking unit is one of the weakest Utd have ever had in my opinion and I would happily swap with the vast majority of teams in the league. A world class attacker (not easy to find, buy or attract I accept) would easily have the biggest impact on this current side.
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He brought in defenders first though because he knew he had to lay the foundations to be successful first, it’s all good buying forwards and scoring but if you’re shipping them in at the other end then wins become draws and draws becomes losses and you only have to look at Real when they had the ‘Galactico’s’ or Keegan’s Newcastle as examples.

Look at how many mistakes Onana has made over his time at United and how many matches they’ve cost us, because of Onana wins have become draws and draws become losses and for all the talk of him being a ‘ball playing keeper’ the reality is he slows our play down as he dithers and dwells on the ball to then just play the obvious pass 7 times out of 10 with 1 in 10 being a good ball and the other 2 in 10 simply hoofing it up field.

I imagine Onana is the kind of keeper that would do well in a dominant possession based team like City were up until this season but for us he’s a luxury at best and a liability if we’re all honest, we need a solid keeper who can do the basics of shot stopping and presence in his area so that he has command of it.

I agree that a striker should our priority because our scoring rate is fecking shocking but I see a new keeper as alongside right wing back the next priorities as Onana makes the defenders shaky and a shaky back line fearful of whether the keeper can be trusted with the basics will cause chaos, Amorim is starting to stabilise things but to avoid a repeat of this season a new striker and a new keeper are both very much needed.
 
DannyCAFC said:
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic could be a decent buy, having a strong season at Torino and only a year left on his deal + the United connection. Not sure how he is with his feet though, but he's a gigantic fecker who appears to be a good shot-stopper and dominant aerially.
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in great form
 
Von Mistelroum said:
Don't think we'll be replacing Onana. We're very cash poor so we'll have to prioritise 1-2 players max this summer.
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Agreed. We probably will bring a another GK in though, as Heaton will leave and maybe Bayindir too. Will be interesting to see whether we sign another steady 2nd with experience, or promote a youngster.

Ideally, I'd like us to sign a young prospect on the cheap whom we think could come in and do a job, probably isn't ready to be #1, but we think will be in a season or 2. We were linked with that Suzuki kid again in Jan, who we were supposedly close to signing in summer '23. He plays for Parma now and is first choice though. Papers in Italy were saying Parma would want €40m...so yeah, that ain't happening.
 
Ekeke said:


in great form
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I just read that he was a United player but due to a failed work permit, ended up being released back in late 2015. He was only 18 at the time but already a big lad for his mum.

He looks like a real dominant presence (6'8" guys usually do!) and seems to be fantastic on penalties, which, given the amount that are awarded against United, is all the more reason to sign him up ;)
 
TRUE NUMBER 9 said:
I just read that he was a United player but due to a failed work permit, ended up being released back in late 2015. He was only 18 at the time but already a big lad for his mum.

He looks like a real dominant presence (6'8" guys usually do!) and seems to be fantastic on penalties, which, given the amount that are awarded against United, is all the more reason to sign him up ;)
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What now?
 
Von Mistelroum said:
I'm sure we'll want to, but can't see how unless we can score a couple of free transfers.
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We’ll easily buy 4 first team players and couple of youngsters, no need for free transfers especially as they are often quite expensive in terms of wages.

Don’t expect that to include a keeper, maybe a cheap backup but that’s it. Even the younger options like Restes, Chevalier, Garcia and Trafford would cost 25-35m.

I think we’ll have one more season of Onana as first choice.
 
Kovar gets plenty of mentions on here but there were more reports yesterday that Leverkusen are looking to move him on because he hasn't performed well enough in the opportunities that he's had. If that's the case then clearly he's not good enough to return here.
 
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