No.10/CAM signing in the January window

Gandalf Greyhame

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https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/carlo-ancelotti-lorenzo-insigne-everton-transfer-napoli

Rumours Insigne fancies a crack at the premiership, i think he d be ideal for the number 10 spot, creates plenty, scores a few, has leadership qualitys, is brilliant at set pieces, can unlock defences.

Surely we can out muscle Everton, seems Insigne has fallen out with Napolis owner as have a few it seems. While id love Grealish here due to the stats hes currently posting i also think this guy would be a shrewd signing too.

We can't, won't and shouldn't be signing Raiola players.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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Unless Grealish and Eriksen are attainable in January we're not going to sign any no.10 till the summer. Kulusevski and Olmo are already gone. We clearly don't want Bruno Fernandes Van De Beek and Ziyech. We could have attempted to get Zaniolo with the Roma's interest in Smalling but we didn't.

Even though they lack enough quality we still have Lingard Pereira and Mata who are all AMs and Pogba who can play as an advanced 8. We probably think these players are enough to hold on till the summer for Maddison or Havertz to become available.

This thread should be about a creative DM/ creative CM or back up strikers because those are the positions that we will likely fill this January if we get anyone
 

Lynty

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The same scouts who said Bruno Fernandes wasn't good enough for us because of some bullshit passing statistic?
These guys more often than not use spreadsheets to do their jobs, at the expense of spending time watching the player and finding out the reasons beyond such stats.
You seem to expect everyone is very professional and does their job very well. Elite football is surprisingly amateurish in many ways.
I'm not sure what your argument is. Bruno was considered, but deemed not the right fit. Like I said, you can question judgment, but its obsurd to think that spectators can spot a player before top tier clubs are aware of their existence.

I disagree strongly that its amateurish. Multi million £ businesses arent amateurish, and the areas that are, 3rd party contractors fill the gap e.g. I know someone who runs a sports management company in London and is very successful. They employ a third party sports analytic company to compile detailed reports on their players so they can broker better contract deals, market to prospective clubs and gauge an approx market value. If the clubs aren't doing the statiscal work, the agent will and be in a stronger position to negotiate contracts as the clubs won't be able to counter cherry picked stats.

The fact that you mentioned Brunos 'passing statistic' that ended our interest shows that we are using something very similar. So no, it doesn't sound amateur. That's a 90s notion.
 

jamesjimmybyrondean

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I'm very positive this position is reserved for Maddison or Grealish in the summer.

If we're playing 4-2-3-1 with Pogba at the Pivot then the AM would be the weakest. We need a creative midfielder and I think if we don't get one then top 4 becomes very difficult.

Ole has stated several times that the plan is to wait till our targets become avaliable. So are we going to wait till Maddison becomes available next summer and risk not getting top 4?

I don't even think we need to panic buy in January. We could go for a Daniel James type of signing. Low cost but effective. This signing won't stop us from getting Maddison in the summer same way Daniel James won't stop us from getting Sancho.

Buendia would be my choice this January. He's obviously better than both Lingard and Pereira and this type of player can be the reason we make top 4. He's an AM that can also play RW. He is effective enough to carry us through this season and next summer if we sign Maddison then Buendia would be a quality squad option same thing with James if we sign Sancho.
 

manunited1919

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I see more need of a CDM than for an attacking midfielder. Pereira, Mata, and Pogba can hold the fort until the summer. But McT is injured, Fred has been playing every single game, and Matic’s legs are gone. We need a defensive midfielder to shore up the midfield, sit in front of defense and help us get clean sheets. If we aren’t going to build from the back, why did we buy Maguire?
 

Rocknrolla69er

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I'm very positive this position is reserved for Maddison or Grealish in the summer.

If we're playing 4-2-3-1 with Pogba at the Pivot then the AM would be the weakest. We need a creative midfielder and I think if we don't get one then top 4 becomes very difficult.

Ole has stated several times that the plan is to wait till our targets become avaliable. So are we going to wait till Maddison becomes available next summer and risk not getting top 4?

I don't even think we need to panic buy in January. We could go for a Daniel James type of signing. Low cost but effective. This signing won't stop us from getting Maddison in the summer same way Daniel James won't stop us from getting Sancho.

Buendia would be my choice this January. He's obviously better than both Lingard and Pereira and this type of player can be the reason we make top 4. He's an AM that can also play RW. He is effective enough to carry us through this season and next summer if we sign Maddison then Buendia would be a quality squad option same thing with James if we sign Sancho.
Agree with Buendia, id actually try and sign him and Grealish who are both posting impressive stats, adding depth and creativity
 

Le Red

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I'm not sure what your argument is. Bruno was considered, but deemed not the right fit. Like I said, you can question judgment, but its obsurd to think that spectators can spot a player before top tier clubs are aware of their existence.

I disagree strongly that its amateurish. Multi million £ businesses arent amateurish, and the areas that are, 3rd party contractors fill the gap e.g. I know someone who runs a sports management company in London and is very successful. They employ a third party sports analytic company to compile detailed reports on their players so they can broker better contract deals, market to prospective clubs and gauge an approx market value. If the clubs aren't doing the statiscal work, the agent will and be in a stronger position to negotiate contracts as the clubs won't be able to counter cherry picked stats.

The fact that you mentioned Brunos 'passing statistic' that ended our interest shows that we are using something very similar. So no, it doesn't sound amateur. That's a 90s notion.
You reply just reinforced what I said about the overuse of spreadsheet and statistics in detriment of watching the player and interpreting what these stats mean.
Bruno Fernandes was rejected because his passing wasn't statistically good enough, but anyone with an eye could see he's a great passer of the ball and not a sideways passing merchant.
In the context of football, this is lazy and amateurish but if you don't see it that way we'll just have to agree to disagree.
 

Eric's Seagull

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I'm very positive this position is reserved for Maddison or Grealish in the summer.

If we're playing 4-2-3-1 with Pogba at the Pivot then the AM would be the weakest. We need a creative midfielder and I think if we don't get one then top 4 becomes very difficult.

Ole has stated several times that the plan is to wait till our targets become avaliable. So are we going to wait till Maddison becomes available next summer and risk not getting top 4?

I don't even think we need to panic buy in January. We could go for a Daniel James type of signing. Low cost but effective. This signing won't stop us from getting Maddison in the summer same way Daniel James won't stop us from getting Sancho.

Buendia would be my choice this January. He's obviously better than both Lingard and Pereira and this type of player can be the reason we make top 4. He's an AM that can also play RW. He is effective enough to carry us through this season and next summer if we sign Maddison then Buendia would be a quality squad option same thing with James if we sign Sancho.
There is a fair chance Leicester may not want to sell Maddison in the summer as they are probably going to get into the Champions League and may want to keep him for it next year.
 

Josep Dowling

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I think I would take Grealish over Maddison. Purely for value for money. £80m+ for Maddison would be crazy.
 

fps

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I think I would take Grealish over Maddison. Purely for value for money. £80m+ for Maddison would be crazy.
Value for money shouldn’t enter the equation. It’s Man United, they have the money. In that situation, they must sign the player they think is best for the team to succeed.

Similarly it’s not point saying someone’s worth signing because they’re cheap. Sign players because they’re good, no more mediocrity.
 

Hanky panky

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Aston villa is just couple of points from relegation zone. Grealish could be the reason why they (maybe) will not relegate. They will not sell their the most important player in january. Summer is a different story...
 

Josep Dowling

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Value for money shouldn’t enter the equation. It’s Man United, they have the money. In that situation, they must sign the player they think is best for the team to succeed.

Similarly it’s not point saying someone’s worth signing because they’re cheap. Sign players because they’re good, no more mediocrity.
Every club has a budget. We need quite a few players. For me signing Maddison for £80m would be a joke. That’s about 60/70% of our annual transfer budget.
 

Lynty

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You reply just reinforced what I said about the overuse of spreadsheet and statistics in detriment of watching the player and interpreting what these stats mean.
Bruno Fernandes was rejected because his passing wasn't statistically good enough, but anyone with an eye could see he's a great passer of the ball and not a sideways passing merchant.
In the context of football, this is lazy and amateurish but if you don't see it that way we'll just have to agree to disagree.
I don't think thats amateurish at all. I think putting a man in the stands for 3 games and then deciding to buy amateurish. That's how it was done in 90s.

Things have moved on and stats help paint a more complete picture. It's proven in every field of study. You can't 'eyeball it' with transfer like they are today.

Saying that, I guarantee that multiple people associated with United have seen more of both Bruno and Alberto than any of us.

Your need to step back and truly ask yourself how often have you watch Bruno? YouTube highlights? A few games? Every game? How about multiple seasons?

Whatever you've seen, United will have access to more content without stepping foot in Portugal. It was decided that his £60m(?) valuation was either too high or they needed to see that form displayed for a longer period. As I said, their judgment can be fairly questioned, but its niave to think any part of the process is amateur when there £60m involved.

The fact that no club thought he was worth the valuation is quite telling though
 

luke511

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If we don't buy a cam in the January window every person in charge of transfer decisions at the club needs firing.
 

Jev

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Not much talk of Eriksen. I'm a big fan of Grealish/Maddison as well but if we can get one of the league's most consistent creators, who also has the right attitude, at a cut-price in January, we'd be mad not to go for him.
 

Le Red

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Grealish isn't good enough. Too slow on the ball. Yes, he stands out...at Villa.
Even if we pretend you ain't talking nonsense, it would still be an amazing upgrade over Lingard the Useless.
 

Artorias

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Aston villa is just couple of points from relegation zone. Grealish could be the reason why they (maybe) will not relegate. They will not sell their the most important player in january. Summer is a different story...
Buy Grealish and loan Lingz to Villa for the rest of the season. Win - win.
 

beingshe7don

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No. 10 that we could consider in no order of preference
1. Grealish
2. Maddison
3. Olmo
4. Coutinho
5. Isco
6. Havertz
7. Bruno Fernandes
8. James Rodriguez
 

Mani

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I think I would take Grealish over Maddison. Purely for value for money. £80m+ for Maddison would be crazy.
Agree, spend less to Grealish and rest elsewhere, Also never think Leicester would sell him anything less than that.
 

JoaquinJoaquin

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Maddison isn't coming here, sorry to break it to you. Why would he, unless it's for money? Leicester are going the opposite direction to us.

We have 50 scouts around the world, are you really telling me not one of them has identified a capable player? It's more likely the any money we would use in January comes out of the Summer budget, therefore Ole won't want to just buy anyone (even though it should probably cost him his job if he doesn't).
 

Dante

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2018 We need a midfielder to free Pogba at the club

2020: We need a midfielder to free Pogba from the club
 

beingshe7don

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2018 We need a midfielder to free Pogba at the club

2020: We need a midfielder to free Pogba from the club
More like 2020: We need to free Pogba from the club.

Let's look at Pogba's contributions this season, 8 games played in all competitions and 2 assists registered.

With 3 to 4 more weeks of not playing which would mean he won't feature until Feb first week.

Fixtures in Jan
Wolves (FA Cup)
Man City (League Cup - Rd 1)
Norwich (League)
Liverpool (League)
Burnley (League)
Man City (League Cup - Rd 2)
Wolves (League)

Those are all the games which Pogba and McTominay will miss for certain and I'm not sure of Europa fixtures. So by the time Pogba returns, we will most likely be out of the cup competitions. We should have sold Pogba last summer and gotten the most out of Madrid. We've kept Pogba for one more season and he hasn't contributed much and his value has plummetted since he's lost one year on his contract. With the Euros this year, I don't think he's going to rush back in wake of another injury. So not sure on how many games will he play after he comes back as well. Poor management overall.

2020: The goal should be to sell Pogba and buy 3 top notch midfielders that fit the system.
 

RedorDead21

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Jack Grealish is the real deal. Some people say he's unconvincing, but they are probably the same people who mocked Mané when we were linked to him.
Or the same people who mocked Depay who turned out not good enough.
 

Xaviboy

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possibility of players being available Emre Can on loan with option to buy in summer would be decent business and then test Villa and go in for Grealish 50 million for number 10.
 

Le Red

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His attitude was fine in training, he was always rated as a top professional by all his managers. He did dress like a dickhead but which footballer doesn't.
There were a lot of issues with his attitude beyond his clothes, which isn't even relevant. I can't be arsed to get sources now so whatever.
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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This has to be the no 1 priority. We have injuries with our DM/CM but when they are fit we should be fine. Pogba out for 3-4 weeks, while McTominay out for couple of months (2 months may be), that doesn't mean we will stuck with Matic in our XI until end of the season.

While our no 10 is more issue here because if we don't upgrade what we have now, we will stuck with Lingard/Pereira quality until end of the season. Even if we don't sign anyone in January, next season this is still no 1 priority if we are still insisting with 4231, beside, we need creativity anyway.
 

SweetRightFoot

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We won't sign anyone in January, maybe a youth option for the academy.

When Villa get relegated I'd take Grealish in a heartbeat.
 

EdinburghDevil

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I don't think anyone will be signed in the January window unless a couple of players are shipped out. Desperately need 2 midfielders in my opinion, not to get at least one would be criminal.

Ole is currently doing the job with one hand tied behind his back in my view. The board need to back him and if they do top 4 is achievable as currently very few teams are capable of putting a run of games together.

Whoever out of Utd, Spurs and Chelsea have the best January window will secure 4th.
 
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bsCallout

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I'm very positive this position is reserved for Maddison or Grealish in the summer.

If we're playing 4-2-3-1 with Pogba at the Pivot then the AM would be the weakest. We need a creative midfielder and I think if we don't get one then top 4 becomes very difficult.

Ole has stated several times that the plan is to wait till our targets become avaliable. So are we going to wait till Maddison becomes available next summer and risk not getting top 4?

I don't even think we need to panic buy in January. We could go for a Daniel James type of signing. Low cost but effective. This signing won't stop us from getting Maddison in the summer same way Daniel James won't stop us from getting Sancho.

Buendia would be my choice this January. He's obviously better than both Lingard and Pereira and this type of player can be the reason we make top 4. He's an AM that can also play RW. He is effective enough to carry us through this season and next summer if we sign Maddison then Buendia would be a quality squad option same thing with James if we sign Sancho.
I don't believe Maddison will turn down CL football with Leicester to join us. I also don't believe Grealish will leave if Villa stay up, although I don't think they will.
 

Number32

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No. 10 that we could consider in no order of preference
1. Grealish
2. Maddison
3. Olmo
4. Coutinho
5. Isco
6. Havertz
7. Bruno Fernandes
8. James Rodriguez
Hakim Ziyech? We could bite the dust for not considering and watch him destroy the league with City or Chelsea next season.
 

enurs

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It’s really irritating that we don’t go for Saltsburg best player Hee Chan Hwang. Go to YouTube and write best of Hwang Saltsburg and you see what I mean. He is a better player than Haaland, he is better player than Minamino that Liverpool bought, and he is 23 years. Best of all, he will cost us about 25mill give or take.
Stats
CL: 6 games, 3 goals
League: 14 matches, 6 goals and 7 assist.

This can be our new nr 10 but no one seems to talk about him. Wolves seems to sign him and perhaps that’s why they are letting Jimenez go?

Also, to get Squad dept we should get Kalvin Phillips. It’s a no brainer, he don’t cost much, he don’t need to be a starter, he will give us more options and we need a defensive midfielder now.