Potential Centre-Back Signings

jesperjaap

Full Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2014
Messages
5,722
Branthwaite or Lukeba would be the ideal LCB options but may come at a higher price that may not fit within our budget. In fact, if we had foresight and better recruitment, we should have sold Lindelof or really forced Maguire out last summer and tried to buy Lukeba before Leipzig secured the deal. Lucumi of Bologna seems like a cheaper alternative, offers similar traits to Martinez and won't come in at over 40m.
Dont know Lucumi, but completely agree with the rest
 

aeh1991

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Apr 13, 2022
Messages
842
By the way, Tapsoba has a 100m euro release clause, so he should not be a candidate. I'm reading that Leverkusen want to sell Hincapie though, who would be available for aroumd 35m pounds. Could be a steal, since he can play LCB and LB and would be cheaper than Branthwaite (and imo not less talented).
 

NoPace

Full Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2014
Messages
9,401
By the way, Tapsoba has a 100m euro release clause, so he should not be a candidate. I'm reading that Leverkusen want to sell Hincapie though, who would be available for aroumd 35m pounds. Could be a steal, since he can play LCB and LB and would be cheaper than Branthwaite (and imo not less talented).
I've liked Hincapie when I've seen him. He basically plays LB and LCB right now since Xabi Alonso has Grimaldo as a wingback when they don't have the ball and then a LM when they win it, so Hincapie sprints over to play as a pretty orthodox LB.

Doesn't change the profile of the need at RCB either, since with Hincapie or Licha there we probably need a strong, powerful athletic Araujo type at RCB to win balls in the air and cover space , and when Shaw is hurt, Hincapie-Lisandro-RCB-Dalot would look a decent backline with Dalot going forward the most and Hincapie sitting back more.
 

FootballHQ

Full Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2017
Messages
18,249
Supports
Aston Villa
Joachim Anderson would be a good signing for Man. United I think.

Rarely injured, 28 and two years left on his deal. Lindelof can only dream of a performance like he just gave at Anfield which is one of the best I've seen all season from a CB.
 

Cutch

Full Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2008
Messages
16,403
Location
Northern Ireland. Stretty W3102, Row 2, Seat 129
Joachim Anderson would be a good signing for Man. United I think.

Rarely injured, 28 and two years left on his deal. Lindelof can only dream of a performance like he just gave at Anfield which is one of the best I've seen all season from a CB.
He's class but we need centre halfs with lots of pace if we ever want to be a dominant front foot team
 

Lash

Full Member
Joined
May 3, 2012
Messages
12,086
Location
Buckinghamshire
Supports
Millwall, Saint-Etienne
Joachim Anderson would be a good signing for Man. United I think.

Rarely injured, 28 and two years left on his deal. Lindelof can only dream of a performance like he just gave at Anfield which is one of the best I've seen all season from a CB.
Was an absolute colossus today. I doubt they would ever sell him for anything short of something silly though.
 

devilish

Juventus fan who used to support United
Joined
Sep 5, 2002
Messages
61,668
Football is tough these days. In the past you had specialists who would excel on 2-3 things. Then it would be up to the manager to find other players with a different skillset and build a side like a jigsaw puzzle. These days players need to be great in almost anything. CBs need to be mobile, they need to be tough, they need to be good with their feet, they need to have great anticipation and positioning. The hammer and Anvil style (ex Rio and Vidic) is gone.

Thus if we find a CB or two with the right characteristics then we must sign them up.
 

Bojan Djordjic

Full Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
1,650
Was an absolute colossus today. I doubt they would ever sell him for anything short of something silly though.
Would be pointless buying another 28 year old regardless of how good they are. By the time we've gotten rid of the deadwood and our young talents are mature enough to compete for big trophies, we'd be having to replace them.
 

Newstyle

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Dec 24, 2016
Messages
110
I want us to do some shrewd signings. Look at Leverkusen this season, signed Grimaldo on a fee, probably worth 40-50m today. They signed 8 players of a net sum of 18m, including Boniface, Hofmann, Tella, Xhaka. Why can’t we?
 
Last edited:

davidmichael

Full Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2015
Messages
3,402
I want us to do some shrewd signings. Look at Leverkusen this season, signed Grimaldo on a fee, probably worth 40-50m today. They signed 8 players of a net sum of 18m, including Boniface, Hofmann, Tella, Xhaka. Why can’t we?
Had this argument with someone on a United forum on Facebook in which I said there’s players out there like Guido and Rabiot who upgrade our midfield, Adarabioyo and Kelly who add quality in depth to centre back/left back and Jovic who’d be a decent back up to Hojlund all on frees this summer but they were talking Silva and Branthwaite at centre back, Theo at left back, Kimmich and Tchouameni in midfield and Mbappe up top regardless of FFP/PSR.
 

Lash

Full Member
Joined
May 3, 2012
Messages
12,086
Location
Buckinghamshire
Supports
Millwall, Saint-Etienne
Would be pointless buying another 28 year old regardless of how good they are. By the time we've gotten rid of the deadwood and our young talents are mature enough to compete for big trophies, we'd be having to replace them.
Would only be worth it if they were cheap, otherwise I agree. His qualities are what we're missing.
 

didz

Full Member
Joined
May 17, 2014
Messages
1,545
Lucumi looks really good for a left footer. Loves a tackle, excellent on the ball, and very comfortable stepping into midfield. Just played a very good game against Roma.
 

aeh1991

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Apr 13, 2022
Messages
842
I would honestly wait for the LCB and sign two RCBs (Todibo and Tosin) plus one LB (one of Gutierrez, Bard, Davis, etc.), keep Maguire and use Shaw as LCB when he's fit.
Castello Lukeba has a release clause in 2025 and will be available for 51m. That should be the kind of deals we should make, because he's much better and cheaper than Branthwaite.
Lukeba has a really good injury record (based on transfermarkt, he was injured twice for a total of 19 days).
 

Kingslayer18

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
187
Lucumi looks really good for a left footer. Loves a tackle, excellent on the ball, and very comfortable stepping into midfield. Just played a very good game against Roma.
If you look at his Fbref profile, he's basically a taller version of Martinez. I really hope we go after him if we are looking for a like for like replacement for Martinez. As good as Branthwaite and cheaper.
 

Kingslayer18

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Oct 23, 2019
Messages
187
I would honestly wait for the LCB and sign two RCBs (Todibo and Tosin) plus one LB (one of Gutierrez, Bard, Davis, etc.), keep Maguire and use Shaw as LCB when he's fit.
Castello Lukeba has a release clause in 2025 and will be available for 51m. That should be the kind of deals we should make, because he's much better and cheaper than Branthwaite.
Lukeba has a really good injury record (based on transfermarkt, he was injured twice for a total of 19 days).

While I like Lukeaba, I don't think we can afford to wait a year for a LCB given Martinez's injury record. We see how the team loses a lot without his line breaking ability. Keeping Maguire as backup doesn't make sense given his age and deal almost up. We won't make any money off him later, so the best time to sell him is now before he's older and has no resale value. It's not like we're going to offer him a new long term deal. He doesn't fit the way we want to play anyway with pace and athleticism at the back. Honestly, I'd offer Varane a 1+1 deal on reduced wages and sell Maguire and Lindelof. Varane is the backup RCB and then go get a starting RCB and backup LCB.