Dont know Lucumi, but completely agree with the rest
Potential Centre-Back Signings
- Thread starter sullydnl
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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.
David Hancko, best LCB in world football 
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.
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
Am I the only one thoroughly unimpressed by Jarrad Branthwaite?
Was an absolute colossus today. I doubt they would ever sell him for anything short of something silly though.
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.
Thus if we find a CB or two with the right characteristics then we must sign them up.
No. I think everyone is hoping he's gonna be special but he's been wildly inconsistent from what I've seen
No. He doesn't believe in staying on his feet.
He's way over hyped because he's English and is left footed. There are far better and cheaper options out there.
He would have been a good squad player for us when he signed for Palace.
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.
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?
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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.
Would only be worth it if they were cheap, otherwise I agree. His qualities are what we're missing.
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.
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).
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).
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.
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.
Debast from Anderlecht would be worth a look at. Seems the type of player Brighton would sign and sell for £100m in 2 years
You never know. We could go into the season with Licha and Shaw as the main LCBs, and if both get injured again, we could still react in the winter transfer window. Sometimes I think it's better to wait for the better option. Or instead of Tosin we could get Kelly, who is a LCB that can also play LB, on free. Lukeba would be the most exciting LCB prospect since Gvardiol in my eyes and we should get him (I was hoping we'd get Gvardiol instead of Martinez).
i don't think we can consider Shaw as the primary back-up to Licha as LCB, as I think the jury is still out on Malacia. He will be coming back from a major injury and he wasn't entirely convincing in some of his displays in his first season. We don't want to be put in a position where we have Shaw and Malacia as left sided options in the same line-up. I'd rather get Kelly as a back-up on a free than Tosin. I agree, ideally we should have targeted Gvardiol instead of Martinez but his transfer fee kept on creeping up. Apparently we gave ETH the option of Carmo and Pau Torres as LCB options and he then floated Martinez. Why wasn't Lukeba on that shortlist? That is a question for our recruitment, he was one of the better young LCBs in Europe a that time. Lukeba doesn't start all the time for Leipzig, so a bid of 50m could probably get it done, as they make a decent profit on him. I think we should be aiming to target a high potential LCB who has the ability to actually replace Martinez. I think Martinez then becomes a backup option at LCB and LB. One target that has been floated has been Mikhail Faye of Barcelona, apparently massive potential and has played at both LB and LCB at a high level for Barca B. He's already a Senegalese international and they have quite a decent team. Nice put a bid for him in the January transfer window, so he will be well familiar to Ratcliffe. Barca have a surplus of CBs, need cash and are likely to put all their eggs on young CBs on Pau Carbasi, so I think he's gettable if we put in a bid of 25-30m. He can back up Martinez for a year or two, then step up as starter.
Lucumi from Bologna is the guy
I agree, I think sometimes waiting for the right player is worth it. Look at Liverpool and VVD as a prime example.
Lukeba would be excellent if we decide we can wait a year for a new LCB. However if we were to target an LCB this summer, either Lucumi for Bologna or Medina from Lens (basically a Martinez twin) would be my targets. The other young LCB to monitor for 2025 is Hato at Ajax, who I’m sure is also on our radar, especially if ETH somehow keeps his job until 2025.
Okay seems like Lukeba's release clause in 2025 is higher than what was reported. Alternatively I think Piero Hincapie would be a really good signing. Bayer Leverkusen seem to have put hin on the market, knowing there is strong interest from England. Apparently Atletico, Chelsea and Spurs are interested, but I think we are in a better position than Chelsea and Spurs (because they already have Van de Ven). He could play LB, too.
Todibo + Hincapie would be strong additions, that would be affordable.
Todibo + Hincapie would be strong additions, that would be affordable.
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If Bayern do buy Tah or another CB, selling Upamecano makes sense unless the new manager wants him starting. If it's Rangnick, he's worked with him (bought him for Leipzig I assume?) and they seem to get on, so I imagine he'd stay. If not, I wonder if we'd be interested. He makes terrible mistakes by diving into tackles and on the ball, but at his best he's fantastic, and is in the French team keeping out Todibo who is only 2 years younger. Might be a case of a guy who just needs a move. I have no idea what the fee would be, but with 2 years left on his contract and presumably wanting to be first choice, selling him before he loses more value might suit Bayern.
We haven't done very well at signing good players who have had a dip, but sometimes that's where the value is (Sneijder and Robben at Madrid, Immobile isn't world class but he's gone 2 in 3 for Lazio over 8 years for a cost of 9M which is incredible value, Hummels struggled at Bayern near the end before getting back to being good at Dortmund).
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Upamecano lose his place to Eric Dier, and that means something.
Means Tuchel doesn't rate him and he's had some bad form.
Kim has also lost his place to Dier and from what I've seen of him, he'd walk into our team. That would probably be my first choice among him and Upamecano.
With you on this. Just dont see the hype at all
I think having a manager who wants to play a certain style is key. You can then go and find players to fit different parts of your system. We kinda lack that
I guarantee if we’d signed all those they’d not nearly be as highly regarded as they are now. We’d be talking about how we need to move most of them on at the end of the season.
Upamecano is awful. World class in one game and mistake prone in the other. Very very inconsistent and will never fix this. I'd rather make a sneaky move for Kim.
Consistency should be right up the list of considerations for any CB as look at, along with injury record and attitude.
Luckily there seems to be a glut of good options to choose from at the moment.
At the moment, there are good CBs that we can buy this summer. What we need is the profile of CBs with pace, athleticism to cover areas when we play highline and sufficient ball-playing. Loads of CBs can be got this summer and we should choose carefully, i think we should buy a mixture of young (18-22) and (23-26) CBs to build our squad foundation.
Fulham’s Adarabioyo is available on a free this summer. He would be a good option i feel. We minimally need at least 2 centrebacks. I think we should look at these options;
RCB
Adarabioyo
Todibo
LCB
Bastoni
Lenglet
I think only Bastoni will be tough to deal. We should purchase the other 3 as permanent deals or a season long loan.
Inter have some financial issues, and seems like we can get our nailed on CB in Bastoni.
If that’s too costly, probably Hincapie, he’s good at LB too and be good cover for Luke Shaw as well.
I’ve never got on the Braithwaite train, we should raid probably McNeil as a squad player or Onana from Everton.
The RCB can be Todibo maybe given the relation with Nice now, if we want him we get the first right maybe.
Best case is Bastoni and Todibo for around 110/120 Mill which can be funded by players leaving.
If that’s too costly, probably Hincapie, he’s good at LB too and be good cover for Luke Shaw as well.
I’ve never got on the Braithwaite train, we should raid probably McNeil as a squad player or Onana from Everton.
The RCB can be Todibo maybe given the relation with Nice now, if we want him we get the first right maybe.
Best case is Bastoni and Todibo for around 110/120 Mill which can be funded by players leaving.
Varane is leaving, Evans is ancient, Maguire and Lindelof have 1 year left on their contract and Martinez might be injury prone. I wouldn't be surprised if we go for 2-3 CBs even. Tosin is a no brainer. He's tall, he's athletic and he's got decent pace for a player of that size. His passing is not quite at Saliba's or Van Dijk's level yet but is decent enough. Another player who should be considered as a backup is Lloyd Kelly. Again, free transfer, homegrown, 6ft3, he can cover CB and LB and he's good in progressive play. The two could easily replace Lindelof and Maguire as backup and would cost us relatively little. Add another 30m-40m to the 20-30m generated from the Maguire and Lindelof sales then we can easily buy a top CB. It seems that the club wants Branthwaite. I'd say keep Evans as backup and Kambwala on loan (with call back clause in Jan) and I think the issue is sorted
Todibo and Hincapie would be perfect, with Gutierrez coming as LB.
We'd have:
RB: Dalot, new RB, Kambwala, Ogunneye
RCB: Todibo, Maguire/Lindelof/Tosin, Kambwala
LCB: Martinez, Hincapie, Shaw, Kambwala
LB: Shaw, Gutierrez, Hincapie, Amass
In that scenario, we'd probably need a new RB too though. If we can get Frimpong, great (but I dont think it's likely). Geertruida or Lamptey (too injury prone?) could be alternatives with their contracts ending in 2025. Maybe also Kyle Walker-Peters but I haben't been following him lately. Also probably wiser for Amass and Ogunneye to go somwhere else on loan. If I could choose, I would keep Maguire for one more year but wouldn't say no if a good offer comes. Then I would sign someone like Tosin, just to have a squad home filled. Wan Bissaka, Lindelof and Varane I would sell.
We'd have:
RB: Dalot, new RB, Kambwala, Ogunneye
RCB: Todibo, Maguire/Lindelof/Tosin, Kambwala
LCB: Martinez, Hincapie, Shaw, Kambwala
LB: Shaw, Gutierrez, Hincapie, Amass
In that scenario, we'd probably need a new RB too though. If we can get Frimpong, great (but I dont think it's likely). Geertruida or Lamptey (too injury prone?) could be alternatives with their contracts ending in 2025. Maybe also Kyle Walker-Peters but I haben't been following him lately. Also probably wiser for Amass and Ogunneye to go somwhere else on loan. If I could choose, I would keep Maguire for one more year but wouldn't say no if a good offer comes. Then I would sign someone like Tosin, just to have a squad home filled. Wan Bissaka, Lindelof and Varane I would sell.
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