Sean Longstaff

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Devil may care

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He's actually very good from what I saw against the likes of City and Chelsea. His composure is top notch and he looks like he's gonna develop into a brilliant passer of the ball. He's also very mobile and is described as having a ridiculously high endurance level. I can see why the likes of Carrick want him at United. I personally would me more worried if we signed the immobile Ruben Neves after his underwhelming season in the EPL.
I know you don't rate Neves but that aside 8 PL games is not enough to go on IMO, especially for the money being talked about. I was never keen on Rabiot but not getting him on a free is looking an increasingly bad choice from the club.
 

Hanky panky

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But have to say, even im against Longstaff signing with that price, or even near that price. I would still take him if other choice is no signing. Midfield is simply too weak right now. It's the biggest concern of all right now. Weakest area (with RW) in team.
 

Dante

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I honestly think a player in this mould (Carrick with legs) would be the missing piece. It would mean a proper midfield partner for McTominay, so Pogba can play at #10.

It would solve so many of our problems.

Is Longstaff for enough? Judging from what little I've seen, he's got potential. But I trust the scouts if they think he is. As for the price/inexperience question, put it this way: he's played more than twice as many PL minutes and more than twice as many lower league minutes as Tuanzebe. Sometimes, you can just tell that quickly.
 
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Drainy

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Looks like a player who would suit what we are doing and is likely to improve a lot over the next few years.

Think he'd be a good partner in the double pivot with McTominay on paper, as long as they keep developing.
 

Adnan

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I know you don't rate Neves but that aside 8 PL games is not enough to go on IMO, especially for the money being talked about. I was never keen on Rabiot but not getting him on a free is looking an increasingly bad choice from the club.
Neves has only shown consistency in the Championship and has struggled in the top flight. He also has mobility issues which is a big worry for me with the way we want to play and press the opposition.

Rabiot I did like, but he preferred to play as the #8, which is where I assume he will be deployed by Juventus.

I understand the reservations about Longstaff due to the small sample size. But after having watched him against the likes of Man City and Chelsea, I would take the plunge and sign him. I personally don't think he'll cost £50m either.
 

Isotope

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I'd prefer to pay 80m next year if he has a good season, than 50m this summer.
 

Red_toad

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But there are proper CM's out there with lots of proven quality and experience, what he was like at youth level is irrelevant, and even if you consider his 8 PL games to be good performances it's way too small a sample to be paying anything above £25M for when the kind of money being talked about can buy you a CM like Ndombele.

Deal rising to 63 million? That's even more, so maybe you can't get someone for 50 million. It's not the fans job to judge potential signings, the scouts and manager think it's the player that's need who cares if he's played 5 or 555 games. I don't get how people who've probably not even watched him once have drawn an opinion on him?
I do not beleive the club have any further interest in him, seems to were looking at a deal around the 20 million mark, Newcastle made it clear that wasn't going to happen. Since then zero interest has been shown by the club, it's this thread won't die as people keep stating he's only played 9 games and isn't worth 50 million :yawn:
 

Devil may care

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Neves has only shown consistency in the Championship and has struggled in the top flight. He also has mobility issues which is a big worry for me with the way we want to play and press the opposition.

Rabiot I did like, but he preferred to play as the #8, which is where I assume he will be deployed by Juventus.

I understand the reservations about Longstaff due to the small sample size. But after having watched him against the likes of Man City and Chelsea, I would take the plunge and sign him. I personally don't think he'll cost £50m either.
I rate Neves higher than you do, I think he has some great qualities but I do agree that great mobility isn't one of them, but then Ole keeps using Matic and I wouldn't say Pogba or McTominay were ultra mobile either.

The thing is when we talked about Rabiot we thought we were going to play either the 4-4-2 diamond or 4-3-3, a system that required a lone #6 to sit at the base, but it seems Ole wants a double pivot with essentially two #8's, in that system Rabiot would have worked IMO.

Fair enough, to be honest in general I find it hard to have enthusiasm for English players not called Sancho as most of them bar the 2 that are unobtainable don't really impress me, I feel we don't produce the caliber of technical players that Germany, Spain and France do. At the end of the day if we buy him it'll be like Wan-Bissaka, I wouldn't hate it but I wouldn't be excited about it either.

Deal rising to 63 million? That's even more, so maybe you can't get someone for 50 million. It's not the fans job to judge potential signings, the scouts and manager think it's the player that's need who cares if he's played 5 or 555 games. I don't get how people who've probably not even watched him once have drawn an opinion on him?
I do not beleive the club have any further interest in him, seems to were looking at a deal around the 20 million mark, Newcastle made it clear that wasn't going to happen. Since then zero interest has been shown by the club, it's this thread won't die as people keep stating he's only played 9 games and isn't worth 50 million :yawn:
The base fee is £55M, who knows if they'll ever get the bonuses, that's just £5M more than Newcastle want up front for Longstaff. If fans don't give opinions on signings and potential signings then the board would have no purpose, especially at this time of the year. I also didn't give an opinion on him, I personally don't see how anyone can have a definitive one with only 8 PL games under his belt, and that includes scouts, what he did at youth level is irrelevant. The thread wont die because our midfield is dogshite and he's the only CM we've been linked with for about the last 2 months, it's called desperation. :D
 

Art

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If we lost Romelu and signed noone else but this kid to replace Matic I wouldn't be mad at all. CDM needs serious addressing now that CB is sorted.
 

#CR7

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If we lost Romelu and signed noone else but this kid to replace Matic I wouldn't be mad at all. CDM needs serious addressing now that CB is sorted.
Agree. It brings more balance to our starting XI than signing a number 10 or striker. Pogba can be moved higher up the pitch and we'll have a solid midfield with Longstaff and McSauce. Makes a lot of sense although I do think we'd struggle a little creatively if this happened.
 

Champagne Football

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Yeah flogging Lukaku and spending the cash on this kid makes a lot of sense, even if no one else comes in. We've got Greenwood, Ching and James pushing Mata/Andreas/Lingard for the final spot in attack. That might be fine as long as we are solid at the back.
Save the cash and buy Sancho in a year and suddenly we're challenging again.
 

Red_toad

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The base fee is £55M, who knows if they'll ever get the bonuses, that's just £5M more than Newcastle want up front for Longstaff. If fans don't give opinions on signings and potential signings then the board would have no purpose, especially at this time of the year. I also didn't give an opinion on him, I personally don't see how anyone can have a definitive one with only 8 PL games under his belt, and that includes scouts, what he did at youth level is irrelevant. The thread wont die because our midfield is dogshite and he's the only CM we've been linked with for about the last 2 months, it's called desperation. :D
Just because Newcastle value him at 50 million and United haven't had any contact since their 20 million offer was refused, does that not give you and the countless others a hint that United don't value him at 50 million either.
Oh and by the way he's had over 70 senior appearances, I don't know why the lie about him only playing 8 times keeps getting recycled as he's played 11 times for the toon including the FA cup and over 60 appearances for other teams on loan.
I'd actully say 'if' he's capable of some of the games he played last season on a regular basis he'd be a welcome addition. But as the club haven't follwed up on initial interest it's a dead deal and there's no point dicussing it, may as well make a thread on players who we were interested in but aren't signing and keep all this blabber in there. As it's counter productive as this thread isn't really here for people to say what's he's value is and how many games they think he's played. It should now be for performances and future transfer links.
 

SinNombre

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Paying 50m for a kid with 8 top flight games at age 21 is exactly the kind of precedent that has caused us issues in the post-Fergie era.

United and Woody can be mugged.

As the poster above said, I would rather wait another season and pay 80m if he plays like Carrick under Steve Bruce. The likeliest outcome is with Benitez gone, the whole team will be a lot more dysfunctional in their play.

40m already gets you Atletico's starting DM who is only a year older. 50m for a central mid is a LOT of money.
 

Cliche Guevara

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Yeah flogging Lukaku and spending the cash on this kid makes a lot of sense, even if no one else comes in. We've got Greenwood, Ching and James pushing Mata/Andreas/Lingard for the final spot in attack. That might be fine as long as we are solid at the back.
Save the cash and buy Sancho in a year and suddenly we're challenging again.
I’d prefer Koke.
 

Devil may care

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Just because Newcastle value him at 50 million and United haven't had any contact since their 20 million offer was refused, does that not give you and the countless others a hint that United don't value him at 50 million either.
Oh and by the way he's had over 70 senior appearances, I don't know why the lie about him only playing 8 times keeps getting recycled as he's played 11 times for the toon including the FA cup and over 60 appearances for other teams on loan.
I'd actully say 'if' he's capable of some of the games he played last season on a regular basis he'd be a welcome addition. But as the club haven't follwed up on initial interest it's a dead deal and there's no point dicussing it, may as well make a thread on players who we were interested in but aren't signing and keep all this blabber in there. As it's counter productive as this thread isn't really here for people to say what's he's value is and how many games they think he's played. It should now be for performances and future transfer links.
I thought we made a second offer of £35M? He's had 8 PL games, that's all that matters as that's the level we need to grade him at as that's where he'll be playing. You can say there's no point in discussing it but fans are going to because anyone with working eyes can see how bad our midfield is and this kid is the last and pretty much only CM we've been linked to, thus posters are drawn back to the thread and the various aspects of the potential transfer are rehashed, just the nature of a football forum.
 

Hawks2008

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3 months of the window nearly up, and all the time from when Ole was appointed to plan the window, and the club has decided that of all the midfielders from around England and Europe that this is the only guy who can improve us when he isn't even as good as McTominay?
 

jem

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3 months of the window nearly up, and all the time from when Ole was appointed to plan the window, and the club has decided that of all the midfielders from around England and Europe that this is the only guy who can improve us when he isn't even as good as McTominay?
How do you know he isn't as good as McTominay?
 

AP88

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How do you know he isn't as good as McTominay?
More to the point, why wouldn’t people want to pair them? McTominay has proven to be far better as a box to box player, while Longstaff would be a huge upgrade on Matic as the anchor.

Pogba has to play spare - he’s simply not reliable enough to pull his weight in a midfield two in big games. Priority this summer should have been getting rid of him and replacing him with a Maddison/Eriksen-type creator plus Longstaff and a legitimate right winger like Thauvin.
 

RkkMan

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The £50m figure is posturing like how Palace quoted £70m for AWB and Leicester £90m for HM
£30-40m will be enough to get Longstaff whether we'll offer that remains to be seen
 

jackal&hyde

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Nothing against Longstaff but given the state of our midfield, i don't think a player with 10 professional games under his belt should be the priority. I don't doubt his potential, but i doubt he could make much of a difference in the coming one or two years for a team aspiring to top 4.
 

BarstoolProphet

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The £50m figure is posturing like how Palace quoted £70m for AWB and Leicester £90m for HM
£30-40m will be enough to get Longstaff whether we'll offer that remains to be seen
This.

Also, like Bissaka, it's worth probably an additional £20m just to prevent us from relying on Young/Matic.
 

Sparky Rhiwabon

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Nothing against Longstaff but given the state of our midfield, i don't think a player with 10 professional games under his belt should be the priority. I don't doubt his potential, but i doubt he could make much of a difference in the coming one or two years for a team aspiring to top 4.
Agree - that sort of signing should be more "one for the future" and eased in gently, not an immediate solution to a burning issue (similar with James).
 

GaryLifo

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But why not pay 50 million now and let him have that good season at United?

If not we could be battling City and Liverpool for his signature if he's as good as the scouts seem to think he is.
 

ice-bionic red

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A midfield of this kid and Mctominay? Are we really accepting this for Manchester United? Incredible
 

Lynty

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But why not pay 50 million now and let him have that good season at United?

If not we could be battling City and Liverpool for his signature if he's as good as the scouts seem to think he is.
Because he's not done anything to warrant a £50m price tag. Remember our scouts thought Fred was a £50m midfielder (perhaps he is, we'll see)

We haven't got £50m to throw away like we have in the past. We need sure things (AWB, Maguire) , or cheap punts (James) at the minute.
 

jderbyshire

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Paying 50m for a kid with 8 top flight games at age 21 is exactly the kind of precedent that has caused us issues in the post-Fergie era.

United and Woody can be mugged.

As the poster above said, I would rather wait another season and pay 80m if he plays like Carrick under Steve Bruce. The likeliest outcome is with Benitez gone, the whole team will be a lot more dysfunctional in their play.

40m already gets you Atletico's starting DM who is only a year older. 50m for a central mid is a LOT of money.
Nothing against Longstaff but given the state of our midfield, i don't think a player with 10 professional games under his belt should be the priority. I don't doubt his potential, but i doubt he could make much of a difference in the coming one or two years for a team aspiring to top 4.
8 Appearances for Newcastle
16 Appearances for Kilmarnock
42 Appearances for Blackpool.

That's 66 Professional games,

24 of which were Top Flight games.

And that's just league games.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Longstaff
 

charlenefan

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A midfield of this kid and Mctominay? Are we really accepting this for Manchester United? Incredible
tbf who would have thought a midfield of Milner + Henderson + Wijnaldum would get to back to back UCL Final's and finish with 97 points in the domestic season. It's not all about the big names

If McTominay continues the way he's going and Longstaff lives up to the hype of being Carrick 2.0 then despite their unfashionable looks and less than stellar names it could well be a good midfield combo especially with a good number 10 in front of them

A lot of if's there though I appreciate and tbh I dont even expect us to sign Longstaff
 

ice-bionic red

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tbf who would have thought a midfield of Milner + Henderson + Wijnaldum would get to back to back UCL Final's and finish with 97 points in the domestic season. It's not all about the big names

If McTominay continues the way he's going and Longstaff lives up to the hype of being Carrick 2.0 then despite their unfashionable looks and less than stellar names it could well be a good midfield combo especially with a good number 10 in front of them

A lot of if's there though I appreciate and tbh I dont even expect us to sign Longstaff
I don’t care about the names. It’s simply not enough and for me not good enough for a club of our size. We are going to be found out very soon into the season with midfielders like Mctominay, Matic and this lad if he signs. Very worrying
 
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