Transfer Tweets - Manchester United - 2023/24

V.O.

Last Man Standing finalist 2019/20
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
8,021
If Sesko was 26 or 27, maybe I'd understand your scepticism, but he's only 20. Also, he was scouted by our recruitment team when he was in the Austrian league. I'd expect he'd be relatively cheap still. I'm not suggesting we should pay £50m+ for him. I don't personally see much downside in roughly £30m for a young striker with a good goals/min ratio, who we've extensively scouted for years now, who won't even have the pressure of needing to be our main goalscorer.

Also, while gems can potentially be found from any league, it should be noted that the German league is of significantly higher quality than most other leagues. There's not really any reason to believe that an 18-year-old striker coming from the Danish league would outperform an 18-year-old striker coming from the Bundesliga.

You've listed some failures but there's also KDB, Son, Berbatov, Haaland, Aubameyang, Dzeko, Ozil, Sane, Kompany, Ballack, Firmino, Gundogan and Bellingham. Bailey and Diaby have both done very well for Villa this year too. Akanji, Havertz, Konate, Awoniyi and Bella-Kotchap have all been pretty good too tbh even if you want to say they haven't been excellent.
It's very possible Sesko is a top talent, it's not the specific player (or necessarily that he's in the Bundesliga) that's the issue, just that in your first post, you just said he was clearly a top talent because of his goal record. I just don't think that's the way to judge a prospect.

To use Hojlund as an example, we didn't sign him because he scored 9 goals in Serie A or whatever, we signed him because he's got great physicality, electric pace, very solid shooting technique and power off both feet, high workrate, a good attitude, and a level of holdup play that you very rarely see in strikers in their teens or early 20s.

If Sesko has a list of attributes and talents like that, that will clearly translate very well to the PL, and he's available for the right price, then we should be having a very good look at him, but pure goal numbers, even at a young age, don't always carry over to a better league - especially from the Bundesliga where a lot of teams play suicidally high defensive lines and throw caution to the wind when chasing a game, allowing forwards to pad their stats quite a bit.
 

Dazzmondo

Full Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
9,239
It's very possible Sesko is a top talent, it's not the specific player (or necessarily that he's in the Bundesliga) that's the issue, just that in your first post, you just said he was clearly a top talent because of his goal record. I just don't think that's the way to judge a prospect.

To use Hojlund as an example, we didn't sign him because he scored 9 goals in Serie A or whatever, we signed him because he's got great physicality, electric pace, very solid shooting technique and power off both feet, high workrate, a good attitude, and a level of holdup play that you very rarely see in strikers in their teens or early 20s.

If Sesko has a list of attributes and talents like that, that will clearly translate very well to the PL, and he's available for the right price, then we should be having a very good look at him, but pure goal numbers, even at a young age, don't always carry over to a better league - especially from the Bundesliga where a lot of teams play suicidally high defensive lines and throw caution to the wind when chasing a game, allowing forwards to pad their stats quite a bit.
Fair enough, maybe "clearly a top talent" was a bit much at this point, but I do believe he's very likely to be. In relation to what you said made us target Hojlund, Sesko has a lot of those traits in common. He's very tall (6 foot 4), very quick and has good shooting technique. Can't really comment about his attitude but he always showed good work rate and pressing when I watched him. Maybe his holdup play could improve a bit, although I will say I don't think Hojlund is great at this either yet. Hojlund's probably the better dribbler of the 2 but overall they are very similar tbh.
 

P-Nut

fan of well-known French footballer Fabinho
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
21,653
Location
Oldham, Greater Manchester
Whilst we certainly need a striker, the fact its a back up means it isn't too high on my priorities.

I'd be looking at the 6/8 and CB roles first to ensure we don't spend too much in the wrong areas like we did last season.

Either an experienced player ready to take the step up, or a young wildcard would be my targets for striker. Although where do you find an experienced striker, ready to move to a top side, but as a back up for a decent price.
 

bosskeano

Full Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2020
Messages
5,131
i don't want a static striker...aka Crouch v2.....we need more mobile players up front and in the midfield
 

Dan_F

Full Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Messages
10,402
If we're going for a striker, personally, I'd prefer us to go back in for Sesko. He's not one of Leipzig's most important players yet, but it's clear when you look at his goals per minute ratio, he's a top striker in the making. Think we should move quickly before he probably has his big breakout season next year. Leipzig haven't offered him the mins he was probably expecting, so I can see him being more open to being a squad player at Utd than he was when he first decided to move to Leipzig. Learn from the mistakes with Haaland. We have Hojlund now too, so it's not a big deal if Sesko has some off games.
It would be great in a sense that they are similar moulds of player, so we could continue playing in the same way regardless of who was on the pitch. I don’t see how we keep them both happy, given they can only play in one position. This isn’t Alverez where you can stick him out wide to get minutes, or behind the main striker.

I think he’ll want to stay at Leipzig and have his breakout season before looking for a move. Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs would probably all be ahead of us in the queue due to playing time as well.
 

mazhar13

Kermit Inc. 2022
Scout
Joined
Sep 10, 2013
Messages
36,788
Location
Toronto, ON, Canada

Lindelöf on his time at United:
I feel good at the club and have been at Manchester United for many, many years. We extended my contract by a year, I feel good, and I see no problem with staying and continuing to represent the club. It's a club I really enjoy playing for.
On whether he may move to Saudi Arabia in the future:
I haven't actually thought about it. Maybe I don't really feel like I'm there in my career, that I want to get down to moving away. I feel that I want to stay in Europe and play football at that level.
 

Dazzmondo

Full Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
9,239
It would be great in a sense that they are similar moulds of player, so we could continue playing in the same way regardless of who was on the pitch. I don’t see how we keep them both happy, given they can only play in one position. This isn’t Alverez where you can stick him out wide to get minutes, or behind the main striker.

I think he’ll want to stay at Leipzig and have his breakout season before looking for a move. Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs would probably all be ahead of us in the queue due to playing time as well.
Fair point but Hojlund's looking worryingly injury prone to me. He really has missed a lot of games. We definitely need a very reliable striker in the summer. Your average backup striker isn't good enough imo. Not saying he should be playing there consistently, but I'm pretty sure I've seen Sesko play on the wing a couple times aswell, so we might be able to fit them both into the team on occasion if their form demands it. Not suggesting that should happen regularly, I think more often than not you start with one of them, probably Hojlund, then replace him with Sesko. Imagine a cb having to deal with a strong, fast, clinical striker for 60 mins, only to then see another strong, fast, clinical striker come on for the last 30 mins. I do think we could rotate the 2 a lot to help manage injuries too. We did used to do this all the time with our strikers under Ferguson.

Found an article from 1 day ago about Sesko having a €50m release clause that becomes active in the summer btw. Not going to post it because it's probably not considered a reliable source but I'm sure it would be easy to find with a quick google for anyone who's interested. Also found an article in Bild from 1 month ago confirming the €50m release clause (generally I've found Bild relatively reliable in the past)
 

saik

Full Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2016
Messages
2,942
I think all the recents links to Todibo, Scalvini, Yoro confirm that we will be to looking to sign a young pacy right CB. I feel like this is the last remaining thing in ETH's squad. He's had his striker, wingers, midfielders, goalkeeper all come through in the last few transfer windows. I'd wish to see all of them be available, fit and playing together at the same time before we think about going for a new manager.
 

RuudTom83

Full Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2013
Messages
5,596
Location
Manc
I'm not taking much notice of the manager stories...the story writes itself, it takes zero insider knowledge and after the season United have had you could pick any manager and use it to fill a few columns and grab a few clicks for a few days.

But the usual suspects Potter/DeZerbi won't stretch until the summer, so Southgate is a nice filler, especially with the Euro's coming up.

Standard journalism 101.
 

Dazzmondo

Full Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2013
Messages
9,239
Tier 1:
Todibo, Scalvini and Yoro are all good options for our right footed cb. I suspect one of these and Branthwaite for our left footed cb are the thinking atm. Positive signs for our future recruitment
 

Dan_F

Full Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Messages
10,402
Fair point but Hojlund's looking worryingly injury prone to me. He really has missed a lot of games. We definitely need a very reliable striker in the summer. Your average backup striker isn't good enough imo. Not saying he should be playing there consistently, but I'm pretty sure I've seen Sesko play on the wing a couple times aswell, so we might be able to fit them both into the team on occasion if their form demands it. Not suggesting that should happen regularly, I think more often than not you start with one of them, probably Hojlund, then replace him with Sesko. Imagine a cb having to deal with a strong, fast, clinical striker for 60 mins, only to then see another strong, fast, clinical striker come on for the last 30 mins. I do think we could rotate the 2 a lot to help manage injuries too. We did used to do this all the time with our strikers under Ferguson.

Found an article from 1 day ago about Sesko having a €50m release clause that becomes active in the summer btw. Not going to post it because it's probably not considered a reliable source but I'm sure it would be easy to find with a quick google for anyone who's interested. Also found an article in Bild from 1 month ago confirming the €50m release clause (generally I've found Bild relatively reliable in the past)
I think it’s more about whether he wants to come and play second fiddle to Hojlund, who has definitely had a far better second half of the season and looks more well rounded currently. He might decide that he isn’t getting the minutes he wants at Leipzig and so he might as well play similar at United, but I can’t believe there won’t be a team looking to make him first choice at that price. Chelsea should be all over him.
 

Andy_Cole

Full Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
7,960
Location
Manchester
If we get Southgate or Potter then INEOS will have a lot of fans against them. Fan approval is important when making a managerial appointment. Even if Southgate won the Euros I wouldn't want him.
 

Andy_Cole

Full Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
7,960
Location
Manchester
It's like they are trying to persuade everyone that ETH should stay - if you don't want him, you will get one of these 3....ok - let's keep ETH please
For sure, maybe clever PR from them. I was quite set on Hag out, but now I'd rather keep him.
 

Bertie Wooster

Full Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2021
Messages
2,947
Potter, Southgate or De Zebri. Jesus fecking Christ :houllier:
It does feel like the timing is similar to our #9 search last summer - no obvious elite alternatives that are attainable. So it's a matter of gambling on a less proven one (which looks to have worked out well with Hojlund) or going for an (erstwhile) top tier one who is probably not at that same level anymore (for strikers, see Ronaldo, Cavani, etc - for managers, the likes of Mourinho, Conte, etc).

The three quoted I'd put in a middle group, of being experienced enough but likely just not the level that should be managing United.
 

Kramer

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jul 30, 2019
Messages
359
I would stop watching football altogether if Southgate were made United manager.

I’ve supported the club for 25 years and not missed 25 games during that period.

What other top football club on the planet would consider Southgate?

One would hope it’s just random media speculation…
 

Crimson King

Full Member
Joined
May 11, 2013
Messages
3,084
Think he'd be a good squad option actually although it's not exactly obvious where Mount really "fits" in the team at the minute and while KDH is a bit more comfortable deeper he'd be in the same position
I was quite surprised to see how press resistant KDH was against Chelsea, so I can see why we might be interested. I think you have to remember as well that Eriksen and Casemiro will both probably leave. McT might as well, although I think that'll depend on what kind of money gets offered and who's available to replace him. Amrabat won't be kept.

So, that means our only CMs will be Mount and Mainoo, the latter of which should also be protected somewhat while he's still a teenager. You need at least 2 more CMs, maybe 3, and preferably 1 who's a more specialist DM. Getting KDH as one of those for £25m + add-ons is a good deal that leaves you more funds to recruit in other areas.

We've also been linked with Everton's Onana, who would be a good way of getting physicality into midfield, which we'd lack without McT and Casemiro. I don't think he's good enough on the ball to be a DM for a top side though, you'd use him more as defensive/pressing 8, like Fred used to do.
 

midou

New Member
Newbie
Joined
Jul 25, 2014
Messages
261
Location
Prague
I don't know about this guy Dewsbury-Hall, he is decent on the manager game, but his highlights are extremely underwhelming. Can he be a bench option for us or start in lesser games? I have never actually watched full games of his.
 

Stevondo8

Full Member
Joined
May 8, 2019
Messages
1,129
Always thought KDH looked quite handy when watching him, surprised a Brighton-esque club didn’t sign him up when they got relegated.

Might be a decent squad option but nothing more I think