I know we're rich but imagine how much this would cost in one transfer window. Would need a good fee for Rooney to do this imo
That's 200m GBP at an absolute minimum, more likely 250-280m. I can't see that happening, especially with the Adidas penalty kicking in.
We have already banked around £40 m
We definitely need more pace around the possible front two of Ibra and Griezmann so instead of clogging up the squad with expensive squad players maybe we should sell Rooney and Mata so that we can recoup funds for a winger or back up striker purchase. Miki has enough pace and creativity about him to function well anywhere in the three behind the striker so thats the right side sorted. The problem with the Griezmann signing is how it will affect the midfield equation, Carrick and Herrera are, imo, too lightweight to carry a Pogba who is liable to go walk about so we'd probably need a solid DM in the Makalele mould to stand a chance of competing in midfield in the big games.
It was actually Andre Silva I was listing, I think we will make a few sales for good money in the summer to balance things out, Jose has given this lot a whole season and we are stalling post-Christmas and this is the 3rd season at least a lot of them have had to prove they can take the club where it needs to go.
We haven't missed out on top 4 yet. The Griezmann fee makes things hard I agree, if you match it up with last summer than Semedo would be the equivelant fee of Bailly and I think Silva or Dolberg wouldn't cost more than Mkhi, Dolberg should be quite a bit less but both would have add-ons. So if my maths is right we'd need roughly another 100M for the CM and CB, but none of the players listed are luxury buys, we need to add goal threat, we need a Carrick replacement and we need another CB. You could argue we don't need a RB yet but that would mean another season with no adequate cover/competition for Valencia.
I agree that we need all of that. I just can't see us spending that kind of money in one window, esp if we miss out on CL. Griezmann/Semedo is already a rumoured 120m. With the market the way it is and clubs knowing the prices we've been paying for potential recently we'd do well to pay 40m a pop for the players you mentioned for those three positions.
------------------------Griezmann
↑
I've always been a big fan of Kolasinac. Refined is a very good way to describe him. He's also versatile and apart from LB, can play at left CB as well as DM on occasions. He's slightly less versatile than Blind but I'm not sure if he has the potential to be a top-class starting LB for us for years to come. Although your post is based on a 'value for money' market strategy so if that were to be the case there aren't many better choices for that position if Shaw doesn't make it.We could build an industrious, Atlético type team without overspending to an extreme, and adding no more than 3-4 players:
-----------------------Martial
--------
-----Pogba--------------------------------------------
-------------------Herrera----------Keïta-----------Mkhitaryan
Kolašinac-------------------------------------------------------Valencia
---------------------Giménez--------------Bailly
--------------------------------De Gea
Mandžukić and Torres alternated for them, and Martial is quite similar to the latter when he was at his peak. Will only happen if José is more flexible in his approach, though.
Mkhitaryan - Arda.
Pogba isn't entirely out of his comfort zone.
Ander is a bit like Gabi.
Keïta for Tiago - who could press and pass and dribble - in general, a good fit with Gabi.
Kolašinac only because he's a Mourinho type fullback in the Ivanović mold, is more refined than Shaw, provides better end product, and is available on a Bosman:
Depending on Shaw's improvement, he could easily make the spot his own, making Kolašinac a really good depth option as a leftback/central defensive option.
Giménez = Godín Jr.
Best part about it all - 2 of the most high profile additions have a buyout clause that can be activated if an agreement is reached with the player: Giménez Griezmann, so there might not be protracted negotiations with the selling clubs dragging its heels unnecessarily.
Keïta has been a revelation at Leipzig (like Kanté at Leicester), possesses a great engine to pair with Herrera and will not be super expensive, apart from being technically decent and only 22 years old - so he could be a long term addition (like Giménez and Griezmann).
With the right amount of planning, we could finish all the summer business by May/June and have a productive summer tour/training program - which should hold us in good stead come next season. Instead of dragging things till August - which is quite disruptive.
I don't think anyone would have spent that much in a window other than Real Madrid in 2009, but the other option is to go in short like we are this season or buy inferior players for less and continue the cycle of the likes of Darmian and Fellaini featuring regularly for us.
We need a lot more than Griezmann, we have no quality cover at fullbacks or in midfield and our main CM will be 36 years old while our main #9 will also be 36 next season and Jose clearly doesn't fancy Rashford or Martial to lead the line..
It might not be Lindelof but I'd be shocked if Jose doesn't get a CB of his own in the summer.
Dave/Tony (probably Dave because he probably speaks better English). If not I would like it if Herrera or Rojo gets it.
I've really come around on this idea and think it's by far the best option to get the best out of Griezmann and Pogba. The latter did play in that role previously for Juventus and he did well there. Not sure about Gimenez as a partner for Bailly and whether Mourinho would fancy Martial in that role, but overall it looks really good on paper.We could build an industrious, Atlético type team without overspending to an extreme, and adding no more than 3-4 players:
-----------------------Martial
--------
-----Pogba--------------------------------------------
-------------------Herrera----------Keïta-----------Mkhitaryan
Kolašinac-------------------------------------------------------Valencia
---------------------Giménez--------------Bailly
--------------------------------De Gea
Mandžukić and Torres alternated for them, and Martial is quite similar to the latter when he was at his peak. Will only happen if José is more flexible in his approach, though.
Mkhitaryan - Arda.
Pogba isn't entirely out of his comfort zone.
Ander is a bit like Gabi.
Keïta for Tiago - who could press and pass and dribble - in general, a good fit with Gabi.
Kolašinac only because he's a Mourinho type fullback in the Ivanović mold, is more refined than Shaw, provides better end product, and is available on a Bosman:
Depending on Shaw's improvement, he could easily make the spot his own, making Kolašinac a really good depth option as a leftback/central defensive option.
Giménez = Godín Jr.
Best part about it all - 2 of the most high profile additions have a buyout clause that can be activated if an agreement is reached with the player: Giménez Griezmann, so there might not be protracted negotiations with the selling clubs dragging its heels unnecessarily.
Keïta has been a revelation at Leipzig (like Kanté at Leicester), possesses a great engine to pair with Herrera and will not be super expensive, apart from being technically decent and only 22 years old - so he could be a long term addition (like Giménez and Griezmann).
With the right amount of planning, we could finish all the summer business by May/June and have a productive summer tour/training program - which should hold us in good stead come next season. Instead of dragging things till August - which is quite disruptive.
I agree that it'd be a good system for us, my only worry would be Pogba's workrate. With Kolasinic or whatever his name is supposedly being a very attacking LB, Pogba would need to fill in for him a lot and that'd be a bad idea because I don't think Pogba would be arsed to do the defensive dirty work required of that role.We could build an industrious, Atlético type team without overspending to an extreme, and adding no more than 3-4 players:
-----------------------Martial
--------
-----Pogba--------------------------------------------
-------------------Herrera----------Keïta-----------Mkhitaryan
Kolašinac-------------------------------------------------------Valencia
---------------------Giménez--------------Bailly
--------------------------------De Gea
Mandžukić and Torres alternated for them, and Martial is quite similar to the latter when he was at his peak. Will only happen if José is more flexible in his approach, though.
Mkhitaryan - Arda.
Pogba isn't entirely out of his comfort zone.
Ander is a bit like Gabi.
Keïta for Tiago - who could press and pass and dribble - in general, a good fit with Gabi.
Kolašinac only because he's a Mourinho type fullback in the Ivanović mold, is more refined than Shaw, provides better end product, and is available on a Bosman:
Depending on Shaw's improvement, he could easily make the spot his own, making Kolašinac a really good depth option as a leftback/central defensive option.
Giménez = Godín Jr.
Best part about it all - 2 of the most high profile additions have a buyout clause that can be activated if an agreement is reached with the player: Giménez Griezmann, so there might not be protracted negotiations with the selling clubs dragging its heels unnecessarily.
Keïta has been a revelation at Leipzig (like Kanté at Leicester), possesses a great engine to pair with Herrera and will not be super expensive, apart from being technically decent and only 22 years old - so he could be a long term addition (like Giménez and Griezmann).
With the right amount of planning, we could finish all the summer business by May/June and have a productive summer tour/training program - which should hold us in good stead come next season. Instead of dragging things till August - which is quite disruptive.
Yep!
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/jul/25/italy-brazil-1982
By relieving him of extra duties in a potential midfield duo, we'll afford him the freedom to explore the extent of his natural attacking potential.
Yeah, it's kind of an imperfect pairing, and to be fair - someone like Laporte would be a better aesthetic fit for Bailly. But Giménez is a marvelous pure defensive talent (arguably the best in football), and in a team that is likely to defend deep given the overall shape, his towering defensive fortitude will be a good fit. A strong and aggressive central defensive core is the hallmark of Mourinho teams, and while Giménez lacks the composure and passing range of a Carvalho, he is adept at bringing the ball out of defense on foot - in that sense, he's not too dissimilar to old Lúcio, who was part of José's second best defense with Samuel (more of a stopper who wasn't excellent on the ball) at Internazionale.
Kolašinac is hardly a Jordi Alba style rampaging wingback, though - he's a good defender and someone like Mourinho could further develop that side of him game. In terms of what José needs from his fullbacks, he has the requisite skillset - physically strong, not too eager in the offensive phase in terms of repeatedly forsaking his defensive duties, still young - so there's scope for improvement, and a fullback/central defender hybrid à la Gallas/Ivanović/Chivu.
As usual a well thought out post. One of the reasons why this idea makes sense is that Pogba tends to drift to that area anyway and his crossing ability is quite good. On top of that his defensive contribution is certainly sufficient to make this work. Why not go for Laporte instead Gimenez? I don't think the latter will be much cheaper than the former and Laporte's talent is undisputed. Especially if he would be coached by someone like Mourinho, there could be a serious upside to it. He needs to move on from Athletic, if he wants to achieve more and at this moment in time he seems to be stagnating there.Yep!
Pogba kind of bears resemblance to Sócrates - who was similarly tall and remarkably technical for someone of that stature, expect he is more athletic and a bit more industrious than Sócrates - who played that central-wide oscillating playmaker role to perfection for Brazil:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/jul/25/italy-brazil-1982
Even Pogba estimates that his game is ideally suited to more offensive roles:
By relieving him of extra duties in a potential midfield duo, we'll afford him the freedom to explore the extent of his natural attacking potential.
Yeah, it's kind of an imperfect pairing, and to be fair - someone like Laporte would be a better aesthetic fit for Bailly. But Giménez is a marvelous pure defensive talent (arguably the best in football), and in a team that is likely to defend deep given the overall shape, his towering defensive fortitude will be a good fit. A strong and aggressive central defensive core is the hallmark of Mourinho teams, and while Giménez lacks the composure and passing range of a Carvalho, he is adept at bringing the ball out of defense on foot - in that sense, he's not too dissimilar to old Lúcio, who was part of José's second best defense with Samuel (more of a stopper who wasn't excellent on the ball) at Internazionale.
Kolašinac is hardly a Jordi Alba style rampaging wingback, though - he's a good defender and someone like Mourinho could further develop that side of him game. In terms of what José needs from his fullbacks, he has the requisite skillset - physically strong, not too eager in the offensive phase in terms of repeatedly forsaking his defensive duties, still young - so there's scope for improvement, and a fullback/central defender hybrid à la Gallas/Ivanović/Chivu.
I would be all for this.We could build an industrious, Atlético type team without overspending to an extreme, and adding no more than 3-4 players:
-----------------------Martial
--------
-----Pogba--------------------------------------------
-------------------Herrera----------Keïta-----------Mkhitaryan
Kolašinac-------------------------------------------------------Valencia
---------------------Giménez--------------Bailly
--------------------------------De Gea
Mandžukić and Torres alternated for them, and Martial is quite similar to the latter when he was at his peak. Will only happen if José is more flexible in his approach, though.
Mkhitaryan - Arda.
Pogba isn't entirely out of his comfort zone.
Ander is a bit like Gabi.
Keïta for Tiago - who could press and pass and dribble - in general, a good fit with Gabi.
Kolašinac only because he's a Mourinho type fullback in the Ivanović mold, is more refined than Shaw, provides better end product, and is available on a Bosman:
Depending on Shaw's improvement, he could easily make the spot his own, making Kolašinac a really good depth option as a leftback/central defensive option.
Giménez = Godín Jr.
Best part about it all - 2 of the most high profile additions have a buyout clause that can be activated if an agreement is reached with the player: Giménez Griezmann, so there might not be protracted negotiations with the selling clubs dragging its heels unnecessarily.
Keïta has been a revelation at Leipzig (like Kanté at Leicester), possesses a great engine to pair with Herrera and will not be super expensive, apart from being technically decent and only 22 years old - so he could be a long term addition (like Giménez and Griezmann).
With the right amount of planning, we could finish all the summer business by May/June and have a productive summer tour/training program - which should hold us in good stead come next season. Instead of dragging things till August - which is quite disruptive.
Mostly because I'm not entirely convinced that the best use of Laporte will be in relatively deep defensive blocks - of the two young Athletic Club centerbacks, Yeray seems to be a better fit for that setup (prior to his surgery layoff). Laporte has always come across as a better fit for a team that's on the front foot in a more proactive style (like Barcelona, or maybe City under Guardiola), whereas Giménez/Yeray/Lucas Hernández seem to be better for deeper defensive lines that are quite reactive by nature - which we will likely have to employ if we go 4-4-2 and defend using two banks of four with an emphasis on defensive compactness and 1v1 marking skills (which Giménez excels at). He is proven in a very similar system at Atlético (which was the inspiration for the post), plus - he's more physical, tenacious and better in the air (despite being an inch shorter). The trade-off with Laporte's better distribution didn't seem to be that steep, all things considered - because in pure defensive terms, Giménez is the arguably THE best talent of his age group, IMO. With more experience, and polish, Giménez could become a Godín-like defender - not super smooth on the ball, but more than good enough to marshal the defensive line and instigate attacks from the deep (Godín's completion rate is often lower than it should be because he attempts more risky vertical passes).
Haven't seen a lot of Cyprien to be honest (maybe 4-5 highlight videos of Nice's matches), but I've heard good things about him, Jean Michel Seri and Ricardo Pereira. Of the three - Seri might be too diminutive in stature for Mourinho's United, but Cyprien and Pereira seem to have a good physical profile for the Premier League. Good thing is that there are a plethora of options for that role if we go 4-4-2 (ranging from Fabinho and Bakayoko - who play it at Monaco, to Strootman and Paredes from Roma in a slightly different style, N'Zonzi for a more experienced player, Krychowiak - if he were to leave PSG, or Saúl/Koke - if you wanna go the extra mile). Different types of players, but Herrera is versatile enough to accommodate most of them in a two man central midfield for the short term. Once that is in place, we can maybe explore upgrade options for the medium to long term.
I agree that lack attacking width is another issue in the team, and while Valencia has had a good all round season, his chance creation from the amount of good attacking positions he gets in, is not great. I'd focus on the fullbacks for this as with the potential signing of Griezmann along with Martial, Mkhitaryan and Mata we have inside forward options in depth that will play regularly, but Valencia will be 32 and Shaw hasn't staked a claim to a spot, so genuine competition for both would be good.
Agree about Mata and Rooney, and a defensive mid who can pass has been a big need for at least 5 years.
He said similar things last season, so I think 4 is realistic.
They were saying with the signings from last summer the wage bill went up 11% or something like.
Agreed. I think overall balance is still a pretty big issue.
Yep, we have no starting LB, no cover at RB, 4 CB's with only one that can play well on the left side of the defense, a 36 year old #9 with no cover and a midfield unit with 2 players who's best days are well behind them and 1 that was never good enough to be here to begin with.
