Anderson and Fernandes are too similar stylewise, we need a physical no 6 in the squad. Fernandes and Baleba are a better fit but would be a bit of a gamble on them developing big time.
What + who are our top summer 2026 targets?
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I think we’ll be focused on filling gaps and adding depth, but I look at our squad and I think we have a serious lack of top quality. Without an elite coach, I suspect we will get exposed in the CL. Bruno Fernandes is the only player we have that would have an argument of getting into all top sides.
I don’t think this is necessarily the summer where we change that fact. So we just need to plug gaps. By next summer, we can hope that players like Yoro, Heaven, Mainoo and others can step into that bracket.
I don’t think this is necessarily the summer where we change that fact. So we just need to plug gaps. By next summer, we can hope that players like Yoro, Heaven, Mainoo and others can step into that bracket.
Out
Onana, bayindir, amass, mazroui, casimiro, collyer, ugarte, rashford, sancho, mount, hoijlund
Lot of players out. Somewhere around £100-130m and some big wages saved.
In
Yohan Diouf -gk
Balde or Nathaniel Brown - lb
Wesley - rb
Baleba - dm
Camavinga - dm
Mateus mane - cm am lw rw
£230m ish
Unless zirkzee wants to go id keep him as better option than strikers linked with, otherwise welbeck for couple of seasons. Id like krupie ideally as a totally different option to sesko
Id like thwaites to get more involvement next season too.
Despite the injury and form troubles this season...id rather Baleba AND Camavinga than 100m fees+ for the likes of tonali, anderson, guimares..theyd cost similar.
WOuldnt go for big signing lw...as cunhas been good and will only get better, dorgu, amad can all play there too and i rate Mane highly without being disruptive to squad, can ease him in.
Also dont see us spending over £250m so personally dont see tonali, anderson, hall, diomande etc happening...all too expensive...baleba at £65m odd be our biggest fee this summer...people hate that...i think it will turn out a fantastic deal for us
I also think balde/brownand wesley would add so much to our side going forward...rb upgrade seems seriously slept on
Onana, bayindir, amass, mazroui, casimiro, collyer, ugarte, rashford, sancho, mount, hoijlund
Lot of players out. Somewhere around £100-130m and some big wages saved.
In
Yohan Diouf -gk
Balde or Nathaniel Brown - lb
Wesley - rb
Baleba - dm
Camavinga - dm
Mateus mane - cm am lw rw
£230m ish
Unless zirkzee wants to go id keep him as better option than strikers linked with, otherwise welbeck for couple of seasons. Id like krupie ideally as a totally different option to sesko
Id like thwaites to get more involvement next season too.
Despite the injury and form troubles this season...id rather Baleba AND Camavinga than 100m fees+ for the likes of tonali, anderson, guimares..theyd cost similar.
WOuldnt go for big signing lw...as cunhas been good and will only get better, dorgu, amad can all play there too and i rate Mane highly without being disruptive to squad, can ease him in.
Also dont see us spending over £250m so personally dont see tonali, anderson, hall, diomande etc happening...all too expensive...baleba at £65m odd be our biggest fee this summer...people hate that...i think it will turn out a fantastic deal for us
I also think balde/brownand wesley would add so much to our side going forward...rb upgrade seems seriously slept on
Onviously sumnmer may change fir several clubs...but why do you feel we will get exposed? Currently only two elite sides in europe...spain, italy, england...no top side from these leagues look great this season
The latter stages of the CL have shown the separation in terms of individual quality. Barcelona fell short due to the red cards in each leg of the quarters - but even a solid hardworking PL team like Newcastle were horribly exposed by elite attacking individuals when they played Barcelona.
Arsenal were fortunate to fall down the weak side of the draw I reckon, but generally - the PL sides are lacking star quality. And we don’t have any really. The gap can be bridged when you are fantastically organised and drilled, but I don’t see Carrick as that level of coach either, so I’m expecting us to be exposed under the delusion of us being United and our philosophy to ‘have a go’. We’ll be outgunned in a gun fight with the good sides.
A reliable 2nd GK, Senesi, Mateus Fernandes, Tchouemeni, Baleba, a decent LW would be realistic. Maybe one more for RB but I don’t think we’ll have the funds.
Exits: Rasmus, Rashford (I’m not against keeping him to cover next season’s LW gap but he shouldn’t start PL games or be a focal point of our attack), Sancho, De Ligt, Ugarte, Casemiro, Onana, Bayindir + hopefully some money in from Greenwood getting sold.
Keep Shaw, Martinez, Maguire, Amass, Zirkzee and Collyer for 1 more season - likely that Mount will also stay due to a lack of funds.
Give a few cup games to our youth, they deserve it (JJ is too young imo and lacks physicality still, but hey Yamal debuted at 16+). First team’s priority should be another CL qualifying campaign in the PL where we aim to be even closer to the top, then going deep in CL / cups.
Exits: Rasmus, Rashford (I’m not against keeping him to cover next season’s LW gap but he shouldn’t start PL games or be a focal point of our attack), Sancho, De Ligt, Ugarte, Casemiro, Onana, Bayindir + hopefully some money in from Greenwood getting sold.
Keep Shaw, Martinez, Maguire, Amass, Zirkzee and Collyer for 1 more season - likely that Mount will also stay due to a lack of funds.
Give a few cup games to our youth, they deserve it (JJ is too young imo and lacks physicality still, but hey Yamal debuted at 16+). First team’s priority should be another CL qualifying campaign in the PL where we aim to be even closer to the top, then going deep in CL / cups.
Relinquish??
Sommer GK Free
Raum LB 30m
Fernandes CM 55m
Ederson DM 35m
Hackney CM 25m
Ndiaye LW/RW 60m
Richarlison CF 45m
Total 240m
If possible:
Rudiger CB Free
Would improve quality and hard working capability of team
(If the usual big name CM players are out of scope or not on the table)
Raum LB 30m
Fernandes CM 55m
Ederson DM 35m
Hackney CM 25m
Ndiaye LW/RW 60m
Richarlison CF 45m
Total 240m
If possible:
Rudiger CB Free
Would improve quality and hard working capability of team
(If the usual big name CM players are out of scope or not on the table)
We'd be better signing fewer and higher quality. Barely any of those players move the needle. Just numbers in the squad who are some way off the players at Arsenal and City.
Richarlison and rudiger what the absolute feck. Should be a ban able offence.
A team of absolute feckers who can still play a bit
45M for Richarlison as a 29 year old backup striker. I know we're a spendthrift club, but that's really wasteful.
IMO a clear backup with no real upside should be bought for only £10-15M. Think Mazraoui two years ago, or Noorgard for Arsenal. Those are reasonable fees.
At 40M you should be getting a very good player with years of runway or a young player with high end upside. This is Cherki/Estevao/Garnacho/Simons range. Heck, it's not that much less than players like Barcola or Anthony Gordon probably go for this summer if they move.
If the supposed Hackney fee (£12-15m) and the Tchouameni situation in Madrid play in our favour, it may be possible to get them both and also Baleba or Tonali.
I think I’d prefer Anderson over all of them, but am not very optimistic that we will both pull the trigger at the required value and persuade him that we are the club for him. Who knows.
I otherwise like the idea of Lewis Hall, Junior Kroupi (neither of whom would come cheap though) and Mateta (who I think has one year left on his contract).
I’d bring Vítek back into the squad and persuade Heaton to stay on for a final year.
Longer term, I’d be looking at Kayode and Vuskovic externally and properly integrating Lacey, Thwaites, Gabriel and Amass. I wouldn’t be overly surprised if we offered McTominay a contract when his Napoli one is up in summer 2028, by which time Bruno could be almost done.
I think I’d prefer Anderson over all of them, but am not very optimistic that we will both pull the trigger at the required value and persuade him that we are the club for him. Who knows.
I otherwise like the idea of Lewis Hall, Junior Kroupi (neither of whom would come cheap though) and Mateta (who I think has one year left on his contract).
I’d bring Vítek back into the squad and persuade Heaton to stay on for a final year.
Longer term, I’d be looking at Kayode and Vuskovic externally and properly integrating Lacey, Thwaites, Gabriel and Amass. I wouldn’t be overly surprised if we offered McTominay a contract when his Napoli one is up in summer 2028, by which time Bruno could be almost done.
GK Johnstone £2m
LB Hall £50m
CM Tchouameni £70m
CM Fernandes £50m
CM Charles £25m
CF Richarlison £25m (only got 1 year left)
£222m total
Out
Hojlund £38m
Rashford £25m
Zirkzee £25m
Ugarte £25m
Collyer £5m
Bayindir £2m
Vitek Loan
Onana 2 bags of quavers and an expired Kit Kat Chunky (peanut butter)
£120m + snacks and loads of wages saved on expiring deals.
Might turn a small profit on book value; there’ll be a hit on Ugarte and Onana to balance any profit.
Go for Jimenez on a free instead of Richarlison if the outgoings prove difficult. Charles deal contingent on outgoings too. Give minutes to Lacey if we need another wide forward. Don’t see the point in someone like N’Diaye. Good player, but I don’t think he moves the needle from what we’ve already got.
Would be focusing on RB, CB and a world class forward player the following summer.
I think Johnstone is more about 4m. 2 years left of a 4 year contract and cost 10m I think
Maybe. But I think we can probably get about the same for Bayindir so it doesn’t matter too much.
True. Would help homegrown too. But we should also consider 37 year old Sommer. Great mentor for Lammens
Whatever happens, I’d want our number 2 to have experience. Doesn’t matter how highly rated Vitek is, going into the new season with two keepers whose experience amounts to a three seasons sounds very risky. We’d be better served, as would Vitek, by loaning him again. I like the idea of Johnstone because he can be the backup for a couple of seasons and then can take on the Heaton role down the line.
- Van de ven
- Malik Diouf
- Tonali
- Morgan Rogers
- Yan Diomande
- Mason Greenwood
- Malik Diouf
- Tonali
- Morgan Rogers
- Yan Diomande
- Mason Greenwood
Get the feck out
If we get someone like Tchouameni, then we will need a good pair fullbacks because Tchouameni is a sitter, he sits in front of the CBs, thats something baleba, Anderson, wharton etc do not do. We need a Tchouameni type of player, a true #6 who sweeps and sits in front of cbs.
Tchouameni
Mateus Fernandes
Kayode
Truffert
All could be bought for £50m-ish each would be a really great summer.
Tchouameni
Mateus Fernandes
Kayode
Truffert
All could be bought for £50m-ish each would be a really great summer.
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Didn’t even see it until I looked back after reading your reply. Christ.
There’s no way two of those players will ever be signed at United plus we probably need a creative full back and a reliable reserve goalkeeper as priorities after the 2/3 midfield players we need.
No urgent need for a RB.
We need a back up for Sesko.
Considering the form of Amad, Mbuemo and Cunha we also need another attacking player.
So I would remove Kayode and add Welbeck and Diomande to your list.
We are not spending £50m on a CB, I think it's highly likely that we only buy one of a LB/LW too
Wish we could lure Kane back to the PL in summer 2027 with the carat of trying to break Shearer's record. Who do you have in mind for a CB, in terms of a RB I hope we look at Kayode from Brentford. I think Nuno Mendes is a bit too unrealistic but no harm in at least trying.
It’s frustrating, because Fergie would’ve moved heaven and earth to get him, but the Kane ship has sailed. I’d like to see how Sesko kicks on because all the tools are there; if he can put it all together consistently, he could become a world class number 9. He needs decent backup for now. It’s why I like the idea of signing a 28-30yo on a cheapish deal. Feels the right balance of reliability and experience.
As for right back, I agree, I’ve liked Kayode when I’ve seen him and there’s a couple of Brazilian lads whose names always crop up, but I’ll admit to not having watched them
Centre back is hard, because I think there’s so few top drawer ones about. It’s a shame Branthwaite seems like a bit of a crock, because like Sesko, he’s got all the ingredients. If we could keep de Ligt healthy, then our need would be massively reduced. I think Yoro and Heaven could become our partnership for years, but we’re a good 2 to 3 seasons off them being automatic picks and need to bridge the gap.
Left backs - Hall, Truffert or Kadioglu.
Midfield - Anderson and Fernandes
That's 150-200 depending if they're gettable.
Cherry on top of that would be adding Morgan Rogers.
Four players that would ultimately improve every position they play.
I'd be happy with one out of Anderson or Fernandes and on out of the three leftbacks.
Midfield - Anderson and Fernandes
That's 150-200 depending if they're gettable.
Cherry on top of that would be adding Morgan Rogers.
Four players that would ultimately improve every position they play.
I'd be happy with one out of Anderson or Fernandes and on out of the three leftbacks.
A lot of people talking about goalkeepers, we need to give Vitek a chance. Play him in the cups, play Lammens in the league.
Seems few good midfielders we can pick in this summer, so hope we get 2 or 3 from this list, which one do you pick if you can choose 3 from this list
Elliot Anderson (Forrest)
Touchameni (Real)
Anderson (Atlanta)
Bruno Guimaraes (New castle)
Adam Wharton (palace)
Baleba (Brighton)
Kees Smit(AZ)
Mateus Fernandes (Westham)
Alex Scott (Bournemouth)
Tonali (Newcastle)
Jao Gomes (Wolves)
Elliot Anderson (Forrest)
Touchameni (Real)
Anderson (Atlanta)
Bruno Guimaraes (New castle)
Adam Wharton (palace)
Baleba (Brighton)
Kees Smit(AZ)
Mateus Fernandes (Westham)
Alex Scott (Bournemouth)
Tonali (Newcastle)
Jao Gomes (Wolves)
We're not getting Tchouameni - what's wrong with you all? Even Fabrizio said there are no signs from Madrid or the player that he will leave. Beside that I kinda like your list, even though it misses an experienced striker (which we want according to Withwell).
Sadiki (50M)
Fernandes (60M)
Hackney (40M)
Truffert (40M)
Kayode (50M)
Richarlison (30M)
= 270M
Why would we try and outgun an elite European team? We haven’t tried it with the best sides in our league, instead we beat them by “being fantastically organised and drilled”.
Also citing Newcastle as a good example when they’re having an absolutely horrible season feels disingenuous.
We’re clearly a fair bit short of being genuine challengers for the CL again, but I don’t accept this argument that we’re going to be cannon fodder. Outside of the top 4 or 5 teams in the CL, I don’t think there’s a huge amount of difference between the teams we’ll face in the CL and what we’ve played in the middle and latter stages of the Europa more recently.
I think it’ll be something like this:
Fernandes - 50mil(if West Ham go down)
Tchouameni - 60mil (if not him I think Baleba)
Truffert, Hall or Kadioglu - 40-50
Mateta / Jimenez - 25 / Free
Then I’d want a pacy direct wide player Diomande would be the dream.
If we are in for a CB I wouldn’t mind looking at Mavrapanos as a backup option - I think he’d rotate well has come into his own this season
I think we need a 3rd cheaper midfielder option to especially if Ugarte goes - I’d be looking at Hackney or Matusiwa (Ipswich)
Fernandes - 50mil(if West Ham go down)
Tchouameni - 60mil (if not him I think Baleba)
Truffert, Hall or Kadioglu - 40-50
Mateta / Jimenez - 25 / Free
Then I’d want a pacy direct wide player Diomande would be the dream.
If we are in for a CB I wouldn’t mind looking at Mavrapanos as a backup option - I think he’d rotate well has come into his own this season
I think we need a 3rd cheaper midfielder option to especially if Ugarte goes - I’d be looking at Hackney or Matusiwa (Ipswich)
Strongly disagree. I think it would be reckless to go into a season with 2 keepers aged under 23, with a grand total of 32 appearances in a top 5 league between them. Lammens hasn’t had a bad spell yet, but it might come. I’d much rather a steady-eddy veteran step in than a rookie in that scenario.
On top of that, given he’s done well by all accounts, Vitek would be better served playing regularly. I’d try and get him loaned out again, probably to a newly promoted side or maybe even Leeds, who need a keeper. Bring in a veteran that’s happy to start winding down. I like the idea of Johnstone, because he’s home grown and could become the new Heaton in a season or two, but people have mentioned the likes of Sommer, Ortega etc. which would also be fine.
Yeah Fergie would have kept tabs on him from when he first broke through at Spurs. Pissed me off so much how quickly we walked away three summers ago. I presume one of those Brazilian RB was probably Vanderson. I really hope we are either all over Senesi on a free or I know he was involved in stuff with Alvaro but Rudiger is experienced at big clubs. Maybe we could lure Toney back from Saudi, although imagine he's on such eye watering sums.
I’m a bit ‘meh’ about Senesi. Decent player, not sure he’d move the needle and I don’t think we need numbers. Don’t see the point in Rudiger if we’ve got Maguire. I appreciate he might better, but Maguire has the veteran, hyper-physical box ticked well enough.
As for Toney, there’s a lot happening around Saudi at the moment, not to mention nearby Iran, so he may want to return to England. Having not played for an elite team, I imagine he’d buzz off being at United. My concern with him is he might be in violation of the “no dickheads” policy. Certainly the profile of player I’d be looking at. Experienced but with a good few years left.
Where is the experienced DM in that list or are you relying on Sadiki easily making that step up to Utd
Yeah you do wonder if INEOS look at Toney's gambling history in the same way they do at Tonali whether that's right or not is up for debate.