Andre at Wolves
Your Hidden Gems or under the radar - Wanted Signings
- Thread starter Dan600
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Listening to a podcast yesterday and they talked about Ruben Neves being open to ending his Al-Hilal contract a year early because he misses the more competitive football in Europe.
Astonishingly (to me) he only turned 28 a few weeks ago.
For a low/no fee and reasonable wages I feel like he'd be a no brainer. The type of deep conductor who'd add a lot to this squad. Statistically he was always a big defensive presence for Wolves too.
Astonishingly (to me) he only turned 28 a few weeks ago.
For a low/no fee and reasonable wages I feel like he'd be a no brainer. The type of deep conductor who'd add a lot to this squad. Statistically he was always a big defensive presence for Wolves too.
Very interesting. Amorim should also know him well from Neves' teenage years.
Interesting, so you rate his talent on similar level to Cherki?
I think that could be the difference, Cherki for 25m or Akliouche for 50m. That's a great financial deal with low downside given the price.
Absolutely. Akliouche is still a bit under the radar. But if he joins PSG this summer, people will learn to know him very quickly, like Doué
And i don't know why Deschamps didn't took him yet with the A team. France with Olise, Doué, Dembele and Akliouche could have the luxury to get rid of Mbappe
We appear to be looking at three from PSG. Oumar Camara, Mahamadou Sangaré and Axel Tape.
Hes good but hes not the technical player like ben seghir and cherki. He has more pace and winger qualities rather than a 10. Hes better than ben seghir because hes 3 years older and should be ahead
we dont need wingers though. can he play as one of the attscking mids in Amorims system?
Correct. He plays on the right of a 4-2-3-1 our former system. He has played 1 game this season in a central am role in a 3-4-2-1
You tell me if you think this suits the tight, packed central areas of the pitch or if it suits pulling wide like Garnacho does
Looks like he could be moulded into a more centrally plaiying player. I'm impressed by his technical and physical attributes.
Yeah this is more what I mean. He's athletic as well as has good technique. He just isnt towards the highest tier of technique which Cherki and Ben Seghir look like they might be
Kulusevski is a good example of someone who is playing in a 3 man midfield and does a good job creating for his team using both athletism and technique. It can be done. It might also not work for him despite it working for someone like Kulusevski. And currently his manager plays wingers and is getting great use out of him as a winger where he can use his running speed and power
That said perhaps a midfield 3 lends itself more to athletisism than a number #10 does due to to covering more ground to help the midfield and still getting forward to attack.
Christ, i like Cherki, but he is massively overrated on this forum.
He doesn't have the pace and the workrate for the PL
Not quite under the radar, but does anyone watch Dutch football? Sem Steijn seems to be scoring for fun, plays as a 8/10
Averaging a goal or assist every 73 minutes this year.
Averaging a goal or assist every 73 minutes this year.
Just go and get Rodrigo Mora.
Assane Diao looks very good.
Lucas Vennegoor of Hesselink. Son of Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
No idea if he's good, but that name needs a revival.
No idea if he's good, but that name needs a revival.
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Tom Fellows at West Brom. Right winger. We have been tracking him for a while apparently. Looks like a good prospect. 13 assists in the Championship this season.
Such a shame Chelsea have bought Mike Penders. 19 year old goalkeeper, tall (2 m), starting goalie for the leader in Belgium. Very mature for his age, commanding, good on the ball. No brainer.
Would be a very good squad player!
in case we relegate and lose 80% of the squad without serious funds to re-invest..
I punted a few bets some months ago and doing so watched some games in the Europa League. This one doesn't look to have the top technical level but my God, the boy finds spaces like few other players and he is clinical. I'd compare him to Müller in the sense both are Second strikers with great movement and always good for a goal or assist, dont see him as either an 8 (box to box) or classic 10 (a technical playmaker).
Of the same team as Sem Steijn, namely Twente, as a manager I'd take a look at their cb Lagerbielke. He is comfortable with the ball and could prove a decent addition to a team with the right profile. Lastly the manager that can unlock Unuvar has a gem on his hands. Natural winger with pace and techniques, seems a bit down on his luck from what I read.
Another standout is Fenerbaches young CB Ackicek. He can break lines. This is something very few CBs can do. Boateng, Lucio, Pique are among those that could carry the ball upwards thus freeing their offensive teammates and destroying the oppositions defensive setup.
Mokio, a cm, of Ajax could be something given time. Boy is only 16!
Patrik Berg of Bodø Glimt is a very good midfielder. I noticed he tried his luck in France already and turned home, perhaps a guy that likes to be a big fish in a small pond? His level is good enough for the top 5 Leagues.
I really want us to sign Akcicek. He really has everything to become a top class CB and a transfer would be comparable to Yoro, just much much cheaper.
If I was Mourinho I'd advise the bloke to stay FAR away from United. First of all he is only 19 I believe, he can arrive at 22 and still have 10-15 good seasons in him as a CB. Also, with the recent past in memory, it would be very stupid to go to United at the moment. He'd better go to say Dortmund or another club that regularly play in the UCL or get deep in Europa League. Play 3 seasons and then make the jump. At the moment Betis seem to play very well and be harmonious. Frankfurt, Aston Villa. Play, develop, make the jump. Ødegaard, Haaland and Isak are all recent examples of players developing at Real Sociedad, Salzburg and Dortmund before making the jump.
Edit: and on that note. Look at Arda Guler. Guy is clearly top talent but he is not developing as he should at the moment.
Currently it looks a lot like Frankfurt is the new Dortmund as a club to develop players to a high level. Dortmund itself is a deeply troubled club right now, I wouldn't recommend moving there for any young talent who needs to develop.
Let’s get Guler this summer and give the young CB time to develop for another year.
You're surely right. I'm not up to speed anymore. I've been watching football for 25+ years and I've seen the great sides of Werder Bremen, Leverkusen, Schalke, Hamburg, Dortmund through the years and also some decent teams of Hoffenheim, Wolfsburg and Stuttgart. Now it seems to be Frankfurts turn.
Same thing in Spain. Malaga, Valencia, Deportivo la Coruna, Sevilla, Villarreal, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad have all had good spells. The absolute top teams always find their way back up to top four somehow (Real, Barca, Atletico).
The point is people marvel at the level of Kroos, Alaba or Lahm but people forget/dont know that they developed on loan to Leverkusen, Hoffenheim and Stuttgart respectively for about 2 years each.
And when we compare these three clubs at the time of those loans to United today we can say that they were performing on a similar level, if not higher than United.
At the moment United isn't in the position to loan out such talents but where it has to sign and directly keep them as the new core.
If United waits for them to develop elsewhere they will do that and sign for Liverpool or City, but will have outgrown the current United.
Well it depends regarding Guler. His level is already at the level that he can single handedly lead a mid table team to UCL spots. Think young de Bruyne at Wolfsburg or young Salah at Fiorentina and Roma, that level of talent.
I'm old enough to remember David Silva starting out at a ridiculous Valencia side. He earned his chops against Ronaldinho at Barca and Zidane at Real Madrid. Next to Silva other great talents like Juan Mata and David Villa developed (post Zaragoza). Also Pablo Hernandez, Morientes and Joaquin vied for spots. Iron sharpened iron.
Only when already on the cusp of world class did he go to City at 24. That's exactly why I dislike throwing guys like Guler or Akcicek to wolves too early. United in my view should be a final destination, not a stepping stone.
You might be right. I still view United as a giant that can attract RvP or Sanchez directly from Arsenal but at the moment the roles are reversed. Football has short memory and most young players have never seen the great United of the past. So perhaps that is the way to go. But judging by how so many players have flopped at United while playing well at other clubs it would seem to me like something is amiss. Either the players mental fortitude is lacking or its something wrong with the culture at the club making players not develop or perform as they should.
RvP, Zlatan, Ronaldo, Pogba (before personal problems), Eriksen, Bruno Fernandes, Fellaini all came in with huge self belief, big reputations and delivered given the circumstances. Perhaps what United need more than anything is to recruit players that even if they are 7.5/10 technically all have that mental fortitude so that they can withstand the pressure and play well? Its similar to Bayern where many talented guys have perished not necessarily due to football ability.
As much as I agree, we are effectively now a middle table team…
We also can’t afford to only make signings for players in their prime or coming from a Brighton or Dortmund who have proven themselves. If Guler goes to Brighton/Dortmund and does well enough for him to be a top target for us, he’ll be an 80-100m outlay, rather than a (reported) £30m this summer.
Yeah, its been a while since I posted. I've gotten a feeling during the day that United fans have accepted the reality of where the team is at the moment, myself I still have a hard time to accept or understand it because of nostalgia I guess even though I don't even support United.
Guler for 30 is a steal. Would he be a guaranteed success? Now that is very hard to affirm because of the variables. The talent is there but of course joining a team in shambles isn't the easiest of things. Depending on where the rot lies an all out clear out with 7-8 new faces in one window (as suggested by Rangnick) is the only way forward but I suspect United have already tried it.
Perhaps the most sensible thing to do right now is to stick with Amorim no matter how bad things are currently and actually buy whatever he needs for his system to work. Right now he has inherited a team that obviously doesn't fit his ideas. Otherwise I would suggest to recruit someone like van Gaal or Rangnick. Not them of course but proven managers that can introduce a system that guarantees progress. I fondly remember the return of Hitzfeld and later 2 (or 3?) returns of Heynckes. I also saw the effect of a "past it" van Gaal who reignited Bayern. And then you have "one trick pony" Flick at Barcelona. It might be worthwhile to bring in/back someone like Mourinho or Benitez. Again, not necessarily one of them, but someone that is viewed as past it but given the right circumstances can work miracles. The overall tactics in UCL right now is after all very 2000s-esque.
Some players are made of glass. Bruno is made of reinforced steel.
Dalot is a tank today
Is Malick Fofana a hidden gem? He looked quality from the second he got on. I think we might be fortunate that he missed the first leg.
Wouldn't be against raiding Eintract Frankfurt this year as they have some promising young players that have helped push them to 3rd in the Bundesliga
Hugo Ekitike (22, CF) - Not under the raider by any means but would be a good pickup
Hugo Larsson (20, CM) - Really promising CM from Sweden, who could compete with Mainoo
Can Uzun (19. CAM) - Really promising young player with excellent passing and link up play for his age
Hugo Ekitike (22, CF) - Not under the raider by any means but would be a good pickup
Hugo Larsson (20, CM) - Really promising CM from Sweden, who could compete with Mainoo
Can Uzun (19. CAM) - Really promising young player with excellent passing and link up play for his age
Caleb Yirenkyi, young CM/DM who plays for FC Nordsjaelland and is tearing up the Danish league. Reminds me of Carlos Baleba.
Only Frankfurt player I've seen us properly linked to was their keeper, Kaua Santos, who I saw getting slaughtered online for one of his recent performances in goal. Looks like he's done his ACL in his last game so might be spared another calamity.
Not sure who is doing our goalkeeping scouting but we are being linked to Zion Suzuki again and like Onana, he's supposed to be another keeper full of howlers. One Italian keeper who is getting rave reviews this season is Roma's Serbian keeper Mile Svilar. Roma seem to have an eye for good keepers.
he most definitely is b/c of his age and no one was really talking about him until the game at OT