kid looks like a heck of a talent and very technical....clearly the players see him as a big player bc at 17 it looks like he's running the midfield and older players are accepting it
Your Hidden Gems or under the radar - Wanted Signings
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Of course, it's VERY early but 16 year old Kennet Eichhorn from Hertha BSC Berlin is regarded as Germany's best defensive midfield talent since Tony Kroos for a reason. The media claims all German top teams incl. Bayern, Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Frankfurt and PSG, Barcelona, Real are interested. He will leave the club at the end of the season for about €10 million.
United have been linked with him too, even before the Wheeler article. The report I read thought that it isnt a given he'll leave and he's happy at Hertha.
He is from the suburbs of Berlin so he plays right at home.
In Germany you are not allowed to play before your 16th birthday and he debuted four days after his, so he is just fine with the situation he's in. But Hertha won't be promoted to the Bundesliga and his agent is Pini Zahavi , so he'll leave.
Has anyone watched Sunderland’s Noah Sadiki? The one Sunderland fan I know was quite happy with him. Improving every game.
I didn't know this guy until today. I have never seen him play in a match.
Apparently he is demolishing stats in the Bundesliga and big teams are already interested in him.
Nobel Mendy. Will be my choice for center back alongside Schlotterbeck
This is him again Liverpool and Real Madrid
This is him again Liverpool and Real Madrid
Love it. Never heard of the guy but looks solid. On loan from Betis at Vallecsno so it’ll be interesting to see how he does for the rest of the season. He could be a cheaper option if that’s all we have budget for in the summer OR one to just keep an eye over the next couple seasons for when we need to replace Shaw and possibly Mazraoui or Martinez.
Emersonn seems like he could be something. He's rapid and a non-stop runner. Has that tall, wiry Ekitike frame. Can beat a man + create his own chances.
Downside: he's been statistically wayyyyy underperforming in front of goal. Upside: his movement's so good and so constant that he gets a bagful of chances - even playing for a very average Toulouse team. Bit of an Ekitike/Darwin hybrid stylistically.
Downside: he's been statistically wayyyyy underperforming in front of goal. Upside: his movement's so good and so constant that he gets a bagful of chances - even playing for a very average Toulouse team. Bit of an Ekitike/Darwin hybrid stylistically.
Ibrahim Maza - Excellent tonight again for Leverkusen against Newcastle, motm performance against city a couple weeks ago. Proper CM.
Watched him against Watford and he looked a real handful, but two goals today against Southampton, Jovan Makama looks one to watch when looking for talent up front.
Ibrahim Maza looks really good.
You can take a look at Nordic football right now. Denmark and Norway in particular have some really exciting footballers in their respective leagues. To me, Simsir, Osorio, Gorgorza, and Franculino look really exciting.
Rayan from Vasco da Gama. Not a finished product, but the profile is interesting.
He's a 19 year old wide forward, 14G and 1A in 32 apps this season. He's 6'1 fast and strong.
Style wise he is quick, direct and pretty composed for his age. He can beat a man, link play in tight areas and actually looks for teammates rather than forcing shots.
Similar style to Semenyo
He's a 19 year old wide forward, 14G and 1A in 32 apps this season. He's 6'1 fast and strong.
Style wise he is quick, direct and pretty composed for his age. He can beat a man, link play in tight areas and actually looks for teammates rather than forcing shots.
Similar style to Semenyo
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Nathan De Cat, the next big midfield talent in Belgium. At 17, he's carrying Anderlecht. He oozes class, is always calm and always seems to make the right decisions. Central midfielder. He'll has a chance to go to the World Cup with Belgium I think if he keeps his level up.
Lots of Bundesliga players mentioned, rightfully, but one not yet is Ouedraogo from RB Leipzig. 19 year old, signed last season from Schalke with a lot of hype since Bayern also agreed a deal for him but he rejected them to go to RB Leipzig instead. Sadly, he was injured the whole of that season with a couple of long injuries.
Thankfully, he was fit for the start of this season and quickly became a starter in midfield. Looks like a Yaya Toure regen, from the physical dominance paired with fantastic technical ability to the powerful shots he can make. But, also similar to Yaya, he can be a bit lazy tracking back in defense and doesn't seem like the person who can make great passes. Hopefully he can improve those aspects as he gets older but he can the type of midfielder to pair perfectly with a 6 who can distribute the ball from deep ala Pavlovic. Maybe another concern is injuries because he's injured again till January.
After a recent drought it seems we're getting some really exciting players in the recent age group. Musiala, Wirtz, Bischoff, Brown, Jeltsch, Pavlovic, Karl, Ouedraogo and even Eichorn look great (haven't seen enough of El Mala to judge but don't think he's that great from what I've seen till now). If only Maza hadn't decided to go with Algeria
EDIT: Since I'm stuck in Germany it's not easy to get compliation videos of Bundesliga players so this is what I added, don't know if there is anything concrete linking him to us, as the video suggests.
Thankfully, he was fit for the start of this season and quickly became a starter in midfield. Looks like a Yaya Toure regen, from the physical dominance paired with fantastic technical ability to the powerful shots he can make. But, also similar to Yaya, he can be a bit lazy tracking back in defense and doesn't seem like the person who can make great passes. Hopefully he can improve those aspects as he gets older but he can the type of midfielder to pair perfectly with a 6 who can distribute the ball from deep ala Pavlovic. Maybe another concern is injuries because he's injured again till January.
After a recent drought it seems we're getting some really exciting players in the recent age group. Musiala, Wirtz, Bischoff, Brown, Jeltsch, Pavlovic, Karl, Ouedraogo and even Eichorn look great (haven't seen enough of El Mala to judge but don't think he's that great from what I've seen till now). If only Maza hadn't decided to go with Algeria
EDIT: Since I'm stuck in Germany it's not easy to get compliation videos of Bundesliga players so this is what I added, don't know if there is anything concrete linking him to us, as the video suggests.
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Does seem good, Bayern apparently pushing hard for him.
Maybe one to try for if United can't get Kees Smit first.
I don't see how he fits in Amorim's system really? Very attacking, and his lack of defensive work means he needs to ideally be in a midfield 3.
If we want a fairly cheap back-up for Cunha or Mbeumo - one player who always impresses me is Jaden Philogene. I have watched Ipswich a few times this season to check on Walle Egeli, and Philogene always stands out. Didn't too much for Villa last season but he has been brilliant in the Championship this season
Joel Ordóñez, 21 year old CB from Club Bruges. Tall, athletic, good on the ball, ruthless defending. Could be a cheap successor for Maguire. Although the question is whether we should add another young CB while losing a experienced one.
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Johan Manzambi wouldn’t be a bad pick either.
I do think however we want to sign players for the now (as in straight into starting XI).
I do think however we want to sign players for the now (as in straight into starting XI).
Has been brilliant in certain games, in other games he has been completely anonymous and easily marked out of the game.
Palestra Cagliari/Atalanta - strong & tall 2 footed fullback / wing back.
A lot of these players look brilliant…Ibrahim Maza and Assan Ouedraogo in particular
And I do love an unexpected signing. Investing in youth…Leon, Heaven, Yoro, Obi etc
But the EPL is a different animal and whilst 5-10 min YouTube clips do excite, they (unless people are watching full games) simply can’t be trusted
we’ve seen previously Malacia look like an Evra regen. Leon built like a seasoned pro bully the league he came from, Mjebri looking nailed on, Amrabat own a World Cup, Lindelof smashing free kicks top bins for Benfica. Youth prospects. First teamers. The list is endless.
There’s no hiding place for a failed transfer. Especially at Utd. A victim of our own status in the game. Take ibrahim maza, in an alternate universe signs for Brighton for the 12m he recently went for. He’d likely be playing every game week and be allowed the opportunity to develop. Should Utd make that signing, his minutes are reduced. He plays 1 in 5 with a sprinkling of minutes off the bench and subsequently develops much slower with any and all mistake scrutinised heavily.
Still though, you’ve got speculate to accumulate. Here’s hoping Kone and Orozco and more in the future can become the players we hoped when signing them
I personally would love to strip the squad back…and almost rely on more of the younger players. Get Amass back from loan. Give Chido the opportunity. Let’s see if Kone does better than Ugarte. They’re at the club for a reason and we’ll simply never know without giving them extended runs in the first team.
And I do love an unexpected signing. Investing in youth…Leon, Heaven, Yoro, Obi etc
But the EPL is a different animal and whilst 5-10 min YouTube clips do excite, they (unless people are watching full games) simply can’t be trusted
we’ve seen previously Malacia look like an Evra regen. Leon built like a seasoned pro bully the league he came from, Mjebri looking nailed on, Amrabat own a World Cup, Lindelof smashing free kicks top bins for Benfica. Youth prospects. First teamers. The list is endless.
There’s no hiding place for a failed transfer. Especially at Utd. A victim of our own status in the game. Take ibrahim maza, in an alternate universe signs for Brighton for the 12m he recently went for. He’d likely be playing every game week and be allowed the opportunity to develop. Should Utd make that signing, his minutes are reduced. He plays 1 in 5 with a sprinkling of minutes off the bench and subsequently develops much slower with any and all mistake scrutinised heavily.
Still though, you’ve got speculate to accumulate. Here’s hoping Kone and Orozco and more in the future can become the players we hoped when signing them
I personally would love to strip the squad back…and almost rely on more of the younger players. Get Amass back from loan. Give Chido the opportunity. Let’s see if Kone does better than Ugarte. They’re at the club for a reason and we’ll simply never know without giving them extended runs in the first team.
He's going to be brilliant. At 21, he's had 2 full seasons for Club Brugge, including 18 CL games (so far). He's played 160 professional games, so he's not that inexperienced compared to Heaven for instance. No-brainer for me, he'll probably end up at Chelsea
I agree, these young signings are harder for us to make a success out of as there is really is far less room to develop. This is where I hope we take advantage of the Lausanne and Nice links more. I don't want to go full BlueCo-Chelsea-Strasbourg and ruin the identity of those clubs, but if we should loan 1-2 promising youngsters to each of them per season. We've done it once with Kana-Biyik at Lausanne (no idea how he is getting on?) but we need to do this more.
We should also establish good, reliable relationships with a few championship clubs on top (eg. Bristol City, Preston, Wednesday) to give them the platform to learn their trade. These clubs surely would love to be top of the pile when we consider loaning out our talents, building a mini network of 3 clubs and selecting the best suitor for a player out of the 3.
The one example that sticks in my mind is Chelsea loaning Tammy Abraham to Bristol City at the age of 18, who went on to have a fantastic season scoring 26 in all comps. We should be doing the same for Chido next year IMO, give him the opportunity to prove himself. If he does an Abraham, suddenly he's much more ready to compete for a spot than if he was in the u21s or getting minimal minutes in the 1st team squad or he's a now £40m asset we could sell. If he sinks, then he maybe needs another year to learn or he's just simply not of the level we need.
Looking at this season, it would be interesting to see if Kone could be integrated into the 1st team as I think he's very much the type of CM Amorim wants (energetic, high intensity, ball carrier, press resistant). Or if not, could he go to Nice for 6 months to get some proper 1st team experience.
Anyway, to keep this on track for the thread but link it to the above I'd like us to sign Vasiljie Kostov from Red Star Belgrade who I think is a possible Bruno regen, and loan both him and Chido out to Bristol City next year
.Nilson Angulo, 22 year old Ecuadorian player at Anderlecht. A bit like Semenyo, he can play on the wing or as a wingback. He's even started at striker a couple of times. He has pace to burn, very good dribbling and crossing skills matched with a defensive workrate. If we wanted a younger cheaper player for the wingback role, he would be one to look at.
Good shout this. PSG were looking at him if one of their CBs had left over the summer. While he's young, he has played enough senior games to not be considered an inexperienced player. If Maguire goes, I would go for him or either Jeremy Jacquet of Rennes. In fact, given how injury prone Maguire is becoming, which won't get any better if we renew, I would let him and find a younger replacement. MDL is the starter anyway, so we can't be paying over 100k to a backup CB.
Breno Bidon, 19 year old midfielder that plays for Corinthians. Since when he still played for youth team, people already cheered him for his quality, vision.
He was given a chance in the main team and earned a position among the starting 11. Since Corinthians have another great midfielder - the Argentinian Rodrigo Garro -, he adapted from playing more upfront for the youth team to playing as a more balanced midfielder, helping at defence, despite his improving skinny physique. Us Corinthians fans are already wondering if he could become our biggest sale in history
Saw his skill vs Vasco in the cup final the other day. We should be all over him, a creative and technical midfielder
His stats suggest he's not very good in the air. In general he appears to be a defender who is better on the ball than at actually defending. United already have a few of those types of younger defenders in Heaven and Yoro.
Doesn't sound like an obvious Maguire replacement to me... while obviously all the CBs in a 3 CB system should be good on the ball, United miss a bit of a no-nonsense type in there who is also dominant in the air. Doesn't seem like this guy is that.
I notice you're saying this and are based in Belgium - are you a Bruges fan, or have you seen a lot of him?
I've seen him a lot and I do think he's going to be class. He's quite a few steps ahead of Heaven in his development but he's 2 years older of course. His passing is great, in the 90% percentile, always forward thinking. Pacho, his countryman who played for Antwerp, went to PSG last season and plays most of the games for them. I believe Ordonez is better at the same age.
I agree it's not a direct Maguire replacement, he's not a towering defender. He's as tall as De Ligt though, who isn't small either.
It's a fair point, usually when coaches play formations similar to Amorin (Leverkusen, Palace, Tuchel's Chelsea from what I can remember) they have two defensive minded midfielders (Xhaka/Palacios, Kamada/Wharton, Jorginho/Kante) along with aggressive full backs (Frimpong/Grimaldo, Munoz/Mitchell, Chilwell/James). For us though we've been using Bruno as one of the midfielders and while that adds to attack it has made is very vulnerable in the center out of possession.
If Ouedraogo can improve his work rate, he could fit in the formation we currently have but yea he's best suited in a 4-3-3, which Leipzig play. But even in his current play style he could fit as a replacement for Bruno, though it's not the most suitable player to have.
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With Semenyo going to City now is more important than ever to just pay for Yan Diomande in the summer:
I like him, but I do have my reservations about expensive Bundesliga players. It's also his first season. Sesko played longer in that league and Sancho had more goals/assists. I would get him if he costs 50m max but for the quoted price, no thanks.
His stats look distinctly mediocre. Plus he seems lacking in pace and power.
United should preferably be only aiming for players from lesser leagues like Brazil if they are truly excelling eg William Estevao, who was off the charts on a number of metrics already by 18. Bidon seems decent, but not great. Antony could also do some nice flicks for a highlight reel every now and then.
I think you under-estimate how much defensive work Bruno still gets through in CM. Ouedraogo currently averages pretty much 1 tackle per 90 minutes, in a lesser league, which is terrible. Bruno is at 2.3, plus he makes more blocks and interceptions than Ouedraogo. Ouedraogo in a midfield 2 seems one of those players who might create an un-fillable defensive hole in midfield.
I watched the first half of his game the other week and he instantly reminded me of Ousmane Dembele, looked a menace. Going to keep an eye on him in the AFCON.
Still gutted we let Luka Vuskovic sign for Tottenham. Guy is dominating Bundesliga forwards at the age of 18 on his loan. Looks like the biggest CB talent I've seen since a long time.
Yeah, he's a massive prospect. Was dominating here in Belgium at the age of 17. He's an asset in front of goal too, scored 7 goals in 28 games here, already scored 2 in 13 games in Germany.
He would have been THE ultimate successor to Maguire. Too bad we missed out on him. Maybe we can steal him for 30-40m if Spurs continue to struggle..
This is how I feel too. There's talent there but we've been taken for a ride far too often in these circumstances and need to start being sensible with how much we spend on players who still only represent potential.