Manchester United Teamtalk/Transfer/Gossip 23/24 - [New Thread Available]

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Do we know is there a protest before the Leicester game?

jayo26

Forgot the Leicester game was on tonight..... It will be such an easy win for Leicester we will be calling it Rollover Tuesday.

paulbok

If we are to sign a quality DM, say Rice for eg. Do you think the club will look to offload Fred?
You would have Rice as 1st choice, McT to partner if needed and keeping Matic as a backup, I would think they will sell him to part fund a DM.

1st XI
Rice/AN
BF. PP

2nd String
NM
DvB. SMcT

EltonJohn69

paulbok wrote: »

If we are to sign a quality DM, say Rice for eg. Do you think the club will look to offload Fred?
You would have Rice as 1st choice, McT to partner if needed and keeping Matic as a backup, I would think they will sell him to part fund a DM.

1st XI
Rice/AN
BF. PP

2nd String
NM
DvB. SMcT

Sell matic... £120,000 a week

El Gato De Negocios

paulbok wrote: »

If we are to sign a quality DM, say Rice for eg. Do you think the club will look to offload Fred?
You would have Rice as 1st choice, McT to partner if needed and keeping Matic as a backup, I would think they will sell him to part fund a DM.

1st XI
Rice/AN
BF. PP

2nd String
NM
DvB. SMcT

If Fred was happy to be a back up / rotational player then I'd keep him, we need strength in depth if we are to consider a serious challenge next season. He is a solid squad option to have.

S.M.B.

jayo26 wrote: »

Forgot the Leicester game was on tonight..... It will be such an easy win for Leicester we will be calling it Rollover Tuesday.

Worth reminding everyone that it's at 6.00pm too.

Hodors Appletart

S.M.B. wrote: »

Worth reminding everyone that it's at 6.00pm too.

oh good

thanks!

Trigger

Realistically we only have one proper DM in Matic, Fred and McTominay are more advanced players and while they can do a job they do lack certain skills. I think its better to keep Matic as a back up if we are signing another DM, especially with the amount of games that need to be played.

We have also seen in the last couple of games he is great to bring off the bench to steady the ship

pjohnson

Selling Matic or Martial just creates additional problems to the squad.

S.M.B.

Will be interesting to see if Pau Torres impresses on the EL final.

If we could keep Pogba and somehow fund the purchase of Torres, Neves and Sancho via sales / summer transfer kitty then we'd be in a very good position next year.

Throw in Camavinga and I'd be ecstatic.

Mitch Connor

pjohnson wrote: »

Selling Matic or Martial just creates additional problems to the squad.

If we signed rice I don't think it does. Rice would effectively be a first choice replacement for a squad player.

jayo26

pjohnson wrote: »

Selling Matic or Martial just creates additional problems to the squad.

I honestly can't see a negative....

piplip87

jayo26 wrote: »

I honestly can't see a negative....

Matic is level headed experianced player who can come in for the last 20 minutes to settle things down if we are under pressure. Your better off playing with 10 men than Martial at times to be fair. When Martial starts in place of Cavani is when we will see if he should be kept or offloaded. He should be chomping at the bit to get back put in a performance unfortunately I'd say he will do the bare minimum and throw his hands up in the air about 20 times. Poor Anthony doesn't like to exert himself

billyhead

I don't think we will sign Sancho. Although he gets shunted out to the wings. I think Ole will want to give Greenwood as much time on the pitch as possible next season. I think we will sign a 1st choice DM instead.

pjohnson

jayo26 wrote: »

I honestly can't see a negative....

Only 1 striker and 1 DM in the entire squad?

We need an extra streaker and an extra DM. Injuries can happen we dont want to be paper thin.

jayo26

pjohnson wrote: »

Only 1 striker and 1 DM in the entire squad?

We need an extra streaker and an extra DM. Injuries can happen we dont want to be paper thin.

I'm not sure what a streaker is gonna bring to the squad but OK

I can see the argument for Matic yeah but this year's version of Martial I'd rather have a few energetic kids.

Trigger

pjohnson wrote: »

Only 1 striker and 1 DM in the entire squad?

We need an extra streaker and an extra DM. Injuries can happen we dont want to be paper thin.

"Get out there while the other teams attacking and stop the game"

Mantis Toboggan

Haven't seen enough of Rice to form an opinion but don't think we should be put over a barrel for him. The utd and England tax hopefully gone now with Woodward leaving.

What's the thinking, rice and Scotty in front of the back 4? Not sure it would be a huge improvement on McFred.

Mitch Connor

piplip87 wrote: »

Not really if you think about it. Rashford, Greenwood and Cavani along with am acemedy graduate can cover striking duties all far better than Martial. That leaves Pogba, James and Diallo along with Rashford and Greenwood to cover the wings.

Given Telles assists numbers for the past few seasons in Portugal I see no reason why he could not cover on the wings if needed.

Thus window should be about improving defence, getting cover for AWB and getting a holding midfielder who can set the tempo and link attack and defence. Fred cannot and will not be upto standard for this. A good squad player but will never win the league with him as first chioce..A good DM will also allow McTomaniny to get forward more he has added goals to his game this season could also allow Donny to get a run of games.

The thing is after all the fan protests the owners are terrified of more especially next season when it could affect ticket revenue and attendance at games. I have no doubt they will hand Ole a massive budget to work with this summer and give him more of an input to the negotiations.

I'd expect to see one big big signing like Sancho, possibly a big CB signing I'd say Varane as for a DM I'd like to see Parades as he has that aggression and passing that's needed but doubt very much he is available.. possibly Nididi

Cavani has proven, all season, that he isn't up to be our first choice striker cause he isn't able to start game after game. His minutes and starts need to be managed.

Rashford has had plenty of attempts at playing striker, his position is left side forward. Anything else is wasting peoples time.

So effectively you are saying Cavani or Greenwood have to start, and perform, as the central forward every match. Greenwood looks far more comfortable coming off the wings (either side) and running at players, rather than leading the line.

If we sold Martial, I think we would regret it in terms of numbers. IMO the fact Martial has been out the last few weeks has shown this problem in that we have lacked options for Rashford or Cavani to come out.

Whatsisname

pjohnson wrote: »

Only 1 striker and 1 DM in the entire squad?

We need an extra streaker and an extra DM. Injuries can happen we dont want to be paper thin.

That lad that came on against Granada could do a great job.

El Gato De Negocios

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

Haven't seen enough of Rice to form an opinion but don't think we should be put over a barrel for him. The utd and England tax hopefully gone now with Woodward leaving.

What's the thinking, rice and Scotty in front of the back 4? Not sure it would be a huge improvement on McFred.

J-lingz is a good make weight.

y0ssar1an22

S.M.B. wrote: »

Worth reminding everyone that it's at 6.00pm too.

feck! would have missed it. thank you sir (or madam).

y0ssar1an22

billyhead wrote: »

I don't think we will sign Sancho. Although he gets shunted out to the wings. I think Ole will want to give Greenwood as much time on the pitch as possible next season. I think we will sign a 1st choice DM instead.

neville seems confident on sancho

Lord TSC

I'm totally over Martial now, and just don't see how you can justify keeping him as a very expensive squad option, given his contributions.

I think a new attacker comes in, be that a striker or a RWer. I think Pogba's preformances on the LW actually means that Martial shifts down to third choice LW player. And I'd probably put him as third choice striker right now too, behind Cavani and Greenwood. He's just utterly unreliable as a starter and as a sub.

If a new striker comes in, he's 100% gone. If a new RWer comes in, then its because Ole is ready to move Greenwood up front too. In either scenario, he's disposable.

My ideal scenario is Pogba/Rashford at LW, Striker/Cavani up front, and Greenwood/Amad (or another back up) at RW. Ideally actually, you'd grab maybe an older RWer to play second fiddle to Greenwood on the RW. I'm not sure who that is, but a Cavani style RW signing. And offload Martial if possible to raise income for the other signings.

y0ssar1an22

Mantis Toboggan wrote: »

Haven't seen enough of Rice to form an opinion but don't think we should be put over a barrel for him. The utd and England tax hopefully gone now with Woodward leaving.

What's the thinking, rice and Scotty in front of the back 4? Not sure it would be a huge improvement on McFred.

if a proper DM is bought you dont need to play 2. would allow for pogba and bruno to play in a 3. if ole can make it work of course

then you have rashford back to the left, new RW and cavani/mason up top.

or as carra suggests, buy another CF and keep mason on the RHS.

xtal191

I honestly don't see much transfer activity for us at all, in or out. I think if we get one biggish signing it'll be Sancho and maybe one or two cheap squad players but that would be it at most.

As for outs I just don't see any teams paying the fees and wages needed to get the likes of Martial, De Gea, Pogba etc etc. I could realistically see Lingard, Mata and Jones leaving and possibly a loan or two but that's it.

I know its nice to fantasize about transfers, I'd love nothing more than a new striker, dm and rw but I think people really need to lower expectations or be very disappointed come September. I can see this summer being one of the quietest for most teams, especially with the Euros on.

Mitch Connor

xtal191 wrote: »

I honestly don't see much transfer activity for us at all, in or out. I think if we get one biggish signing it'll be Sancho and maybe one or two cheap squad players but that would be it at most.

As for outs I just don't see any teams paying the fees and wages needed to get the likes of Martial, De Gea, Pogba etc etc. I could realistically see Lingard, Mata and Jones leaving and possibly a loan or two but that's it.

I know its nice to fantasize about transfers, I'd love nothing more than a new striker, dm and rw but I think people really need to lower expectations or be very disappointed come September. I can see this summer being one of the quietest for most teams, especially with the Euros on.

If we want to win the league, we need to improve the side. If we don't do so, we should be disappointed, whether we lower our expectations or not. the current side is not capable of winning the league or competing for the CL. a transfer window that does not help us towards doing so, should be a disappointment.

Cookiemunster

Mitch Connor wrote: »

If we want to win the league, we need to improve the side. If we don't do so, we should be disappointed, whether we lower our expectations or not. the current side is not capable of winning the league or competing for the CL. a transfer window that does not help us towards doing so, should be a disappointment.

Ole already mentioned '1 or 2 new players' in a press conference a week or so back. I think that will be the limit. With the contract extensions for Cavani and Bailly, I think a DM and a RW will be the targets, but I can't see any other squad building.

The Big Easy

Lord TSC wrote: »

I'm totally over Martial now, and just don't see how you can justify keeping him as a very expensive squad option, given his contributions.

Completely agree, but he's going to be incredibly hard to shift on that contract and I'd say he's the type to hang around rather than try and resurrect his career elsewhere.

pjohnson

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Ole already mentioned '1 or 2 new players' in a press conference a week or so back. I think that will be the limit. With the contract extensions for Cavani and Bailly, I think a DM and a RW will be the targets, but I can't see any other squad building.

Goalkeeper the elephant in the room. Unless DDG has said he is happy to back up Henderson. Henderson (1st) and Grant (3rd) obviously wouldn't be enough.

Mitch Connor

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Ole already mentioned '1 or 2 new players' in a press conference a week or so back. I think that will be the limit. With the contract extensions for Cavani and Bailly, I think a DM and a RW will be the targets, but I can't see any other squad building.

my interpretation was 2 first team signings.

A first team DM and RW, plus maybe cover at the back and somewhere else, would be an acceptable summer, imo.

But that could change based on any outgoings. There are some players that would have to be replaced, even as a squad option, if we sold them.

PhlegmyMoses

Lord TSC wrote: »

I'm totally over Martial now, and just don't see how you can justify keeping him as a very expensive squad option, given his contributions.

I think a new attacker comes in, be that a striker or a RWer. I think Pogba's preformances on the LW actually means that Martial shifts down to third choice LW player. And I'd probably put him as third choice striker right now too, behind Cavani and Greenwood. He's just utterly unreliable as a starter and as a sub.

If a new striker comes in, he's 100% gone. If a new RWer comes in, then its because Ole is ready to move Greenwood up front too. In either scenario, he's disposable.

My ideal scenario is Pogba/Rashford at LW, Striker/Cavani up front, and Greenwood/Amad (or another back up) at RW. Ideally actually, you'd grab maybe an older RWer to play second fiddle to Greenwood on the RW. I'm not sure who that is, but a Cavani style RW signing. And offload Martial if possible to raise income for the other signings.

Martial just noticeably looks like he is not working as hard as the rest of the team which is not the ethos of this team. Even Pogba out left has way more hustle and is constantly pressing and closing down space. It's not clear what Martials best position is anymore either. He is poor up top and has dropped off from the left now was well so not a lot of reasons to keep him, especially at 250k a week as a backup.

Mitch Connor

I did wonder if United could get a deal done with Dortmund for Haaland with martial going the other way. I reckon Martial would tear it up in Germany, he'd make bits of their high line defences.

billyhead

The Big Easy wrote: »

Completely agree, but he's going to be incredibly hard to shift on that contract and I'd say he's the type to hang around rather than try and resurrect his career elsewhere.

Inter Milan seem to be the club to go to for ex Man Utd players. If Lukaku is sold he might end up their and thrive in the Italian league.

unplayable

i want the dm who is signed to come from another prem team. we dont hav time for a player to settle in. i see partey at arsenal and he looks like he needed this season to get used to the prem.

obviously rice is top target. bissoma would be ok and ndidi would be an excellent choice also.

this is the key signing this summer 100%. i honestly believe with rice we can challenge next season.

Hotblack Desiato

According to the gossip page on the BBC, West Ham want to convert Lingard's loan into a signing but don't have the money. Might make a deal for Rice more likely...?

(I do find it funny that everything the BBC reports as "gossip" has been reported as actual "news" somewhere else :pac: )

Whatsisname

unplayable wrote: »

i want the dm who is signed to come from another prem team. we dont hav time for a player to settle in. i see partey at arsenal and he looks like he needed this season to get used to the prem.

obviously rice is top target. bissoma would be ok and ndidi would be an excellent choice also.

this is the key signing this summer 100%. i honestly believe with rice we can challenge next season.

Bissouma put in a transfer request afaik. I can't say I've seen much of him bar when he played against us recently and he looked decent. I'm sure someone else can say whether he'd fit in or not but he'd certainly be a cheaper option than Rice or Ndidi.

The Big Easy

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I did wonder if United could get a deal done with Dortmund for Haaland with martial going the other way. I reckon Martial would tear it up in Germany, he'd make bits of their high line defences.

We'd be subsidising his wages though, which may be palatable however, if Haaland is banging in two a game :pac:

Mitch Connor

pjohnson wrote: »

Goalkeeper the elephant in the room. Unless DDG has said he is happy to back up Henderson. Henderson (1st) and Grant (3rd) obviously wouldn't be enough.

Tom Heaton on a free transfer?

dave_o_brien

Mitch Connor wrote: »

If we want to win the league, we need to improve the side. If we don't do so, we should be disappointed, whether we lower our expectations or not. the current side is not capable of winning the league or competing for the CL. a transfer window that does not help us towards doing so, should be a disappointment.

Xtal said his above summary is what he sees happening. I agree with him.

I also agree with you - if we actually want to win the league we will need more investment. But I don't expect it to happen.

Mitch, putting aside what you would like to happen, what do you think actually will?

paulbok

pjohnson wrote: »

Goalkeeper the elephant in the room. Unless DDG has said he is happy to back up Henderson. Henderson (1st) and Grant (3rd) obviously wouldn't be enough.

There was talk of Grant getting moved on as well so you could see us shift 4 keepers this summer, DdG, SR, LG & Pereira.
Be mad not to keep Grant, low wages, competent enough for 3rd choice and happy to not be in the match day squads much.
Ideally we wouldn't have burned our bridges with Romero either, could have loaned him out this season and given him a new contract for next.

With both Bailly and Cavani signing new contracts, it's hard to see us spending on a new CB and Striker, though that is what an ambitious club would still do.
DM seems to be the only position nailed on for an upgrade. Cases to be made for not going after a new CB cos of Bailly, RW cos of Amad and Greenwoods progression or Striker cos of Cavaini.
Pogba is another dilemma. If the club are looking to keep him, he needs to be tied down to a new contract early in the summer. The longer it goes on, more chance of him holding out for a free transfer next year.
Hard to predict now how the summer will go.
The Glazers may sanction a bigger budget than planned to try and appease fans which would point to a big name signing. Kane, Rice or Sancho would all tick that box.

Mitch Connor

dave_o_brien wrote: »

Xtal said his above summary is what he sees happening. I agree with him.

I also agree with you - if we actually want to win the league we will need more investment. But I don't expect it to happen.

Mitch, putting aside what you would like to happen, what do you think actually will?

2 first team signings.

squad options in 1 or 2 other positions.

club will try to get rid of a few players - either DDG or Henderson, Jones, Tuanzebe (if we sign a CB), Lingard, Pereira, Martial if we can find a buyer.

My main point was lowering our expectations is irrelevant. If I only expect 1 back up signing, and that is all we get... i'd still be massively disappointed. matching my expectation wouldn't make me happy nor should it.

PhlegmyMoses

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

According to the gossip page on the BBC, West Ham want to convert Lingard's loan into a signing but don't have the money. Might make a deal for Rice more likely...?

(I do find it funny that everything the BBC reports as "gossip" has been reported as actual "news" somewhere else :pac: )

Lingard plus 40m would be an excellent signing imo. I'm not as sold on Rice as others but if United got away with 40m in cash and getting rid of what was functionally a valueless asset, that would be amazing. Would leave room for other signings too

Cotts72

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Tom Heaton on a free transfer?

Sam Johnson on the cheap from WBA

Cookiemunster

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

According to the gossip page on the BBC, West Ham want to convert Lingard's loan into a signing but don't have the money. Might make a deal for Rice more likely...?

(I do find it funny that everything the BBC reports as "gossip" has been reported as actual "news" somewhere else :pac: )

What says everything about the transfer BS that the media come out with is the fact that the first three stories on the gossip page are the MEN saying that we're no longer after Sancho, Bild saying that Utd and Chelsea are interested in him and The Times saying that he's our main target.

It shows exactly how the vast majority of transfer stories are made up on the spot.

billyhead

Cookiemunster wrote: »

What says everything about the transfer BS that the media come out with is the fact that the first three stories on the gossip page are the MEN saying that we're no longer after Sancho, Bild saying that Utd and Chelsea are interested in him and The Times saying that he's our main target.

It shows exactly how the vast majority of transfer stories are made up on the spot.

Nobody has a clue. Expect our Summer business to drag out as usual with us being linked to every Tom, Dick @ Harry

The Big Easy

Been saying it a while but Sancho is the big one for me for a few reasons.

1. He's a right winger!

2. He's young, gifted and English.

3. He produces at a consistently high level for someone so young.

4. He's exciting, versatile and seems to have character, having left England at a young age to make it in the Bundesliga.

5. The indications are and have been that he wants to play for Manchester United.

6. Probably most importantly he's realistic, we can afford him and he wants to come.

7. He's a right winger!

Edit: one negative, I'd want him to wear 7, but don't fancy telling Cavani! :P

Bleating Lamb

unplayable wrote: »

i want the dm who is signed to come from another prem team. we dont hav time for a player to settle in. i see partey at arsenal and he looks like he needed this season to get used to the prem.

obviously rice is top target. bissoma would be ok and ndidi would be an excellent choice also.

this is the key signing this summer 100%. i honestly believe with rice we can challenge next season.

There aren't many quality Dm's playing for teams in Europe at moment who would sell to Utd. Likes of Partey and Ndombele would have being on Utd's radar but chose the bright lights of London. Both have struggled to settle in the Premier league so we might have dodged a bullet in each case.
Not to be too agricultural in my language but I think Utd should go balls in this Summer to sign either Rice or Ndidi,as you said they are comfortable in the league so no settling period needed.

I think Utd have an huge opportunity in this transfer window to bring their wage bill down nicely with clever sales and purchases that would also freshen up the squad but not weaken it.

Ndidi for example is on 75k a week at Leicester so Utd should be able to tempt him away with a 4 or 5 year contract on maybe 120 k a week.He could replace Matic in the squad who is on 120k at mo and well past his best days.


Mata is on 150k a week and saw very little playing time this Season,likes of Ruben Neves currently on 50 k a week at Wolves could replace him on say 80/90 k a week. Even someone like James Ward Prowse,currently on 45k a week could be brought in as a squad player on a 4/5 year contract for 75k and he would replace Jesse Lingard in squad at same wage cost per week.

Personally would keep both Fred and Mc T.....raise some of the money for midfield signings from outgoings of Lingard,Pereira,Mata and possibly Matic.
In defence I think Fosu-Mensah should be gone if they can get 3 or 4 million for him.....Pau Torres for example is on 55k a week so could be got for 80/100k a week on a long term contract.
Martial has being stealing 250k off the club on a weekly basis this Season..... club need to either sell him at a big loss this Summer and bring in a replacement or loan him out to some club and get them to pay half his wages.....would need cover in that scenario so Utd could use likes of Chong,Garner or Pellestri as makeweight loanees to get someone like Josh King or Tammy Abraham on loan for a Season,although Chelsea might not sanction that move.


With Woodward gone the days of throwing huge contracts at new signings needs to stop....and reinvest some of the money saved in doing up Old Trafford.

Mitch Connor

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Tom Heaton on a free transfer?

https://twitter.com/TeleFootball/status/1392082269125365767?s=19

I'm clearly in the know guys.

pjohnson

Mitch Connor wrote: »

https://twitter.com/TeleFootball/status/1392082269125365767?s=19

I'm clearly in the know guys.

Excellent. That'll give us comfort. I was worried of a last minute DDG transfer request leaving is scrounging desperately in the bargain bin.