Lining Raiola's Pockets - The 2017 Summer Transfer Thread

Guys like Mbappe, Rashford (and even Auba) are versatile enough to play either centrally, but also on the flanks of a 4-3-3.
But as stated, my preferred options in that type of setup would be the players I listed in my previous post. Griez and Silva are good players, but I'm not convinced at all about their effectiveness on the flanks in England. To accommodate either of them, we would have to switch to a 4-2-3-1 system and play them centrally, but that opens up other problems, namely Pogba having to play in a 2 man midfield. If we get a proper 6 next to him, I could probably see it, but would still rather have us play primarily in a 4-3-3.

My perfect/standard XI for next season, would be something like the following:

Dave
Aurier. Bailly. Manolas. Shaw
Herrera. Fabinho. Pogba
Carrasco/Sanchez. Aubameyang/Mbappe. Martial

 

https://www.google.com/amp/metro.co...ea-belotti-and-antoine-griezmann-6597335/amp/

Disaster!

 

Do it.

 

Rumours coming out now that Mourinho is interested in Morata....

He would be a quality pickup, with Rashford playing off of him we could be deadly.

http://cadenaser.com/programa/2017/04/25/el_larguero/1493148520_406472.html

Bernardo Silva as I mentioned previously is going to be quality, but in the EPL in his false wing/10 position I'm not sure if he's exactly what we need...if he was a playmaker in a free role kind of like David Silva then possibly.

 

Strange that Morata has not been used more by Real this year, considering he's been doing pretty well in terms of productivity and Benz has been very much up and down.
I'd take him in an instant if other targets were not available. I absolutely believe he'd do very well in the Prem: he's superb technically, and he's got what it takes to deal with the physical nature of the play in the league. And he's got a knack to score important goals to boot.
It was good that he went back to Spain this season, but it's time for him to e the guy somewhere. He's ready.

 

Morata would be immense. I can't imagine he'd have any difficulty with cold, windy nights at Stoke.

 

Morata? Ugh.

 

Not good enough for United?

 

How do you figure? He's rolling around on the ground most of the time against physical powerhouse teams like Las Palmas.

 

I feel like lately we're talking about all the players I don't like, but no I think he's bang average. He scores big goals but isn't consistent enough in front of goal for me. That and he thinks hold up play consists of falling over and hoping for fouls.

What I do like is his speed and size. He's relatively strong in the build up (when he's not falling over) and he attacks the ball pretty well in the box.

I'd prefer some of the other names we've been linked with like Mbappe or Belotti over him.

 

To be honest, I have not seen Morata rolling around on the ground against the likes of Las Palmas. Does he feign bogus injury or is he actually injury prone? Or does he just lie on the ground, refusing to get up while play goes on?

 

Since we have a huge budget I have no objection to shooting higher than Morata, but if nothing else Morata does seem custom-built for the English prem. He score with either foot or head and would make a fool of most English defenders. Whether he can lead us into battle against CL opponents is another matter.

There are other players I'd go to first, but if the door is shut on those other players -- Karloski's insider knowledge of Griezmann's disinterest in United being more than slightly plausible -- a player like Morata would be a interesting addition to the squad.

Jose's thinking might be influenced by what he sees of Ibra's future with United might be. As much as I acknowledge whatr Ibra has done for the club in just one season I personally think it's time for him to go to MLS. But I don't know if Jose agrees with that.

 

I believe he's somewhere close to 15 goals on the season in a backup capacity dude. I've watched him close most of the season and he has shown he can score at a regular clip and should get an opportunity to be the #1 guy somewhere. He definitely doesn't his time rolling on the floor either: I remember that game vs Las Palmas and he obviously was having a bad day. It happens to anyone. I really don't think it's out of bounds to state that he's been more effective thanBenz this season either and deserves a lot more game time than he has.
He's not my first or second option, but after Auba and Mbappe, I'd have issues whatsoever taking him

 

I don't think Morata is a bad player, I'm sure he's do fine here. But I'd rather give Rashford minutes than Morata. Morata is better now but Rashford has a much higher ceiling. Maybe that's Joses thinking. Bring a guy in that can fight for minutes with Rashford but isn't a guaranteed starter.

Frankly the more I watch or Belloti the more I want him here. The way he attacks the ball in the box is world class and very rare these days. I haven't seen enough of him to be confident of how he his in the buildup. @Teso Dos Bichos could probably answer that better than me. He watches a lot of Serie A.

 

I just picked a La Liga team, I didnt even watch him vs them. I'm just saying in general he flops around a lot. More than I would like from a guy his size. He needs to be stronger on the ball.

 

Point remains about Morata, he's like anyone else and will have bad games: as a matter of fact, coming most times as a sub, he'll probably have more tendencies of looking average. He still managed to be very productive in a very limited role. And whether you realized it or not, he did kind of fail in both games vs Las Palmas where he came as a sub in a tied game both times and was not abl to score.
As far as Belotti is concerned, I like what I've seen from him as well, quite a bit. The only concerns may be considered superficial, but given the price he'd cost, it matters to me. First, he's a striker coming from Serie A and like it or not, they rarely have a good tracking record outside of Italy. Immobile is the latest one, who fell on his face at Dortmund and magically when he returned to Italy, he was fine again (and there many examples like him).
The second concern is that this is the first time he's done so well in terms of production: he's never come close to his output of this season. He's the same age as Kane and Lukaku and they at least, have done it more consistently than Belotti before this season. His previous best is 6 goals in the league and I'm aware he might have been moved around some before this season, but still. That's a big jump in one season and it may be real, but still makes you wonder if he's some kind of one hit wonder, an Italian Carroll, Beattie or Johnson. The price Torino are asking for him makes that a huge gamble for me and it gives me pause. If he does it one more season, I'd be far more secure about him.

 

I can't imagine Morata would be super expensive. I'd be okay with him if it allowed to bolster CM with a stud and still get a winger, CB and FB.

 

As has been said, Morata would give Rashford more room to grow into the #9 role as his fee wouldn't require him to be first choice all season. Whether he'd want to leave RM for a club where he still might not be first choice (but would at least not bump him purely for a bigger name) is another matter. But I don't feel like Belotti makes sense at that price after 1 season - we'd be better off spending full whack on the right wing and just beefing up our #9 options.

 

Do not want, if we wanted a 9 who does not score enough should have kept Welbeck.

 

Pace. Pace. Pace. The space he would have should help. Barring that, there's still Mkhi.

 

Zidane treats Benzema like a son.

 

i think we also need a clear out this summer:
- zlatan (age, injury)
- rooney (performance)
- carrick (age)
- smalling (talent)
- jones (injury)
- darmian (talent)
- januzaj (iq)

 

Definitely looks like an opportunity lost for Zidane, given how both players have performed this season. I guess there is still time, technically, to still give Morata significant playing time, but Zidane appears locked on Benz, pretty much no matter what.
I'd definitely take without hesitation, if a couple of other targets did not pan out. Whoever gets him, should he move on, will get a good player poised for a breakout season...

 

Very confident it's not something you have to worry about. A clear out looks all but guaranteed and Jose will really look to get the squad he wants going into next season. The names above sound about right. Wouldn't be surprised if Blind is among them as well. Like Darmian, he's one I'd rather keep, but it's hard to see how he will be content with a backup to the backups role on the team.

 

Monaco appear determined to try and hold onto Mbappe a while longer, or make anyone who wants him stump up stupid money for him. According to the Times, they've set the price for their prized asset at £110mil.
That is a lot, even for big hitters like United, Real or City for a guy who is still a kid with relatively limited experience, even with a monster ceiling like him. They could be onto something though, with next year being a WC year, a competition he could take by storm possibly and who knows what they could get for him then.