Don't Panic! - The Winter 2019/2020 Transfer Thread

I saw we've been linked with Marcos Llorente as well. Seems like a Plan C type of signing. Sadly, it seems random enough to be true in our current state.

 

What has happened to Marcos Llorente? I don't watch much La Liga - but I was under the impression he was a good defensive midfielder who read the game well, but was never given a shot at Real Madrid because he wasn't enough of a name.

 

Apparently he isn’t that good because he’s been fourth string at Atlético since his transfer there. On a 6 month loan with the option to buy, I’d be interested to see what he’s got.

 

I know he's been poor at Atleti, but at Real I thought he was matching Rodri on per 90 stats - just not on actual minutes.

I'd be interested on a loan basis too.

 

Agreed. Him and Bruno would be very good winter business.

 

The latest on Fernandes, according to Dunc at least...

Bruno Fernandes state of play
• Sporting have been unable to include Manchester United players in the deal
• MUFC offer is €50m + €30m in variables
• Variables hard to achieve, eg win Premier League, Champions League
• Sporting want €65m + variableshttps://t.co/JJnBj4CzTf pic.twitter.com/Yrf7YdWv4E

— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) January 16, 2020

That would appear to confirm the claims made by Sky recently that both clubs are still apart in terms of their valuation.
Not hard to see things possibly dragging on then: let's just hope that Judge trying to play hardball will not ultimately scupper the whole deal. I imagine that an offer of 60mil, plus add ons in the region of 10-15max should get it done. If we fail to close on this, that would just be very, very bad. No 2 ways about it...

 

Who knows what will happen with Fernandes, in light of the latest rumors but if we were to only close on him, this window gets a B/B-: he covers an area of need in a big way but there are still lots of potential issues.
If, by some miracle, we get Fernandes and Soumare, it goes all the way up to an A, possibly even an A+. Soumare is the 6/8 we need badly, whether Pogs end up leaving or not. He can help us on some level right now and has sky high potential to boot.
Llorente is an unknown at this point, since his pt so far this term has been very limited: a loan is worth taking a shot (as long as we decide whether to buy him or not). Although he's not Plan A, would still keep tabs on Can: he still hasn't left and if Juve are willing to let him go cheaply, he could be a solid solution for us ( familiar with the league and can fill in in different positions and setups). Not sure what other CMs who are remotely available at this time also, making the options pretty limited in the end.
Let's see what happens with Fernandes though: eventhough things moving slowly is par for the course as far as we are concerned, it does little to settle the nerves all the same...

 

And here you are right back in the muppet patch... stop drinking your moonshine, it clearly has methanol in it.

 

It’s a hypothetical dummy. I don’t think it will happen. And I’m not getting my hopes up.

But that methanol moonshine does sound good.

 

Don't know how wired in or credible Goncalo Lopes really is, but he's claiming that Fernandes is starting to turn the screws on Sporting and has made it clear he wants to go.
It's rumored also that he's made it known he'd rather not play in tomorrow's game vs Benfica. Him making his stance clear and picking sides like that could actually be the nudge needed to help bring this deal to its conclusion.
Even if I think that United still have to increase their offer, as previously mentioned. Not sure that 50mil (plus another 30 in hard to reach add ons) will cut it.

 

I think we'll end up w/ Bruno, it will come down to who blinks first. I believe we are/were interested in Bruno but that interest accelerated probably when his agent told United they needed cash or Bruno wanted out. As such, if a sale is imminent either this window or the summer, it made sense to purchase now when many teams either don't have wage space or minutes to offer/integrate a player like him mid-season.

Even if we were interested in Bruno the summer past, our wages were ludicrous w/ Sanchez and Lukaku still on the books.

I think w/ Smalling**, Young, Fellaini & Lukaku's wages gone we've gone a long way towards freeing up room to sign players.

Like it or not, we had an incredibly bloated squad.

Ole has done wonders in terms of trimming some of the fat. If we can be rid of Rojo, Jones and Matic as well, we'll be in fantastic shape.

Obviously we need to add a 6/8, but I think it was @benni... who suggested an older DLP type... I'm all for that. I don't want to block the path of Garner & Levitt. I think we should be prioritizing their PT towards the end of this season and as much as possible in the cups right now.

People keep saying we need multiple midifielders... I think if we add Bruno and he's playing 8/10 or 10, we only need one midfielder. Play Matic every 4th game and rotate Fred, New CM & the kids until Pogba is back.

**given the way Smalling is playing, highly likely he gets bought outright if not by Roma then by another Serie A club.


As much as it pains me to say it, we are probably going to ship Jesse out and it isn't the worst decision. I think he has enough to offer the club, but not if we sign Bruno and if that happens, the minutes he would get should go to a young player or to AP.


EDIT:

Sell De Gea... too inconsistent. We've got plenty of GK talent right now and De Gea is on insane wages. If there's a taker at a penny over 50M, bite their hand off.

 

Sporting's DoF has reportedly said that he is happy with the deal that has been brokered for Fernandes. It looks in the bag. Finally.

 

Yea but he’ll still play today which is ********ing bullshit.

 

1218184961158787076 is not a valid tweet id

 

Still waiting for confirmation from someone reliable but it sounds like its close.

The more I think about this signing the more I think that Bruno is being bought as a Pogba replacement which is why we werent in for him last summer. If that's true, it doesnt make sense to still be in for Maddison or Grealish in the summer like is being reported. Bruno is an offensive 8 that can play as a 10. Hes certainly not a 6 is probably best as the further forward in a midfield 3. Which would mean in the summer we need a starting quality 6 at the very least and ideally a young 8 that can compete for minutes.

A midfield of Bruno, Fred, McT, starting 6 (Partey would be nice), AP, Mata is not great but is serviceable. Id be looking to phase out Mata and probably AP and starting integrating Garner, Levitt, and Gomes if he stays.

 

Are we really counting on Levitt and Garner in the short term?

Im not expecting them to get decent minutes for a while. They are prospects,not prodigies.

Also, if we buy midfielders, I'd hope they'd push Fred and Mctominay down the pecking order, in turn pushing those two guys even further than they are now. I mean were thin and desperate yet they've started 2 games max. We've even play AP out of position.

I know lately they are recovering from injury/illness, but im just wondering

 

Garner and Levitt would surely benefit of going out on loan next season. How the club handled both Gomes and Chong, hopefully will serve as an example of what not to do.
Even if they have a good preseason with United, it's unlikely that neither will see significant time next season. And it's crucial for both to play as much as possible in order to continue their development.
If and when they have successful seasons on their loan stint, then it will show they could be ready for significant contributions to the first team. Which in turn will provide the manager with some options.
But yes, don't think they should be counted upon for the short term (year and a half, 2yrs probably even at minimum).

 

Bruno deal almost done but if we can land another CM and get rid of jones rojo it would be a decent window.

 

Castles saying we’ve offered £25 million for Bellingham. That’s an absurd amount of money for a 16 year old.

 

In terms of contributing major minutes? No. In terms of filling in for cup games and the odd PL fixture similar to what Mata has been doing? Sure.

We’re not going to get in 4 new midfielders in the winter and next summer so this is the reality we face.

 

Probably alot of incentives. We offered 30 for Rooney at 17.