The North Remembers - Winter 2018/19 Transfer Thread

I love how he compares us to Liverpool and says we just need a top-class CB to solidify our team. Um, Pool had a world class attack before getting VVD. We have a static bunch of dross. Not saying we don't need a CB, but we're not one CB away from being a changed team.

 

He never said anything about Koulibaly's signature single handedly transforming the whole team, he said that he could transform our defense (Bailly and Lindelof in particular).
And as expensive as he would be, it's probably correct. Bailly and Lindelof are decent CBs, but they clearly both need a someone bigger in stature to get the best of their capabilities.
We still have needs elsewhere, it's no secret at this point, but adding a world class CB like Koulibaly, would really change our whole backline for the better, with one area hopefully being completely taken care of. 90mil is a lot of money, but from that perspective, it could be worth it, just like van Dijk clearly has been for Pool.

 

If we could nab Koulibaly in January and get such a big purchase out of the way prior to the summer, it really could be beneficial in several fronts. First, and even with Mourinho still at the helm, having Koulibaly in English football for a few extra months will be good for him to get acclimated to the style of the league. It would also give him the opportunity to get familiar with his defensive teammates and start working on the understanding and relationship they will need to create in order to build a strong unit.
With the CB spot taken care of in January, it will leave the club free to focus on the right sides forward and midfielder we will be looking for also. After spending 90mil on one player, I imagine we'll probably be looking at another 100mil available in the summer. A kitty which we can increase substantially with the sales of Jones (should easily get 25mil for him minimum), Rojo (15-20mil easy) and Darmian (10mil). That should net us around 150mil potentially this summer: more than enough to get us the 2 players (or more?) we'd be looking to add.
A DoF or someone similar is so imperative though as Arsenal have shown last summer how having a guy who knows what he's doing (like they have in Sven Mislintat) and one who knows what/where to look for players, there are some great deals/bargains to be had. Still don't know what we were thinking allowing Ribalta to leave. That was just stupid
In the end though as stated previously, nothing we do from point forth is to Mourinho's benefit. He'll be gone at the end of the season at the latest and it's all about the next manager, whoever that will be. And building the team for next season and beyond.

 

Let's not forget we have to sell our No.7 also

 

A lot more complicated due to his exorbitant salary. Don't see who, besides some Chinese club (if he was willing to go there) who would pay money for him. The only European club who might be inclined to do so are PSG and that will not happen unless Neymar and/or Mbappe leave.
Not to mention there is always the small hope that a more capable manager would actually get something out of him as well. He was considered an elite talent not so long ago, after all.

 

Alderweireld has liked a tweet suggesting him as a Manchester United transfer target......
We may not go for 80-90m Koulibily...

 

Koulibaly, because he's a little younger, is the first option at CB. But Alderweireld would be perfectly fine as an alternative and the type of veteran presence we need in our backline.
Nothing has changed for the last year and a half in that department really.

 

Alderweireld will cost around 40-50£million so financial aspect will come in to play and he is PL proven no need for time to adapt but i would love us to smash transfer for Koulibaly..He is quick and can complement Baily or Lindelof perfectly...or all three of them will do if we switch to 3-5-2 ..

 

Alderweild is another dumb, short sided move. We're not ready to compete for anything now and one new CB won't change that. So rather than give big money to a 29 year old CB, why not get someone younger that will be entering his prime when were actually ready to complete?

 

While my preferred choice is Koulibaly, I don't agree with the assertion that we're not ready to compete. Odds are that with a change of manager, the right one, we have a team that, at minimum, should be able to compete in some way with the best ones in the league (the top London clubs at the very least) and the Top 4 well within our grasp. The title is definitely too far, but the same can be said for all the teams in the Prem, except for Pool.
If we can not make a move for Koulibaly happen in January (or in the summer for that matter) I would not try for Alderweireld until the summer, at which time we could get him for as low as 20-25mil (forgot the exact amount of his release clause then). Alderweireld, just as he was last summer, would be the stabilizing presence we need to make us stronger across the back. And at 30, we probably still can count on him for 2 full seasons, by which time, our up and coming prospects (plus hopefully Lindelof and Bailly) will have fully matured and be ready to be our headlining CBs going forward.

 

Axel is far from a sure thing, but he's a very complete footballer. I would think moving for an older CB would help bridge that 2-3 year gap where Axel learns on the job.

 

This is the problem, top 4 is not competing. We should be aimer for the PL title. If you look at our squad top to bottom, ignoring how bad of a manager Jose is, we're nowhere near the likes of City or even Pool from a talent perspective. That needs to change. A positive manager will help a lot, but it would take a miracle for this current squad to match City .

 

The Top 4 is where we have to start for now, if for no other reason because of the sheer amount of competition at the top in the league currently. And my opinion has not changed in regards to the quality of the squad. It needs some additions, no doubt, but we have plenty of excellent pieces, that once again, under the right manager, would make us a completely different and competitive team.
In terms of squad strength, from top to bottom, City are on an island all by themselves, but as they currently are constituted, none of the other squads at the top are clearly superior to ours imo. All these other teams, be it Pool, Spurs, Chelsea or Arsenal, are simply getting the most out of the quality they have. Something we're not even close from doing at the moment under Mourinho.

 

Napoli chairman confirmed that he rejected 95£million bid from united in summer as jose was desperate for him. He also told its impossible for him to leave Napoli. He doesnt fuxk around Cavani had to force his way out of Napoli and iirc Cavani did not turned up for pre season as Laurentis was not willing to depart ...

 

Might as well lock this bitch up. I cant imagine we're going to let Ole bring in any players. Without any structure in place there's no reason to make any moves. Save the money for summer.

 

As stated elsewhere, our circumstances currently would indicate we won't be making any moves next month. But United being United, the rumor mill will not stop and also, really wouldn't put anything past Woodward either.
If by chance there is a deal to be made for a quality player and one we need, however unlikely it will be, I'd hope we will pull the trigger also.

 

New contracts for de Gea and Martial would be a successful window.

 

Agree with u Ashur but still there are rumours ( :| ) that united will look to sign Costa (RW) and Milankovic (CB). Baffling it would be but it will sum up Ed.

 

Hopefully it’s just a matter of time before he puts a pen to paper.

De Gea favours United over Juve, PSG after accepting Spain return is a non-starter https://t.co/dhqnoaRUEc

— Mark Ogden (@MarkOgden_) December 20, 2018

 

Now with Jose gone, hopefully it will be a start of many thing with Pogba Martial and DeGea.

 

To an extent, but the club still has a scouting department and the same reason they could say no to Toby for a $1bajillion and Perisic for any money is the same reason there could be long-term targets that the club wants/wanted that may become available. They may also say you can have X$ plus whatever you raise with sales so long as they aren't guys like AM, DDG or Pogba etc.

That might not be the best thing, but getting a headstart on clearing out the dross would be great. If we could get rid of Matic, Valencia, Jones and Fellaini that would be a really positive window. If we could add a top quality RW or CB then obviously that would be a superb window. Either way, heading into the summer with most of the dross gone and just having to engineer exits for Sanchez and Mata would be brilliant.

 

Why Mata ? He doesnt moan or bitch about playing time and is a very talented squad player.

 

He's not 'dross' and honestly neither is Fellaini if used the right way, but for similar reasons, neither are our future.

Mata is a good player but he's (just) the wrong side of 30 and a complimentary attacking player rather than a dominant one. Most teams at the level we aspire to be at don't have a 'passenger' in attack. Those that do, don't play that player on the wing. Even if you considered say Firmino to be a passenger in Liverpool's attack, the truth is he's one of their most important defensive players. His ball-recovery, his pressing and his work in the gegenpress is irreplaceable.

Mata's good, but if we want to take it up a notch, we can't waste time with a good but not excellent attacker. In a squad role it is nice, but I'd much rather we were developing Gomes, Chong or Greenwood or a young talent we buy rather than giving those minutes to a player who is not going to take us to the next level.

Same thing w/ Fellaini. He's a better midfielder than Matic and a useful battering ram for the end of matches, but he's just not good enough to play ahead of players already at the club anything other than minutes at the end of the game but to be sharp enough to make that impact, he's got to play other minutes too. I'd much rather we work to get into positions to not need late rescue jobs.