News: Woody’s Roundup - The Summer 2019 Transfer Thread

Further to our transfers... we really need a clear out. I hope we can cut ties with a bunch of the deadweight we've got so we can start to make space for kids and the incoming players. I'm almost at the point where a clearout is more important that bringing players in.

Perhaps my biggest disappointment with Ole thus far is his use or not of AP and Fred. We need to figure out how/where they fit into our plans. I'd almost forgot about Fred and he's more than talented enough.


Aside from top 4, my goal for the rest of the season is to blood youth and squad players to see what we have.

 

We could have done with more Fred at least in some of the easier ties before this brutal run of games we're in now.

 

Ndombele is easily my choice. He was spectacular against Barca, I thought he could only do it in the Ligue 1, he was doing it against Rakitic and Busquets.

Fred will excel next year. This year is a big change for him footballing wise and career wise. He needs time.

If we manage to get Ndombele I would be happy. I would ecstatic if we get either Under or Sancho.

 

I'd take Felipe Andersen in a heartbeat. Has adjusted well to the league, and all while playing for a team that is very hot and cold. Sancho and Under are fantastic prospects as well. Would love any of the 3 tbh.

Haven't seen much of Ndombele. Will have to keep my eyes out next time Lyon are on tv.

 

Please. He played 25 times U16 thru U21 for Ireland and 3 senior friendlies and awarded Irish young player of the year.

 

I don't like the idea of Anderson just because he's a LW. We've seen in the past that wingers can't always switch sides and just work out.

Plus, he'd likely cost 50-60m. At that price, we might as well tag on the extra 20-30 and make a play at Sancho, whom we know can play on the right and is seven years younger.

 

FA can play on the right (has done consistently so with Lazio) but he is just notoriously inconsistent as well, which is the main worry for me. He's a fallback option at best for me. And as noted, for the price he'd cost there are solutions who are younger and with a higher ceiling. Starting with Sancho, but there are others as well.

 

Sancho or nobody for me. If we cant get him, I'd rather just wait a year and divert those funds elsewhere.

 

I'm all about Sancho as well. I'd be down for a delayed buy. Buy him, let them keep him for a year and then send him then. Maybe get Felipe Anderson for depth in the mean time.

 

Buying both Sancho and FA makes absolutely no sense. We're looking at a 130-140mil Pound outlay at minimum. It's not realistic in the least when we have so much other needs on the table.
Hoping for a 200mil kitty but who knows if Woodward will make that much available. That would be the ideal minimum to get what we need to compete as soon as next season...

 

Except that it does. I'm assuming we can move Sanchez out this summer and free up his wages. We need depth on the wing. If Rashford and Lukaku are our 9s and Martial is our LW we really only have one legit wing option and that is Tony. If we got FA, he'd play some at RW and some at LW in Martial's place when he's resting or injured. He's also a different type of option at LW for games when we need someone who works a little harder than Martial does.

If in the 2020 season we had attacking options of:

Lukaku, Rashford, Lingard, Martial, Greenwood, Sancho, Anderson for 3 spots I'm more than ok with it, particularly as Anderson could potentially play at RB in an emergency or RWB if we ever need to play 3 at the back.

 

Bring in Sancho, Neves, and De Ligt this summer and we're set. It'll only cost around 170 mil, no big deal.

Muppet out!

 

^^Sounds more like you want to pooch the majority of our kitty on your cravings instead of genuine squad management.

We have two positions with more pertinent needs, spending 75% of the kitty on RW is not realistic. That leaves 50m, tops, for CB, CDM, and some FB cover.

What's the most we've ever spent in a single window? It has to be the Pogba or Lukaku summer, surely.

 

How do you know what our budget is, and how do you know how much it will take to get Sancho? Aside from what the papers say.

 

I think £200m is a reasonable assumption. But it does need to stretch across at least 3 positions. We can't really afford to go big on two signings in one position, especially not RW where we have so much potential coming through.

 

If we're gonna buy a new RW, I think we'll get best value out of Lozano. Also, the fact that he's Mexican will provide a huge return on investment.

For CB, I'd go for Toby, seeing as how we should be able to get him cheap. As far as DMs go, I really can't think of any elite options that are realistically attainable.

 

Considering our list of top needs, getting Sancho for instance and FA is just redundant. Getting both means, in all likelihood, that we'd probably miss out on the top CB or holding mid that we need.
As far as finding for a depth for Martial on the left, we still have Rashford who can play out there, if needed. A change of formation to a 4-4-2, diamond for instance can parry any absence from Martial as well..
New RW/RWF, Lukaku, Rashford, Martial, Lingard, and blooding Greenwood plus, possibly Chong is a frontline I can absolutely live with. If we can add a CB, 6 and possibly a RB, that would make for the perfect summer and probably give us a team capable of contending next season ​

 

Realistically I'd say we bring in 3 maybe 4 players this summer. One of those positions will be CB. We'll likely spend big here on someone since it's been a problem for so long and since management has seen what someone like VVD can do for a defense.

CDM is somewhere I, and many others, think we need to improve but there are few signs that management feels the same way unfortunately. I bet we don't invest here and our midfield is more or less unchanged next season.

Fullback is somewhere I think we need to improve but the team is clearly happy with Shaw at LB with Young as starting RB. Dalot will be given chances. Valencia is on his way out. Darmian will be gone as well. So it's clear we need more cover here so I think we'll invest here since TFM hasn't shown that hes ready for major minutes. I could see us making a budget signing for fullback cover.

RW has to be a priority. Given that Ole has shown that his plan B is to pivot to a diamond midfield we'd ideally need someone who can play RW and as a 10. Sancho is easily top of the list right now and checks all the boxes. I could see us pushing for a marquee signing here but I don't see anyone that's available that would fit. Dybala would be perfect if we intend and persisting with playing a 10 that drifts inside at RW but Juve wont let him go. Not sure what happens here. I dont know if the club will spend big at RW and CB and CB is clearly the priority from everything we've heard.

My prediction is we spend big at CB, maybe RW, no CDM, and get a depth guy at fullback. How big the club wants to go at RW will decide if we spend 100 mil this summer or 170 mil.

 

With the clearout that is needed, there's no reason we can't pick up a CM, CB, RW and FB. A lot depends on method of recruitment. Dalot for example was an excellent pick up. We can tool up w/ 2 starters and 2 potential starters for 200 to 250 with ease. More important than the fees are the wages we can clear if we can drop Sanchez and 4 or 5 other players.

 

I feel that having a good RW and CM would mask a lot of our other position, for e.g. a better DM would help out with CB and a better RW means we could easily play a non width/attacking RB and get away with it.

 

This. We also have youth at CB in Tuanzebe and Bailly has a high ceiling. We could potentially be fine, especially with a high line and an improved CM as you say. If we landed a proper RW and a CM that matched Ander's output but slightly more defensive, I think the CBs we have are fine.

 

I am with you, I do not see a can not miss CB and would like to give Bailey and Tuanzebe a go. Hate him but Smalling is a steady CB for majority of the season if the young ones do not pan out.

 

Because we won't spend unrealistically above our largest ever outlay - if even that high. We are a public corporation - a business - we won't spend ridiculous amounts. Our largest ever net spend, to date, has been 175m Euros - in the Lukaku summer.

Dortmund sold Puli for 58m GBP. He's a bench player for them this year - it's reasonable to think that Sancho would cost somewhere between 80-105m.

My '^^' was referring to Johno, just by the way, but to address the rest - - -

I agree wholeheartedly on CB. Ole is 'auditioning' Jones/Smalling/Bailly, and giving them a fair chance, but I can't say any of them have grabbed the opportunity and proved that they are good enough to be a starting CB here. So I agree that we will break bank to bring in a younger big name with at least 5-7 seasons in them. I'd be willing to accept a veteran signing though - I think Tuanzebe will turn out to be the real deal. He looks so composed every time I watch him play it gives me the chills.

Ironically, I disagree about midfield, despite being Matic's only supporter here it seems lol. I think we might bring in multiple CM's. Matic will be 31 at the start of next season. I could see us spending big to get in a good CDM, and then cover for Ander. Ole, to date, hasn't shown that he trusts Pereira or Fred to deputize for Herrera. So I think we could also be in for another CM as a back up to Herrera. This space could be clarified a lot in the run-in - depending on Ole's use of, and the respective performance by, Fred/Pereira.

I don't think we'll spend any significant money on wing backs. I could see a coverage signing - or us keeping one of Darmian/Val. Shaw/Dalot/Young + Tuanzebe/TFM and one of Val/Darmian is ample defensive coverage and quality. Dalot/Shaw (we disagree on Shaw) are, to me, good enough to be our starting FB's. Dalot provides more attacking penetration and Shaw more defensive tact.

I don't like the idea of Dybala coming here - I've just never been a fan of his - particularly when it comes to cutting it in England. He doesn't have the 'United' mentality to me. We agree on Sancho being the best prospect. I just don't know if we have the appetite to pay what it'll cost to pry him away from Dortmund.

My perfect summer would be:
40m - Declan Rice
95m - Sancho
55-70m - CB

We need to offload some first teamers worth weight to make that realistically happen, however. As that would put us well past our largest ever expenditure totals.

 

I certainly don't see us bringing in more than one CM, hopefully one to take over for Matic in time, who himself should still play a significant role in the team. The best solution for me in terms of adding depth is to bring back Timmy, play him in midfield where he really belongs and see how he develops there (be it as a 6 or an 8).
Fred as mentioned in his thread will see at least another season with us and I expect him to come good by next term. AP is the major question mark at this point: his contract expires at the end of the season, but there is an option for another season, which unlike most options at the club is not dependent solely on the club, but on both parties. So his situation is up in the air at this point, since he has a day in what comes next.
Would love for him to stay and becoming the main replacement for Pogs or for Lingard in the squad, when we play with a diamond 4 in midfield. A midfield corp of : Pogba, Herrera, new CM, Matic, Timmy, Fred and AP, especially if the latter 2 can finally get going, looks pretty good, solid to me and with plenty of upside as well.

Sidenote: Paying anwhere near 100mil Pounds for Sancho is madness. If Dortmund sold Pulisic for 58, one would think that 70 might be enough to convince them to do business. I'm not doubting his talent obviously, but the fact remains he's got one productive season at top flight level. Even Dembele, had a full season in Ligue Un, before the one he logged in in the Buli with Dortmund.