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

The main problem is that signing someone who is a clear and distant 2nd choicer will never go down well, especially when replacing Lukaku who cost so much.

Haller would have been amazing but I wouldn't be surprised if he actually turned us down because we couldn't offer him a regular starting spot. People talk about Timo Werner but he will probably demand to be a starter too.

We'll be treating Rashford as if he's Harry Kane, looking for a Vincent Jansson or a Llorente rather than a proper threat to the 9 spot. We should be looking for a Son, but we're banking on Sancho to come next summer.

 

Nicolas Pepe would have been the perfect choice for us aside from Haller. Sure he's pricey but his talent and what he could offer us completely justifies it. Whether it's on the right side of a 4-3-3 or in support/partnership of Rashford in a front 2, he'd be a legitimate source of goals (and assists) that would more than make up for Lukaku not being in the squad.
As far as Ben Yedder is concerned, he's definitely not a top choice for me, mainly because of his age but, like it or not, he'd be another solid candidate for us to replace Lukaku. If he can find his feet and score the way he did in La Liga, he'd be a good source for goals off the bench (and he's used to a bench role from his Sevilla days). Provided he's on a short contract (2yrs, with a possible option for another if the club wants to), he could be a solid transitional option until we can figure out what we have or look for someone else entirely.
But Pepe is who I'd go for first: we'd face serious competition to get him but it's certainly worth the try, if nothing else. With a little luck and a nice wage packet, we might be have been able to entice him to join the club. All in favor of us trying for Sancho next summer but unless some pre-agreement has been made with him, it's a risk from the club to assume he'll join us. Putting aside where we'll be by then, but if he improves on his performance from this past season with Dortmund, he will have probably some of the other big clubs in Europe after him, which might be an issue in any pursuit of him.

 

Hang on - you want Pepe?

 

According to the Telegraph, Woody is trying to use Phil Jones in the Maguire deal.

 

Ah fuxk. That a sure way to increase maguire's price.

 

75 mill euro for De Ligt but 80 mill pounds for Maguire?

 

Yup!

 

Rodgers reiterating Leicester's position on Maguire.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...r-news/man-utd-city-maguire-transfer-16604245

Leicester obviously digging in and it will take a record fee for United to sign him. Not sure what the other options are but maybe United need to seriously explore them. Leicester won't budge on their stance: it's pretty clear.
They've also reportedly intimated there is a clock on any deal getting done, which is understandable from their point of view with 3wks left in the window.

 

******** it, time to move on, not worth it

 

Maguire is coming, just make peace with it.

 

I don’t understand how we haven’t offloaded anyone either. Crazy

 

It is. and I am worried about the midfield. We do not have retainers. I cannot stand Matic.

 

At this point even plastics can't stand Matic.

 

Longstaff is key to Bruce's plans...

https://www.skysports.com/football/...longstaff-key-to-steve-bruces-newcastle-plans

Familiar song, with the 'selling' clubs holding the cards and not particularly keen on letting their player go. A stance made even stronger with the players not playing ball by pushing for a move. Time to move on to targets: we've wasted serious time on a couple of guys already, apparently all for nothing.

 

I can't help but wonder if we are even exploring trade deals for some of our targets.

 

Unless we're actually operating under the radar on some signings, I dont see us getting a proper 6 or DLP this summer. We havent been seriously linked with anyone other than Longstaff. We had better at least get Bruno in this summer or we'll spend another season completely reliant on Pogba for creativity depending on when he's in the mood.

Otherwise, it sounds like we're really hoping on McT or Fred to take a big jump forward in the other double pivot with Pogba. And this is just me assuming we plan on playing the 433 with Pogba deeper like we've seen in preseason.

 

It was rumored that we offered Jones to bring down the Maguire price. Its a mystery why they werent interested.

 

The only thing that excites me about the “fickleness” is that, with Ole at the wheel lol, we are likely to see a lot of youth and academy guys.

 

I’m shocked we haven’t tried to sell Darmian this window. He was never the root of our problems but still should be easy to move.

 

I think the justification for not buying in that role is that we have numbers in the double pivot: Pogba, Matic, Fred, McT, AP makes five for two slots which in theory is more than enough, particularly because we know Pogba is going to play a ton if he's healthy. Of course if you look a bit deeper you see that Matic is cooked (and not a double pivot midfielder to being with), Pogba has been iffy at best in a double pivot role in the past, Fred had a shaky first year, and AP and McT are still completely unproven.

That's where it really shows that it has been six years since we had any sort of consistent footballing philosophy or an idea of how to build a squad. We've got lots of numbers but they're all mismatched both stylistically and in their roles in the squad. Same issue exists across the attacking band of 3.

 

The deadwood players being on high contracts makes those guys hard to move as it is. However, when enormous fees are tacked onto them to boot, it will make them even less desirable.
Putting a £25mil price tag on Rojo for instance, when he's coming off an injury plagued season and is on 150 grand a week, is never going to invite many suitors. It's almost as if United don't want him to move.
And I'm all for trying to not just give players away, but the club needs to be realistic as well and price those guys to move, or at the very least to generate some kind of interest.