Stickied Transfer Rumours 2018/19

[Stevencc]

Had we bought every Real Madrid player ever over the last few years they might just resent us enough to report us

 

[Bilo]

Had we bought every Real Madrid player ever over the last few years they might just resent us enough to report us

Aye, lucky you can only buy their rejects.

 

[Nilsson]

Guess I'll have to trust Jose on this one. The more I hear about him from people who've followed his career the more I'm warming to the idea.

 

[Stevencc]

Aye, lucky you can only buy their rejects.

Or buy players, turn them into the best in the world and wait til Madrid take a fancy to them

 

[Bilo]

Or buy players, turn them into the best in the world and wait til Madrid take a fancy to them

I know mate, I know.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Ibrahimovic released by United.

 

[Renegade]

Can we get done for tapping Morata up? Please? I miss Ibra already.

 

[Stevencc]

Ibra

 

[SALTIRE]

We'll take a crocked Ibra! By the way FSG are messing up this window yet again it looks like Solanke will be our only signing!

 

[SALTIRE]

We'll take a crocked Ibra! By the way FSG are messing up this window yet again it looks like Solanke will be our only signing!

Actually, scrap that idea, they'd have to pay his wages, knowing them they'd want to offer him shares in the Red Sox instead.

 

[Nilsson]

Reports that we want Belotti too.

Would make sense as the plan was to sign Griezmann + another striker.

And going into the season with Rashford, Martial and (maybe) Morata as forward options looks ok but not enough if we want to sustain serious challenges in the PL and CL.

 

[Renegade]

Not exactly sure what the point is - sign them both and hope at least one of them is a success? I'm much more inclined to signing Belotti, but surely neither player would be happy sitting on the bench after being signed for potentially £60 million or £74 million? Play them together or Belotti on the wing? He's better as a striker. Where does that leave Rashford, Martial, Mkhitaryan and possibly Perisic?

Also, why aren't these Perisic rumours dying down? United already have much better options. Going to have a lot of depth...

 

[Stevencc]

Jose considered Rooney a striker and we've lost Ibra so the prospect of losing both of them is possibly prompting him to get two strikers in, with Rashford being our only striker and Martial being played primarily as a winger.

It's not the way I'd do it and it certainly isn't the best use of the finite funds we have available but that's the only way I can make sense of going for both of them, assuming that we actually are doing that.

We'll still need a defensive midfielder (Fabinho rumoured), winger/attacking midfielder (James/Perisic rumoured) and a centre back (Lindelof rumoured).

 

[Nilsson]

Not exactly sure what the point is - sign them both and hope at least one of them is a success? I'm much more inclined to signing Belotti, but surely neither player would be happy sitting on the bench after being signed for potentially £60 million or £74 million? Play them together or Belotti on the wing? He's better as a striker. Where does that leave Rashford, Martial, Mkhitaryan and possibly Perisic?

Also, why aren't these Perisic rumours dying down? United already have much better options. Going to have a lot of depth...

Does Mourinho have much of a history of playing 2 strikers together? I remember Milito and Eto'o at Inter. I could see Morata and Belotti playing off eachother, especially against teams that sit back at OT. Not to mention that we're going be playing a lot of games next season, I doubt either of them would be lacking sufficient game time.

And apparently Inter are very reluctant to sell Perisic. But I can see why Jose wants him, we don't exactly have a direct winger type.

 

[Renegade]

Do United really need another winger or attacking midfielder? Or has everyone given up on Mkhitaryan (who I think is a superior player to Perisic) and Martial? Still have Mata too. I think Rashford should be starting every game, but that's looking less and less likely with each passing day. Morata might spend most of his career on the bench if Belotti shows up and hits the ground running.

 

[Nilsson]

Do United really need another winger or attacking midfielder? Or has everyone given up on Mkhitaryan (who I think is a superior player to Perisic) and Martial? Still have Mata too. I think Rashford should be starting every game, but that's looking less and less likely with each passing day. Morata might spend most of his career on the bench if Belotti shows up and hits the ground running.

But Perisic is very different to Martial, Mata or Micky.

We were always going to add more attacking options this summer given how woeful we were infront of goal last season.

I'm sure Jose has a plan, he's built plenty of title winning squads before. Apparently his 5 man transfer list consists of Lindolof, Fabinho, Perisic, Belotti and Morata. With Zlatan, Rooney, Young and probably Jones likely to leave I'd say that would dramatically improve our squad.

 

[Renegade]

£50 million on a back up/rotational winger and £134+ million on two rotational strikers just seems absurd to me, especially given the current young talent in the squad. If United are looking for a different type of winger, I'd prefer if they simply sold Martial or Mkhitaryan and purchase someone of similar or superior talent in the position. I guess this is what happens when you become the Galacticos.

 

[Stevencc]

Do United really need another winger or attacking midfielder? Or has everyone given up on Mkhitaryan (who I think is a superior player to Perisic) and Martial? Still have Mata too. I think Rashford should be starting every game, but that's looking less and less likely with each passing day. Morata might spend most of his career on the bench if Belotti shows up and hits the ground running.

I don't think anyone has given up on Mkhitaryan, hopefully he is a nailed on starter going into the coming season. It's Martial that has the question marks, in Jose's mind, and any winger/attacking midfield purchase we make will almost certainly be at his expense rather than Mkhitaryan's.

I really don't know how Jose sees Mata anymore.

 

[snortingfrogs]

Brighton wants Joe Gomez.

 

[G.B]

"Sources" reckon we've put a bid in for Henry Onyekuru and offered him a contract. Eibar's sporting directed has strongly hinted we're close on Lejeune. And we've released 4 players including Anita which I think is daft as he'd really settled in to the right back role.

 

[JimJams]

So Man Utd have tainted Ibras record of title winning at every major club he's been at.
That puts you on a par with Malmo then.

 

[Bilo]

Does Mourinho have much of a history of playing 2 strikers together? I remember Milito and Eto'o at Inter.

Inter is a good example you bring up, it's a side of Mourinho perhaps not noted very well in England, namely that he can be incredibly good at adapting when he needs to. The stereotype is "he wins but he spends", but it's not necessarily true. Below is a good 5 minute video going over the adaptions he did at Inter to use the squad he had to the full potential. Basically, if he has two strikers he wants on the pitch, he'll find a way.

 

[JimJams]

The thing is if he wants play someone in a similar role to Eto'o then he has better options in Martial and Rashford who can play that wide forward position.
Now Belotti might be able to play that role, I dunno, Ive not seen him do it, but he's come to the fore as a striker, a frontman. Shunting him wide might be ok, it is for some, but others it's a waste. Vardy is a prime example of that. He's great up front, but he's a poor winger. You shouldnt spunk the kind of money these players are going to cost if you dont play them where they made their mark.

 

[SALTIRE]

So Pepe le Pew leaves Real Madrid. After the VVD fiasco, I wouldn't say no to a bit of Pepe, he's exactly what we need.

 

[Jamie_SFC]

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/re...opp-botched-liverpool-transfer-190009053.html

Disappointed with VvD if that's true.

 

[G.B]

Inter is a good example you bring up, it's a side of Mourinho perhaps not noted very well in England, namely that he can be incredibly good at adapting when he needs to. The stereotype is "he wins but he spends", but it's not necessarily true. Below is a good 5 minute video going over the adaptions he did at Inter to use the squad he had to the full potential. Basically, if he has two strikers he wants on the pitch, he'll find a way.

The thought behind the video, showing Mourinho's ability to change his tactics as and when needed is nice, but his knowledge of that side is poor. It's a good idea for video as that squad was extremely flexible but it's a bit inaccurate. Cesar was never a sweeper keeper in that system, he said himself the defence would tend to sit deep which sort of makes it pretty obvious there is no need for such a role. It's weird he calls Cesar a sweeper keeper because he seems to have focused on the tactics from a select few high profile games, and in those games Inter would often have 6 men on the edge of their own box without the ball (sometimes in their own box) with the 2 central midfielders slightly in front of them pressuring the opposition and Sneijder as a spare man ready to receive the ball once won back. For the system the uploader chose to focus on, he got the wide men the wrong way round. Eto'o generally played on the left in the 4-2-3-1 and Pandev, who was only signed during the January window and had fewer minutes that season than Balotelli (who played the same sort of role(s) and I don't think was even mentioned?), on the right. Zanetti played multiple positions, but mainly deeper in central midfield to cover Maicons forward runs, with Chivu playing as the main left back. Zanetti covered there when Chivu had his injury but Chivu was always the preferred left back. Motta was ahead of Stankovic in the midfield pecking order but again, was barely mentioned. If not for injuries to Motta, Stankovic would have seen a lot less minutes. Mourinho played a 4-3-1-2 for much of the season too, among others (4-3-3, 4-3-2-1 etc.), with little creativity in the midfield 3 and relying on Sneijder to make things happen. Criminal Sneijder didn't win the Ballon d'Or that year btw. An odd and misinformed video overall.

 

[SALTIRE]

https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/re...opp-botched-liverpool-transfer-190009053.html

Disappointed with VvD if that's true.

Well he is Dutch.

 

[Bilo]

The thought behind the video, showing Mourinho's ability to change his tactics as and when needed is nice, but his knowledge of that side is poor. It's a good idea for video as that squad was extremely flexible but it's a bit inaccurate. Cesar was never a sweeper keeper in that system, he said himself the defence would tend to sit deep which sort of makes it pretty obvious there is no need for such a role. It's weird he calls Cesar a sweeper keeper because he seems to have focused on the tactics from a select few high profile games, and in those games Inter would often have 6 men on the edge of their own box without the ball (sometimes in their own box) with the 2 central midfielders slightly in front of them pressuring the opposition and Sneijder as a spare man ready to receive the ball once won back. For the system the uploader chose to focus on, he got the wide men the wrong way round. Eto'o generally played on the left in the 4-2-3-1 and Pandev, who was only signed during the January window and had fewer minutes that season than Balotelli (who played the same sort of role(s) and I don't think was even mentioned?), on the right. Zanetti played multiple positions, but mainly deeper in central midfield to cover Maicons forward runs, with Chivu playing as the main left back. Zanetti covered there when Chivu had his injury but Chivu was always the preferred left back. Motta was ahead of Stankovic in the midfield pecking order but again, was barely mentioned. If not for injuries to Motta, Stankovic would have seen a lot less minutes. Mourinho played a 4-3-1-2 for much of the season too, among others (4-3-3, 4-3-2-1 etc.), with little creativity in the midfield 3 and relying on Sneijder to make things happen. Criminal Sneijder didn't win the Ballon d'Or that year btw. An odd and misinformed video overall.

Thanks for this well informed input GB, another good example of why your misinformed posts regarding Liverpool make so little sense.

It's 1am and I'm too tired to get back to you in any detailed but while the video is simplified, it's not as misinformed as you suggest imo, even though I also noted the winger thing. That happens awfully often though, about 90% of the lineups this past season had Matip/Lovren the wrong way round. I never quite got why it keeps happening.

Anyway, the point of referencing the video was to show Mou's flexibility and to some his extent undeserved reputation in England.

I think Sneijder was just a bit too much of a dick to win the Ballon d'Or to be honest. Like, you just don't want to vote for him. But you're not wrong on that point either.

 

[Renegade]

Boy Bilo, you must be tired.

Thanks for this well informed input GB, another good example of why your misinformed posts regarding Liverpool make so little sense.

It's 1am and I'm too tired to get back to you...

I understand getting centre backs mixed up, but I'm not sure how the guy forgot Eto'o was on the left wing. Surely you would remember if Maicon and Eto'o were on the same wing? Eto'o was always loitering on the left wing for Barcelona too. Damn, what a player he was, the deal with Ibrahimovic is one of the best ever made.

 

[Bilo]

Eto'o was always loitering on the left wing for Barcelona too.

No, that's why it's possible to get mixed up. When the false 9 switch was made (10 mins into the 6-2 at Real) Henry was on the left, Eto'o was on the right. And while he was predominately on the left for Inter, he wasn't exclusively played there (which I'm not sure that anyone has stated?). He played mostly on the left and sometimes on the right, which makes it a forgivable mix-up imo.

Edit: Also, didn't Eto'o play on the right in both those high profile games against Barca? At least at home, he put in some beautiful crosses that game (both Sneijder's and Milito's goals came from right handed Eto'o crosses). I don't remember the second leg well at all to be honest but I'm not sure why Mourinho would change it.