Summer Transfer Window 2017

[Barnfred 55]

But is it not worth buying him as second choice and working on these things? I think from Robles improvement it shows our new GK coach is decent. He's young, has the obvious potential and plus it must be hard trying to learn how to command an area with a defence as poor as theirs.

Plus he's got a right kick on him too.

It's a question of priorities mate. I'm a big admirer of Pickford who reminds me very much of De Gea when he first came to United. Some of the saves he makes are outrageously good and can save/win us games. But he's also young and makes mistakes that can easily undo all the good. Plus will he ever be able to command the box the way a top class keeper needs to?. I said he reminds me of De Gea, but there's no guarantee that he will develop into the world class keeper that De Gea undoubtedly has over the last 4 years.

At the moment, Robles has been performing fantastically well this season and, in fairness, at a much higher and consistent level than Pickford. Don't want to tempt fate before such a huge and difficult match, but if he continues that level of performance for the rest of the season then he definitely deserves a new contract and the number one for next season.

So the question is do we spend a lot of money (can't see him costing less than £20/£25m) on what is essentially a development player, when we have so many other area's of the squad/team that need upgrading. The quality of player we need will not come cheap and we don't have a bottomless pot of money unfortunately. Mind you, when we bought Schneids I said the money would have been better spent on a playmaker as that was where our most obvious need was within the squad. But since then I've realised that these top players don't come along very often, so if we get the opportunity to buy one we should take it.

Back to Pickford. His distribution is actually brilliant by the way. As good as I've ever seen in a young keeper.

 

[Eggs]

But is it not worth buying him as second choice and working on these things? I think from Robles improvement it shows our new GK coach is decent. He's young, has the obvious potential and plus it must be hard trying to learn how to command an area with a defence as poor as theirs.

Plus he's got a right kick on him too.

...it would be a lot of money to spend on a no2 no1. Saying that, I understand Robles' contract is up shortly and I'm not sure if he'll be here next season. I think Pickford is 6ft 1in and whilst that isn't small it is compared to other light framed keepers like De Gea (6ft 4in).

 

[Simon baker]

It's a question of priorities mate. I'm a big admirer of Pickford who reminds me very much of De Gea when he first came to United. Some of the saves he makes are outrageously good and can save/win us games. But he's also young and makes mistakes that can easily undo all the good. Plus will he ever be able to command the box the way a top class keeper needs to?. I said he reminds me of De Gea, but there's no guarantee that he will develop into the world class keeper that De Gea undoubtedly has over the last 4 years.

At the moment, Robles has been performing fantastically well this season and, in fairness, at a much higher and consistent level than Pickford. Don't want to tempt fate before such a huge and difficult match, but if he continues that level of performance for the rest of the season then he definitely deserves a new contract and the number one for next season.

So the question is do we spend a lot of money (can't see him costing less than £20/£25m) on what is essentially a development player, when we have so many other area's of the squad/team that need upgrading. The quality of player we need will not come cheap and we don't have a bottomless pot of money unfortunately. Mind you, when we bought Schneids I said the money would have been better spent on a playmaker as that was where our most obvious need was within the squad. But since then I've realised that these top players don't come along very often, so if we get the opportunity to buy one we should take it.

Back to Pickford. His distribution is actually brilliant by the way. As good as I've ever seen in a young keeper.

Great post it's not easy to buy what you need so sometimes you have to play the long game. If we could attract & purchase a top class £50 million playmaker then I'd say it's not worth signing him as any other funds need to go on the defence however I think Pickford is in the bracket that we can attract & could be with us for 15 years.

 

[Barnfred 55]

Difficult to see anyone breaking into this midfield. Would much rather we have s full run to Davies and Barkley than buy in unecessary players. Obviously if he's a league ahead of these two then fine it's worth it for the quality uplift, but is he?

Who knows. At the moment he's doing it in Belgium which probably isn't even as good as the championship. How has he done in the Europa League?. Has he stood out in that?. He will cost a lot of money that's for sure and we have other area's that are more in need of strengthening.

He does score some spectacular goals though, but we have to be careful we don't just judge him on that. What's his overall game like? How does he influence games?. Can he be that playmaker we're after?. What's his dead ball like?

One positive is that he has forced his way into the Belgian full squad, which can't have been easy given the calibre of player they have available.

Similar to Pickford, it comes down to priority. Do we concentrate our efforts on area's that need strengthening, or can we afford to miss out on the opportunity to purchase a player with potential to be world class in the future.

 

[maccavennie]

It's a question of priorities mate. I'm a big admirer of Pickford who reminds me very much of De Gea when he first came to United. Some of the saves he makes are outrageously good and can save/win us games. But he's also young and makes mistakes that can easily undo all the good. Plus will he ever be able to command the box the way a top class keeper needs to?. I said he reminds me of De Gea, but there's no guarantee that he will develop into the world class keeper that De Gea undoubtedly has over the last 4 years.

At the moment, Robles has been performing fantastically well this season and, in fairness, at a much higher and consistent level than Pickford. Don't want to tempt fate before such a huge and difficult match, but if he continues that level of performance for the rest of the season then he definitely deserves a new contract and the number one for next season.

So the question is do we spend a lot of money (can't see him costing less than £20/£25m) on what is essentially a development player, when we have so many other area's of the squad/team that need upgrading. The quality of player we need will not come cheap and we don't have a bottomless pot of money unfortunately. Mind you, when we bought Schneids I said the money would have been better spent on a playmaker as that was where our most obvious need was within the squad. But since then I've realised that these top players don't come along very often, so if we get the opportunity to buy one we should take it.

Back to Pickford. His distribution is actually brilliant by the way. As good as I've ever seen in a young keeper.

I'm hopeful that we sign Pickford, great potential, young and could be our number 1 for years and years. Not arsed how rusty he looked against us, still kept the score down to just 2. Him and Robles having a good battle will do me. I don't want to wait to see if Pickford is the real deal and then someone else snaps him up, I think we should be taking a punt ( a calculated punt imo).

 

[Jags..class]

So now
Keane
Rooney
Davy klaaasen
Tielemans
Pickford

Out
Jags
Kone
Lennon
Mcarthy

 

[Barnfred 55]

Great post it's not easy to buy what you need so sometimes you have to play the long game. If we could attract & purchase a top class £50 million playmaker then I'd say it's not worth signing him as any other funds need to go on the defence however I think Pickford is in the bracket that we can attract & could be with us for 15 years.

Agree mate. It's a difficult choice we need to make going forward and I don't know what the answer is tbh. I actually think here is more money in the coffers and I think we can raise more by selling some of our players. If we can sell McCarthy for £15/20m then a net spend of £5/10m on Tielemans doesn't sound as bad. Plus we can maybe get £20m for Funes Mori from Italy or Spain where his game is probably better suited, so that would make large inroads into any potential VVD fee. Plus we could get upto another £30m from the sale of Del, Clev, Niasse and Lennon to further boost the coffers.

The sensible thing to do would be to play the long game and I personally wouldn't mind this. I've waited 20+ years for a trophy so another 2/3 I can live with. But a lot of our fans won't be happy with that and neither will Rom. I think Koeman is under pressure to bring short term success if he is going to be able to keep hold of the likes of Rom and Ross.

 

[Barnfred 55]

I'm hopeful that we sign Pickford, great potential, young and could be our number 1 for years and years. Not arsed how rusty he looked against us, still kept the score down to just 2. Him and Robles having a good battle will do me. I don't want to wait to see if Pickford is the real deal and then someone else snaps him up, I think we should be taking a punt ( a calculated punt imo).

It's a balancing act mate. Do you fill the gaps in the team/squad or do you buy class/potential class when they come available. If the two meet, it's a no brainer. It's when they don't that a decision needs to be made but that's what walsh/Koeman are getting paid lots of dosh for.

 

[Nymzee]

@Barnfred 55 @Eggs

Agree across the board that he's likely in the £20-25m bracket so the question is: just how much money do we have.

 

[MasonLeeEFC]

Can't believe how many people want Rooney. Happy to be vaulted if I'm wrong but I think he'll be toxic around the place (and won't actually improve us).

Toxic in what sense, disruptive, a big time Charlie that would rub folk up the wrong way?...

He's always been a good pro at Utd and a very popular person/player so I fail to see how he'd be toxic at this stage in his career?! I actually think he'd be a really good influence. The young lads will want to know of his experiences and ask him about his achievements and I think they would take a lot on board from him. He's a leader, a winner and would be a popular figure amongst the squad and an asset on the playing side also. But that's just my personal view.

 

[MasonLeeEFC]

...Klaassen linked again;

http://www.football-oranje.com/everton-linked-summer-move-klaassen/

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/ajaxs-everton-transfer-target-davy-9965914

Hmm, seen an Ajax Twitter page say Koeman as personally scouted him a lot this season. He's a very good player, technically very good and can play at No.10 or deeper in a midfield 3 which he's doing at the minute for club and country these days. And another player that is captain of his club, a player that leads by example. Looking at recent links to certain players, it seems that were looking at these kind of characters to bring to the club and help give us a stronger mentality.

 

[toffeejack]

Hmm, seen an Ajax Twitter page say Koeman as personally scouted him a lot this season. He's a very good player, technically very good and can play at No.10 or deeper in a midfield 3 which he's doing at the minute for club and country these days. And another player that is captain of his club, a player that leads by example. Looking at recent links to certain players, it seems that were looking at these kind of characters to bring to the club and help give us a stronger mentality.

it's definitely what we need. When discussing captains after jags, it's glaringly obvious our candidates are short. Williams is the only one imo and he;ll be replaced in 2 or 3 years time as well anyway. I know coleman is a national skipper, but i'm just not masively convinced that he's captain material. But it's just those two and barry who is now not really playing.

 

[Nymzee]

it's definitely what we need. When discussing captains after jags, it's glaringly obvious our candidates are short. Williams is the only one imo and he;ll be replaced in 2 or 3 years time as well anyway. I know coleman is a national skipper, but i'm just not masively convinced that he's captain material. But it's just those two and barry who is now not really playing.

Schnieds would make a good captain. Was straight into the refs face on his first start for us.

 

[MasonLeeEFC]

So now
Keane
Rooney
Davy klaaasen
Tielemans
Pickford

Out
Jags
Kone
Lennon
Mcarthy

Couldn't see both of Klaasen and Tielemans being signed. And I'd imagine Sigurdsson will be targeted again come the summer but It would be one from the 3.

Keane looks like someone we definitely want and tbh we need. Rooney looks a possibility IF he fancies it. I'm not bothered either way with Pickford. I think he's decent but is he a big improvement on Joel right now? I don't think so! And is it worth us doing a Stoke (Butland) and signing a young keeper like him and then possibly loan him out to get more games and improve and come back to claim the No.1 spot when he would cost anything from £15-20m? I can't see us doing that. If Koeman does still want a GK, I think we'll either sign a player to be second fiddle to Joel and push him on or someone that's much better than Joel and who will take the No.1 spot from him.

We also need a wide right option come the summer. I know we have players like Mirallas & Lookman who can play there but their better down the left for me, as is Bolasie when fit. At the minute were using Barkley wide right but he's not the answer long term and the likes of Lennon & Valencia aren't good enough and McGeady will be gone. Game by game Gabbiadini is looking like a big miss for us and he can and has played wide right through out his career and would of been a great buy for us and also a versatile option within the squad seen as though he can play upfront or off of the striker aswell.

Either way it's going to be an interesting summer for us!

 

[Saint Domingo]

I still think what this team misses is someone who can control the tempo of a game from deep midfield. Schneiderlin has shown signs of it but ideally you want a true class creative mid in there with him like a Modric/Xavi/Pirlo type. Obviously these are the hardest players in the world to find and aside from an ageing Carrick and a benched Fabregas none of the top 6 have one either with all preferring to shore up CM with sitting players and look to create further up the pitch with number 10s or play on the counter attack.

It's no coincidence to me though that Fergies United dominated the league playing Scholes and then Carrick. Real Madrid have started winning it all after pairing Modric with Kroos. Barca have dropped off as soon as Xavi left. Ancelotti has brought Alonso back in for Bayern. Juventus came back to prominence on the back of Pirlo the same way Milan have fallen since (he even made Pogba look like a 90 mill player).

If you can find one of these players they're worth putting everything on it. I'm hoping against hope Liam Walsh may turn out to be this player, a blue Scholes if you will. Someone like Verrati would be the dream but is out of our reach currently. There must be a young player out there though who hasn't been picked up by a CL team. Without one of these, unless you have some of the best forward players in the world, you won't win much unless you base your entire game on playing counter attack.