As we enter a lengthy break for the men’s first XI it’s time to take a look at what will be needed next season with European football, most likely the Champion’s League, impending. We will publish three episodes of TotD this week, one on each department of the squad.
In today’s first of the three, it’s the midfield. Without a doubt the most urgent area of recruitment as United have struggled to negotiate a forty-match season with the current options. Add in the extra games, plus the expected departure of Casemiro, and reinforcements are a priority.
What will be required from the midfield next season, who can provide those qualities, and how will United deal with the noise of agents and rival clubs? it’s certain to be a fascinating few months.
nearly_headless_nic on
**Andy Mitten:**
* Utd want 2 midfielders
* Casemiro future clear – as announced.
* squad needs extra players with Europe
* **I’d be surprised if Anderson moves to United**
* **The club has been following Tonali for a while but Newcastle doesn’t want to sell him, player will have to push to leave. There’s also backgroound stuff on him (re gambling)**
* The club continues to follow Baleba
* Adam Wharton – he would be ‘a realistic one’ but comes from a person outside utd
* **Hasn’t heard anything about Guimarães being linked to United from his sources**
* Utd are not *just* looking at ‘PL proven’ re midfielders
**Laurie:**
* 2 midfielders is the ‘aim’ – although if Ugarte leaves (with Case) there may be case for 3
* Casemiro situation ‘set in stone’ – no change
* They want a blend of physicality & positioning for Case replacement
* **It has been made clear to Bruno by the club that they want him to stay this summer**
Carl Anka:
* ‘feeling’ 2 midfield signings – one 6, one 8 & then one from academy comes in
ogola89 on
Our midfield is already shot. Need 2 signings even before anyone leaves, let alone if they leave. Atleast 3
PitchSafe on
Bring in 2 new starters and one rotational option
VegetableRutabaga746 on
Surely 3, no point in keeping ugarte. 2 starting CMs and an older rotational should be fine, only academy midfielder that could slot there is kone, but he is probably 1 or 2 seasons away if the development program he is in works out that is.
0ttoChriek on
It’s gonna be a long three weeks, isn’t it?
I think Andy has good contacts at the club, and anything he says, or carefully doesn’t say, should be taken as credible. I suspect we’re going to be a little surprised with the midfield recruits this summer.
It sounds like the loose plan is to let Case go, sell Ugarte and then add two replacements. I don’t mind that. Seeing how James Garner has developed at Everton suggests that we shouldn’t write off any of our academy midfielders yet, as possible squad options.
Sheikhabusosa on
2 to 3 top quality signings and forget. Also I hope someone like Kone or another member of youth gets significant mins
Aggravating-Pound598 on
At this point, it’s a matter of speculation. Bruno and Mainoo will be there.
BornInPoverty on
Everyone says we need Premier League ‘proven’ players but Sesko and Lammens weren’t Premier League proven and they worked out great.
Also Bruno wasn’t Premier League proven either.
I know it’s a risk but I don’t think we should restrict ourselves to Premier League players. It reduces the available pool a lot.
tnwnf on
We really, really need 3. Not 2. Ugarte isn’t good enough to be a squad player and nobody from the academy is ready to be a squad player. We could easily play 55-60 matches next season, our 4th midfielder could easily get 20 full matches.
10 Comments
As we enter a lengthy break for the men’s first XI it’s time to take a look at what will be needed next season with European football, most likely the Champion’s League, impending. We will publish three episodes of TotD this week, one on each department of the squad.
In today’s first of the three, it’s the midfield. Without a doubt the most urgent area of recruitment as United have struggled to negotiate a forty-match season with the current options. Add in the extra games, plus the expected departure of Casemiro, and reinforcements are a priority.
What will be required from the midfield next season, who can provide those qualities, and how will United deal with the noise of agents and rival clubs? it’s certain to be a fascinating few months.
**Andy Mitten:**
* Utd want 2 midfielders
* Casemiro future clear – as announced.
* squad needs extra players with Europe
* **I’d be surprised if Anderson moves to United**
* **The club has been following Tonali for a while but Newcastle doesn’t want to sell him, player will have to push to leave. There’s also backgroound stuff on him (re gambling)**
* The club continues to follow Baleba
* Adam Wharton – he would be ‘a realistic one’ but comes from a person outside utd
* **Hasn’t heard anything about Guimarães being linked to United from his sources**
* Utd are not *just* looking at ‘PL proven’ re midfielders
**Laurie:**
* 2 midfielders is the ‘aim’ – although if Ugarte leaves (with Case) there may be case for 3
* Casemiro situation ‘set in stone’ – no change
* They want a blend of physicality & positioning for Case replacement
* **It has been made clear to Bruno by the club that they want him to stay this summer**
Carl Anka:
* ‘feeling’ 2 midfield signings – one 6, one 8 & then one from academy comes in
Our midfield is already shot. Need 2 signings even before anyone leaves, let alone if they leave. Atleast 3
Bring in 2 new starters and one rotational option
Surely 3, no point in keeping ugarte. 2 starting CMs and an older rotational should be fine, only academy midfielder that could slot there is kone, but he is probably 1 or 2 seasons away if the development program he is in works out that is.
It’s gonna be a long three weeks, isn’t it?
I think Andy has good contacts at the club, and anything he says, or carefully doesn’t say, should be taken as credible. I suspect we’re going to be a little surprised with the midfield recruits this summer.
It sounds like the loose plan is to let Case go, sell Ugarte and then add two replacements. I don’t mind that. Seeing how James Garner has developed at Everton suggests that we shouldn’t write off any of our academy midfielders yet, as possible squad options.
2 to 3 top quality signings and forget. Also I hope someone like Kone or another member of youth gets significant mins
At this point, it’s a matter of speculation. Bruno and Mainoo will be there.
Everyone says we need Premier League ‘proven’ players but Sesko and Lammens weren’t Premier League proven and they worked out great.
Also Bruno wasn’t Premier League proven either.
I know it’s a risk but I don’t think we should restrict ourselves to Premier League players. It reduces the available pool a lot.
We really, really need 3. Not 2. Ugarte isn’t good enough to be a squad player and nobody from the academy is ready to be a squad player. We could easily play 55-60 matches next season, our 4th midfielder could easily get 20 full matches.