01 Mar 2017 04:46:25
Jose has stated he will look to bring in 3 or 4 players only in the summer.
Anyone want to have a crack now at who they will be and see if anyone gets it 100%?
01 Mar 2017 06:37:44
Varane to partner Bailey
Semedo for RB
W. Carvalho to add steel to midfield
Griezmann to play just behind IBRA in a 4231 with Martial on left Miki on right. Rash gradually replacing Ibra.
Smalling, Darmian, Schweiny, Young, Rooney to be moved on
Carrick to get a 1 year extension.
01 Mar 2017 10:50:30
My guess would be:
Semedo
Lindelof
Bakayoko or Kessie
Greizmann.
01 Mar 2017 11:13:52
I'm going to predict that both Carrick and Ibra leave meaning we need additional replacements. I don't think he likes Shaw either so we could see more than the number muted. I'm think Rooney will be off and maybe Blind. The DeGae rumours worry me but I'll assume he's staying.
I think we will go for;
Griezmann
Lindelof
Weigl (maybe I should of put Bakayoko but I'm not)
Semedo
Tierney
Belotti (he may go for Andre Silva though)
My reasoning:
Griezman and Belotti give you goals, we have relied heavily on Ibra this season, our Goal diff isn't very good all things considered.
Lindeolf - left sided CB, I think Blind will be gone due to his physical attributes.
Semedo and Tierney- I'm assuming he doesn't rate sShaw and there was genuine interest in Semedo in the last window.
Weigl - 1.87m and some of the best passing stats in the top 5 leagues. Great positional play and the best like for like Carrick replacement I can think of.
01 Mar 2017 14:55:10
I don't think we will see a like for like replacement for Carrick.
Mourinho hasn't historically liked playing playing with a deeplying playmaker. He let Alonso leave Madrid, and for me Alonso was one of the best midfielders of his generation. He also only brought Carrick in halfway through the season, he hardly played him in the first 10-12 league games.
Mourinho tends to like one box to box midfielder paired with a traditional defensive midfielder. I'm thinking Lampard/ Makelele, Modric/ Khedira or Fabregas/ Matic. So if Pogba is the box to box player, we are looking for a destroyer rather than a playmaker to partner him.
I think a Bakayoko or a William Carvalho type player.
I expect us to sign a CB and a full back.
Lindelof seems likely although I prefer Manolas.
Semedo looks like he might be the one at full back, although I think Sidibe would be a better shout. He is a class RB but can also play at LB just as easily. That would be ideal with us needing a long term replacement for Valencia and maybe someome to rotate with Shaw at LB while he continues his way back.
Griezmann seems like the forward option the club are most keen on. Again although I'd prefer someone like Bruma to add a true winger to the squad.
{Ed004's Note - Was going to write nearly the exact same post. I think we will see cover for Valencia and his eventual replacement. Hopefully that is Semedo. I don't think Mourinho trusts our defence completely yet and we are constantly linked to centre backs. Smalling would be perfect if he could actually pass the ball out but currently I think we will look to bring in a partner for Bailly someone like Lindelof, Manolas, Van Dijk or De Vrjl (Lazio CB).
In midfield we will get a defensive minded player to partner Pogba with Herrera covering him and coming in as the third midfielder vs the top teams. I'm going to guess Fabinho - we were linked with him last summer and the only reason we didn't sign him was due to not being able to offload enough squad players. Lastly I think Griezmann will sign as the star transfer and he will play off Ibrahimovic. Would give us plenty of goal scorers in the team so shouldn't have to rely on Ibra as much (Ibra, Martial, Rashford, Griezmann, Mkhitarian, Pogba, Mata etc all capable finishers).
Lastly I think we could see a 5th signing depending on the futures of Shaw and Ibrahimovic. If either were to leave I'm pretty sure they would be replaced however, I think it's unlikely either will leave tbh. I reckon there will be quite a few departures as well and hopefully we see more of Mensah and Perriera}
01 Mar 2017 18:08:40
I like your list Rewz especially Weigl and Belotti.
However I don't see that many transfers, Ed Woodward and Jose both have said there wouldn't be a "churn" of players so I'd expect 3-4 transfers.
LB - Tierney may happen if Shaw leaves but I'd prefer Betrand tbh.
Belotti/ Silva/ Morata will only happen if Zlatan leaves.
I think a CB, CM and Greizmann are priorities. Then perhaps a Fullback.
01 Mar 2017 18:55:58
I thought I would go and take a look at Fabinho, Carvalho and weigl stats for defensive actions and passing.
Weigl - 2.4 tackles, 2.2 interceptions, 91% pass accuracy. 76.6 passes, 0.9 dribbles, 1 goal, 0 assists, 8 games in CM, 17 in DMC.
Carvalho - 1.9 tackles, 1.6 interceptions, 88% pass accuracy, 72.1 passes, 1.2 dribbles, 1 goal, 4 assists, 19 games in CM, 13 in DMC.
Fabinho - 3.3 tackles, 1.8 interceptions, 85.4% pass accuracy, 52 passes, 1.2 dribbles, 6 goals, 4 assists, 24 games CM, 4 in DMC.
For his all round game Weigl wins it for me, I would suggest the German league is the most competitive of the three leagues the players are in. They are all around 1.87m-1.88m tall.
Carrick - 1.2 tackles, 2.4 interceptions, 91.4% pass accuracy, 62.7 passes, 0.2 dribbles, 1 goal, 0 assists, 10 games in CM, 3 in DCM.
So as you can see Weigl makes more defensive actions than Carrick but has a similar passing accuracy. He's the player to go after in my opinion.
01 Mar 2017 18:58:36
Would love belotti at the club looks like he has eveything to his game .
Would like to see a proper winger don't think we really have one .
Hard man in cm.
01 Mar 2017 22:51:24
Semedo
Lindelof
Kroos
Greizmann.