27 Jun 2025 18:26:19
ED001,
Which GKs do you think Utd should target if they replace Onana.
Martinez has been linked with Utd. Whilst he is an improvement, given the length of his current contract, he would be quite expensive given his age. Admittedly I'm not a fan of his either.
Potentially Ter Stegen may be available for a relatively cheap price. I think his best days may already be behind him. Yet he would would still be an improvement on Onana.
Previously you've mentioned some young Championship GKs, woukd those still be your options?
Verbuggen, would be a great choice, but i can't see Brighton selling him, unless they received an astronomal amount for him.
Moving players on this summer will determine whether the club go for short or long term fixes.
Thanks.
{Ed001's Note - there are obvious answers like Costa, but for me, I like the look of Cooper at Sheff Utd. I think he looks very promising.}
27 Jun 2025 19:21:03
Cheers ED001,
I wouldn't confident of a successfully season, if Onana was still playing.
English keepers don't seem to do well for Utd. I can't remember the last one that did.
{Ed001's Note - fair point, but there is always a first.}
27 Jun 2025 20:07:29
Alex Stepney!
27 Jun 2025 20:51:57
Before my time Patrick. I was born 1985.
27 Jun 2025 22:38:28
Ed001
I mentioned Cooper recently - nobody engaged.
I also think he looks promising - very good shot-stopper, decent passing range, always appears calm and composed.
The only issue for me is that, because he's not really a 'name', there'd be so many fans feeling uneasy about him that he'd probably only be accepted by them as back up - he's No1 at Sheff Utd so I think he'd want to remain the main man.
I think he'll be EPL-bound soon enough though.
{Ed001's Note - I expect there to be someone in for him this summer. He looks too good for the Championship.}
28 Jun 2025 00:02:17
I was born 1885!
28 Jun 2025 05:56:51
I would much prefer an experienced keeper with strong personality and hands of course, I would prefer TerStegan on loan, not sure with the remark best years behind him, that’s for sure, been injured for 6-8 months but sure is massive upgrade on Clown.
28 Jun 2025 10:31:08
Goalkeeper is a real conundrum for us. Looking around there aren't many top level or potential top level keepers available.
Diogo Costa at Porto looks to be the best option available for a top keeper (one who actually has world class potential) . Yet he'll cost 45-55m from Porto if they agree to not demand his buyout fee of around 60m.
United simply won't have that much to spend on a keeper this summer. We have spent 60m on Cunha, will likely spend another 60m on Mbeumo and probably 50-70m on a striker. That's 170-180m spent, with us still needing a GK and a midfielder. We cannot spend 50m on a keeper alone.
We can't even raise much money from selling keepers to pay if it. We need to sell Onana for 35m to just breakeven which seems unlikely. While Bayindir might sell for 10-15m, half of which we still owe on him. Meaning we might raise 5-7m from selling Bayindir to spend on a new keeper.
We are limited on who we can sign both by a lack of funds available, as well as a lack of genuine top class options available to sign.
While I'd prefer to see Onana leave this summer, I doubt he will. Supposedly he doesn't want to leave, while there certainly isn't the interest in him at the fee we need to sell him for without taking a loss.
I expect to see Bayindir leave and for us to sign a solid No.2 keeper who can genuinely challenge Onana and maybe even take his place.
Then next summer with Onana having lost his place and us needing more like 22m to breakeven I'd expect him to move on. At which point maybe we sign a younger keeper with world class potential to become the understudy to whoever we sign this year. Giving them time and grow into the roll without the pressure of being the guy right away.
While there are potentially better keepers out there I'd expect to see us signing someone like Vanja Milinkovic-Savic or Andriy Lunin for around 15-20m. A keeper with good experience but is still young enough to be ambitious to push Onana for the starting position. A solid keeper who's a great shot stopper, good with crosses and commands his area as a priority over being a sweeper keeper or ball playing keeper. Someone who is reliable and dependable, who won't try anything flashy, but is really good at the fundamentals of being a keeper. A calming presence who can sit behind some of the younger and less experienced defenders we have and talk them through the game.
I think that last aspect is a massively undervalued aspect of keeping. We praise Rio and Vidic as great CB's, but it's telling how much more consistent Rio became once we signed VDS. Someone who while a phenomenal shot stopper and ball playing keeper, was the epitome of calmness and spent the entire game talking his defence through the match.
I don't think we can afford to go down the DDG route of signing a young keeper with huge potential. We have seen at the other end of the pitch how placing all the pressure on young shoulders can break a promising young player. Especially when there isn't the quality and experience around them to help carry them at times.
When we signed DDG he had Rio, Vidic, Neville and Evra all playing in front of him, and even then he had a few wobbles in his first couple of seasons. He had to be taken out of the team and Lindegaard had to come in for him.
Any keeper we sign won't have the luxury of playing behind players of the calibre of Rio and Vidic. In fact they could have equally inexperienced players like Yoro and Heaven playing in front of them.
That's just too much inexperienced in one area of the team. Not just any areas either, but in defence where experience is more important than any other part of the pitch.
While we want the Keeper position solved long-term this summer I doubt we can do that. I expect a solid short to medium term option to sign to battle (and hopefully win) against Onana for the first team spot and to then be the experienced option to help guide a younger long term option signed next summer.
{Ed077's Note - what about Maignan?
28 Jun 2025 11:02:49
Ed077, he's a great keeper and at 29 is a good age for a keeper. I'd be concerned about his injury record though.
Ten separate injuries while at AC Milan in four seasons is a worry for a keeper, especially given the increased protection they get on the continent compared to the EPL.
He'll also be expensive both in terms of transfer fee and wages.
I certainly wouldn't be totally against signing him if the fee and wages were reasonable. He's a massive upgrade on Onana. But I don't think we can afford to spend a huge amount on him (or any keeper), especially given his injury record.
{Ed077's Note - the fee rumored when he was linked to Chelsea earlier in the month was pretty reasonable.
The injuries is a bit of an issue but the Modern keepers do seem to, in general, pick up a lot more injuries than before. Which is why most top clubs have 2 good GKs in the squad nowadays.
28 Jun 2025 23:53:20
Why does nobody think of Trafford ad being worth bidding for?
29 Jun 2025 06:07:51
We DO NOT want anyone to challenge Onana. We need someone to replace him. Full stop!
29 Jun 2025 11:26:46
Salford, Trafford would be a good signing, but as Burnley got promoted to the EPL last season his price apparently shot up. If they were still in the championship then maybe you could have got him for around 20-25m, but now they are back in the EPL they don't want to lose him and his price is now supposedly 35-40m.
While he was excellent in the Championship last season, his only year in the EPL was average at best and poor at times.
Given that I can see why teams were happy to take a chance on him for 20-25m, but are maybe thinking twice at 35-40m.
There's a good chance Burnley will be relegated next season, it's very hard for the promoted sides to stay up. They not only need to really step up, but they need at least one established EPL side to have a mare of a season to give them the chance to leapfrog them.
If Burnley are relegated and Trafford has shown he is a very good keeper in the EPL then maybe next summer is the time to go for him.
Keefy, I agree that Onana needs replacing. But if we can't get someone to pay 35m for him then we are stuck with him next season. The only other option is to take a loss on him and reduce the funds we have to buy players this summer.
If we sell him and take a loss then we will have to buy a keeper to replace him, but that loss means we either cannot sign either a striker or midfielder, or we have to bring in one of those positions on the cheap.
As no one in their right mind will pay 35m for Onana on the back of last season then we are stuck with him. Which also means we have a limited budget to buy another keeper. There are few top class options available and the few that are will cost 40-60m, and our budget is probably around the 20m at best.
For that much we will either be able to sign a very young and inexperienced keeper with a lot of potential (someone like Senne Lammens), or we can buy a solid more experienced option who can challenge Onana for the starting spot (someone like Vanja Milinkovic-Savic) .
While I'd typically prefer the younger potentially world class option. That sort of player is far less likely to be able to push Onana out of the line up anytime soon. I also don't see Onana as the ideal mentor to a young keeper, someone who can come in for them and be a solid option to steady the shop so that the younger keeper can go back into the team once performances/ results have picked up.
For those reasons I think we are better off buying the more experienced steady eddy keeper to battle with Onana and take his place this season. Then next summer sell Onana when we don't need as much for him to avoid taking a loss and then buy the younger potentially world class option. They can then be mentored by the solid steady eddy we sign this summer.
Amorim's system/ style doesn't have as complex demands on his keepers. They aren't expected to be Neuer like sweeper keepers who spend most of the game 25-30 yards off their line. Nor does he expect them to be deep-lying playmakers hitting 60+ passes a game with at least a 90% success rate.
They need to be great shot stoppers, good at dealing with crosses (the 343 shape means most attacks come from wide areas), and commanding of their area. Beyond that everything else is a bonus, good with their feet, happy to leave the penalty box to sweep etc.
The problem with Onana is he is stronger at the less important things and the key things Amorim wants are the weaker parts of his game.
Therefore if we get a keeper who is a great shot stopper and better at dealing with crosses, and has even a average command of his area then he will be more suited to what Amorim needs and will therefore push Onana out over time if not right away.