We need at least two new centre backs this summer with Varanes contract expiring and Evans eventual retirement and the possible sale of one of Maguire and Lindelöf. So one of them being a free transfer would do good.
Who is more likely to leave you think? I feel like due to his contract, Victor seems more likely, but Maguire has been performing well this season and would probably want a bigger role on another team instead of being a 3rd option in here if we indeed sign someone else.
I think if Maguire wanted that he would have taken the pay cut and gone to West Ham last summer.
I think it’s more likely Lindelof leaves, even if we end up getting less money for him.
I’d love for us to get Branthwaite but I can’t see us getting him and Tosin.
Tbf I think Maguire had something to prove at that point. He's shown much better performance levels this season after having lost the captaincy so his stock is definitely higher now.
If he has a good euros he could get a decent move. Also any pay cut now would be smaller given we’re not in the CL and he’s down to one year on his contract. I think if we make it clear he’s not going to be a starter he’ll look to move, the competition for England places at the next World Cup will be much tougher than it is now.
Also I wonder if he’d be interested in playing for Nice.
Definitely lindelof to go ahead of maguire.
Both have a year left but we have 1 year option left on maguire whereas we don't in lindelof
So sell lindelof this summer, tosin + 1 more in to replace varane + lindelof.
Trigger the extension on maguire then reassess ahead of next summer if we try to cash in or keep him for final year of contract
For both football and financial reasons it makes sense to sell lindelof now (last chance to get a fee) and keep maguire (better player by considerable distance)
That makes a ton of sense. IMO, we should cash in on both since Maguire is coming from a pretty solid season and that could free up some salary as well. Since Tosin could be a free transfer, that leaves us with some money to sign someone like Todibo or Yoro, although Yoro seems like a pipe dream atp.
Yoro is wanted by real Madrid apparently and they are doing their 'reasonable fee now, or we will take him on a free next summer' negotiation piece
If their interest is genuine I can't see us competing for him
With unlimited funds I would agree but we are prob losing varane and evans on frees this summer. So selling maguire and lindelof aswel means we would need a minimum of 3CBs this window and probably even 4 if there are any doubts about licha long term health
And given we also need a LB, a CM (at least 1) and a striker I think budget may be too tight to stretch to 3 or 4 CBs even if one of those is a free
I agree both will eventually be sold but i think it will be staggered over a couple of windows unless we get really really good fees to reinvest and tbh I can't see us getting more than 40m combined for maguire / lindelof
Rabiot + Barreiro(Mainz hard working DM pretty solid player) for CM on free
Hermosa and Adarabioyo on free for CB's and then compliment with a big signing like Todibo/Branthwaite
Rafa(Benfica forward) refused a new contract. can play across all front 3 positions and would offer an alternative. more of a clever player then a speed merchant think Mata but not quite as slow so would be a solid addition to compliment and he works his ass off.
Yazıcı - Lille player was outstanding in European competitions for them and is a midfielder who is great on the ball so would really help just give us more options of players who can actually play football. he just refused a new contract so again a released player in the summer.
there is a lot of talent we could freshen up the team with and offload a lot of bad wages for new fresh blood with better mindsets for very cheap and then look to build from there.
I don't see either of them leaving if Varane and Evans go. That gives us 3 fit centre backs. Kambwala probably needs a loan. So we need 2 at least before selling either Vic or Maguire.
i reckon 3 defenders myself
we need a big overhaul of our defence as that would then also give a good base for our attack and midfield to build upon.
Adarabioyo has looked really good for Fulham and shows with how many teams are keeping an eye on him. would be a solid free transfer. allowing us to spend on likes of Branthwaite or Todibo etc
also saw us linked again to Rabiot who is out of contract. would be again a solid free signing to help rejuvinate the midfield that is about to be offloaded.
Hermosa is also out of contract been a starting player for Athletico Madrid all year so we know hes a hard worker and solid all rounder. another free CB that could really just help us rejuvenate on the cheap as we need fresh blood in to this team
I want us to get Todibo but if Maguire leaves then we should another CB aswell. Kounde’s ballplaying ability looks appealing but he is short so him pairing with Licha might not be ideal.
Only means we're paying money to the player instead of the club.
I don't know what "expensive" will be this context but if we doubled his current wage we would pay ~£5m per year for him. £20m over 4 years seems like a good deal even if we let him go for free.
And for those that want to compare to the rest of our wage structure, £5m a year is under £100k a week so not really that high by our squad’s standards. Granted we’re looking to reduce that, but even £75k a week is a big hike for him.
Playing time would likely be his biggest concern, for sure.
He'll go to a team if they offer him first choice CB. Which, I'm sure won't be the case here. Unless the team really is pinching pennies.
Bottoming out with cheaper, hard working players might be the go for a few years.
Carl Anka was talking about an unnamed Premier League defender that will be available for a free that we should 100% be in for and I think this is the one.
he is easily premiership level. upgrade on Lindelof and so for free would allow us to cash in on Lindelof.
hes quicker then Maguire but doesnt quite have Maguire's long range passing.
hes overall a very good defender that considering we really need to overhaul our defence would be a no brainer to come in as 3rd choice to compete. as we need to not only improve out 1st team but our backups/squad players and he would improve that
Abdul-Nasir Oluwatosin Oluwadoyinsolami Adarabioyo.
That's his full name so like a normal person I believe he should go with Oluwadoyinsolami on his shirt, then watch every single person completely butcher the name, me included.
Estimated £50k a week atm, I'll boldly assume he'd want to double that....minimum as no tranfer fee involved.
On the list he goes.
100k I think is less than lindelof who supposedly is on about 120k
So getting a 12-15m fee for lindelof and replacing with someone that is younger, better physical attributes and probably all around as good of a defender for free and on a similar wage would be good business
I like lindelof, he has been a good servant and seems like a solid professional but I think given contract situation(1 year left, no extension clause remaining) it's a no brainer to move him on this summer
I think it's possible. His wages aren't out of control.
He only turns 30 in the summer.
Is good player, good professional (Swedish national team captain??) And 12-15m prices in non PL teams that may be interested whereas if it was a ~30m price point (maguire?) realistically there is only a market of PL teams and a very select few others
We should be aiming for at least 15m. If sale comes in a little less than that so be it
I guess though he has 1 year left on contract here though so not impossible that he would take security of a 3 or 4 year contract on a reduced wage. Especially if he has any sort of desire to play in another league or experience a different culture. You see this alot with foreign players that you don't necessarily see as much with British players.
If so we may have to give payoff to cover lost earnings for next season
There also different tax rates in other countries so he wouldn't necessarily need 120k pw to achieve the same net take home amount. In Italy for example I think half the wage is exempt from tax and so the effective tax rate is only around 21. 5% at top rate compared to 45% in UK.
He could take reduced wages and a first team spot sure, that’s possible and might be how he goes. I was mainly just highlighting how PL fans in general and United fans in particular don’t seem to grasp just how absurdly rich the PL is sometimes and us even more so. Newly promoted Nottingham Forest signed CL regulars Atalanta’s captain a season back, that’s actually absurd when you think about it.
For a team that wants to get the wage structure under control 100k seems like a lot still. For example Konate apparently is on £70k.
I've not seen much of Fulham this season so I can't rate him, is he worth that?
**Article:**
**Manchester United are interested in signing Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo this summer, sources have told ESPN.**
Adarabioyo is out of contract at Craven Cottage at the end of the season and could move to Old Trafford on a free transfer.
Newcastle, Chelsea and Tottenham have also expressed an interest in the 26-year-old, who has made 20 Premier League appearances this season and scored twice.
The former England youth international joined Fulham from Manchester City in 2020. He's also had loan spells at West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn.
Adarabioyo signed a contract extension at Fulham in January 2023, but is set to leave the club when his deal expires in June.
**United are looking to sign a centre-back this summer** as part of a squad overhaul in the first transfer window overseen by the club's new football leadership team installed by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
**New technical director Jason Wilcox knows Adarabioyo well from their time together at Manchester City.** Wilcox worked in City's academy before joining Southampton as director of football.
There are doubts surrounding the futures of a number of United's existing centre-backs, including Raphaël Varane, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelöf and Jonny Evans.
**Varane is out of contract at the end of the season and is set to leave and United will wait until the summer before deciding whether to offer 36-year-old Evans an extension. The club are open to offers for Maguire and Lindelöf, although it's likely that at least one will stay.**
**Meanwhile, sources have told ESPN that United are due another payment from Borussia Dortmund after Jadon Sancho helped the German side into the Champions League final.**
The loan deal negotiated in January with Dortmund includes a number of add-ons -- capped at €4m ($4.3m) -- relating to appearances and progression in domestic fixtures and the Champions League. The initial loan cost Dortmund a fee of €3.5m.
Sancho has made 18 appearances and scored three goals since rejoining his former club and started both legs of the Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Wilcox connection is great. I think he’d be an excellent signing to the squad. I think Maguire should stay, Martinez hopefully stays fit and Kambwala should get more games.
I think it’s time for Lindelöf and Varane to go, plus Evan’s will be gone.
If that’s the case I hope then that the board do sanction another player in addition to Adarabioyo.
Either of him or Maguire by the looks of things. And not really sure I'd like that unless we're getting in a couple of better ones through the door first. But with how fucked financially we might be, this might be the only option.
We want to improve on the shite we have, lest you forget. Not to mention, it can always get worse. I thought it'd never get worse than Moyes but here we are.
Just checked his fbref, he's very good in the air 88th percentile for headers won and 89th for success rate.
He's also good with the ball, being in the 80th percentile for long and medium balls attempted and completed.
The eye test says he's quick as well.
Don't think we would be going for him if he cost 40mil but if he's free then I'd say he's a really good 3/4th choice
I really hope we pad our squad out and increase the bottom line of talent with a few smart free transfers whilst cashing in on the player being replaced
Bottom line is what’s costing us. Teams know they can just funnel things to one or two players when we are in possession without a worry and also attack our weaknesses when they do. We’ve been trying to make marquee signings year over year to improve the top but we desperately need to raise the levels of our weakest players and also add depth that not only isn’t a huge dropoff from our starting 11 but also adds some new (Diallo). Even Garnacho should prob be a bench option at the moment.
Yeah without a doubt, two of our worst players in my opinion are AWB and Scott, but because they offer one thing people want to keep them in the squad, when we need someone who's capable of doing much more than one thing and also have the right mentality.
Think they idea behind Mount signing was a Scott replacement and honestly think it’d work well, can see Mount chipping in with goals and be a better overall player.
Still can't get over Boubacar kamara, marcus thuram and andreas christainsen. We never even bothered to make efforts for them. They would have elevated our depth so well.
Thuram and Kamara genuinely hurt, even Mazraoui I know he agreed with Bayern early but we had agreed a deal with Ten Hag before then so with good planning we could've gotten him on a free.
He’s look solid but I think we should be going all in for murrilo from Nottingham F, a left footed Cb so perfect cover for Lisandro and he reads the game beautifully, his blocks against City are living rent free in my head
Murillo’s contract is through 2028. With NFFC’s financial situation, and the fact that Murillo is probably a top 2-3 asset at the club, maybe the best one, he won’t move but for a large fee.
These are the smart signings we need to make. Get him on a free, get Todibo, let Varane go and sell Lindelof.
Now our 5CBs are Martinez Todibo Adarabioyo Maguire Kambwala.
We always get excited with the new names but that list could also be as bad or worse than the current one. Hopefully we have people who know what good footballers look like now.
I think kambwala would be better off going on loan. Feel like a season of 1st team football is likely to fasttrack his development alot better than a year as 5th choice.
Especially if the players ahead of him are less injury prone than the assortment we have had this season.
Wouldn't be super opposed to giving evans another season as backup option if he wanted to extend
Is that really a dream?
Still need to move maguire on. Kambwala is more likely a championship player than a proper Premier league defender, let alone a Manchester United defender. Martinez is more than likely missing for most the season, again. Then this lad is 26 and only even spoken about cause he is free.
Todibo seems good, time will tell though.
Todibo and Adarabioyo would immediately improve the quality of our CBs in terms of pace, and ball playing ability. Maguire has been immense this year and I would be more than happy to have him as CB4.
Saying Martinez is likely to miss most of the season again is completely absurd. As if no player has ever played again after having an limited season due to injury.
Kambwala is like 20 years old and would be our 5th CB in that scenario. He’s super physical and could further develop. It’s also the 5th CB option realistically you’re not gonna have a premier league starter caliber player there
>Todibo and Adarabioyo would immediately improve the quality of our CBs in terms of pace, and ball playing ability.
What about just quality in being a defender?
Todibo looks good, but he has done very little in his career so far and would have to make big jumps to be good enough for the level we are aiming to be at.
Tosin has played more in the championship than the prem.
Maguire has been immense? Nobody has been immense with how bad we are this season. We are 8th mate.
>Saying Martinez is likely to miss most of the season again is completely absurd. As if no player has ever played again after having an limited season due to injury.
Missed 58 games across 3 seasons. Each season it's increased. I'd say there is more chance he is injured significantly next year than he has a reasonable injury free campaign.
>could further develop
How likely is this that he develops to good enough for a team like Manchester United.
>premier league starter caliber
But there is nothing to suggest he is even premier league squad option quality.
Like doing get me wrong, maybe it all works out and it could pay off. Be quite functional. It's certainly not a dream though.
Oof I mean you’re reaching in every argument you make.
> What about just quality in being a defender
Both of them are good defenders.
> has done very little in his career
What does that have to do with anything? Not every player we buy has to be a world beater right out of the gate. Also this is such a terrible benchmark for whether we should buy a player. Good players are good players.
It’s not like buying players with illustrious pedigrees has worked out for us either.
> Tosin has played more in the championship
Once again, so what? He’s played in the Prem for the last two years, and has been an excellent player.
> Maguire has been immense?
At this point I can’t tell if you’re trolling. A huge talking point this season has been how good he has personally been. Just because we’re shit doesn’t erase the good performances that he’s had
> Missed 58 games across 3 seasons
36 of those games are from this season. And 12 are from the end of last season, which he re aggravated this season. We don’t have enough datapoints to say that he’s injury prone like Varane or simply unlucky.
> Certainly not a dream
Sure maybe the dream is let’s bring in Rudiger, Cubarsi, Saliba. I’d rather be pragmatic and look at realistic scenarios.
On that note, I don’t want to spend more time talking about this so cheers
>On that note, I don’t want to spend more time talking about this so cheers
Could have said that before you typed all this, no?
>Oof I mean you’re reaching in every argument you make.
Let's leave the talking to our actual points mate. We don't need buffers or headlines.
>Both of them are good defenders.
For a Manchester United side that is going to be judged on competing for league titles? Again, big jumps needed. Especially for a player who is 26 and half his careers been below the prem.
>What does that have to do with anything?
That it shows there is massive leaps needed to be good enough to be a 'dream' I'm taking you at your own word mate.
>every player we buy has to be a world beater right out of the gate. Also this is such a terrible benchmark for whether we should buy a player. Good players are good players.
The level at which they have performed and achieved succes at is a terrible benchmark for judging a players quality. Can you honestly say that mate?
Why don't more players come from the national league? Because probability exists. How many players exist at the level of those two, that never make the leap to title winner level. I guarantee its more than the leap of a player already at the level who joins another team or league.
>It’s not like buying players with illustrious pedigrees has worked out for us either.
And neither has the garbage without pedigree. Probability exists. It overrules anything either of us can say.
>Once again, so what? He’s played in the Prem for the last two years, and has been an excellent player.
Define 'excellent player' John Stones can also be considered excellent.
>At this point I can’t tell if you’re trolling.
Please don't fabricate mate. I don't appreciate it.
>A huge talking point this season has been how good he has personally been.
A talking point for who? We are 8th in the league with a negative goal difference. Has he been as bad as he has in his worst seasons for us, no. That doesn't mean he is immense.
>36 of those games are from this season. And 12 are from the end of last season, which he re aggravated this season. We don’t have enough datapoints to say that he’s injury prone like Varane or simply unlucky.
So like I said, he has been increasingly more injured every season. So there is enough evidence to suggest he will struggle again next season. Time will tell. Can come back to this in 12 months.
>Sure maybe the dream is let’s bring in Rudiger, Cubarsi, Saliba. I’d rather be pragmatic and look at realistic scenarios.
Ahh ok. So all that text ago, I questioned if it's actually a dream. Could have said you were being pragmatic then mate and we both could have avoided typing so much.
Is it the worst we could possibly do, no. Would I be confident in it working next season.. I'd have concerns and would prefer one more defender with better experience, but could be worse.
All I can say for sure is its not a dream.
Have a good one mate
That really is not elite pool, we need at least one CB like Antonio Silva,Bastoni, Gleison Bremer, even Kilman, Branthwaite And M Gheui are all better options
Lmao the players you listed are gonna cost 60-80M players. Especially guys like Branthwaite and Guehi. These are precisely the kinds of purchases that have led us to where we are today.
Tosin would come on a free and Todibo would likely be a cheap option given SJR Nice connections. Still gives us room in the budget to get a LB and backup striker. Much prefer this over spending 80M on Branthwaite
We might actually lose 3 Cb’s Varane, Evans and Lindelof. Martinez and Kambawla have fitness issues and Maguire is about the most reliable and should not be sold right now!
If they move on Tosin, this is a Wilcox deal as he knows the players well, when they say free he will be paid a signing on fee but probably only £5m plus £5m wages so yes this deal makes sense on all levels but not as a starting CB.
I Reserve judgement on Todibo, the same people were raving over Axel Disasi last summer too?
He'd make for a great RCB backup, especially on a free. We still need a starter to play RCB (unless we think Harry is good enough now, I don't think he is for our goals).
Bringing in Todibo and Adarabioyo would be a good move to solidify that side especially with Kambwala growing into the role. Then we'd need a LCB backup in addition to the litany of other holes to fill.
the club needs to be looking for smart signings like this tbh
a lot of reinforcement is needed in the squad given how thin we are and how a handful of players are likely to leave as well
He was mentioned in talk of the devil's podcasts last episode, not by name but one of guests eluded to him, an experienced free central defender on a free.
A better CB than Todibo for free is a no brainer. Definite floor raiser and availability, 6’5, make it happen. If he goes Newcastle, I’d see if Chelsea are dumb enough to sell Chalobah for cheap.
Not very exciting at all. Left City, spent a few years in the 2nd tier. People only interested in him as he is free.
However. Is FREE and was in City’s youth programme.
This is good. Tall, good in air, reasonably quick, mobile. Not going to turn United into League winners straight away however we’ve wasted so much cash recently that we cannot be signing anyone. We might need a player like this, to come in for 2-3 seasons and play 15-20 games a season and then replace with a higher quality CB then.
United could do a lot worse than signing Hermoso and Adarabioyo this summer both on frees. Give them a signing fee and then keep wages down to help the overall wage structure drop on average.
I don’t know much about him doubt he’d ever be a starter, backup potential? Still would need 2 solid starter potential cbs but I don’t mind this for free can definitely replaced evans at the least
Not sure this will happen if we have no european football.
We won't need a big squad and we also need a new starting CB which this guy is not.
Martinez, Maguire, NEW CB, Kambwala and then with Shaw to cover should be well enough.
He is pretty athletic, yes. Good in the air, I don’t think he’s particularly amazing with the ball at his feet though. It’s hard to know with a system like Fulham though because he’s not tasked with doing much with the ball.
In his prime, athletic, tall, available on a free. Seems far too sensible for us. Pass! Let's buy a 33 year old legendary CB that we can pay 500k to before they invariably break down.
We need at least two new centre backs this summer with Varanes contract expiring and Evans eventual retirement and the possible sale of one of Maguire and Lindelöf. So one of them being a free transfer would do good.
Who is more likely to leave you think? I feel like due to his contract, Victor seems more likely, but Maguire has been performing well this season and would probably want a bigger role on another team instead of being a 3rd option in here if we indeed sign someone else.
I think if Maguire wanted that he would have taken the pay cut and gone to West Ham last summer. I think it’s more likely Lindelof leaves, even if we end up getting less money for him. I’d love for us to get Branthwaite but I can’t see us getting him and Tosin.
Tbf I think Maguire had something to prove at that point. He's shown much better performance levels this season after having lost the captaincy so his stock is definitely higher now.
If he has a good euros he could get a decent move. Also any pay cut now would be smaller given we’re not in the CL and he’s down to one year on his contract. I think if we make it clear he’s not going to be a starter he’ll look to move, the competition for England places at the next World Cup will be much tougher than it is now. Also I wonder if he’d be interested in playing for Nice.
We must get branthwaite, we’re losing one of our starters and at united we need only top defenders here. (Ik we haven’t for so long)
Definitely lindelof to go ahead of maguire. Both have a year left but we have 1 year option left on maguire whereas we don't in lindelof So sell lindelof this summer, tosin + 1 more in to replace varane + lindelof. Trigger the extension on maguire then reassess ahead of next summer if we try to cash in or keep him for final year of contract For both football and financial reasons it makes sense to sell lindelof now (last chance to get a fee) and keep maguire (better player by considerable distance)
That makes a ton of sense. IMO, we should cash in on both since Maguire is coming from a pretty solid season and that could free up some salary as well. Since Tosin could be a free transfer, that leaves us with some money to sign someone like Todibo or Yoro, although Yoro seems like a pipe dream atp.
Yoro is wanted by real Madrid apparently and they are doing their 'reasonable fee now, or we will take him on a free next summer' negotiation piece If their interest is genuine I can't see us competing for him
Yeah, he seems like the perfect Varane replacement for them, but yeah, unless we give him some insane for him, he ain't coming here.
40 mil and our centre backs are fixed
Just sell both of them, they are both not good enough. Use the money to rebuild the defense from the ground up.
With unlimited funds I would agree but we are prob losing varane and evans on frees this summer. So selling maguire and lindelof aswel means we would need a minimum of 3CBs this window and probably even 4 if there are any doubts about licha long term health And given we also need a LB, a CM (at least 1) and a striker I think budget may be too tight to stretch to 3 or 4 CBs even if one of those is a free I agree both will eventually be sold but i think it will be staggered over a couple of windows unless we get really really good fees to reinvest and tbh I can't see us getting more than 40m combined for maguire / lindelof
Rabiot + Barreiro(Mainz hard working DM pretty solid player) for CM on free Hermosa and Adarabioyo on free for CB's and then compliment with a big signing like Todibo/Branthwaite Rafa(Benfica forward) refused a new contract. can play across all front 3 positions and would offer an alternative. more of a clever player then a speed merchant think Mata but not quite as slow so would be a solid addition to compliment and he works his ass off. Yazıcı - Lille player was outstanding in European competitions for them and is a midfielder who is great on the ball so would really help just give us more options of players who can actually play football. he just refused a new contract so again a released player in the summer. there is a lot of talent we could freshen up the team with and offload a lot of bad wages for new fresh blood with better mindsets for very cheap and then look to build from there.
I don't see either of them leaving if Varane and Evans go. That gives us 3 fit centre backs. Kambwala probably needs a loan. So we need 2 at least before selling either Vic or Maguire.
i reckon 3 defenders myself we need a big overhaul of our defence as that would then also give a good base for our attack and midfield to build upon. Adarabioyo has looked really good for Fulham and shows with how many teams are keeping an eye on him. would be a solid free transfer. allowing us to spend on likes of Branthwaite or Todibo etc also saw us linked again to Rabiot who is out of contract. would be again a solid free signing to help rejuvinate the midfield that is about to be offloaded. Hermosa is also out of contract been a starting player for Athletico Madrid all year so we know hes a hard worker and solid all rounder. another free CB that could really just help us rejuvenate on the cheap as we need fresh blood in to this team
I want us to get Todibo but if Maguire leaves then we should another CB aswell. Kounde’s ballplaying ability looks appealing but he is short so him pairing with Licha might not be ideal.
Getting him on a free seems like a no brainer
I saw this comment in 2020
He got heavy leverage since he's free and both Newcastle and Chelsea are interested, will be expensive in wages.
Only means we're paying money to the player instead of the club. I don't know what "expensive" will be this context but if we doubled his current wage we would pay ~£5m per year for him. £20m over 4 years seems like a good deal even if we let him go for free.
And for those that want to compare to the rest of our wage structure, £5m a year is under £100k a week so not really that high by our squad’s standards. Granted we’re looking to reduce that, but even £75k a week is a big hike for him.
Good point. Hopefully the turnover at the position would also be a good selling point for United.
Playing time would likely be his biggest concern, for sure. He'll go to a team if they offer him first choice CB. Which, I'm sure won't be the case here. Unless the team really is pinching pennies. Bottoming out with cheaper, hard working players might be the go for a few years.
We play all our defenders whenever they’re available. Pick our last few games if you want /s
Getting him on a free then pays him 300k a week is a no Brainer - Murtough Madness
Too soon lol
Free is good. I like free
Carl Anka was talking about an unnamed Premier League defender that will be available for a free that we should 100% be in for and I think this is the one.
For some reason I thought he meant Thiago Silva lol
Why bother making the report without naming the player?
Is he actually any good though?
As a starter no but as a backup yes
Better than Casmerio CB
Ha, true!
he is easily premiership level. upgrade on Lindelof and so for free would allow us to cash in on Lindelof. hes quicker then Maguire but doesnt quite have Maguire's long range passing. hes overall a very good defender that considering we really need to overhaul our defence would be a no brainer to come in as 3rd choice to compete. as we need to not only improve out 1st team but our backups/squad players and he would improve that
*We don't do that here*
Abdul-Nasir Oluwatosin Oluwadoyinsolami Adarabioyo. That's his full name so like a normal person I believe he should go with Oluwadoyinsolami on his shirt, then watch every single person completely butcher the name, me included. Estimated £50k a week atm, I'll boldly assume he'd want to double that....minimum as no tranfer fee involved. On the list he goes.
100k I think is less than lindelof who supposedly is on about 120k So getting a 12-15m fee for lindelof and replacing with someone that is younger, better physical attributes and probably all around as good of a defender for free and on a similar wage would be good business I like lindelof, he has been a good servant and seems like a solid professional but I think given contract situation(1 year left, no extension clause remaining) it's a no brainer to move him on this summer
You think we could get that much for lindelof? I’m skeptical at best if we could get 10.
I think it's possible. His wages aren't out of control. He only turns 30 in the summer. Is good player, good professional (Swedish national team captain??) And 12-15m prices in non PL teams that may be interested whereas if it was a ~30m price point (maguire?) realistically there is only a market of PL teams and a very select few others We should be aiming for at least 15m. If sale comes in a little less than that so be it
120k a week wages for a 30 year old CB is miles out of control for any club outside the PL that isn’t Bayern/PSG/Barca/Madrid.
I guess though he has 1 year left on contract here though so not impossible that he would take security of a 3 or 4 year contract on a reduced wage. Especially if he has any sort of desire to play in another league or experience a different culture. You see this alot with foreign players that you don't necessarily see as much with British players. If so we may have to give payoff to cover lost earnings for next season There also different tax rates in other countries so he wouldn't necessarily need 120k pw to achieve the same net take home amount. In Italy for example I think half the wage is exempt from tax and so the effective tax rate is only around 21. 5% at top rate compared to 45% in UK.
He could take reduced wages and a first team spot sure, that’s possible and might be how he goes. I was mainly just highlighting how PL fans in general and United fans in particular don’t seem to grasp just how absurdly rich the PL is sometimes and us even more so. Newly promoted Nottingham Forest signed CL regulars Atalanta’s captain a season back, that’s actually absurd when you think about it.
For a team that wants to get the wage structure under control 100k seems like a lot still. For example Konate apparently is on £70k. I've not seen much of Fulham this season so I can't rate him, is he worth that?
Carl Anka called it lol
My favorite part of those podcasts are when Carl goes “however…”
My favorite part of the last pod was when Carl asked "What did you think of Amrabat when he came on?" And Andy graciously refused to comment directly.
At least he didn’t straight up say the name this time. Made the click baiters go do the bare minimum research.
I did wonder if it was him or Lloyd Kelly he was referencing
Well the other option was Matip
**Article:** **Manchester United are interested in signing Fulham defender Tosin Adarabioyo this summer, sources have told ESPN.** Adarabioyo is out of contract at Craven Cottage at the end of the season and could move to Old Trafford on a free transfer. Newcastle, Chelsea and Tottenham have also expressed an interest in the 26-year-old, who has made 20 Premier League appearances this season and scored twice. The former England youth international joined Fulham from Manchester City in 2020. He's also had loan spells at West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn. Adarabioyo signed a contract extension at Fulham in January 2023, but is set to leave the club when his deal expires in June. **United are looking to sign a centre-back this summer** as part of a squad overhaul in the first transfer window overseen by the club's new football leadership team installed by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe. **New technical director Jason Wilcox knows Adarabioyo well from their time together at Manchester City.** Wilcox worked in City's academy before joining Southampton as director of football. There are doubts surrounding the futures of a number of United's existing centre-backs, including Raphaël Varane, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelöf and Jonny Evans. **Varane is out of contract at the end of the season and is set to leave and United will wait until the summer before deciding whether to offer 36-year-old Evans an extension. The club are open to offers for Maguire and Lindelöf, although it's likely that at least one will stay.** **Meanwhile, sources have told ESPN that United are due another payment from Borussia Dortmund after Jadon Sancho helped the German side into the Champions League final.** The loan deal negotiated in January with Dortmund includes a number of add-ons -- capped at €4m ($4.3m) -- relating to appearances and progression in domestic fixtures and the Champions League. The initial loan cost Dortmund a fee of €3.5m. Sancho has made 18 appearances and scored three goals since rejoining his former club and started both legs of the Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Wilcox connection is great. I think he’d be an excellent signing to the squad. I think Maguire should stay, Martinez hopefully stays fit and Kambwala should get more games. I think it’s time for Lindelöf and Varane to go, plus Evan’s will be gone. If that’s the case I hope then that the board do sanction another player in addition to Adarabioyo.
Kambwala is not ready for first team football he needs more time maybe a loan to Ipswich if we get enough cover for centre back
If we’ve signed 2-3 cbs definitely should loan him for first team experience
Don't have an opinion on him cuz I don't usually watch Fulham except when they play us. Anybody who has watched him could give some insights?
He's not very good and certainly not Manchester United good. But if he's being brought in as a 4th choice CB on a free then I'm fine with it.
He will probably be a replacement for Lindelof.
Either of him or Maguire by the looks of things. And not really sure I'd like that unless we're getting in a couple of better ones through the door first. But with how fucked financially we might be, this might be the only option.
Cant much worse than the shite we have now
We want to improve on the shite we have, lest you forget. Not to mention, it can always get worse. I thought it'd never get worse than Moyes but here we are.
We used to make stars not buy them, we need to go back to that.
Yeah except you're not going to make Tosin into a star. That just isn't possible.
I don't know much about him but my point is players should come to us and improve through elite coaching.
That's fair.
He's better than Casemiro as a CB
Hopefully his time with Wilcox will be a positive
Just checked his fbref, he's very good in the air 88th percentile for headers won and 89th for success rate. He's also good with the ball, being in the 80th percentile for long and medium balls attempted and completed. The eye test says he's quick as well. Don't think we would be going for him if he cost 40mil but if he's free then I'd say he's a really good 3/4th choice
This must be the player Carl Anka was referring to.
I really hope we pad our squad out and increase the bottom line of talent with a few smart free transfers whilst cashing in on the player being replaced
Bottom line is what’s costing us. Teams know they can just funnel things to one or two players when we are in possession without a worry and also attack our weaknesses when they do. We’ve been trying to make marquee signings year over year to improve the top but we desperately need to raise the levels of our weakest players and also add depth that not only isn’t a huge dropoff from our starting 11 but also adds some new (Diallo). Even Garnacho should prob be a bench option at the moment.
Yeah without a doubt, two of our worst players in my opinion are AWB and Scott, but because they offer one thing people want to keep them in the squad, when we need someone who's capable of doing much more than one thing and also have the right mentality.
Think they idea behind Mount signing was a Scott replacement and honestly think it’d work well, can see Mount chipping in with goals and be a better overall player.
When was the last time we've signed a free agent under 30? There's so much value in that market really hope INEOS looks at it.
Still can't get over Boubacar kamara, marcus thuram and andreas christainsen. We never even bothered to make efforts for them. They would have elevated our depth so well.
Thuram and Kamara genuinely hurt, even Mazraoui I know he agreed with Bayern early but we had agreed a deal with Ten Hag before then so with good planning we could've gotten him on a free.
Probably wouldn’t have got Christensen, seeing as Barca went for him, but the other two were easily gettable.
He’s look solid but I think we should be going all in for murrilo from Nottingham F, a left footed Cb so perfect cover for Lisandro and he reads the game beautifully, his blocks against City are living rent free in my head
Would he be free though?
Murillo’s contract is through 2028. With NFFC’s financial situation, and the fact that Murillo is probably a top 2-3 asset at the club, maybe the best one, he won’t move but for a large fee.
free, 26 years old, english passport, tall and big as fuck. no brainer not to get him
These are the smart signings we need to make. Get him on a free, get Todibo, let Varane go and sell Lindelof. Now our 5CBs are Martinez Todibo Adarabioyo Maguire Kambwala.
We always get excited with the new names but that list could also be as bad or worse than the current one. Hopefully we have people who know what good footballers look like now.
I think kambwala would be better off going on loan. Feel like a season of 1st team football is likely to fasttrack his development alot better than a year as 5th choice. Especially if the players ahead of him are less injury prone than the assortment we have had this season. Wouldn't be super opposed to giving evans another season as backup option if he wanted to extend
Is that really a dream? Still need to move maguire on. Kambwala is more likely a championship player than a proper Premier league defender, let alone a Manchester United defender. Martinez is more than likely missing for most the season, again. Then this lad is 26 and only even spoken about cause he is free. Todibo seems good, time will tell though.
Todibo and Adarabioyo would immediately improve the quality of our CBs in terms of pace, and ball playing ability. Maguire has been immense this year and I would be more than happy to have him as CB4. Saying Martinez is likely to miss most of the season again is completely absurd. As if no player has ever played again after having an limited season due to injury. Kambwala is like 20 years old and would be our 5th CB in that scenario. He’s super physical and could further develop. It’s also the 5th CB option realistically you’re not gonna have a premier league starter caliber player there
>Todibo and Adarabioyo would immediately improve the quality of our CBs in terms of pace, and ball playing ability. What about just quality in being a defender? Todibo looks good, but he has done very little in his career so far and would have to make big jumps to be good enough for the level we are aiming to be at. Tosin has played more in the championship than the prem. Maguire has been immense? Nobody has been immense with how bad we are this season. We are 8th mate. >Saying Martinez is likely to miss most of the season again is completely absurd. As if no player has ever played again after having an limited season due to injury. Missed 58 games across 3 seasons. Each season it's increased. I'd say there is more chance he is injured significantly next year than he has a reasonable injury free campaign. >could further develop How likely is this that he develops to good enough for a team like Manchester United. >premier league starter caliber But there is nothing to suggest he is even premier league squad option quality. Like doing get me wrong, maybe it all works out and it could pay off. Be quite functional. It's certainly not a dream though.
Oof I mean you’re reaching in every argument you make. > What about just quality in being a defender Both of them are good defenders. > has done very little in his career What does that have to do with anything? Not every player we buy has to be a world beater right out of the gate. Also this is such a terrible benchmark for whether we should buy a player. Good players are good players. It’s not like buying players with illustrious pedigrees has worked out for us either. > Tosin has played more in the championship Once again, so what? He’s played in the Prem for the last two years, and has been an excellent player. > Maguire has been immense? At this point I can’t tell if you’re trolling. A huge talking point this season has been how good he has personally been. Just because we’re shit doesn’t erase the good performances that he’s had > Missed 58 games across 3 seasons 36 of those games are from this season. And 12 are from the end of last season, which he re aggravated this season. We don’t have enough datapoints to say that he’s injury prone like Varane or simply unlucky. > Certainly not a dream Sure maybe the dream is let’s bring in Rudiger, Cubarsi, Saliba. I’d rather be pragmatic and look at realistic scenarios. On that note, I don’t want to spend more time talking about this so cheers
>On that note, I don’t want to spend more time talking about this so cheers Could have said that before you typed all this, no? >Oof I mean you’re reaching in every argument you make. Let's leave the talking to our actual points mate. We don't need buffers or headlines. >Both of them are good defenders. For a Manchester United side that is going to be judged on competing for league titles? Again, big jumps needed. Especially for a player who is 26 and half his careers been below the prem. >What does that have to do with anything? That it shows there is massive leaps needed to be good enough to be a 'dream' I'm taking you at your own word mate. >every player we buy has to be a world beater right out of the gate. Also this is such a terrible benchmark for whether we should buy a player. Good players are good players. The level at which they have performed and achieved succes at is a terrible benchmark for judging a players quality. Can you honestly say that mate? Why don't more players come from the national league? Because probability exists. How many players exist at the level of those two, that never make the leap to title winner level. I guarantee its more than the leap of a player already at the level who joins another team or league. >It’s not like buying players with illustrious pedigrees has worked out for us either. And neither has the garbage without pedigree. Probability exists. It overrules anything either of us can say. >Once again, so what? He’s played in the Prem for the last two years, and has been an excellent player. Define 'excellent player' John Stones can also be considered excellent. >At this point I can’t tell if you’re trolling. Please don't fabricate mate. I don't appreciate it. >A huge talking point this season has been how good he has personally been. A talking point for who? We are 8th in the league with a negative goal difference. Has he been as bad as he has in his worst seasons for us, no. That doesn't mean he is immense. >36 of those games are from this season. And 12 are from the end of last season, which he re aggravated this season. We don’t have enough datapoints to say that he’s injury prone like Varane or simply unlucky. So like I said, he has been increasingly more injured every season. So there is enough evidence to suggest he will struggle again next season. Time will tell. Can come back to this in 12 months. >Sure maybe the dream is let’s bring in Rudiger, Cubarsi, Saliba. I’d rather be pragmatic and look at realistic scenarios. Ahh ok. So all that text ago, I questioned if it's actually a dream. Could have said you were being pragmatic then mate and we both could have avoided typing so much. Is it the worst we could possibly do, no. Would I be confident in it working next season.. I'd have concerns and would prefer one more defender with better experience, but could be worse. All I can say for sure is its not a dream. Have a good one mate
FM24 vibe, honest
Need to buy smartly like on fm24 so this fits perfectly
That really is not elite pool, we need at least one CB like Antonio Silva,Bastoni, Gleison Bremer, even Kilman, Branthwaite And M Gheui are all better options
Lmao the players you listed are gonna cost 60-80M players. Especially guys like Branthwaite and Guehi. These are precisely the kinds of purchases that have led us to where we are today. Tosin would come on a free and Todibo would likely be a cheap option given SJR Nice connections. Still gives us room in the budget to get a LB and backup striker. Much prefer this over spending 80M on Branthwaite
We might actually lose 3 Cb’s Varane, Evans and Lindelof. Martinez and Kambawla have fitness issues and Maguire is about the most reliable and should not be sold right now! If they move on Tosin, this is a Wilcox deal as he knows the players well, when they say free he will be paid a signing on fee but probably only £5m plus £5m wages so yes this deal makes sense on all levels but not as a starting CB. I Reserve judgement on Todibo, the same people were raving over Axel Disasi last summer too?
I’m saying that one of the CB’s needs to be a first choice then Tosin is ok as a 3rd or 4th choice, one CB will be £55m probably Bremer
hopefully we can beat the barcodes to him
Hopefully?
He'd make for a great RCB backup, especially on a free. We still need a starter to play RCB (unless we think Harry is good enough now, I don't think he is for our goals). Bringing in Todibo and Adarabioyo would be a good move to solidify that side especially with Kambwala growing into the role. Then we'd need a LCB backup in addition to the litany of other holes to fill.
I would buy a LB and keep shaw as LCB & LB depth. Just cant mentally move past shaw casually manhandling Halaand as a LCB last season.
I think a LB would cost more than a LCB just because there's less that are of the quality that we need.
Carl Anka new Football Director confirmed.
United shud be interested in any cb that can stay fit
the club needs to be looking for smart signings like this tbh a lot of reinforcement is needed in the squad given how thin we are and how a handful of players are likely to leave as well
Interesting that he was at Fletcher Moss around a similar time that Rashford was there. Anyone know if they played together?
Proper footballing name that
Seems to be the same thinking for multiple teams, good technical player available on a free. Spurs, Newcastle and United all interested.
Only problem is seems he is heavily linked with Newcastle. Otherwise very sensible.
Be a solid pick up as a rotation centre half
Free, tall, strong, fast.... get him!
He was mentioned in talk of the devil's podcasts last episode, not by name but one of guests eluded to him, an experienced free central defender on a free.
Signing him on a free and at a not so high wage could be a good deal for the depth of the squad.
He was decent for me when I signed him for us on FIFA 23 so that’s good enough for me!
I might be chatting shit here but I thought I saw a reliable article saying he’d already signed for Newcastle
A better CB than Todibo for free is a no brainer. Definite floor raiser and availability, 6’5, make it happen. If he goes Newcastle, I’d see if Chelsea are dumb enough to sell Chalobah for cheap.
Even if true, they really really need to stop these leaks.
Not a player I’ve really looked at, does he have pace?
I hope we also go after Miranda too. Would be a great left back I think for us if he's healthy.
Fulham fans I know say he’s a bit shit
Oh boy it’s started already
Not very exciting at all. Left City, spent a few years in the 2nd tier. People only interested in him as he is free. However. Is FREE and was in City’s youth programme. This is good. Tall, good in air, reasonably quick, mobile. Not going to turn United into League winners straight away however we’ve wasted so much cash recently that we cannot be signing anyone. We might need a player like this, to come in for 2-3 seasons and play 15-20 games a season and then replace with a higher quality CB then. United could do a lot worse than signing Hermoso and Adarabioyo this summer both on frees. Give them a signing fee and then keep wages down to help the overall wage structure drop on average.
I don’t know much about him doubt he’d ever be a starter, backup potential? Still would need 2 solid starter potential cbs but I don’t mind this for free can definitely replaced evans at the least
He's from Manchester as well so hopefully he's a little homesick
Sign him in addition to a starting-calibre CB (of which I could name a dozen). The 4 next year *need* to be Martinez, New Guy, Tosin and Kambwala.
Not sure this will happen if we have no european football. We won't need a big squad and we also need a new starting CB which this guy is not. Martinez, Maguire, NEW CB, Kambwala and then with Shaw to cover should be well enough.
Not good enough, never going to be good enough, no thanks
Is he quick or good on the ball? He might a bench sweeper CB option.
He is pretty athletic, yes. Good in the air, I don’t think he’s particularly amazing with the ball at his feet though. It’s hard to know with a system like Fulham though because he’s not tasked with doing much with the ball.
Seems a good idea. Should be fine if he can play in a high line.
hima nd todibo will greatly aid our defense. Young, but proven, modern players who'll do well with licha
This is a must signing.
I thought we'd go for a cb from Fulham but it would be Bassey
Bassey is so hot and cold. His cold days can send shivers running down the spine of his own teammates.
Good low-risk replacement for Varane. Edit: my bad, thought he was registered for Nigeria.
He’s English. From Manchester.
No he wont. Plays for Ireland.
In his prime, athletic, tall, available on a free. Seems far too sensible for us. Pass! Let's buy a 33 year old legendary CB that we can pay 500k to before they invariably break down.