Midfield Balance

[JoelfuckingGlazer]

I know very little about Santos or Ederson. But the club nailed it last summer, and the move away from vastly over paying for 'shiny' signings, to a more principled stand on value, price and calculated fit for the playing style is one I very much welcome.

[dozer]

I know very little about Santos or Ederson. But the club nailed it last summer, and the move away from vastly over paying for 'shiny' signings, to a more principled stand on value, price and calculated fit for the playing style is one I very much welcome.

We're not buying shiny players which is great but we are still overpaying for the mid tier signings.
We didn't do that last season but we seem to be this year.

[fat maradona]

Overpaying for mid tier players seems out of our control, have you seen the ridiculous fees being demanded? It’s not like United are willingly handing it over and selling clubs know we are desperate.

[Fuck the Glazers]

Nobody would have thought a 17m keeper from Antwerp would transform our defence, be our number 1 and save 10/15 points a season that Onana would have lost us. I wanted Donnarumma. But the steal that Lammens was means we've freed up 10/15m on the wage bill for other players.

Not saying Santos or Ederon are gonna hit those heights but Vivell, Berrada and Wilcox have earned some trust. Most signings are 50/50 whether they work out but we're hitting a higher ratio than that at the min.

A key thing they seem to look for is players with hidden potential and high ceilings. Hopefully Ederson and Santos fit the bill. If they're playing in an effective, well balanced team, they'll definitely improve as players. Santos in particular, cos Chelsea are a fucked up club.

[JoelfuckingGlazer]

Ederson deal off apparently. Concerned over his medical.

[Fuck the Glazers]

Ederson deal off apparently. Concerned over his medical.

Bombshell. If we've dodged a crock then well done Berrada & co. Leaves us a bit fucked, but not as fucked as spending 50m on a player that's always injured.

[Felwin]

Looks like there was a very good reason we wanted our doctors to have a proper look at him. Must've been some whispers about a problem among medical staff.

[fat maradona]

That lad Kone who we are linked with is also a bit of a knee crock.

Joao Gomes to Atletico has supposedly collapsed, I’d take him at United.

[Remi Moses]

I think the Ineos approach to transfers is exactly right. Hold exploratory talks across the market, not because they are randomly chasing ten midfielders at once, but because that is how you build a complete picture. You need to know the fee, wage expectations, agent demands, injury risk, contract situation, player appetite, selling-club pressure, and whether the structure of a deal is actually possible.

Only then can you judge value properly. A player might be the best footballing fit but terrible value at £85m (Fernandes). Another might be only 85% of the player stylistically, but good value at £38m (Ederson) with lower wages or better durability. That does not mean United are not ambitious. It means they are weighing football quality against cost, risk and squad fit.

If these criteria are applied to every incoming and outgoing, they become far more efficient with their capital. Consistent, well-thought-through decisions compound over time. That is how you build success, not by "winning" every headline deal, but by repeatedly making the right value decisions.

[fat maradona]

I think the Ineos approach to transfers is exactly right. Hold exploratory talks across the market, not because they are randomly chasing ten midfielders at once, but because that is how you build a complete picture. You need to know the fee, wage expectations, agent demands, injury risk, contract situation, player appetite, selling-club pressure, and whether the structure of a deal is actually possible.

Only then can you judge value properly. A player might be the best footballing fit but terrible value at £85m (Fernandes). Another might be only 85% of the player stylistically, but good value at £38m (Ederson) with lower wages or better durability. That does not mean United are not ambitious. It means they are weighing football quality against cost, risk and squad fit.

If these criteria are applied to every incoming and outgoing, they become far more efficient with their capital. Consistent, well-thought-through decisions compound over time. That is how you build success, not by "winning" every headline deal, but by repeatedly making the right value decisions.

You are starting to see the structure Wilcox & Vivell are putting together. A lot of fans still want the Woodward approach to transfers and at the same time bemoan how shit they were and how much money we wasted.

I read that the recruitment team aren't looking for a specialist DM/no.6. They want midfielders that can play across the middle and provide versatility and you can see that in who we are linked with.

If they can go and get Joao Gomes (yeh yeh, I sound like a broken record), add that to Mount offering a bit more this season and a couple of the yoot getting more minutes, it'll free up money to get that LB and 2nd striker we need.