comment by Neo (U9135)
posted 10 minutes ago
Duje Caleta-Car: £20m-30m. Recently turned down a move to Liverpool

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course he did mate
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He did. Because if he moved to Liverpool, he'd just be Duje Caleta.

comment by Clockwork Red (U4892)
posted 14 seconds ago
comment by Neo (U9135)
posted 10 minutes ago
Duje Caleta-Car: £20m-30m. Recently turned down a move to Liverpool

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course he did mate
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He did. Because if he moved to Liverpool, he'd just be Duje Caleta.
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comment by Christopher (U20930)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Clockwork Red (U4892)
posted 14 seconds ago
comment by Neo (U9135)
posted 10 minutes ago
Duje Caleta-Car: £20m-30m. Recently turned down a move to Liverpool

-----

course he did mate
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He did. Because if he moved to Liverpool, he'd just be Duje Caleta.
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I will happily leave all decisions to the management team.They are far more savvy than we are and have done a reasonable job so far. The team is improving and playing attractive football in the old spirit of the club. If we can win the "B" cup it will have been a better season than 18 other PL clubs.
Man City have been worthy winners this season. No matter the wealth of the owners, the players still have to perform on the pitch. It is up to the others to challenge next year.
Arsenal, Spurs..Can't see that happening.
Chelsea...maybe.

Jonathan Ikone: £45m Lille’s RW who replaced Nicolas Pepe on the right flank. An inverted winger, he may be a fit in the counter attacking, high pressing formation Ole sets up.
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Side note, reports out of Germany (BILD) linking Ikone to Dortmund as a Sancho replacement.

Early rumored valuation is £40m. Seems like a decent deal to hijack to me.

Boubakary Soumare: £35m: Lille's high engined CDM. Very similar to Wilfrid Ndidi at Leicester in his tenacity to break up plays and recycling possession.

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Soumare isn't similar to Ndidi, not at all really.

He's off to Leicester for around £20 million anyway.

Bruno Guimaraes and Maxence Caqueret are two players worth looking at in France.

Probably one of the most researched articles on JA606 for a long time.

comment by The Red Side™ (U11275)
posted 17 minutes ago
Boubakary Soumare: £35m: Lille's high engined CDM. Very similar to Wilfrid Ndidi at Leicester in his tenacity to break up plays and recycling possession.

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Soumare isn't similar to Ndidi, not at all really.

He's off to Leicester for around £20 million anyway.

Bruno Guimaraes and Maxence Caqueret are two players worth looking at in France.
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That's a hell of a deal for Leicester. Surprised there wasn't a change in tune when Leicester missed out on the CL.

I reckon he was brought in to replace Ndidi given that they both play CDM. Soumare has a bit more attacking flair to his game but the work rate and defensive positioning is very similar to how Ndidi plays. Pep Rodgers probably has that role lined up for him.

I never got around to watching a whole lot of OL games, I don't know much about them outside of Aouar who has been linked with a move to Arsenal.

comment by Alisson Becker, Liverpool's Number 9 (U3979)
posted 18 minutes ago
Probably one of the most researched articles on JA606 for a long time.
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Eh. I try my best sometimes.

I think what prompted me to write this article is the fact that we keep getting linked to LCB rather than RCBs and it annoyed me how lazy these tabloids are getting again.

Anyone think we should bring James Garner back?

Soumare isn't as busy defensively as Ndidi is, he relies more on positioning and reading play, more so than tackling.

He's calmer on the ball, has better technique and he's a more progressive player when it comes to both passing and carrying.

It's not a good comparison tbh.

And what about Teden Menghi? Too soon? Maybe another season in loan. Cos I would rather have Jim than see bloody Jones taking up a spot next at CB season

What the hell is that mess I wrote.
‘Maybe another season on loan, Cos I would rather have him, than see bloody Jones taking up a spot at CB next season..’

Tbf to Jim whoever he is, he's probably a more reliable player than Jones.

It's not confirmed but I think Mengi will be at Derby again next season.

comment by Michael. (U1170)
posted 2 hours ago
comment by Freedom FC (Diamond Hands) (U7214)
posted 1 minute ago
Some of you may laugh off of the players I'd mention up there but you're essentially getting a player before the likes of Dortmund/Leicester/etc and cutting out the inflated prices you would need to pay if these players turn out to be good.

I had a lot of difficulty figuring out the valuation on the players without price tags because on one hand, I was factoring in COVID and on the other, I didn't want to factor in COVID.
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This is the frustrating thing with our scouts in recent times when you see players go to clubs like Leicester for low fees and within a short space of time they have someone at the level of Ndidi that we're crying out for.

Whether we'd have been able to get him at the same cost, or if the price goes up when we become interested I don't know, or perhaps they're more able to take a gamble on these types of players than we are where the manager is sacked if they don't make top 4.
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And they bought Ndidi to replace Kante. I still cry when I think he left the club nearest to me for 4 million euros

comment by The Red Side™ (U11275)
posted 40 minutes ago
Tbf to Jim whoever he is, he's probably a more reliable player than Jones.

It's not confirmed but I think Mengi will be at Derby again next season.
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And it’s so true...
oh man, Derby in a right mess, hope he goes somewhere else then..

#FreeJim

comment by Freedom FC (Diamond Hands) (U7214)
posted 2 hours, 12 minutes ago
comment by -bloodred- (U1222)
posted 15 minutes ago
Duje Caleta-Car:
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This...this is the man to drive us forward
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I actually like his game. He's to OM what Harry is to us. Liverpool was close to bringing him in January but Caleta-Car decided he wanted to stay in France.

https://www.goal.com/en-us/news/marseille-caleta-car-turned-down-liverpool-offer-january/14pd1r5hz38np1rub2re6bicuc
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Sounds like he did a u-turn

70m is still way way too much for Declan rice.

Garner: Think he goes on loan again
Mengi: Same. Or bring him back and send Fish on loan. He needs to go to another pond.

I've seen price ranging from £60m to £90m. It's a bit crazy given the alternatives available.

comment by Michael. (U1170)
posted 3 hours, 4 minutes ago
comment by Freedom FC (Diamond Hands) (U7214)
posted 1 minute ago
Some of you may laugh off of the players I'd mention up there but you're essentially getting a player before the likes of Dortmund/Leicester/etc and cutting out the inflated prices you would need to pay if these players turn out to be good.

I had a lot of difficulty figuring out the valuation on the players without price tags because on one hand, I was factoring in COVID and on the other, I didn't want to factor in COVID.
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This is the frustrating thing with our scouts in recent times when you see players go to clubs like Leicester for low fees and within a short space of time they have someone at the level of Ndidi that we're crying out for.

Whether we'd have been able to get him at the same cost, or if the price goes up when we become interested I don't know, or perhaps they're more able to take a gamble on these types of players than we are where the manager is sacked if they don't make top 4.
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I don’t think it’s quite as simple as that. Temperament is one of the biggest things needed to perform at a huge club like United.

Plenty of talented players haven’t had the temperament to perform for such a huge club, and one of the reasons why so many big clubs prefer to wait and see how they might do at a lesser one first. It’s less of a jump.

The problem with the whole mentality issue is that even the higher profile player who played in the top teams in other leagues/CL football/etc. are not guaranteed to succeed at a new club with even higher expectations.

The recruitment has to be centered around how we can slot these players into the current style of play. Essentially not using a square peg in a round hole. Then you have to see if said player wants the move to the club. This is why I say to forget about signing Haaland as I don't think he will want to be here.

Players I have looked at it all seems to be able to take up complementary roles with our existing squad. Whether or not they have the mental aptitude or desire to play for Man United is up to speculation.

Let’s see what happens tomorrow. Is the winners mentality there now.... there’s a desire to fightback.
But I’d say they come up a little short with a winning mentality at this moment in time....
make me eat my damn words tomorrow!!1

That’s not a problem with it, that’s a reason that adds to big clubs usually not bringing in these players straight from clubs like Genk. You’ve then to consider that playing time helps these players develop, which big clubs cannot always offer.

When you have the money to sign these players from smaller and middling clubs in top leagues there’s not a massive need to cut the middle man out. You see plenty of players make a jump to soon and stagnate.

The lack of playing time does stagnate development, I agree. I think a clear example of development stagnating is Brandon Williams this year. He seems to be decent enough rotational piece when he had playing time. Now, it seems like he's just short of confidence.

I think just think it's just economically more feasible to cut out the middle team and just go poach the best young talents out of these obscure league and roll the dice that way. It seems to me that under Ole, we're more open to taking the gambles on the youngsters to come out to OT directly.

Amad and Pellistri being the most recent signings. It's why I think Sancho might be a bunch of smokes and mirrors for someone else.

Depends what your goals are. It’s not really the best transfer policy if you want to be successful. I’m not really talking about United because our transfer policy is crap however we try it. Was commenting more on why big clubs often go straight for these players.

Plus there are facking thousands of talented footballers around the world. The big clubs cannot sign them all. And you have to give credit to the players and clubs that have helped build them up into the players they become.

To use a comparison, the best academies in the world are mostly the biggest clubs. But most of the top footballers in the world aren’t coming from them academies. The vast majority of players just aren’t ready to take that step to the top early in life. There’s not a problem with that, the biggest clubs have far, far more advantages than anyone else anyway.