United is mentioned as a potential suitor for Terrell Pennant.

Have any of you fantatics seen him in action? He's supposedly already trained with Leicester's 1st team squad, despite being only 14.

Arsenal is also rumored to be interested in him and are looking to try and swoop in before the summer window.

There are some strong rumours linking us with Inter Milan's Perišić, powered by the photos of Mourinho in Zagreb with the player's agent, ex Real Madrid star Predrag Mijatović.

Now, I have seen Perišić play both for Inter and for Croatia and I can say he is a good player, but imo not Man Utd level. Moreover, he is 28 years old and costs more than £35mil !?

If Mourinho is looking for an experienced player in that position, I would much rather go for Southampton's Dušan Tadić, who is also 28, but already used to Premier League football, more creative, can play on the wing and behind the striker.
Best of all, he allegedly has a release clause of only £13mil, which is less than a half of what we paid for Fellaini and about the third of what was paid for Mata.

Anyway, if I was Mourinho I wouldn't buy any of those. But then, I wouldn't have sold Depay either :)

Seriously, if we should go for a winger than I would go for the likes of Bale or Neymar. If those are not possible to buy, then there are lots of other options like Lucas Moura, maybe Douglas Costa or Federico Bernardeschi. We should also follow the situation of Riyad Mahrez, maybe he has a good release clause in his contract, especially if Leicester should be relegated.

I think we need at least one true winger, possibly a RW, as neither of our current players is a real winger. Maybe Ashley Young is the only one I'd call a winger.
Said that, I think we shouldn't keep Zlatan next season. It was really good to have him this season, but there are various reasons it would be better not to make his presence last for another year. First of all, he would hinder Martial and Rashford, who would be forced to always play on the wing. Moreover, his presence is too cumbersome, conditions too much our way of playing football. I think it would be better for us to free-up this position and start playing younger players some more, letting them develop. They had a great occasion to learn from Zlatan this season, we needed a leader like him, but one year would be enough.

Nemanja77 wrote:

There are some strong rumours linking us with Inter Milan's Perišić, powered by the photos of Mourinho in Zagreb with the player's agent, ex Real Madrid star Predrag Mijatović.

Now, I have seen Perišić play both for Inter and for Croatia and I can say he is a good player, but imo not Man Utd level. Moreover, he is 28 years old and costs more than £35mil !?

If Mourinho is looking for an experienced player in that position, I would much rather go for Southampton's Dušan Tadić, who is also 28, but already used to Premier League football, more creative, can play on the wing and behind the striker.
Best of all, he allegedly has a release clause of only £13mil, which is less than a half of what we paid for Fellaini and about the third of what was paid for Mata.

Anyway, if I was Mourinho I wouldn't buy any of those. But then, I wouldn't have sold Depay either :)

Seriously, if we should go for a winger than I would go for the likes of Bale or Neymar. If those are not possible to buy, then there are lots of other options like Lucas Moura, maybe Douglas Costa or Federico Bernardeschi. We should also follow the situation of Riyad Mahrez, maybe he has a good release clause in his contract, especially if Leicester should be relegated.

I think we need at least one true winger, possibly a RW, as neither of our current players is a real winger. Maybe Ashley Young is the only one I'd call a winger.
Said that, I think we shouldn't keep Zlatan next season. It was really good to have him this season, but there are various reasons it would be better not to make his presence last for another year. First of all, he would hinder Martial and Rashford, who would be forced to always play on the wing. Moreover, his presence is too cumbersome, conditions too much our way of playing football. I think it would be better for us to free-up this position and start playing younger players some more, letting them develop. They had a great occasion to learn from Zlatan this season, we needed a leader like him, but one year would be enough.

Indeed, not Man.Utd level..We had him with us in Bruges, he was very good for our standards ;)

Nemanja77 wrote:

Seriously, if we should go for a winger than I would go for the likes of Bale or Neymar.

I read somewhere earlier that United are seemingly in play to activate Neymar's €220 million release clause and offer him €25 million per year.

Agreed.

We now have enough quality to move back to the tried and trusted 'young talents or superstars' signings.

The one superstar we could use is a deep lying playmaker. I have no idea who would suit the role to be honest.

And in attack I actually wouldn't go for Neymar. He might be great but he is 25. I'd spend crazy money for Mbappe instead. At 18 his scoring and assisting rate is just outrageous. Even if he won't become one of the greats then getting him to United couldn't hurt. Getting 19 goals and 5 assists in 32 appearances at his age. How many others have ever got such stats? The league stats of 12 goals and 5 assists in just 980 minutes is even better..

As for Zlatan - is there really a question? He's awesome. I think he has the intelligence to play as a number 10 as well if we want more pace upfront. He wouldn't press but his intelligence and understanding of the game is so good that he'd do well there. We could use a backup for Zlatan upfront tho. If Chicharito is happy being a bit part player then he'd be perfect IMO. Although perhaps we don't need one as Martial and Rashford should be able deputies..

Mbappe and Martial are a bit of the same mold.

Martial has just been "relegated" to the wings, instead of his more natural scoring roles, be it from a wider position or in the middle.

And that's the type of a forward I think we want in the future.

Rooney played out wide for a spell as well. I think in the long run having three guys who can all play up front and switch roles at will like Martial, Rashford and Mbappe would be quite an ideal threesome up front. We'd be just great on counters because they're really pacy(+Pogba making the passes and also very quick, Herrera and Miki also...). And I think they'd be good in a positional attack as well because they can beat their man.

Now we need someone great to be the deep playmaker. A young Carrick/Xavi/Pirlo type of a player, then I'm not sure whether there is much more we need in the first 11..

So essentially you're saying "Bring in Mbappe and Veratti"? :-)

I don't think Verratti is the right player for us. His style isn't what we need IMO. I think he wants to get forward too much and that will leave a hole in midfield. As Herrera is also better at attacking than defending. I'd replace Herrera with him, but Herrera is too good to exchange.

Herrera is excellent at bringing the ball forward, but I often see hints that he's playing further back, more like Carrick. Indeed, he's not as proficient in the defensive play, but we can't have it all.

Do we want a deep lying playmaker (both Veratti and Herrera COULD be that) or do we want a workhorse (Kante/Vieira/Keane) style?

If you want a new version of Carrick/Pirlo/Xavi, I see no reason why Herrera and Veratti couldn't do the trick together. Or simply use Blind up there. He's played really well as a ball-controlling defensive midfielder and he kind of lacks the pace to play on the backs anyways.

I think in the long run having three guys who can all play up front and switch roles at will like Martial, Rashford and Mbappe would be quite an ideal threesome up front. We'd be just great on counters because they're really pacy(+Pogba making the passes and also very quick, Herrera and Miki also...). And I think they'd be good in a positional attack as well because they can beat their man.

That was my idea with Martial, Rashford and Depay - having three pacy, technical guys upfront, all with a good sense of goalscoring and all three who can interchange positions during the game.

Mourinho never tried this because his idea was/is to always play Zlatan, so Martial and Rashford were pushed out on the wing, while Memphis was pushed out of the team. I am not sure Mbappe has more talent or more skills than Memphis. He is the player of the moment, having showed great talent and also excellent numbers, but he would cost a king's ransom without guaranteeing to improve our team. Would I like us to buy him? Yes, I definitely would as he is one of the most exciting young players in Europe, but I still think we should leave the striker's position for Martial and Rashford and buy a proper winger instead. Bale is still number one for me, but this Summer would be the last chance for him to join us, as he will be 28 in July. If not Bale, we might also try to bring Alexis Sanchez. I was so keen for United to get him when he was leaving Barcelona, but we might have the second chance at the end of this season. Neymar is younger than Bale and Sanchez, but nothing can guarantee that he would light up the EPL like he is doing in Spain. He probably would, but I am not sure he is worth five or ten times more than every other winger out there. I also can't stand his constant simulating. I think we might have tried to buy Ousmane Dembele last Summer, but this train is gone for now. Another Dembele we might try to buy is Moussa Dembele from Celtic. He might be as good as Mbappe, but costs two or three times less.

Now we need someone great to be the deep playmaker. A young Carrick/Xavi/Pirlo type of a player, then I'm not sure whether there is much more we need in the first 11..

Maybe we should just buy someone like Bakayoko from Monaco and let Pogba do the playmaker, with Miki/Mata in front of them as number 10? Otherwise, it would be Pogba and Herrera in front of a defensive midfielder, with Miki on a wide position.
I would also not give up from signing Alcantara, if any possibility arises. I am afraid he might go to City if they play in the CL next season and if Guardiola stays. Sooner or later he will want to try his luck in the Premier League and we should be the first team to get him if he decides to move to England.

Talking about Monaco, they are one of the rare teams I would rob for more than two or three players. Fabinho would be a great buy as well, while I also like Bernardo Silva and Lemar, two very technical and tactically intelligent players. However, if I could choose "only" two, I would choose Bakayoko and Fabinho.

Last night Gianluigi Donnarumma became the youngest keeper to make a full debut for Italy, at only 18 years and 31 days. Buffon was 20 when he made his full debut.

This keeper is already a beast at only 18 years, I can only imagine how good can he become. A team that buys him will resolve the keeper situation for the next 10-15 years, that's if they can keep him.

If somehow De Gea should leave, I wouldn't mind if we brought this keeper, but I know he will cost a fortune, especially as his agent is the notorious Mino Raiola, the agent of Pogba and Zlatan.

At the moment, he should improve skills with his feet, but his shot-stopping and commanding the area with his height 196cm is brilliant.

Donnarumma has said he wants to play for Milan for his entire career, so long as they strive to be a top team.

Much depends on the level of players they can get and I'm nearly 100% certain that he won't leave until he's 21-23 or so at the earliest. 3-5 dissapointing years could be enough for him to seek greener pastures, but if they do any kind of well (top 4) I don't see him leaving.

Yeah, since I'm a Milan fan too, I'd like to see him succeed there :) I believe they will be going up in the ranks in Italy too, it's about time :)
But of course he's been on a lot of clubs radars for like two years already :)

Herrera is excellent at bringing the ball forward, but I often see hints that he's playing further back, more like Carrick. Indeed, he's not as proficient in the defensive play, but we can't have it all.

IMO he's been poor in a deeper role. He is his energetic self over there and looks nice but isn't effective at all. In higher positions his running with the ball is constructive. He evades a challenge and is close enough to the goal to create danger. If he loses the ball then nothing bad happens. In a deeper role if he runs past someone he is still in midfield with little danger to the opponent and if he loses the ball then we're in a tricky situation.

I think he doesn't have the vision and the passing range and the calmness on the ball to distribute the ball from a deeper midfield position. A player in that position should rely on his passing for the attacking part of the game and that's not Herrera's strong point. He isn't bad at longer passes, but he isn't brilliant either. He can be used there, but he isn't the perfect solution.

I think his defensive performances are good enough in any of the midfield positions really.

Do we want a deep lying playmaker (both Veratti and Herrera COULD be that) or do we want a workhorse (Kante/Vieira/Keane) style?

I think that both Herrera and Verratti aren't playmakers in a DM position. Both are playmakers who play as a CM. The playmakers in the DM position over the last 15 years have been Pirlo, Busquets possibly, Carrick, Xabi Alonso, Scholes in his later years and.. I really can't think of anyone else that has been great in this position. Xavi was a great playmaker, possibly the best, but he was never a DM.

I want to have that type of a player. They don't come around often and I don't know many out there to be honest. I'm willing to wait for a few years to find someone like that and be happy with some workhorse in that position in the meantime, but I think that in the long run we must get the next great playmaker. We absolutely must because we've all seen how much greater Scholes made the team. It's somewhat intangible what he brought and hard to describe but when you see it regularly then you know. Carrick did/does it as well but to a smaller extent.

If you want a new version of Carrick/Pirlo/Xavi, I see no reason why Herrera and Veratti couldn't do the trick together. Or simply use Blind up there. He's played really well as a ball-controlling defensive midfielder and he kind of lacks the pace to play on the backs anyways.

None of them have the vision and the passing ability of a true playmaker. Basically we want a Pogba who doesn't run as much and get forward as much but who is better at defending :).

Just a quick note that a deep lying playmaker and a DM isn't the same. At least not in my book.

Veratti has, imo, shown all the signs of being the DLP for the future. One of the best in all of Europa at exactly that playing style.

It depends, though, on what style Mourinho wants to play.

I won't quote as it takes so much space, but:

Mbappe - I don't think he is the flavor of the month. Even if he is on fire he is producing at a level that is unprecedented and if you 'take out the luck' and only look at the expectation then you still have levels that very few have ever produced at such age.

I don't think the comparisons with Memphis are good. Memphis was the star man of PSV and everything went through him and that's why he got so many goals. In an inferior league. When he was already 20(Mbappe is 18). And Mbappe isn't even Monaco's 'main man'. He's started fewer games as a striker than both Falcao and Germain. So we can be pretty sure that not everything goes through him over there.

I'm not so sure about Bale any more. He is great, but his age is not right any more. He'd be great for 3?4? seasons and then start to fade probably. We need players who come and who can start a new dynasty. Who would carry the winning mentality from this generation of players to the next like the class of 92 did and those who came later and stayed for a long time. The same goes for Sanchez - great player but IMO not a great buy because of his age and the transfer fee that would surely come along with him. I also think Sanchez will age badly.

Neymar would be great but not at some crazy 200m fee. He is at the max age for a player I'd like to see us sign(except a DM playmaker - if we find a perfect one then his age doesn't matter much).

As for Ousmane Dembele - he is the other one next to Mbappe that I'd like to see at United. The age is right, he has proven himself in two leagues already and he seems awesome.

Celtic's Dembele - I would be very wary of judging someone based on the Scottish league and a few European matches. He might be good and I'd be excited if we bought him but he'd feel like a consolation prize :).

As for the DM - I think there are enough 'pure' DMs out there that wouldn't be too bad but I feel that it's not great. Then we'd have another player who isn't great on the ball. We already have Jones and Smalling :). I think that all the DMs we've had over the years were footballers first and defensive players second. Even Keane. I think we need to continue that trend. Getting some good destroyer is fine but it would leave me saying 'meh', we dealt with a problem but didn't exceed expectations. It's just like when we bought Schneiderlin. He is a good player but we need outstanding players. Neither was he a great talent. If we buy talents, then THEY don't have to be among the very best yet.

As for Thiago - if he is available and not at 150m, then yes yes yes, go for him. He is great. Him next to Pogba and a Scholes-type of a playmaker in midfield with Rashford, Mbappe and Martial upfront... Could it be much better? :)

Monaco are good, but I do feel that their CMs might not be as good as they're made out to be. They concede so many goals that some of it must be down to the midfield not being compact enough or pressing well enough or smth.. They do have a very good group of players right now, I agree there.

I don't like his style too much though. It always leaves me feeling that when he goes and runs with the ball then he gets so out of position that either the defense is exposed or someone must stay back to cover for him. He is a very good player but only if there is the right mixture of players around him that support the way he plays. I don't think Pogba and Herrera would be great partners for him, especially as Pogba tends to want to get forward as often as possible as well and is somewhat wasted in a deeper role IMO.

I don't consider DM and a deep lying playmaker as the same. DM means the position while deep lying playmaker means the way someone plays in the position DM for me.

In a 4-2-3-1 system, which seems like the flavor of the past seasons, one of the two CM's is typically sitting deeper in the field. A DLP could play there imo.

Ofc it's a matter of balance and compatibility. I'm sure Mourinho is better qualified than me at figuring out what needs to be done. :-)

I just read this morning that AC Milan keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma has a contract only until June 2018, which is only 14 months from today.

If he doesn't renew it soon, maybe that means he will leave in the Summer for a cut price.
Obviously, his agent would ask a hefty sum for himself, so at the end the player wouldn't be cheap, but anyway, this might be a chance for anyone who wants a keeper for many years to come.

Just saying....as I have a bad feeling that De Gea will leave.

Talking about De Gea, I still haven't quite understood, if he is an Atletico Madrid lifelong fan and wants to return to Madrid, why would he want so much to join a rival club like Real? Wouldn't it be more logical that he goes back to Atleti? In this case, we could just swap him for Oblak and the job is done, simple as that, no fee involved :)