So with the shocking news Hargreaves is signing!!!

Who's next? Huntelaar and Bale were linked again Sunday, hope the latter aint true.

don't believe it, won't happen

Originally Posted by rebelcountyred

don't believe it, won't happen

The Hargreaves thing? You are up to your neck in an Egyptian river.

Originally Posted by puressence

if eto joined id £#%&! for a week

He's off to the dippers with Torres and Bent isn't he?

Originally Posted by puressence

if eto joined id £#%&! for a week

No deal. Make it a fortnight.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

The Hargreaves thing? You are up to your neck in an Egyptian river.

I think if Saha is to stay then a winger needs to be the priority. If he doesn't, then a striker must be.

If Giggs plays down the middle, which he does almost exclusively, then we only really have Ronaldo as a winger.
Park isn't really a winger, nor is Fletcher and Richardson is not very good at football.

I really don't think we should sell Saha. I expect funds will be limited after OH arrives, we'll get little for him due to injury record and to replace him with a fitter, hungrier version of himself will cost £10-15m.

I don't think he can be considered number 1 anymore, but that doesn't mean he can't still be a good squad member. We really miss him when he's not there. Saturday was evidence of that.

If his attitude has taken him past the point of no return then he has to go, I suppose. We don't know what's happened though and how Fergie feels about it.
But if the situation can be saved by getting his fitness back and telling him, in no uncertain terms, that he needs to show more steel and bottle then it'll save us a lot of fuss and money because he will need replacing.

I think we need a right back, but that can wait for now. Brown and Hargreaves can cover Neville.

I like the idea of signing young British talent, but I fail to see the wisdom behind signing another left back. So, Bale can wait or £#%&! off. I can't get excited about that one.

I think Nani would be a good signing. We'd be signing raw Portuguese talent on the wing. Sound familiar?
We need another winger IMO, I think Fergie probably sees Rooney drifting in from the left instead though.
I look forward to seeing Rossi come back. I think Smith should be sold, just not good enough. Sorry Smudger.
I'd like to see Silvestre out the door before Heinze. But Silvestre is the kind of player who will play a squad role, I think Gabby will feel he can be first choice in a top side somewhere else.
It's kind of all or nothing for him, I think.

I haven't seen any of Huntelaar at all, but people seem to think he's not the quickest. Would he therefore fit in? And the goals record is impressive, but does that mean anything in Holland?

I'd take Darren Bent. Quick, great finisher. Scored goals in the Prem, young and English. Surely no opposition from Charlton either. He's bound to leave.

Don't want Defoe but think he's better than he gets credit for on here.

Torres or Eto'o would be amazing but I can't see it happening. Berbatov is class but not sure he'd fit in and that'd be a hell of a job wrestling him away from Spurs.

So, in summary:

IN:

Hargreaves £17m
Nani £??? (anyone?)
Striker (realistically - Bent, Huntelaar, Defoe. £10-15m. Unrealistic - Berbatov, Eto'o, Torres £20m+ each)

OUT:

Richardson £2-4m
Heinze £4-6m
Smith £2-4m

Sounds like Nani has signed a new`deal so he's not possible now. I agree on the need fora winger, particularly after Satdee.

Torres - what's another £30m on a mountain of debt?

Originally Posted by armchair

Torres - what's another £30m on a mountain of debt?

He's going to Liverpool with Eto'o and Bent.

I agree with those ins and outs JC.

I see little point bombing Saha out the door if we're going to be left with Rooney, new striker, Ole and Smith. I'd much prefer the latter to go. Not convinced Ole will be able to contribute much either.

If our striking options were Rooney, Saha, Huntelaar (for arguments sake) and Rossi/Ole I'd be quite confident next year.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

I agree with those ins and outs JC.

I see little point bombing Saha out the door if we're going to be left with Rooney, new striker, Ole and Smith. I'd much prefer the latter to go. Not convinced Ole will be able to contribute much either.

If our striking options were Rooney, Saha, Huntelaar (for arguments sake) and Rossi I'd be quite confident next year.

Me too. I think Ole is done.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

I agree with those ins and outs JC.

I see little point bombing Saha out the door if we're going to be left with Rooney, new striker, Ole and Smith. I'd much prefer the latter to go. Not convinced Ole will be able to contribute much either.

If our striking options were Rooney, Saha, Huntelaar (for arguments sake) and Rossi/Ole I'd be quite confident next year.

ding dong

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

Sounds like Nani has signed a new`deal so he's not possible now. I agree on the need fora winger, particularly after Satdee.

Saturday showed the need for help for Rooney and variation down the flanks and a genuine threat other than Ronnie.

I think once Saha and Park are back they will add genuine quality and options, but still doesn't solve the winger problem.

Oh, Ribery.
Forgot about him. Quality, but another one who we'd have to fight tooth and nail for. However, if you're going for quality then you'd expect resisitance and competition.

Originally Posted by Whalefish

I agree with those ins and outs JC.

I see little point bombing Saha out the door if we're going to be left with Rooney, new striker, Ole and Smith. I'd much prefer the latter to go. Not convinced Ole will be able to contribute much either.

If our striking options were Rooney, Saha, Huntelaar (for arguments sake) and Rossi/Ole I'd be quite confident next year.

Exactly.

Huntelaar, Rooney, Rossi and Saha with Ole where necessary is surely more than enough.

Take Saha out of the equation and you simply need another. We'd recoup about a third of the money it would take to replace him. Makes no sense to me to sell him.

I think Ole is finshed too. Frankly, I think he should call it a day now and take up a coaching role. Still a great finisher, but not much else.

There's no need for frowns, guys. He's had a great career that's coming to an end and finished on a high.

Smith has no future IMO. Endearing in his efforts, but more likely to get booked than offer anything to the side. Seriously.

I think we will spend more than last summer, but we need to be realistic and economical. I think Huntelaar or someone of a similar price + a winger would cost around £40 (OH included) with us getting £10-15m back from departures.

Surely that's do-able and would leave us in great shape for next year. After that we can start to address the problem at right back and maybe pursue Bale depending on his situation and development.

Originally Posted by armchair

Torres - what's another £30m on a mountain of debt?

Great post, shouldn't you be face deep in asspipe though?

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

Sounds like Nani has signed a new`deal so he's not possible now. I agree on the need fora winger, particularly after Satdee.

I think Saturday showed the need for a striker. Our "Stringer" wasn't exactly lethal in front of goal and he should go back towhere he plays best. We have apparently been linked with Alfonso Alves..although that may just be journos reading my ramblings on here.

Originally Posted by The Return of JC

I think if Saha is to stay then a winger needs to be the priority. If he doesn't, then a striker must be.

If Giggs plays down the middle, which he does almost exclusively, then we only really have Ronaldo as a winger.
Park isn't really a winger, nor is Fletcher and Richardson is not very good at football.

I really don't think we should sell Saha. I expect funds will be limited after OH arrives, we'll get little for him due to injury record and to replace him with a fitter, hungrier version of himself will cost £10-15m.

I don't think he can be considered number 1 anymore, but that doesn't mean he can't still be a good squad member. We really miss him when he's not there. Saturday was evidence of that.

If his attitude has taken him past the point of no return then he has to go, I suppose. We don't know what's happened though and how Fergie feels about it.
But if the situation can be saved by getting his fitness back and telling him, in no uncertain terms, that he needs to show more steel and bottle then it'll save us a lot of fuss and money because he will need replacing.

I think we need a right back, but that can wait for now. Brown and Hargreaves can cover Neville.

I like the idea of signing young British talent, but I fail to see the wisdom behind signing another left back. So, Bale can wait or £#%&! off. I can't get excited about that one.

I think Nani would be a good signing. We'd be signing raw Portuguese talent on the wing. Sound familiar?
We need another winger IMO, I think Fergie probably sees Rooney drifting in from the left instead though.
I look forward to seeing Rossi come back. I think Smith should be sold, just not good enough. Sorry Smudger.
I'd like to see Silvestre out the door before Heinze. But Silvestre is the kind of player who will play a squad role, I think Gabby will feel he can be first choice in a top side somewhere else.
It's kind of all or nothing for him, I think.

I haven't seen any of Huntelaar at all, but people seem to think he's not the quickest. Would he therefore fit in? And the goals record is impressive, but does that mean anything in Holland?

I'd take Darren Bent. Quick, great finisher. Scored goals in the Prem, young and English. Surely no opposition from Charlton either. He's bound to leave.

Don't want Defoe but think he's better than he gets credit for on here.

Torres or Eto'o would be amazing but I can't see it happening. Berbatov is class but not sure he'd fit in and that'd be a hell of a job wrestling him away from Spurs.

So, in summary:

IN:

Hargreaves £17m
Nani £??? (anyone?)
Striker (realistically - Bent, Huntelaar, Defoe. £10-15m. Unrealistic - Berbatov, Eto'o, Torres £20m+ each)

OUT:

Richardson £2-4m
Heinze £4-6m
Smith £2-4m

I'd be well happy with that. Swap Heinze out for Mikky and it'd be perfick.

Originally Posted by dodger

I think Saturday showed the need for a striker. Our "Stringer" wasn't exactly lethal in front of goal and he should go back towhere he plays best. We have apparently been linked with Alfonso Alves..although that may just be journos reading my ramblings on here.

I agree with our need fora striker, that was taken as a given, I just think that Satdee showed we need a wide player to spell Giggs(who looked £#%&!ed) and Ronnie during the season. As to Alves, as I said elsewhere, scares the shit outta me as a signing. He's 26, has no international caps, no CL appearrances and has had one great season for a small Dutch club and that makes him a United player? Scary.

Originally Posted by antonin jablonsky

As to Alves, as I said elsewhere, scares the shit outta me as a signing. He's 26, has no international caps, no CL appearrances and has had one great season for a small Dutch club and that makes him a United player? Scary.

Brazilian Paul Warhurst mate.

I thought you were on about Daniel Alves at first. He'd do for wing relief as well as right back cover.

I think Saha has reached one of those watershed moments when Fergie loses patience with a player. It has happened many times in the past, often more dramatically (Keane, Ruud), sometimes less so (Kleberson, Djemba x2). Whatever the case, he now appears to be living on borrowed time, and after his continued injury problems I can't see the point in keeping him anyway - you just know he's going to let us down when it really matters all over again.

In terms of signings, I'm delighted with the Hargreaves situation. He'll give us some much needed steel in the middle of the pitch. At the moment we have too many goldfish in the team (most notably Giggs) who wont take a game by the scruff of the neck when it's not going our way, like on Saturday. This is definitely having a knock-on effect on the likes of Rooney and other younger players (although less so Ronaldo) and Hargreaves will undoubtedly change this.

With Saha going (can't see him wanting to sit on the bench indefinitely) we will definitely need an out-and-out shitstorm of a striker. I don't think Huntelaar fits that bill entirely in the way that, say, Tevez would. He's not quick enough, and he's definitely not hard enough. Torres definitely ticks most of the boxes, but as has been said ad nauseam on here, we can't afford him. I wouldn't mind Bent if it was him plus any of the aforementioned, but in exclusivity, I just don't rate him highly enough. Ditto Defoe, who just flatters to deceive. Still, I'd take ANY of these if, as some newspapers are suggesting, Viduka is being considered as an alternative.