Football News: What I Would Do With The Manchester United Players

GK: Heaton, VMS (20m), Lammens (15m) .
CB: Maguire, MdL, Yoro, Martinez, Heaven, Mazraoui.
WB: Amad, Dalot, Dorgu, Shaw, Amass.
CM: Ugarte, Mainoo, Casemiro, Lamine Camara (25m) .
AM: Cunha (60m) Mount, Bruno, Mbeumo (50m) .
ST: Zirkzee, David (free), Delap (30m) .

I've shifted Onana out the door along with Bayindir as neither are good enough. But I've been realistic in that we simply won't be able to shift everyone, so I've kept a few who don't have long term futures or are unlikely to. I've kept Casemiro as while his wages are obscene, he actually does contribute on the pitch to a reasonable level and he offers great leadership and experience off the pitch as well. His issue is he can't play twice a week, but with no European football next year that won't be an issue.

I've kept Maguire as he does offer experience and he has been decent this year and I've always said he suits a back three more than a back four. Plus we don't get anything from selling him, just another position that needs replacing. I've also kept Bruno, although that's mostly to keep within the 200m budget set out. Selling him absolutely necessitates buying more players and I'd have to go over the 200m budget to do so.

I've kept Mount as if he can stay fit then I think he could be excellent in this system that Amorim plays. He was really good against Villa in our final league game. It might be a cliché but if he can stay fit and return to form then he will be like a new signing next season.

Finally I've kept Zirkzee, he's a good player who seems to be slowly finding his feet in the EPL. He is also very versatile, capable of covering at ST and in the inside forward positions. He's never really been a prolific scorer but he does a great job of linking the attack together. I think he deserves another year to see if he can take it up a level.

As for signings I've gone with:

Vanja Milankovic-Savic - 20m an experienced keeper.
Senne Lammens - 15m a young keeper with huge potential.

Hopefully those two solve the keeper issue between them for the next decade. I remember when we signed DDG and he needed to be taken out of the limelight at times, having a keeper like VMS around means we can afford to ease Lammens in slowly as it's a big jump from the Belgian Jupiter league to the EPL.

I've not signed any defenders or wingbacks. I think this is an area we can make do with for now. I'd be more inclined to bring in a wingback that a CB this summer if we had the cash. But the wingback role is a very specialised position and is difficult to buy ready to go players for.

Most need to learn the position as they will likely not played it much if at all before. For that reason I think it might make more sense for the manager and coaching staff to work with the young players we already have at the club to tailor them into the right players we need. It's much easier to do that with young players. We have Dorgu who is still acclimatising to the EPL and the wingback role having typically played as a full back in Italy.

Amad has probably played his best football actually in the wingback role rather than the inside forward. Dalot I think will pick up the role pretty quickly and be decent, while Amass is very young and can be moulded into the role. We also have Mantato in the academy who RA has taken a shine to apparently and could start to be moulded into a wingback.

While at CB I don't see us being able to sign someone there unless someone leaves, which is unlikely. I think this is an area we can afford to kick down the road until next summer.

In midfield I've gone for a younger slightly lesser known option of Lamine Camara from Monaco. Stylistically he's very similar to Adam Wharton, not at his level yet, but has a lot of potential. Importantly though he would be available for somewhere between 20-30m whereas Palace will demand close to 100m for Wharton. He's the sort of gem we should be looking to pick up. If we don't I could see him going to somewhere like Brighton or Brentford and then in a couple of years time he'll be a target for the top EPL teams and move for 60-80m.

I've kept Casemiro as an older experienced professional who can contribute on the pitch still, even if not twice a week or needs subbing off for the final 20 minutes. Ugarte I'm hoping kicks on, he's been okay this season, good at times. He has looked much better alongside Casemiro than any other options. I think with Bruno, Mainoo or Eriksen alongside him they aren't as defensively aware and can leave the midfield too open which you can't afford to do if you are playing a double pivot rather than a midfield three.

That's why I've aimed to bring in someone like Lamine Camara as he's like a young Casemiro. He can learn from him for a season and rotate around with him to give Casemiro a rest. I'd also hope to see Kobe slowly start to be integrated into the first team squad and start to get some minutes later in games or starting some of the early domestic cup games if we are up against lower league opposition.

Attack is where I've spent the money as that is where we need it most. We actually finished 6th in terms of chances created in the EPL this season, but 17th for goals scored. We create enough chances to have finished much higher, but we can't put the ball in the back of the net. That's mostly due to our forwards being wasteful, but also because a lot of the "chances" created are not great chances and include long shots or shots from wide angles.

We need to both create better chances, and more chances, as well as obviously putting more of them away.

Spending big on Cunha and Mbeumo gives us two players entering their prime who are EPL proven and ready to step up another level. Between them they got 35 league goals and 13 assists in the EPL this season. They would add somewhere between 40-50 league goals to our team, which instantly puts up challenging around the European places.

I've then added Delap as a great up and coming young striker who has EPL experience and has shown an ability to score goals even when not presented with many chances. He has shown he can make goals himself and his hard work, physicality and technical ability helps make space and chances for others. I've also signed Jonathan David on a free transfer.

This seems like a no brainer. Lightening quick, comfortable as the lone striker while also capable of playing as an inside forward just off the striker, 25 years old and entering his prime. He offers a more experienced option to rotate with Delap allowing Delap to be taken out of the firing line and giving him the breathing space develop without all the pressure being on him. David has also got 20+ league goals and assists every year for the past 4 years, showing a level of consistency that we just don't have in the forward line right now. Plus if he struggles and doesn't adapt to the EPL then we can sell him in a year or twos time and make a profit.

I've obviously sold Sancho, Antony, Rashford, Højlund and Garnacho. All have talent but lack something to be consistently successful in the EPL. Rashford, Sancho and Garnacho I think should be able to be sold, Antony and Højlund might need to be loaned out with an obligation to buy due to us needing to get big fees (40m+) for each of them to breakeven this year, next year that will be somewhere between 25-30m for each of them which seems like a far more achievable amount.

With those 7 signings I would have potentially solved the keeper issue. Added more energy and athleticism to midfield, and brought in 4 players in our forward line that have a great track record of scoring and creating goals, for three of them that record is in the EPL.

Next season without a keeper throwing the ball in the net every other game, along with our coaching staff having more time working with a d improving our defenders we should be far more defensively solid. Especially as we have a lot of young players who have a lot of room for growth and development.

With more energy and athleticism in midfield we should hopefully be more able to control games better, a d not be over run in midfield. While with those four new players in attack we should be getting 50-70 more goals in the league alone next season, which instantly makes us challengers for the top four.

How well those players settle and adapt, along with injuries being kind to us as our quality in depth is still questionable, will ultimately impact where we can finish. But with all players available I'd argue that our best available 11 would be as good as teams like Villa, Chelsea, and Newcastle, the teams we would be fighting it out with for a top four place.

Ultimately, I'd expect we'd maybe finish somewhere between 6th and 4th, maybe just missing out on UCL football but getting back into the Europa League. As I expected those sides to also improve and they will have deeper squads so will likely still finish above us. The advantage we have is we play less games and don't have to travel as much so should hopefully suffer fewer injuries and keep our players fresher.

Then next summer we need to spend big in defence, replacing Maguire, Shaw and possibly Martinez (due to injuries) . Along with maybe looking at signing a younger forward to eventually replace Bruno and to offer more competition depending on how Mount and Zirkzee have done next season, and/ or signing a midfielder to replace Casemiro who would be leaving at that point.

Written by Shappy May 29 2025 11:50:26