Manchester United Thread 25/26 - Teamtalk/Transfers/Gossip Mod Note in OP 26.09.24

They said he was a signing for the first team. I assume the idea being to replace Evans at the moment.

But now martinez is injured.
and Shaw is confirmed useless.
and Evans is injured (I think) (and right footed i think)

So as a LCB option; Heaven is the last man standing right now.

I think Yoro and Mazraoui will be ahead of him, but are a poor profile fit out that side cause they are not left footed.

So I reckon we HAVE to go for a LCB because we can't and shouldn't rely on Heaven. He has, as far as I understand it, a crap load of work to be physically able in the PL.

Amad and Pellestri were first team signings as well fado fado. I would expect Heaven to be a similar long term (hopeful) first team signing. I think we've snapped up Heaven while he was available/taken advantage of his contract situation and age, and the plan would be get him a loan in the Championship next season.

Sure, thats the obvious way to do things. Amad is 4 years at the club and only broke in now, Pellestri 5 years and never broke in.

But the point made was that Heaven is perhaps the only option at LCB now. Just signed, no senior experience but he might be playing PL football right now.

Thats messed up, and not fair on the kid himself.

The press release says he is going into the first team (as in squad - not U18/23 squad)

I don;t think they expect him to be a first choice player this season - but a far as anyone can understand it he is in the first team squad for training/dressing room etc.

I imagine they planned on Martinez being ahead of him, and then likely another one or two senior players. But if Martinez and Shaw are both injured then he is, by default, the only actual left footed CB left in the first team squad. So his chances of playing improve by default. I reckon our first choice backline with be 3 from Mazraoui, Maguire, MDL, Yoro. Then you are looking at Evans, Lindelof and Heaven for next man up. We have seen Yoro play on the left. Maguire used to play there for England - but I'd play Mazraoui LCB before I'd consider Maguire or MDL there, or Heaven.

"no way that they can know if he is actually good or not". In so far as you can never know if a player is good enough? I think we can assume they have scouted him and have a good idea what his qualities are.

I would have to imagine we sign a first choice LCB in the summer - would be insane not to.

It may be unfair to write him off as a crock, but if this is a rebuild it seems hard to plan around him either.

By my count Martinez has missed 56 games with injury. He has 58 PL appearances for the club. When he returns he will be getting into the last year of his contract, he will really have to come back flying to justify a new deal at that point.

Mount is the strangest of the lot, every time he gets a knock he is out for months.

He got stiches on his head at the start of the season and was gone for a month or more, came back briefly and injured again and we never get a full story of what ails him….a cut on the head should hardly require being taken off, not to mind an extended spell on the sideline. You'd have to be wondering about these lads.

Remember it was Saha, who it was said would essentially refuse to play unless he was tip top 100% fit, and then you have Keane saying he never played a game without some form of niggle at him.

Free agent in March and I reckon he'd be great beside Ugarte…

Free agent and could be signed now but can’t play until March. IMO you would be signing him to try and win the EL and if you do, he needs to be signed and registered by midnight tonight (afaik).

If Amorim wants and believes in him, I’d have no objection to a short term deal - pay as you play or whatever can be done to minimise throwing away money on him again.

Pognah 😂

I think it's sarcasm

No transfer fee, short contract and probably low wages. It couldn't amount to that much of a mistake, financially at least!

He'd probably do ok as a #10 on the left. We could do with a creative player like him there actually. Eriksen often makes a positive impact as a sub but struggles as a starter because of his lack of physicality and legs. When Eriksen doesn't play, the only player we have with poise on the ball is Fernandes.

I doubt Pogba would have the fitness levels required for the PL after all the injuries and having not played in so long though, and it may not be worth the media circus it'd create.