[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

To be clear, I'm not saying they shouldn't sign Casemiro right now. I'm saying they shouldn't be in a position where they need to do these panic buys at the end of the summer transfer window. And, additionally, they shouldn't be chronically in a position where they need to do these panic buys at the end of either the summer or January window.

For the amount they're paying for Casemiro and were prepared to pay for Antony (a highly-rated young player from the Eredivisie, where have we heard that before?), they probably could have bought Declan Rice, a proven operator in the EPL at the base of midfield.


I mean, back in January (and honestly before), anyone who follows this club knew they needed / would need (with pending summer departures) the following in order of priority:

1. A holding midfielder in the Carrick / Thiago / Rodri mould.

2. A right back who can attack and defend competently at an EPL level.

3. At least cover at center forward given the pending departure of Cavani, the continuing underwhelming of Martial, and Ronaldo being 37 (even if you don't want to make the argument that he's not right for the team, which is an argument I'm more than willing to make), if not an upgrade.

4. A definitive EPL-ready upgrade at centre back.

5. Competition for Shaw at left back.

6. More creativity and quality in attacking midfield.


We're sitting here in August and:

1. Casemiro, a short-term solution (assuming he doesn't immediately drop off like Schweinsteiger did) on a long-term contract from which United will definitely not be able to move him on.

2. Nope.

3. Nope, though I'm sure a panic buy is incoming, or maybe another winger/inside forward (e.g. Pulisic) will be signed instead.

4. Jury's out on Martinez.

5. Jury's out on Malacia.

6. Eriksen. Nailed this one. Congrats.


If my boss gave me a list of 6 assignments in January and I nailed one, completed another way over budget, had to convince him I completed two, and whiffed on the other two, I'm reasonably sure I'd be fired.

Without even getting into the FFP considerations, the problem United still has is getting rid of the dead weight on the squad. For example, you already outlined how Real Madrid dealt with the loss of Casemiro before he had even left the club. Now that Casemiro at United, who's leaving? What club is paying for the privilege of taking Fred, Mctominay, or maybe Van de Beek off of Manchester United's hands. All of them can't be Casemiro's backup. That is over $80 million just rotting away on the bench. I guess you can send them to training with the kids or pull a Barcelona to try to force them out. It is the same for most of the positions you outlined. They have only been able to make $65 million in the last three season including the current one. Half of that was made sending Daniel James to Leeds.

The Casemiro signing brings in a quality player that fills an immediate need. As bhlloy said, it is not as over the top as some of the signings we are seeing. Hopefully there is a youngster in the squad or the academy who can serve as Casemiro's understudy in the cups and dead rubber European games while one of the McFred De Beek can provide occasional backup as well. I have no idea what they have in the youth ranks. My goal for this year would be to try and trim the roster as much as possible, bring in maybe one more mid range striker and fill in the rest with the youth as see where I am next summer. Hopefully, they will be serious about changing the culture of the club.