I don't see how either suit our system. Gallagher is basically an English Hojbjerg and we're looking to get rid of him. McTominay's attributes don't fit any of our midfield profiles.
If Ange wants McTominay (probably just paper talk) then you have to back him. I wouldn’t choose either but I’d take McTominay over Gallagher for several reasons.
McTominay's great for Scotland, as they use him as an attacking, goalscoring midfielder behind a striker. He scored the most goals in Euro qualifiers for a reason. He's good at arriving late in the box, avoiding markers and feeding on scraps. Man Utd play him in a deeper role and it doesn't suit him or them. He's not technically great or creative enough to thrive in that position. I think that he'd suffer from the same problems with us. He's also expensive and he'd be 28 in December.
I agree with all that. I’d still choose him over Gallagher although that’s probably because I really really don’t rate Gallagher
McTominay's greatest asset is determination. He never goes quietly and IMO would have been my first name on the team sheet for a limp United. We have that quality in Sarr, Udogie, our defence and even Richarlison.
João Neves of Benfica is one to watch for the future, huge potential as a DM. Arsenal fans keep going on about Martin Zubimendi as a replacement for the serial rapist, so maybe he's one to look at (the Spaniard, not the rapist). Another interesting situation is Joshua Kimmich who is entering his last year at Bayern and reports suggest that they don't want to continue paying him circa £270k so won't renew. He'd immediately become our highest earner, but not by so much that the likes of Son and Maddison would be insulted. And his CV does justify earning that amount. I wouldn't say no to a player of his quality and experience.
Southgate's seemingly one of the few that rated Gallagher. Which tells you everything you need to know about Gallagher.
My worry is that Ange and the higher ups at Spurs rate him too, I really don’t want to see him signed by the club.
Rabiot linked again due to leaving Juve on a free. Swear it’s been like 8 years on a trot now where we get a link at least once a summer to him.
On the subject of signing another DM, I was under the impression that Gray's strongest position is in that role. We've just spent £40m on him, yet are being linked with more players for the same position and in a similar price range. Anyone think we could see all of Hojbjerg, Skipp and Bissouma leave this summer? I can't think we else we'd be stockpiling players in an area that was already overbooked last season.
I'm probably just greedy / impatient but we seem to be taking an age to get any big incoming transfers done. One more pre-pre-season game tomorrow then off on the tour - and then the season starts!! Not undervaluing the likes of Bergvall and Gray, who I think are both going to be excellent acquisitions but we're still missing that marquee signing that could transform the coming season.
Skipp's been linked with Leicester, but doesn't want to go Hojbjerg's been linked with Dortmund (as has Reguilon), so expect him to turn down a Fulham bid and the bid he's waiting for to not materialise. Again.
An utterly garbage-tier source is claiming we're close to a £19m + Lo Celso deal for Jacob Ramsey...a few weeks after FootballDotLondon reported that Villa turned down a £20m + Lo Celso bid
Welcome to post-Paratici world. Ally Gold said yesterday that he's under further investigation from his time in Italy so I wouldn't be surprised if he's not even doing the consultancy stuff for us he'd taken up after officially resigning as DoF. Don Fabio's innocent if you ask me, free the homie!
Santo Aouna says Marseille have offered €13.5m for Hojbjerg, and Romano's also saying the deal is almost done I'd be tempted to string them along for weeks in the hope of a better offer, see how they bloody like it And that's before OM signing rapists...
