I reckon that the second Bale leaves RM they will be in for Pogba. I say sell and get Fernandes in and then pay what we need for Maguire. That would be good business for the summer.
Far too much, makes me wonder what he's done to make it that way. Malignant would be a fitting adjective.
It looks like we have as good as signed Maguire subject to medical and personal terms. That would appear to leave the Lukaku issue as the last to be solved this coming week before the window closes. I can't see us selling Pogba at this late stage, but if he does go I think we still have a foot in the door with Bruno Fernandes - if Pogba stays i can see the possibility of a good partnership with Dybala if he comes the other way as the two of them know each other well from Pobga's Juve days. I must say, I'm looking forward to the new season with a lot more enthusiasm than the last few seasons.
Wan Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof and Shaw is a very promising back line. Wan Bissaka has been awesome in pre-season, Lindelof has grown into the side and Shaw can focus a little more on defensive duties now that we have James to do the bombing down the wing. Ole played those two in that combination in pre-season and they looked good.
Off to the game today. Looking forward to to, should be decent entertainment Taking my youngest, who has become United mad somehow. My eldest is off the the Swans, I'll see plenty of that guff this season to not worry about missing first game. Anyway, will await Fodders post match thread and let you know how it goes!
@Tel, you should have come down for this as Cardiff is a great place for those pre and post match beers. Principality is slap bang in the city centre. Was great when they held League and FA cup finals there.
Sky are reporting that we have agreed a deal to sign Mario Mandzukic, from Juve ...........................
They are also reporting that we have ended our interest in signing Dybala 'cos he's a greedy ****. Official
Bit gutted but happy at the same time that we’ve ended the Dybala chase. If he doesn’t wanna be here then we’ve made the right choice, we don’t need any more mercenaries.
I don’t get to many away games, especially not that far away as my Mrs would just want far too much in return. It’s not worth the aggro.
Absolutely delighted we have told Dybala to **** off. I would have loved him to play "for" us but if he wants to play for money he is a waste of space. I am sick of players who see us as a cash cow and have no interest in their or our future. Ole seems to be targeting players who want to achieve on the field as much as in their bank account which is what any player should want. The grandchildren will be more impressed with medals than a bank balance when life stories are told.
I would laugh my arse off if RM sack ZZ and replace him with JM - that would stop Pogba in his tracks. I bet that's why he's quietened down a little - he's waiting to see if ZZ stays or goes - it certainly puts us in the driving seat..
So we have Harry - a great signing - expensive but you can blame the scousers for that when they started the thing off by paying £75m for van Dyke. The lad says he wants to emulate Rio and Vidic - Rio's No 5 shirt is vacant, let's start by giving him that.
Seems our incoming business is done for the summer. Hopefully we will get rid of the fat useless snail and two of Jones, Smalling and Rojo. An added bonus if we can get Sánchez out on loan somewhere. My Starting XI for Chelsea: De Gea AWB Maguire Lindelof Shaw Pogba McTominay Rashford Lingard James Martial Romero, Dalot, Rojo, Fred, Mata, Greenwood, Gomez No room for Young, Matic or Pereira in my squad but they’ll make the cut in Ole’s squad. Pereira will probably start ahead of James and Matic for McTominay/Pogba if he’s still ‘unfit’.
There's plenty of pace in that front three and, if you're playing Pogba and McTominay as a midfield pair, I'd probably personally go Mata over Lingard. I'd have Tuenzebe in as sub ahead of Rojo every day.
Lingard out, Chong in. Play him on the right side, let James loose on the left and if Martial starts to revert to type, hook him off for Greenwood. Mata and Gomes are good like for like subs, one with experience, the other more pace.
I'd be very pleased if, as is being reported, we go for Eriksen instead of Dybala. With Matic asleep and Pogba dreaming of a move and McTominay almost there, Eriksen would be a great addition - but heaven knows what Levi will want for him. Having said that - it now seems the player wants to move to Spain