Replacing De Gea

SuperRash

Moderator
Joined
Apr 11, 2016
Messages
9,170
Age
36
So, this is purely hypothetical because who knows if De Gea will stay or go but who would you like to replace him with? There are a couple of options:

1) Sell him to whoever for upwards of £75m I would say and then buy in a world class replacement such as Oblak who would probably cost £100m+ I would say.

2) Again sell him but spend the majority of our budget on a top class defender and other positions which may bring down our goalkeeping options. Then you could look at guys like Butland, Onana (Ajax) or Cillessen who would no doubt be a cheaper option. However, the defence would be much improved (you’d hope).

3) Give the number one slot to Romero for a season and hope Henderson or Pereira come back from loan ready to take that number one slot.

4) Stop O’Shea retiring and put him in goal (kept a clean sheet vs Spurs y’know)
 
I don't mind Romero, he's always looked pretty solid.

I don't think we need to be bullied into payng too much.

I guess Oblak is the obvious choice, 110m buyout isn't it.
 
Easy saying 110m buyout but realistically would Oblak want to join us?

I know Atletico look like they're probably starting a bit of a decline but I don't see why he'd be desperate to come to us as like Griezmann I think they've put him on a lot of money to convince him to sign that new deal.

Romero for me is a solid number 2 but not good enough to be a number 1 he makes 1 mistake a game sometimes it's punished and sometimes it isn't but he's a steady keeper a 7/10 in everything maybe you could risk a season with him as the number 1 then have one of the younger keepers Pereira/Henderson playing the Europa League with Grant as number 3 but that would be a huge risk with this defence. I think if we had a better defence we could take a gamble with the keeper but we give up so many shots to the opposition we need a world class keeper.

De Gea needs to be forced into a decision.

I personally think he should leave and join a club who are ready to challenge for the very best trophies he deserves that he's waited long enough for us to sort ourselves out and we haven't done it. However, if he wants to stay and commit because he's happy here and I think he is then they need to agree something both sides can live with this wage bill needs bringing under control but De Gea is one who deserves to be top earner. I don't care that he's a keeper he's carried this team for years now and apart from his recent blip in form he's maintained a consistently high level over seasons something none of our outfield players have done.

I'd probably go option 2 sell him buy a decent keeper but really use the money on the upgrades the defence needs as until that improves no keeper is getting that goals against column down.
 
If we were to let him go I’d be all over Nick Pope from Burnley.
 
Is Oblak any good with his feet and his distribution ? thats one thing that would make me think that De Gea leaving could be a good thing.

He's never been the best at getting the ball out and getting us back on the press, he hasn't had world class players to give the ball too, but I do think this is where he is behind the likes of Ederson, Allison and Neuer to name a few.

Think he will be in for the last 2 games of the season, if he isn't then I think he is as good as sold.
 
If we were to let him go I’d be all over Nick Pope from Burnley.

Is he fit again? Was great last season stepping in for Heaton but I don't think he's a Utd keeper falls into the Ben Foster group of looks great in a bad team where no one notices when you make a mistake.

Out of the non top 6 prem teams the best one is probably Schmiechel maybe Pickford but I don't think either of them are the answer Fabianski is a pretty reliable keeper.
 
Is Oblak any good with his feet and his distribution ? thats one thing that would make me think that De Gea leaving could be a good thing.

He's never been the best at getting the ball out and getting us back on the press, he hasn't had world class players to give the ball too, but I do think this is where he is behind the likes of Ederson, Allison and Neuer to name a few.

Think he will be in for the last 2 games of the season, if he isn't then I think he is as good as sold.

Not sure he's any better than De Gea with his feet because he's not really asked to play out from the back he is a match for De Gea is terms of his shot stopping but he's also a lot more dominant in his box than De Gea.

I think De Gea is fine with his feet the reason he kicks long is he doesn't have options to play out to we don't do the whole split centre backs thing as we don't have centre backs who are comfortable on the ball.

It's not a problem when he plays for Spain the biggest criticism of De Gea is he's a keeper who defends from his goal line he's not one of these modern sweeper keepers styles and he also stays on his line for crosses he backs himself to make the save rather than risk coming for a cross.

It all depends on what is out there for him there's rumours today of PSG but I don't see them spending fortunes on a keeper when they need to buy a new midfield and defence. I think his best option is to stay here the only way he goes back to Spain now is probably back to Atletico as a replacement for Oblak if he was to leave. His other option might be Juventus but I think they're pretty happy with Szchesney.
 
I think Oblak is pretty competent with his feet but like jsp said his main attributes are his shot stopping and his dominance. De Gea isn’t as dominant as I would like him to be which is one of his slight negatives. Would cost mega money but if we sold De Gea for £75m and bought Oblak for £100m then that’s not bad budget wise.

I like Pope at Burnley but he’s one of those you’ll never know how he would do at a top club until he gets there. Which can be said for any player moving to a top club. I like Onana at Ajax but he looks a little erratic so maybe not what we need right now.

I would personally take Oblak as the super option. Wonder how much it would take to prise Donnarumma away from Milan.
 
It's easy to say yeah we'll get £75m for De Gea but Chelsea had to accept £35m for Courtois last summer in a similar position with 1 year on his deal and who's going to pay £75m for him? I don't think there's any wealthy club who are desperate for a keeper all the top teams seem to be well setup in that position. It's not like last season where Liverpool & Chelsea were desperate for keepers so had to bite and pay over the top prices.

I honestly think if we cash in we'll do well to get above £50m for him and at that price he's not going to get the wages which is why I think they feel they can play hardball on the contract offer as they're pretty confident he'll back down and sign the deal to stay. I guess the issue is will he then be prepared to go you know what I'll play out my final year and leave for free.
 
I think it might be an idea to sell him and Pogba and just press reset.
 
I think it might be an idea to sell him and Pogba and just press reset.

It see that more of a self destruct button option than a reset button because you can't just reset and go back to Fergie era that is over. The challenge for this club is to forget that and move on the game has changed.

This summer is all about improving the quality of our squad in any position we can selling our two best players to me makes little sense when what is around them is so bad. I don't see how Utd sell these two and get a better player than them to replace them.

Now if Ole wants a sweeper keeper then you can make an argument for the decisions but the worry is I'm not sure Ole really knows what he wants I don't think he's got a clear idea of how he wants to play the game. He doesn't come across as someone who's got a master plan for success because he doesn't have that proven track record of a Klopp or Pep it might be that we just haven't seen it yet because none of us watch Molde.

With De Gea if they think it's a temporary blip because he's lost a bit of confidence that shouldn't really change the intentions of getting him signed up to a new deal a summer off away from football start fresh in the new year. If they think there's something more to it then they might have to sell. Could be something as simple as his eye sight is deteriorating which is effecting his reaction speed at picking the ball earlier on the long shots so he's not reading the spin and getting caught out.

At Utd you can only take so many steps back if Ole wants to be Utd manager he will need to make sure he qualifies for the CL next season as a minimum as 2 seasons out won't be tolerated even for him and the way the support is currently things could turn ugly very quickly again next season. This was the mistake Moyes made he thought he had 6 years he didn't he had 6 months and Mourinho got lucky because he got in through Europa League in his first season, every manager who has not hit that top 4 target has got sacked post Fergie.
 
Reset doesn't mean going backwards. It's drawings a line under everything and restarting.

You say he hasn't got the experience of Pep etc. Pep started at Barca with no experience.

I think we need to start afresh, get a set of players on board who know the project and are willing to stick to it. Pogba and De Gea, we are not going to be competetive for 2 maybe 3 years. Pogba wont hang around for that and will just be a distraction. Yes he is our best players, but all players are replacable. He's not exactly showing us he is our best player either, it's pointless having a best player who only turns up for a third of a season. And does he have a negative effect on Rashford and Martial?

De Gea, I really like De Gea, but I don't think he's got enough to take us forward. Some parts of his game are poor, and he's showing that when the parts he's good at go missing he's not just having an off day, he's costing points. If he wants to move on then let him go.

I think I would give Romero a season while we rebuild other areas of the squad.

To be honest, there aren't many players I would keep. Unfortunately one I would we didn't offer him a deal in Herrera. He would be an ideal player to get us to where we want to be. He wouldn't be a starter in my final 11 in two years, but he would now and he's a good squad player.

But I would lose

Lukaku
Sanchez
Martial if he doesn't start acting like a pro
Fred
Pogba
Jones
Rojo
Darmian
Young to squad player

then Herrera and Mata

You are looking at a lot of action to do. You can't do all that in one window. Will Pogba be happy with a project, no he wouldn't, it would be constant press talk and very distracting.

I have said many times, I would target young players, who will be ready to challange in 2 years. Rice, Wan Bissaka, Sancho, I would look at Brooks at Bournmouth.

We are rumoured to be into two young Portuguese players I don't know anything about.

I would also like Varane, but De Ligt seems an option, although that is Raola again

That would be my vision for the club if I were interviewed for the Technical director job.
 
We have to be really careful tbh. There is going to be plenty of natural wastage from the deadwood and the guys out of contract without getting rid of your better players. That would be a lot of business to do.
 
Reset doesn't mean going backwards. It's drawings a line under everything and restarting.

You say he hasn't got the experience of Pep etc. Pep started at Barca with no experience.

I think we need to start afresh, get a set of players on board who know the project and are willing to stick to it. Pogba and De Gea, we are not going to be competetive for 2 maybe 3 years. Pogba wont hang around for that and will just be a distraction. Yes he is our best players, but all players are replacable. He's not exactly showing us he is our best player either, it's pointless having a best player who only turns up for a third of a season. And does he have a negative effect on Rashford and Martial?

De Gea, I really like De Gea, but I don't think he's got enough to take us forward. Some parts of his game are poor, and he's showing that when the parts he's good at go missing he's not just having an off day, he's costing points. If he wants to move on then let him go.

I think I would give Romero a season while we rebuild other areas of the squad.

To be honest, there aren't many players I would keep. Unfortunately one I would we didn't offer him a deal in Herrera. He would be an ideal player to get us to where we want to be. He wouldn't be a starter in my final 11 in two years, but he would now and he's a good squad player.

But I would lose

Lukaku
Sanchez
Martial if he doesn't start acting like a pro
Fred
Pogba
Jones
Rojo
Darmian
Young to squad player

then Herrera and Mata

You are looking at a lot of action to do. You can't do all that in one window. Will Pogba be happy with a project, no he wouldn't, it would be constant press talk and very distracting.

I have said many times, I would target young players, who will be ready to challange in 2 years. Rice, Wan Bissaka, Sancho, I would look at Brooks at Bournmouth.

We are rumoured to be into two young Portuguese players I don't know anything about.

I would also like Varane, but De Ligt seems an option, although that is Raola again

That would be my vision for the club if I were interviewed for the Technical director job.

I would love De Ligt or Varane, but I dont think we stand a chance in getting them, unless they are happy to move for massive wages.
 
That is where I'm at the only reason to sell the better players is if we need the cash to buy other players Utd shouldn't need to do this we bring in enough money that we should have plenty left to invest in the squad plus whatever we can generate from selling off players we don't want.

I'd be telling Pogba and De Gea whatever happens you are staying next season obviously that means we might have to risk De Gea going for nothing but if that happens so be it with Pogba he might sulk a bit but he's going to have to get on with it.

I think with Europa League looming the club can be really ruthless with the squad and have a major clear out as the Europa League games can be played by the youngsters with the first team left to focus on the league.

Really the club needs a 2 maybe 3 summer plan to totally overhaul this squad of the 25 man squad we have right now chances are 20 of those players may need to change because they just aren't good enough and never will be. So they need to start thinking which players go this summer and which ones we need to keep one more year to sell the following summer obviously plans evolve but this summer has to be a major clearing of the decks.

Worry is with no director of football in place who is making the decisions for next season? The same people who's given Jones a 4 years deal, Young a 1 year deal, lost Herrera on a free and screwed the whole wage structure by signed Sanchez.
 
Worry is with no director of football in place who is making the decisions for next season? The same people who's given Jones a 4 years deal, Young a 1 year deal, lost Herrera on a free and screwed the whole wage structure by signed Sanchez.
This is my main concern, along with pretty much most others - Sanchez looks to be the biggest mistake we have made in a long time.
 
This is my main concern, along with pretty much most others - Sanchez looks to be the biggest mistake we have made in a long time.

Feels a bit re-arranging the deck chairs on the titanic all these managerial changes until they solve the main problem which is an investment banker being in charge of how the club is run with no real structure below him that massive hole that is sinking the ship isn't going anywhere.

That's before we get on to owners who've taken £1bn out of the club when our rivals owner has put £1bn in over the last decade.

Yeah Sanchez has been a disaster there were warning signs but no one expected this the worry for me is has that the culture at the club has something to do with it because he's one in a long line of players who've looked shadows of their former self at Utd.

Seems to me like Utd players behave like Utd as a club everything is done in the pursuit of profit not glory the club is operating to make money and the players behave like money is the only thing that matters to them.
 
If we do decide to sell DDG for whatever reason then you have to go and get a top class replacement. This team needs to be built on a solid back 5 so handing the job to Romero and hoping one of the young guys develops isn't going to be enough.
 

Login or Register

Forgot your password?
or Log in using
Don't have an account? Register now
Back
Top