17 Sep 2020 11:39:27
It's Mengi time 🤣 he's been promoted to the first team squad indefinitely. Whether he's ready or not, I'd rather see him there than the likes of jones and rojo 🤷‍♂️.

1.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 11:50:21
Ed1 has said he is a good prospect and that will do for me. Hopefully he gets more lucky than Tuanzebe in the injury front.

Best of luck to the lad.

2.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 12:30:20
Physically he is ready to step up. He’s strong, fast and decent on the ball. Very good excited to see what he can offer.

3.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 13:12:20
Exciting talent.

4.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 13:52:33
Ferdinand is correct, the lack of signings has been absolutely shocking.

5.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 14:05:48
nobby,

Has that got anything to do with the OP? Transfer tourettes seems to be a thing these days, just spout 'we haven't signed anyone I wanted'on every post even if it is nothing to do with it.

I am excited for Mengi, I hope he is a regular in the first time by the end of the season, very happy for the kid.

6.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 14:12:11
No chance he will be a regular 1st team player by the end of the season.

7.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 14:13:17
What you on about OP? My point is that we as one of the biggest clubs in the world shouldn't be relying on prospects, we should be flexing our financial muscle, and getting this massive club back to its rightful place as the top club in England.

8.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 14:25:34
The football world moves forward as we are standing still. Other teams want so go out and get. Chelsea go do the business then talk about it. We will be left behind crying over Sancho when the window closes. Even tho other areas were priority.

9.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 15:09:43
While I'd love to see us sign a top level CB and ship out a load players who just aren't up to it (Jones, Rojo, Bailly and Smalling) .

The reality is that selling 3 or 4 CB's in one window will be tricky. While there is actually very few players out there who are top level players and available. Players like VVD, Laporte, Marquinhos and Varane while top players, just aren't going to be available. Personally I don't think players like Koulibaly and Skriniar are as good as people think, Koulibaly is awful positionally possibly worst than Maguire. While Skriniar often looks like he is running in treacle even in the slower paced Serie A.
Players like Pique, Ramos, Chiellini, Bonnuci and Godin are past their best and declining.
Which in reality leaves promising younger players such as Upamecano, Gimenez, Konate, De Ligt, Pau Torres, Ruben Dias etc. Good players but expensive and none are guaranteed to be an instant hit in the EPL.

I can see the logic of not signing a CB this summer and giving younger players such as Tuanzebe and Mengi a chance while focusing on other areas this summer and then if the youngsters haven't stepped up then look to someone like Upamecano next summer.

Teden Mengi is highly rated, physically he looks ready, he has the attributes, he has the temperament now let's see if he can step up. Williams wasn't considered ready at the start of last season. Greenwood has shown he is top class and ready. Having Mengi as 4th/ 5th choice wouldn't be a bad thing. Fingers crossed for the lad, personally I always enjoy seeing our academy players step up more than a fancy new signing anyway.

10.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 15:26:18
Shapps Bailly, Tuanzebe and Jones are injury prone and are not reliable or available for selection often.

That leaves us with only Maguire and Lindelof. There is not much of a competition for them.

Smalling and Rojo were out on loan.

It just proves why we need a reliable CB.
Upamecano ticks the boxes. He has pace, power and can play out from the back.
Although he has some rough edges, he will definitely improve our team.

11.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 15:27:18
Remember "You'll never win anything with kids" History might just repeat its self with more youngsters like Mengi . and unfortunately the same can be said about this dreadful virus 😷😷.

12.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 15:56:54
Would love to have your positivity GDS but not your eye sight.

13.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 16:27:01
TrueRedDevil, that's why I'd get Rojo, Jones and Bailly out the door.

Tuanzebe is worth persevering with as he is young, has a high upside and is on low wages as well as being homegrown.

I'd also keep Smalling. He is the least injury prone and the best of a bad bunch.

That would give us Maguire, Smalling, Lindelof, Tuanzebe and Mengi as options. With Shaw able to play on the left of a back three maybe AWB on the right of a back three, or McTominay or Matic able to drop back if really needed.

The other option would be to allow Smalling to leave and bring in someone like Alaba who can play at both LB and CB.

In an ideal world I'd love us to sign Upamecano and be done with it. However, he isn't going to be available this summer so I'm happy to go with what we have, promote Mengi and see how we go.

14.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 16:46:38
Who would you sell them to shappy?

15.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 17:02:48
Ken, whoever would be prepared to sign them. Smalling would be the easiest to shift and for that reason he is the only one I'm confident the club could sell.

West Ham and David Moyes was supposedly interested in Phil Jones a while back. They have just failed with a 4th and final attempt at signing James Tarkowski. Maybe they would be prepared to offer us something for Jones. I'd happily take a nominal fee for a player on huge wages and behind two academy graduates (Tuanzebe and Mengi) in the pecking order.

Rojo has had some interest from Estudiantes, again I'd take a nominal fee just to get him out the door. A couple of Italian teams have looked at him in the past, while we crazily buggered up the Everton deal a couple of years ago.

Bailly has had interest from Spanish teams, Villarreal have in the past enquired about him. We might be able to get a actual fee for him, probably in the region of 15-18m which would be fantastic considering his injury record.

There are deals out there for these players, we will just have to accept that we will have to take smaller maybe even just nominal fees for them to offset their huge wages.

Yet the fact remains they are coating us a lot of money, they take up squad space and they contribute very little. Often being injured when we need them anyway. Cut our losses and move on.

16.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 17:10:54
Are people forgetting how bad Smalling was in his last full season. For a guy close on 6ft,5inches he has no upper body strength wins few headers and got out of the PL before VAR finished him. he was a walking red card when he decided 2 years ago to start holding any player within 3 feet of him like he was a WWF wrestler.

17.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 17:30:26
Shappy you say selling 3 or 4 defenders in one window is tricky which is fair enough. But we failed to sell them for 10 years! Jones is still here as is Smalling.

18.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 17:48:06
I’m happy that a fantastic prospect is to be given a chance in the 1st team this season and in an ideal world he’ll hopefully get up to 15 games of experience and development. Then this will take us to the next summer window where there are comments we’ll be in for the likes of upemecano. What makes you think he’ll come or the board would make a bid. Going on this summer window what makes you confident the likes of upemecano will be here, there could also be the fact no fans will be in the stadiums all season due to C.V. not going away and then we’re more cautious next summer market. Our board are being careful and rightly so but do they have the ambitions of the fans I fear not.

19.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 18:39:02
Shappy if we speak about two years ago i think Rojo heself rejected the transfer. It was last year that we didn't let him go at Fiorentina.

20.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 18:51:47
Of course they don't want to move. people talk about bale not wanting to play. what about mata jones rojo lingard to a lesser extend and dalot. At least smalling is trying to get a move.

21.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 21:15:24
Dan James,

What did I say that has something to do with my eyesight?

I like young players coming through, Mengi looks like a good kid and I’d love it if he could prove himself and make his way into the first team, he has all the attributes of someone who would be good for us as a partner for maguire.

I’d like us to sign a right winger and a left back if we are playing transfer Tourette’s, if not then I won’t be getting all upset and angry like others.

22.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 22:21:45
Mengi is very young and most of you seem to forget the pressure he will come under. He has a long career hopefully ahead of him, whilst it could all go well, as you think it might, what happens if results don’t go well, it could end up affecting him, negatively. There are only a few young players at 18 especially in a key position in CB that can step up and maintain the level.

23.) 17 Sep 2020
17 Sep 2020 22:25:39
Nobby this club is built on our history of youth players. This is what separates us from the rest. Mengi looks good and I'd rather him than many of the other cbs were linked with, just because he's not costing 60 million doesnt
mean people should disregard him so soon.