Perez has 2 targets for the summer, de Gea and Lewandowski, according to AS.

My fantasy signings will be

John stones who we should absolutely be all over.
Ruben Neves for the DM role.
Hazard for CR.

Aubameyang, Hazard, Matic and De Gea (he'll come for sure), recall Asensio from loan

Offload danilo, Ronaldo, Benzema and Kroos

A number of you keep mentioning Asensio returning. As much as I like the sounds of that, I believe the club esp. Zidane , Flo have to decide if they are going to use AMs or not. As long as they insist on a 4-3-3 with supposedly a CF and 2 wingers, there is no use for AMs or at best only one. If that is what they decide, then we are best to sell Isco, James and Asensio.

As to youngsters in our system, none of them are ready for 1st team. Mayoral will be ok at adelante, if Castilla get promoted (at current rate, very possible). The ones on loans should continue. Looks like they are going to bring back Morata, likely as backup CF, although this could also be a financial move (buyback price is lower than his likely market value. Club is still interested in buying Ceballos. He is as ready for 1st division as Asensio. To me it all depends on what formation they want to play before you can determine what type of players you need for midfield.

The bulk of changes though depends on who they will sell; Ronaldo, Benz, Bale (doubt that), Kroos, James, Isco.  I just hope they have a through discussion on formation / tactics and then decide the type of players needed for that formation.

a bunch of sites are carrying the story that the club is frustrated with bale's injury issues...not sure how 'untouchable' he'll be com summer. The numbers pertaining to his injuries
http://en.as.com/en/2016/02/23/football/1456231536_993214.html

everyone of the star players, based on the funds they can generate, can be sold

I would revert back to 4-2-3-1

honestly, i prefer the 4 2 3 1 myself. since the downfall of 4 4 2 in football these days, i've always preferred the 4 2 3 1. the problem is the personnel. two wingers with a 'score first' mentality may not see the play maker or number 10 get as much help as he wants...to go back to that, parts of the team we have will have to change. and i don't know the players that are coming or leaving in the summer window. i had little faith in the 4 3 3 with di maria, xabi and modric, but carlo proved me wrong....i have absolutely no faith in modric kroos isco and/or james combo...whether its 4 3 3 or 4 4 2, it has never made any sense to me. even during that unbeaten run last season

It would work if one of the fullbacks wasn't Marcelo.... aka no defense. You need a back 4 however you do it. Right now, we have a back 3.

The prospect of getting Youri Tielemans seems rather good, Madrid scouts have been seen during Anderlecht matches. Not sure how good he is, just based on YouTube(with is not that reliable) and a few articles that he is the next big thing.

So IMO it is better to get him now while he is cheap, than waiting him to join a big club and then try to throw a truck load of cash at him and his club.

In the articles and videos I've seen he plays as a Deep Lying midfielder, but I am not sure over his defending skills and his physicality, he seems rather small to be the player I imagine him to be.

Your thoughts?

What player do you imagine him to be lol?

Hapless_Hans wrote:What player do you imagine him to be lol?

I dunno when I read the articles about him having the potential to be one of the greatest DLP, with both playmaking and defending skills, I imagined him to be a bigger player. So I am not sure as I have said I haven't seen him much, I'm not sure if he is closer to a Xabi Alonso type or Toni Kroos type of 'DLP'

I'd rather get Ceballos from Betis than Tielemans who is off to Juve according to recent rumors.

Ceballos is a CM, not a DM nor an AM.

you know who else was hyped as the next big DLP 3-4 years ago? Kovacic

where is Kovacic now? in Madrid and we have lads already looking for the net big thing to take his job.

was kovacic a defensive midfielder at inter? i haven't watched inter milan play in years so i don't know. but i've heard some people say he's an attacking mid, some say central, some defensive. please what position does he really play? if he is indeed an anchor man, i see no use for these signings. him and casemiro should then be rotated in that anchor position. promote some competition between them, instead of playing attacking mids as cms

StrugaRock wrote:

Hapless_Hans wrote:What player do you imagine him to be lol?

I dunno when I read the articles about him having the potential to be one of the greatest DLP, with both playmaking and defending skills, I imagined him to be a bigger player. So I am not sure as I have said I haven't seen him much, I'm not sure if he is closer to a Xabi Alonso type or Toni Kroos type of 'DLP'

I dunno either, when I saw him play he played as AM, almost second striker lol. That was EL against Spurs though.

Others know better, but if I had to take a guess I'd say he is NOT what you are looking for; as I believe what you are looking for, for this mythical 'DLP' position, is a so called 'Eierlegende Wollmilchsau' (an egg-laying, milk-giving wool-pig), and Tielemans is not one.

futbol_bill wrote:Ceballos is a CM, not a DM nor an AM.

So is Tielemans. He is no Xabi Alonso

I don't as for a mythical classical elegant extraordinary DLP, actually I ask for a defensive midfielder with passing skills

Kovacic briefly played DM at Inter and struggled big time.  His best positions were CM and even AM...  did very well in those two.

Serie A teams do that...  Ideally, they want a super technical guy to bring the ball up from the defense.  Heck, they even started out Zidane as a DM lol.

That's one of the reasons I really think Zidane would IDEALLY want a technical guy in the middle BUT flank him with two mids that can play defense.  Modric is ok... but Isco/James are terrible at it.  Not saying Kroos is the answer.  But if we sign a guy like Pogba, it may make sense to try Kova in the center SINCE Marcelo will now be covered by Pogba and we'll have less issues there.

The other option is to upgrade Marcelo defensively and I'm not against that either tbh.  Too bad Kurzawa is penciled in as the starter for PSG next season or I'd say go and get him because he is ok defensively and can attack too.  You can also try to pry Azpi away from Chelsea perhaps.  I just think even a moderate improvement on defense in the LB position would do us a world of good.

StrugaRock wrote:I don't as for a mythical classical elegant extraordinary DLP, actually I ask for a defensive midfielder with passing skills

Nuri Sahin. Oh wait..

sportsczy wrote:Kovacic briefly played DM at Inter and struggled big time.  His best positions were CM and even AM...  did very well in those two.

Serie A teams do that...  Ideally, they want a super technical guy to bring the ball up from the defense.  Heck, they even started out Zidane as a DM lol.

That's one of the reasons I really think Zidane would IDEALLY want a technical guy in the middle BUT flank him with two mids that can play defense.  Modric is ok... but Isco/James are terrible at it.  Not saying Kroos is the answer.  But if we sign a guy like Pogba, it may make sense to try Kova in the center SINCE Marcelo will now be covered by Pogba and we'll have less issues there.

The other option is to upgrade Marcelo defensively and I'm not against that either tbh.  Too bad Kurzawa is penciled in as the starter for PSG next season or I'd say go and get him because he is ok defensively and can attack too.  You can also try to pry Azpi away from Chelsea perhaps.  I just think even a moderate improvement on defense in the LB position would do us a world of good.

Has Pogba been playing in a defensive position this season or even last season? Is he a defensive midfielder?

I haven't seen much of him, but he seems to be in an attacking forward or mid position every time I see Juve games.

Kovacic and Modrid should be starting together.

Kroos is the dilemma. He is great to watch always calm on the ball but he is too much of a hybrid.

Hapless_Hans wrote:

StrugaRock wrote:I don't as for a mythical classical elegant extraordinary DLP, actually I ask for a defensive midfielder with passing skills

Nuri Sahin. Oh wait..

A scrub. Not even good enough for Liverpool .

Some of the players I'd like us to target : Dembele,Dybala,Gabriel Barbosa,Aubameyang,Pogba,Verrati,Krychowiak,Ricardo Rodriguez.

that cm from valancia is good too, dont need dybala, gabrial, wont mind pogba, verattie not needed, donno who des kriywiakilk.

According to Eduardo Inda (OKdiario director) we are negotiating Hazard's transfer.

maxyz wrote:Some of the players I'd like us to target : Dembele,Dybala,Gabriel Barbosa,Aubameyang,Pogba,Verrati,Krychowiak,Ricardo Rodriguez.

Krychoviak is worse than Casemiro

Verratti is not transferable

I prefer Gaya to Ricardo Rodriguez

Barbosa is not even the best young brazilian forward. Gabriel Jesus is better

Dybala is fantastic but he wants Barca and I don't think that Juve are willing to sell him 1 year after they bought him.

Aubameyang is a great CF, lighting fast, but I prefer Lewandowski if the rumors are true