It looks like the signing of Ugarte is inching closer and closer for Manchester United. He looks ideally suited to both how EtH likes to play, and an ideal partner for Kobbie Mainoo.
That said there is one thing I’d like to point out. There have been several posts over the past week or so along the lines of, “without a midfield signing we are weaker than last season”, typical hyperbole of course and not something I actually agree with.
For starters, Kobbie Mainoo has gained great experience from last season and in playing for his country at the Euro’s this summer. His rapid development in the first team is likely to continue. With us seeing him play better this year, and even if he doesn’t step up on last season’s performances, having him for the whole season rather than half a season will improve us.
We then have Mason Mount, a player who had absolutely no impact last season due to injuries. He looks back fully fit and has been good for us during pre-season. Either as a squad player or a starter he improves us in the midfield this season. He’ll almost certainly be better than Amrabat who he will effectively be replacing.
We also have the young lad Collyer, who has shown himself to be ready to fight for a place in the match day squad during pre-season. He is someone the manager has high hopes for and he looks more suited and reliable than Hannibal did last season. So again this is an upgrade on last season’s midfield options.
We still have Bruno who is continuing to show his creative quality, and we still have the experience and quality of Erikson, even if he can only last 60 minutes or so (I do expect him to leave, but until he does we haven’t lost anything) .
Finally there is the elephant in the room, although given his new slimmed down physique I’m not sure calling him an elephant is fair.
While everyone expected Casemiro to be sold this summer it seems that interest in him was limited and he looks set to stay at least another season.
Let’s not get this twisted, last year he was woeful. He struggled for fitness, and looked a yard or two off the pace all season. He was diving into tackles because he just couldn’t keep up with the opposition. For all the world he looked like his legs had “gone”. The dreaded phrase thrown at veteran players to signal the end of their careers, time to be taken behind the shed and put out of their misery.
This was a stark contrast to his first season when he looked like one of the best CDM’s in the league if not all of…
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