17 Aug 2021 04:13:51
There is still time left in the transfer window to bring in a DM provided we move on a few players. Do you guys think we will bring in another midfielder which already looks congested right now?

In case we don't get the midfielder we need and Ole persists with his 2 DM's even with Varane in the team, would people be ok with that?

I feel the midfield signing would be the second most important signing for this window and the one that makes us more balanced and effective and probably make us title challengers.

I wouldn't mind getting someone in like Neves who probably many don't rate that highly but who could be a better fit for how Ole wants to play.

1.) 17 Aug 2021
17 Aug 2021 07:33:21
I would be very surprised if we bring in a Dm with the squad we have.
The need for one is being massively overplayed for some reason on this site .
Sancho and varane are a great bit of business .

2.) 17 Aug 2021
17 Aug 2021 09:29:55
I fully expect to see a few more players leave before the end of the window.

That said unless one of them is Matic, Pogba or Donny then I don't see us signing a midfielder. As simply put that is a congested area of the pitch currently, with the three aforementioned player not even first choice in the double pivot despite costing over 160m between them.

3.) 17 Aug 2021
17 Aug 2021 09:29:57
I agree with Theking21, Sancho and Varane are two stand out players who I'm convinced will be very good signings. I also agree that it's unlikely we end up with a defensive midfielder.

However, I do believe we need one. Ideally it'd be Ndidi, however, that's not happening. We could go for more of a passer like Neves, a ball winner / carrier like Rice or more of an all around player. McTominay is the best option to be a sole holding midfielder amongst our current squad in my opinion but it does limit him and I'm not 100% sure he yet has the defensive awareness to play as the sole holding player.

Despite this, all squads have weaknesses. City haven't had a decent left back for ages, they also don't have a striker for example. This shouldn't be an excuse for underachieving. This squad should be putting in a good challenge for the title.

4.) 17 Aug 2021
17 Aug 2021 10:24:51
I’d say it was the most important position for us to sign someone this summer.

Starting to doubt we will get a DM in now, but still time if one of our current CMs leave.

5.) 17 Aug 2021
17 Aug 2021 12:28:12
Ole has not prioritised a dm so I think that tells a story. Lots of people on here don't like mcfred but ole does he has not prioritised a replacement I think that tells us ole is happy with who he has but perhaps if others leave he will need to replace them.
What ole wants and I want are different, same goes for anybody saying its their idea of priority, its not oles and he is making the calls. His call is mcfred and he has so far not made any serious move to change that.

6.) 17 Aug 2021
17 Aug 2021 12:51:49
Thorne, with Sancho and Varane signed its easy in hindsight to say midfield was key. But would you swap either of them for Saul or Neves?

I think we had a weakness in centre defence, on the right and in the heart of midfield.

All areas needed work, and its hard to say which areas will make the biggest difference. I share your view that midfield was a hugely important area. After all games are won and lost in midfield.

Yet an argument can be made that it was against the top sides that McFred was most useful, in those games where we didn't have control of the game and needed that extra energy and fight in midfield.

It was against the "smaller" sides where McFred's weaknesses on the ball are exposed.

Yet with Varane in defence then against those sides could we maybe see one of Donny or Pogba come into the pivot as we will have less of a need to cover our defence? While the addition of Sancho and his creativity will hopefully mean that we are also better placed to break down those sides that caused us trouble last season.

7.) 18 Aug 2021
18 Aug 2021 12:41:09
Yes Shappy, while I'd rather have all 3, I would take someone like Rice and Varane over Sancho and Varane. Maybe even Sancho and Rice, although I think CB was only a hair behind DM in importance.

RW was an important position for us to strengthen, especially with someone like Sancho who can also cover at CAM if Bruno needs a break or whatever, but I think getting a DM to: a) allow a proper alternative to McFred, and b) allow Pogba or Donny to play as a number 8 with more freedom, was more important.