Buy: midfielders
The Marko Arnautovic bid has made Manchester United fair game. Agents and clubs can enjoy a joke at their expense or chance their arm at getting their client's salary increased and with that a handsome commission.
Interest in a move for Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro is more cause for despair. He is 30, contracted to Real until 2025 and started in the Champions League final. That does not sound like a goer.
Ah, but Real have signed Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, you might say. Well yes, they have, but they are not about to discard mainstays of their Champions League hegemony. Luka Modric was on the bench with Casemiro against Almeria on Sunday.
Also read: United are making the wrong decision with Garner ahead of next week
A midfield quintet of Casemiro, Camavinga, Tchouameni, Modric and Toni Kroos is a dream for coach Carlo Ancelotti in a taxing season where the World Cup impinges on club football.
Beyond that, if Real are actually willing to sell a player, United are the last club the player should join. Casemiro need only ask Raphael Varane or Angel di Maria.
Despite all that, it would be typical of United to take a 30-something off Madrid's hands in the last weeks of a window, having held discussions with Camavinga last year and scouted Tchouameni this year.
Casemiro is at least a defensive midfielder and Erik ten Hag's decision to favour a controlling option - and an almost unattainable one in Frenkie de Jong - has to change. If Ten Hag is consistent on demanding an aesthete, he needs an artisan as well.
Buy: goalscorers
Antony, Ten Hag's priority target in attack, tallied 10 goals for Ajax last season and the same amount the season before that. The Brazilian's Samba feet went viral at the weekend with some Joga Bonito but the Eredivisie is where United intended on sending Amad to continue his development this time last year.
United have already shoved their hand into the bargain basket and Arnautovic scored more than double what Antony managed last term for club and country. United supporters railed against the club's bid on integrity grounds as much as sporting. As one frothing season-ticket holder emailed Richard Arnold last week: "I hear Luis Suarez is still available on a free transfer!"
Whether Cristiano Ronaldo stays or goes, United need to support or offset him by recruiting dependable goalscorers. Anthony Martial, Jadon Sancho and Anthony Martial contributed 11 goals between them last season. Ronaldo alone plundered more than double.
Sell, sell, sell
To quote Randolph Mortimer in Trading Places, United have to get back in there at once and sell, sell. They have not made a single significant sale all summer as Andreas Pereira spent the last two years on loan in Italy and Brazil.
Hence why United have deemed James Garner sellable. Garner was on loan at Nottingham Forest last season and not contaminated by the toxic atmosphere at United. So, by performing well elsewhere and on a modest contract, he is easier to obtain funds for than defensive duds.
Eric Bailly was rewarded with a new contract last year, is 28, averages fewer than 20 games per season and appeared more times for his country than his club last term. What club would want to sanction an eight-figure transfer fee and then pay the player a six-figure weekly wage? United want loaning clubs to cover the player's salary in its entirety and many will balk at that demand.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has known for three months he is surplus. What, if anything, are his representatives and United doing about it? Phil Jones has checked in a handful of times at Carrington this summer. Does he have any interest in prolonging his career? What has happened to Axel Tuanzebe?
Amad is scoring against National League teams at Carrington, but another loan is hitherto not in the offing. Tahith Chong's contract was extended with the apparent intention of securing a fee, only he is believed to be injured.
United have a 29-man squad - a reasonable size in a season an international could feasibly play a staggering 76 games. Alas, the quality of the regulars and the reserves is mid-table standard and this was the summer where there was supposed to be a squad rebuild. United are not even at the foundations stage.
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