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Glenn Roeder has revealed that he wants to bring some young guns into St James' Park in the summer transfer window.

 

Roeder knows that United will be linked with some weird and not-so-wonderful players between now and the start of next season.

 

And the United boss told me today: "We will be looking at a lot of players between now and the start of next season and they we will be young players aged 25 and under.

 

"I do not want to bring in big names who are past their shelf life, but players who have their best days in front of them."

 

For me, United's priority has to be a left-back and a central defender although, with Kieron Dyer and Antoine Sibierski not out-and-out strikers, another front man to go with Oba Martins, Michael Owen and Shola Ameobi would come in handy.

 

 

Roeder has already been linked with a £5m move for West Ham skipper Nigel Reo-Coker, but the United boss says he is not interested.

 

 

But he knows that if West Ham are relegated then some of their top players may not want to stay at Upton Park, including the likes of Anton Ferdinand and Dean Ashton.

 

 

However, should Liverpool decide to sell Craig Bellamy after his alleged attack on team-mate John Arne Riise with a golf club, United will not be interested in bring the controversial striker back to St James'.

 

 

While Bellamy's nemesis Graeme Souness was given £50m by Freddy Shepherd in his 17-month stint at United, Roeder has only spent £15m since he took charge in a temporary capacity 12 months ago, before being named as permanent boss.

 

 

And with just Martins, Damien Duff and Sibierski brought in by the United boss, it has to be said that he is still not working with his own squad.

 

 

To be fair, Martins and Sibierski have proved to be excellent signings and, while the best of Duff is still to come, the Republic of Ireland international is undoubtedly a quality player.

 

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Don't see a lot wrong with his policy, whether he'll be able to follow through with it is another matter entirely.

 

I wouldn't turn my nose up at a few under-25's turning up, but I wouldn't mind him abandoning the "philosophy" for a pair of proven fullbacks. Wayne Bridge is 26, etc.

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Is it really all Glenn's fault?

 

The bloke can't win... now if he goes out and buys someone like Bridge in the summer people will beat him with "I thought we were only signing young players!"

 

I know a lot of the times he leaves himself wide open, but perhaps he doesn't give a toss that he might have said something different a few days/weeks/months ago. People need to realise that the club uses the media (especially the Chronicle) as nothing more than a mouthpiece/tool in order to appease the masses. It makes good sense for him to tell the Geordie Nation that we're after youngsters way in advance, it's only the likes of us on here who'll remember he said it anyway!

 

Papers like the Chronicle are generally aimed towards the mass paper-buying population of the North East and - not to tar people with the same brush (;D) - I doubt the vast majority of them are able to comprehend things/analyse things like the majority of us on here do. It's all just hot air and bluster man, like the majority of news stories are. What Roeder says in the papers won't always be what he is really planning, the Gooch scenario is the ideal example of that.

 

It's working for him so far, so he can't be as thick as people like to think... and someone that minging and bookish-looking surely has to have some noggin about them.

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I'm happy with this kind of thing as a general policy. Alec Ferguson has some kind of age limit at Man U and while he breaks it occasionally he's generally signed young players and it's worked out well for him. It fits with the idea Glenn talked about sometime last year where he explained that if you assume a club needs to sign 3-4 players a year and has a £20 million budget you end up with 4 £5m players, but if you can bring a few young players through you get two for free and two £10m players.

 

I think he really does believe that players are something you invest in, both as individuals and in the financial sense. If you look at our squad now we can expect more next year from a lot of players, Martins, Taylor, N'Zogbia, the assorted lads in defence, Krul, Milner. It's a nice position to be in.

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The policy's right. It's the same policy that Bobby Robson enforced and look where he took us after a few years. However, if another Sol Campbell comes along and is turned down, Glenn wants spiking. In terms of strikers, if we blow £10m on another one i'll be very annoyed, no matter how good the striker is. We simply do not need one. Ashton's a great player, but next season we'll already have five strikers in the squad when Ameobi and Owen come back. Viduka on a free or Beattie on the cheap would be ideal.

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Guest maznislav

I think we should sel Carr, Luque and maybe Moore and sign some decent right fullback and maybe left as well. Also if Emre decide to leave us we need to find him a replacement.

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Guest andynufc84

 

So we shouldn't sign players aged 25 +

 

Even if they are quality and experienced and perfect to strengthen the team and squad. That is quite frankly b******s.

 

I'm all for signing young players but surely the best transfer policy is to buy the best players possible, regardless of age.

 

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Would love Moritz Volz. I have a feeling he is available on a free in the summer.

 

If i'm being really ambitious and really optimistic, i'd like to see us bring in:

 

RB. Moritz Volz................. Aged 24................. Free

CB. Tal Ben Haim.............. Aged 24................. Free

CB. Oguchi Onyewu.......... Aged 24................. £3m

LB. Leighton Baines.......... Aged 22................. £7m

CM. Steve Sidwell............... Aged 24................. Free

ST/RW. Giles Barnes................. Aged 18................. £3m

 

All of the freebies are really optimistic, except maybe Volz, and i can imagine the likes of Baines and Barnes will have many possible destinations. However, that's not a lot spent which is a bonus.

 

Going the other way would be:

 

Stephen Carr. Titus Bramble. Craig Moore. Olivier Bernard. Matty Pattison. Albert Luque. And probably Emre, although i'd love for him to say. I would rather keep him but he'll probably leave. That's why i'd bring Sidwell in.

 

 

Given

 

Solano --- Taylor --- Ben Haim --- Baines

 

Milner --- Parker --- Sidwell --- N'Zogbia

 

Martins --- Owen

 

 

Harper

 

Volz --- Onyewu --- Ramage --- Babayaro

 

Barnes --- Butt --- Dyer --- Duff

 

Ameobi --- Sibierski

 

 

Goalkeepers: Shay Given, Steve Harper, Tim Krul*

 

Defenders: Nolberto Solano, Moritz Volz, Steven Taylor, Tal Ben Haim, Oguchi Onyewu, Peter Ramage, Leighton Baines, Celestine Babayaro, David Edgar*, Paul Huntington*

 

Midfielders: James Milner, Nolberto Solano, Giles Barnes, Scott Parker, Steve Sidwell, Nicky Butt, Kieron Dyer, Charles N'Zogbia, Damien Duff, Alan O'Brien*

 

Strikers: Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen, Giles Barnes, Kieron Dyer, Shola Ameobi, Antoine Sibierski

 

*Loan

 

Like i said before, that's very optimistic and i'm sure that it won't pan out like that at all, but that's something that i'd like to see. Some names have been used more than once there, but that proves the versatility of that very young squad.

 

As i have time on my hands, the average age of that squad is: 24, 25 next year.

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Guest nufc 4 life

 

So we shouldn't sign players aged 25 +

 

Even if they are quality and experienced and perfect to strengthen the team and squad. That is quite frankly b******s.

 

I'm all for signing young players but surely the best transfer policy is to buy the best players possible, regardless of age.

 

 

although he saysthe players will be under 25 i'm pretty sure that if the opportunity arose for the likes of David Villa (impossible but for name-sake) he would buy them even someone like Bridge i do agree with his policy and fully agree with what the janitor said he uses the media as a tool for instance saying he was not at all interested in Gooch and then signs him a week later means he was trying to manipulate other managers and not reveal his targets, that's how i see it anyway

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Would love Moritz Volz. I have a feeling he is available on a free in the summer.

 

If i'm being really ambitious and really optimistic, i'd like to see us bring in:

 

RB. Moritz Volz................. Aged 24................. Free

CB. Tal Ben Haim.............. Aged 24................. Free

CB. Oguchi Onyewu.......... Aged 24................. £3m

LB. Leighton Baines.......... Aged 22................. £7m

CM. Steve Sidwell............... Aged 24................. Free

ST/RW. Giles Barnes................. Aged 18................. £3m

 

All of the freebies are really optimistic, except maybe Volz, and i can imagine the likes of Baines and Barnes will have many possible destinations. However, that's not a lot spent which is a bonus.

 

Going the other way would be:

 

Stephen Carr. Titus Bramble. Craig Moore. Olivier Bernard. Matty Pattison. Albert Luque. And probably Emre, although i'd love for him to say. I would rather keep him but he'll probably leave. That's why i'd bring Sidwell in.

 

 

Given

 

Solano --- Taylor --- Ben Haim --- Baines

 

Milner --- Parker --- Sidwell --- N'Zogbia

 

Martins --- Owen

 

 

Harper

 

Volz --- Onyewu --- Ramage --- Babayaro

 

Barnes --- Butt --- Dyer --- Duff

 

Ameobi --- Sibierski

 

 

Goalkeepers: Shay Given, Steve Harper, Tim Krul*

 

Defenders: Nolberto Solano, Moritz Volz, Steven Taylor, Tal Ben Haim, Oguchi Onyewu, Peter Ramage, Leighton Baines, Celestine Babayaro, David Edgar*, Paul Huntington*

 

Midfielders: James Milner, Nolberto Solano, Giles Barnes, Scott Parker, Steve Sidwell, Nicky Butt, Kieron Dyer, Charles N'Zogbia, Damien Duff, Alan O'Brien*

 

Strikers: Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen, Giles Barnes, Kieron Dyer, Shola Ameobi, Antoine Sibierski

 

*Loan

 

Like i said before, that's very optimistic and i'm sure that it won't pan out like that at all, but that's something that i'd like to see. Some names have been used more than once there, but that proves the versatility of that very young squad.

 

As i have time on my hands, the average age of that squad is: 24, 25 next year.

 

Looks pretty good on paper, monitor, what have you.  I've not been able to see some of the lads play, just going on what I read in the press.  Which isn't the greatest to base an opinion on, I know, but I have no other option. 

 

I'm feeling optimistic about next year to say the least. 

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