FM23 Man Utd squad building - initial ins and outs

[danej]

How to start out with a Man Utd rebuild, whom to get rid of?

 

Here is my take on it. Bear in mind, this is written a couple of weeks into the save, which gives an initial indication of how easy it is to get rid of the given player.

 

Tom Heaton

Pretty bad and old reserve keeper on relatively high wages, 65k p/w. I luckily managed to sell him to Lyon for 1.1m. A splendid fee for a pretty useless, old, budget draining player. Lyon was also the only team who made a bid.

 

Scott McTominay

Just slightly better than youngsters such as Mainoo and Iqbal, and thus not worth keeping on his much higher wage and no potential due to him being in his prime more or less. I was lucky to get a good loan to probably buy bid from Arsenal. The loan is converted into a buy if the qualify for Europa League. At first they only wanted a mandatory buy if the qualified for the Champions League, but I managed to negotiate. Deal worth 30.75m + 20% of the next sale (not profit of next sale, but next sale).

 

Raphael Varane

Brilliant player, but injury prone which is pretty much a deal breaker. I would only sell him for a decent fee, probably half his market value or more. It looked like I wouldn't receive any offers, but after a weeks time, Real Madrid came in with a decent loan to mandatory buy offer worth 28m. Just about good enough, his market value being slightly above 50m. Btw, his wage of 350k p/w is also a negative, but not a reason for me to want to sell him.

 

Fred

Bad player, just useless. As with McTominay, backup option and only slightly better than some good youngsters whom I would rather play to develop them. I won't sell him at any price since he still has two years left on his deal. But as with most players, will sell him if I get a bid of at least around half of his market value, or I will try to loan him out. At this moment in time I don't know whether I will be able to sell him. I have accepted loan to buy offers from Porto and Wolves, but it is uncertain whether he wants to join any of them. Most likely he will accept on of their bids. Hope so. The deals are worth around 17m which is way above what I would accept, I probably would have taken half. Btw, it also took a weeks time before any bids came in, at first looked like I would struggle to sell him.

 

Anthony Martial

Good player. But injury prone and on too much money for basically a squad player, 250k p/w. Would sell him for half of market value. Again, took around a week before useful bids came in, so looked bleak to begin with. I only received one decent bid, but one is enough: PSG came in with a loan to mandatory buy offer, deal worth around 18m, just around what I would accept. At the moment he is negotiating terms with them. I think that he'll be going to PSG.

 

Jadon Sancho

On too much money for being a squad player, 275k p/w. I would sell him for half market value or loan with 100% wages coverede. But it looks unlikely that I will get him out the door. Only useless loan bids with poor wage coverage have come in, little interest in him. Not the worst thing that could happen though. He is young. Eventually he might be worth his wage, or a decent bid will probably come in at some point in the future.

 

Casemiro

Among the best players of the club. But not massively better than others who could be regular starters. Old, will start to deteriorate. On a lot of money, 300k. As with Sancho though, even worse, not a single bid, no interest. Highly unlikely that I can get rid of him this window. I fear that I will be stuck with him for years. Well, at least he is a very good player, at least for now and probably for at least a couple of seasons.

 

Ethan Laird

Injury prone, recall to sell him when possible (end of July, after the 4 weeks have passed). Better to sell before he might catch a major injury, as with all injury prone players. Time will tell whether there is interest in him.

 

Harry Maguire

Useful squad player, but on too much money, 200k p/w. No offers so far, looking difficult to get rid of him this window. As with Casemiro, I fear that I am stuck with him for years. This is worse since he is a squad player at most. He also got a 2 month injury after a week of the save, that doesn't help of course.

 

Luke Shaw

Good player and slightly better than my other left backs. But injury prone which is a deal breaker. I had a good loan to mandatory buy deal agreed with Tottenham, deal worth around 41m I think. But the bastard turned them down. No further interest in him, so I probably can't get rid of him this window.

 

Wan-Bissaka

Backup right back and only slightly better than youngsters Brandon Williams and Ethan Laird. Thus not worth his 100k p/w wage. I had a good loan to mandatory buy deal agreed with Aston Villa, as well as a loan deal to Everton, but he turned them down. Some interest in him, but no recent bids. He could be going somewhere this window, 50-50 probably.

 

Marcel Sabitzer

I will cancel his loan when possible 4 weeks into the save. Monthly fee + wage coverage much to high for a backup.

 

Wout Weghorst

Same as with Sabitzer

 

Jack Butland

Same as with Sabitzer

 

 

I am also trying to unload a lot of crap youngsters, including everybody injury prone and everybody who don't have Premier League PA according to his coach report.

 

Some sales have been completed or are on the verge of being completed as seen in the pics below.

 

 

As for ins, we'll see. I like to play with harsh restrictions regarding ins. Basically only consider signing a player if my DoF initiates a bid for him (I will cancel most of the rubbish DoF-deals), or if a player is being "extensively" scouted, more than normal scouting, or he i being mentioned a someone who should be a top target.

 

With those restriction in mind, among my initial signings could be for instance some of these players: Alex Scott, Livakovic (keeper). Gabriel Barbosa, Otavio (27 y/o central midfielder from Porto). I will probably try to get Skriniar (central defender from Inter) on a free next summer 2023 but we'll see.

 

If only real life football was as easy as FM. Unloading overpayed deadwood that should be unloadable. Farming great value for money players easy peasy. The biggest challenge when playing FM is to avoid it being too easy and thus too boring. Easier said than done for me when I also find it difficult not to strive for succes.