Busby Street.

Manchester United Club.

The lights in the office of the new sports director have been going on until dark for three consecutive nights.

From time to time, pizza takeaways come in and out.

But Braida barely shows up again.

Outside Manchester United's headquarters, there are many reporters from major media outlets.

When the transfer window comes, the big sports media always send reporters to wait here.

Over the years, as Manchester United has slipped from its peak, Busby Street has become a little quieter than before. However, with Manchester United's explosive introduction of new Champions League winner Chu Ge from Real Madrid at a world-record price of 150 million euros last year, and the high-profile announcement of the return of Ferguson, the godfather of the Red Devils, this has once again become the most lively place in the whole of England and even in world football.

This is the first year that Manchester United have won the title again after many years.

The number of reporters who come here to wait for the news has increased significantly compared to previous years.

Everyone is looking forward to how Manchester United will perform in the transfer market this year.

To the disappointment of the journalists, however, they have so far not gotten any big news from here, other than a change of sporting director.

The only one that was revealed that "Van Dijk joined Manchester United in 24 hours" has been refuted by Van Dijk's agent.

Not to mention 24 hours, 48 hours have passed, and the Dutchman has not been seen at Manchester Airport, nor has his agent been on Busby Street.

For this reason, the reporter who wrote the news has been scolded on the Internet as Xiang.

What "Manchester, if there is a price, it must be raised", "A player who has not been raised by Manchester United is not a good player", "24 hours and 24 hours, the stars who disappeared in the medical examination room in those years", "Lei, lei, the Manchester United who rules the transfer market, he is Lei again"...... Wait a minute

It has been made into jokes by fans, which has become a hot word in the news, swept social networks, and become the talk of fans mocking reporters.

……

Braida sat in her office.

He has been working for three days straight.

Except for a short break, he spends most of his time working.

Fresh out of Manchester United, Brajda faced an unfamiliar and challenging environment.

This past season, Manchester United became the champions of the Premier League.

This is a very impressive achievement.

And for Braida, the new manager of Athletic United, the brilliant results before taking office will inevitably become a huge challenge for his work this year.

Can Manchester United continue to win the title?

In the new season of the Champions League, Manchester United, as the champion of the Premier League, can make a difference.

Manchester United supporters are waiting for United to deliver a more successful performance than last season, and these expectations are really weighing on Brajda, which has become the pressure and motivation for his work.

"Goalkeeper David De Gea, centre-back Manolas, midfielder N'Golo Kantega Pogba, striker Chu Ge, this central axis was the key to Manchester United's success last season."

"David De Gea, Manolas and N'Golo Kante provide a solid defence, Paul Pogba provides the link and tempo control from central to midfield, and Chu Ge provides the response, imagination and, most importantly, consistent goalscoring efficiency."

After a few days of work, Brajda had a clearer idea of United's squad.

At the same time, he also has a better understanding of the team's shortcomings.

"The biggest flaw in the team at the moment is the lack of a core centre-back in addition to Manolas. Smalling was ok but not bad. ”

"With N'Golo Kante and Pogba in midfield, the structure is more stable, but there is room for further improvement."

"The problem of the front line is also very big, and almost all the pressure is mainly concentrated on Chu Ge alone."

'Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have been good in some games, but they haven't been consistent against strong opponents, against strong opposition and under pressure. Ibrahimovic is still recovering from an injury and there is a good chance that he will leave the team after recovering from injury, with Wayne Rooney already gone. ”

"If there is no effective supplement, once Chu Ge is injured or absent or his form fluctuates, Manchester United's attacking power will be greatly reduced, which will affect the stability of the entire team's results."

'Therefore, the team's current focus should be on centre-backs and forwards.

"If there are suitable candidates in other positions, such as full-backs, especially good wing-backs with attacking ability; and an organized midfielder, etc., can also be considered. ”

Braida exhaled.

In the past few days, he has spent a lot of time getting acquainted with the squad of the team.

To do so, he flipped through a large number of footage of Manchester United's games from last season, as well as player reports provided by the coaching staff.

As the saying goes, knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent will not be defeated in a hundred battles.

The first of these tasks is to confidant.

After getting to know the squad well, Braida was surprised to find that he had a lot to do.

Although the current Manchester United team won the Premier League last season and the Europa League, the composition of the squad is not very reasonable.

In many positions, a strong complement is required.

Last season's championship, to a large extent, was due to the historic performances of the two players Kante and Chu Ge, the stable output one after the other, and the adjustment of the old coach Alex Ferguson in key games, which created the team's glory in the past year.

It is almost impossible to replicate such a brilliant achievement.

If United are to continue last season's success, they will have to continue to rebuild and continue to bring in key players in key positions.

Rather than simply patching things up.

Braida flipped through previous scouting reports and also examined the transfer targets that United were trying to approach before his arrival.

In terms of centre-backs and strikers that he is most concerned about, United's scouting department recommends Victor Lindelof and Romelu Lukaku.

The former plays for Benfica in Portugal and the latter is a player for Everton FC in the Premier League.

Both players are outstanding.

Lukaku, in particular.

The Monster had almost the best season of his career at Everton last season.

Manchester United scouts believe that if he can join Manchester United, he will be a good replacement for Swede Ibrahimovic and become the fulcrum of Manchester United's attacking midfield, relieving Chu Ge a lot of defensive pressure.

Therefore, they highly recommend the team to sign him.

In addition, players such as Tottenham's Belgian centre-back Alderweireld and Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez are also highly recommended transfer targets for Manchester United's scouting department.

However, Braida disagrees with them.

When he was at Milan, Gagliari was in charge of transfer negotiations, while Brajda was in charge of selecting players.

When it comes to player selection, Braida has a unique vision.

His unpopular signings of Rijkaard, Shevchenko and others are testament to his talent in selecting players. And signing Kaka directly in a short period of time without thinking shows his courage when signing a player.

In the centre-back position, the last world-class centre-back he signed for Milan was Thiago Silva.

The player also brought Milan their last league trophy.

Milan's decline is not unrelated to Silva's departure.

After arriving at Manchester United, Braida watched a number of footage of Victor Lindelof.

The defender has a lot of potential, but he doesn't impress him.

Victor Lindelof may develop into a great centre-back, but United need a plug-and-play core centre-back, not a potential stock.

Truth be told, in terms of potential, Braida is more optimistic about Manchester United's opponents in the Europa League last season, and the long-term target of Manchester United's scouts, Ajax's 17-year-old centre-back De Ligt.

In De Ligt, Braida even saw the shadow of legendary centre-back Nesta.

But neither Victor Lindelof nor De Ligt should be United's top choice at the moment.

What Braida really wants, is Van Dijk!

Virgil van Dijk is a tall man with a strong individual defensive ability, and his frontal defense is almost second to none in the Premier League. What's even more rare is that the tall centre-back doesn't have the bulkiness of an ordinary Premier League defender, not only does he pick up his defensive positions well, but he also plays quickly and has few obvious defensive shortcomings.

Braida has no doubt that if Van Dijk is given a big enough stage, the Dutchman will develop into a centre-back of the same caliber as Thiago Silva.

His defensive combination with Manolas will be United's most solid defensive backyard.

After choosing the first target of the transfer, Braida found the agents of Southampton and Van Dijk as soon as possible, as he did before.

Southampton asks for a high price.

With Liverpool on the early floor, Southampton hardly accept any bargaining.

This did not come as a surprise to Braida.

A good player should be worth a lot of money.

And the one who is really stuck in this transfer is Van Dijk's agent.

The agent appears to have reached some sort of agreement with Liverpool and he is not very interested in an offer from Manchester United.

so

Is Manchester United out of chances?

Braida pondered the question.

Liverpool have made an offer and Van Dijk's agent has recognised and readily accepted their offer, so the question arises, why hasn't their deal gone through?

Virgil van Dijk remains in the transfer market.

He's not a Liverpool player.

he

It seems that there is still something hesitating.

Braida decided to read another interview Van Dijk had given over the past year to look for clues in the news and find the key to breaking the puzzle.

Maybe he still has a chance to bring the Dutchman to Manchester.

And at the same time.

Braida also noticed another piece of news.

According to French media reports, Paris Saint-Germain have come close to agreeing with Monaco rising star Kylian Mbappe.

It looks like last season's Ligue 1 winning team will be dismantled.

And the brightest star among them, Kylian Mbappe, is about to become a member of the Grand Paris.

Interestingly, the transfer deal seems to have settled everything, but it has not been announced for a long time.

They also seem to be stuck at a certain point.

Azure and other smoke and rain.

……