Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap

Frenkie to United?


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Brownie85

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I have a feeling we've quietly moved on from Frenkie. Wouldn't be surprised to see a Neves or similar story take off soon.
Ummmm we woulsnt agree a fee and quietly move on with no reports of us walking away or a brief. Given the situation, you can guarantee we'd brief so people were aware it was Barcas problem the deal broke down
 

NZT-One

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So in answer to a question asking you if you could provide the names of an alternative player you have effectively said that yeah you could but you are not going to. If it is a discussion forum you kind of have to engage with an actual answer here.

Regarding the bolded. If anyone refers to McFred then their opinion instantly becomes significantly less valid. McTominay and Fred are very different players with different skillsets and one of them was easily amongst our best 5 players last season and the other one was McTominay.
Thanks for lecturing me. Didn't feel condescending at all.

A) I provided you with an explanation of why actual names aren't really needed. But because you came across as nice as you did, there you go: McGinn, McNeil, Douglas Luiz, Caqueret, Bennacer, Fabian Ruiz, Florian Grillitsch, Gueye, Neves, Tielemans and many more. Again - if you are looking for the great superstar, than sure, your list of options is going to be shorter. My approach is looking at the needed qualities in midfield, checking their availabilities in the skill sets of available players in the club and then go and try to close the gaps on the transfer market.

B) If anybody uses a certain descriptive element in a sentence to construct some semi-hidden sly then theres no point in arguing with that person. Fyi - I am very aware that these two players have different qualities. And I favor Fred over McTominay too. Using McFred is only a way to save me from typing Fred and McTominay as these two are the most often played midfield in the last years. We know what they can offer, we know what they can't. Based on that we have continue trying to solve the puzzle to construct a working midfield.
 

Nicoseth

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Ummmm we woulsnt agree a fee and quietly move on with no reports of us walking away or a brief. Given the situation, you can guarantee we'd brief so people were aware it was Barcas problem the deal broke down
I hope I'm wrong mate, but there doesn't seem to be much going on with FDJ. In fact, I'd say there have been more noises than before about him staying at Barca - even from Romero who was the muppet who broke the 90% story in the first place. I'd say it's 100% possible we've moved on and not briefed about it.
 

Daonico

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I don't get all this "de jong's replacement" talk... we are getting Frenkie, why do we also need to find barca's replacement for him? we can add some of our scouts to the offer if necesary...
 

RkkMan

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I hope I'm wrong mate, but there doesn't seem to be much going on with FDJ. In fact, I'd say there have been more noises than before about him staying at Barca - even from Romero who was the muppet who broke the 90% story in the first place. I'd say it's 100% possible we've moved on and not briefed about it.
Man Utd isn't the type of club able to move on from such an expensive deal "quietly"
There would be too much information through the grapevine to keep under wraps.
 

Gandalf

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Thanks for lecturing me. Didn't feel condescending at all.

A) I provided you with an explanation of why actual names aren't really needed. But because you came across as nice as you did, there you go: McGinn, McNeil, Douglas Luiz, Caqueret, Bennacer, Fabian Ruiz, Florian Grillitsch, Gueye, Neves, Tielemans and many more. Again - if you are looking for the great superstar, than sure, your list of options is going to be shorter. My approach is looking at the needed qualities in midfield, checking their availabilities in the skill sets of available players in the club and then go and try to close the gaps on the transfer market.
Sorry if you felt condescended to but I am sure being facetious in response made you feel better. I guess I was expecting some left field names based on your earlier response but the list you provided is pretty much the same group of names that has been discussed over in the alternatives to Frenkie thread so I am not sure why you think they are less fanciful, you will find plenty on here who agree with you. I certainly think Bennacer is an excellent option and Ruiz is intriguing too. I would definitely prefer to stay away from McGinn however because he is a despicable cnut who thinks trying to end a 16 year olds career in a pre season game is good fun.
 

Brownie85

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Makes me wonder where they're getting these reports that he wants to stay as to my knowledge he's not said anything to anyone in public for weeks. Seems like they're seriously just recycling old reports to keep a story going whilst not much is changing
 

Brownie85

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I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. We signed Malacia and Donny pretty quietly.
So you think that with all the effort Murtogh and Arnold put into agreeing a deal with Barca, knowing what was standing in the way of it being completed, they'd now just pull the plug. Even after pretty much briefing the press about us being in it for the long haul we'd now just think... ah screw it, let's pack it in and go for Neves and Tielemans instead.

Keep the faith it'll be done. The only time we'll walk away is when ten Hag thinks it's over and we definitely won't get him
 

NZT-One

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Sorry if you felt condescended to but I am sure being facetious in response made you feel better. I guess I was expecting some left field names based on your earlier response but the list you provided is pretty much the same group of names that has been discussed over in the alternatives to Frenkie thread so I am not sure why you think they are less fanciful, you will find plenty on here who agree with you. I certainly think Bennacer is an excellent option and Ruiz is intriguing too. I would definitely prefer to stay away from McGinn however because he is a despicable cnut who thinks trying to end a 16 year olds career in a pre season game is good fun.
No it still hurts. Plus I am a bit irritated now: if you have alternatives to FDJ available, why would you ask me to give you a list then? Or were you under the impression, that I would come up with new names?
 

elmo

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Makes me wonder where they're getting these reports that he wants to stay as to my knowledge he's not said anything to anyone in public for weeks. Seems like they're seriously just recycling old reports to keep a story going whilst not much is changing
Barcelona’s mouthpieces.
 

Reapersoul20

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Interesting/relevant. Click in to read the full thread.
 
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Indy_Red

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The only time i want us to move on is when a player better than Frenkie becomes available, because they are better than Mct or Fred is not an argument and is what has landed us with a mish-mash of players with different styles.
 

Robertd0803

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I wouldn't necessarily agree with that. We signed Malacia and Donny pretty quietly.
Yeah but neither were "elite level" players at the time (hopefully Malacia will turn out to be) and we already knew what the benchmark fee wise was with Malacia.

Nearly every top level name we sign is a drawn out saga to say the least.
 

Brownie85

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Barcelona’s mouthpieces.
I wonder if that's to drive the narrative that when he leaves he's the bad guy because he said he wants to stay, but when asked to take a pay cut he flat out refused, proving that money is more important than the club?

I know he could stay on his current contract if he desired, but I'm sure Barca would find a way to hound him out legally
 

moses

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I have no idea either, yet.
They were quite clearly a famous an beloved club before that. I had a Barca shirt from the Romario and Stoichkov era when I was a kid… but they werent as successful, no. Which itself should actually help rubbish the weird claim that they need to be constantly competing for the League & CL in order to remain relevant. As they weren’t doing that even with the likes of Maradona & Fat Ronaldo playing for them.
Of course they were. The '84 game when we 2-0 down after the away leg was a huge deal because of their prestige. Diego feckin Maradona and Bernd Schuster ffs. It's one of my earliest memories.


https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/18/manchester-united-overturn-deficit-barcelona
 

Gandalf

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No it still hurts. Plus I am a bit irritated now: if you have alternatives to FDJ available, why would you ask me to give you a list then? Or were you under the impression, that I would come up with new names?
Well you did say less fanciful names so I was expecting something from out of left field, maybe a versatile up and comer like Ethan Ampadu or a solid veteran with a relatively low price tag like Bryan Cristante. For what its worth I do think FDJ is still most likely to happen but I agree with you that we ought to have a couple of alternatives under consideration.
 

The holy trinity 68

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They were quite clearly a famous an beloved club before that. I had a Barca shirt from the Romario and Stoichkov era when I was a kid… but they werent as successful, no. Which itself should actually help rubbish the weird claim that they need to be constantly competing for the League & CL in order to remain relevant. As they weren’t doing that even with the likes of Maradona & Fat Ronaldo playing for them.
Thank you. That's why I said "only became much more relevant". Of course they were relevant before but no where near as much.
 

NZT-One

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Well you did say less fanciful names so I was expecting something from out of left field, maybe a versatile up and comer like Ethan Ampadu or a solid veteran with a relatively low price tag like Bryan Cristante. For what its worth I do think FDJ is still most likely to happen but I agree with you that we ought to have a couple of alternatives under consideration.
Ok got it. To be honest, I didn't invest too much time digging on my own in search for players. I mean, it is sort of wasted effort as long as we don't really know the profile of player that we are actually looking for. Nor the actual budget we have and what kind of priority the midfield has for ETH in comparison to the other areas of interest.

For what it worth, would you be fine with "just" bringing FDJ in? Do you think, we should also go for some defensive prowess in midfield (be it, as you described it a up and come or a solid veteran, not necessarily with the claim for starting spot)

Let me be more precise about the question: I think, there aren't many United fans who would be actively against a defensive player - so my question is: would you consider not getting one a mistake or just a chance missed?
 

elmo

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I wonder if that's to drive the narrative that when he leaves he's the bad guy because he said he wants to stay, but when asked to take a pay cut he flat out refused, proving that money is more important than the club?

I know he could stay on his current contract if he desired, but I'm sure Barca would find a way to hound him out legally
You got to respect the mental gymnastics Laporte is feeding their fans but it’s working.

Frenkie is being portrayed as some sort of hapless romantic whose being forced to move to Man Utd despite his love for Barcelona and once he moves, he’ll be the villain who moved because he wasn’t willing to take a pay cut.
 

Gandalf

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For what it worth, would you be fine with "just" bringing FDJ in? Do you think, we should also go for some defensive prowess in midfield (be it, as you described it a up and come or a solid veteran, not necessarily with the claim for starting spot)
I don't know that ETH wants to play with a defensive midfielder in there. I think his ideal is to have the CBs stepping up and fuflilling that defensive role and relying on the ability of FDJ to play through the press. It does make me nervous but Frenkie clearly wants and prefers to play in the deepest role and so if you place a defensive player in front of him you lose some creativity in the middle of the park. I am guessing Erik is looking to play with either Fred or Eriksen in front of Frenkie with Bruno furthest forward and rely on ball retention to make the need for a true CDM obsolete.
 

JJ12

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These levers gonna hurt in the long run right?
 
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