Adrien Rabiot - you're not going to believe this but his Mum is his agent.

Is this lad any good?

If he's any good why is he without a club?
If he's any good why does he play at United ?

Rabiot managed to break through in a PSG squad that was competitive and was a mainstay at Juventus though I believe Turin fans think he has better seasons than others. Nailed on to the first squad in the NT.

Solid CDM, safe, tall but not overly physical, good passing repertoire.
 
Remarkable how this guy who has had 2 clubs in almost 10 years is still claimed to be a mercenary.

And if he wants 40m for 3 years: Talk it down to 35, Give him a 5m signing bonus and pay him 10m per year, which comes down to 190k a week, which is 50% of Case’s salary.
Gives us a backup for Mainoo and Ugarte
 
Is this lad any good?

If he's any good why is he without a club?

Define good. Is he a tidy midfielder that can do a job in the midfield? Yes, he is. Does he really excel at anything that sets him apart from the rest and allows him to bring (at least one) an outstanding quality to the midfield? Well, his current situation probably gives you the answer to that. Woody would have signed him already.
 
If he's any good why does he play at United ?

Rabiot managed to break through in a PSG squad that was competitive and was a mainstay at Juventus though I believe Turin fans think he has better seasons than others. Nailed on to the first squad in the NT.

Solid CDM, safe, tall but not overly physical, good passing repertoire.

He is the best of water carriers, yet not a leader… as such, you need a strong squad already to accommodate him.
 
Remarkable how this guy who has had 2 clubs in almost 10 years is still claimed to be a mercenary.

And if he wants 40m for 3 years: Talk it down to 35, Give him a 5m signing bonus and pay him 10m per year, which comes down to 190k a week, which is 50% of Case’s salary.
Gives us a backup for Mainoo and Ugarte
Plus no transfer fee and does have resale value if things don’t work out for either party.
 
He’ll surely lower his price if there are no takers?
Eventually but I said before that he's probably banking on a team getting desperate.

I believe de Gea played a similar game but there was even less appetite for a goalkeeper (which you can only play one of) on massive wages.
 
Define good. Is he a tidy midfielder that can do a job in the midfield? Yes, he is. Does he really excel at anything that sets him apart from the rest and allows him to bring (at least one) an outstanding quality to the midfield? Well, his current situation probably gives you the answer to that. Woody would have signed him already.

Well you're thinking like I'm thinking.
Will he be the missing piece of the puzzle for United or another bang average high earner with a good agent.
 
Remarkable how this guy who has had 2 clubs in almost 10 years is still claimed to be a mercenary.

And if he wants 40m for 3 years: Talk it down to 35, Give him a 5m signing bonus and pay him 10m per year, which comes down to 190k a week, which is 50% of Case’s salary.
Gives us a backup for Mainoo and Ugarte
His demands have been absolutely insane, that's the reason he can't find any takers. He is not in a million years worth what he is asking for. He can hold his own, but he is not gonna fix United's problems in midfield. I'd stay away.
 
Well you're thinking like I'm thinking.
Will he be the missing piece of the puzzle for United or another bang average high earner with a good agent.

TBF, i believe that it's the wrong to think of transfers as the "missing pieces of a puzzle" because the puzzle (or whatever you wanna call it) is - or at least should be - a living and breathing organism, always ready to adapt, evolve and expand. You pay money in the market to add qualities and if you fork out a king's ransom, you better make it worth the purchase. That's where United have been failing at for the last decade or so.

So, to answer your question, i think he's compatible with what we already have. He's a neat and tidy midfielder: Good positioning and concentration, sound defensively and able to receive the ball in the build-up and either pass or carry it to his nearest teammate. He can be a part of a midfield partnership that will allow Bruno to do reassume his "free roaming" role as an attacking midfielder. There's that.

But for the salary he's currently asking, we should be asking whether we're getting good value for our money. When i look at this United side, the midfield in particular, i see a team that can't control the rhythm of matches or force its tempo to its opponents. We constantly stumble with the ball at our feet because we're slow when we need to be precise and rush when the situation demands of us to be quick. Thus, we rely on moments of brilliance, more often than not, to get the job done. These are chronic issues.

Will putting Rabiot on 250 grand p/w improve us in that area? I doubt it. He can help ETH (or probably his successor) revert to what has served us in the past and give us a fighting chance at a top-four finish. But when that dreadful moment comes again, when we have to push for bigger things? No, i don't think he's the answer to that. By then, he'll be another high earner that we would be better off without.

For what it's worth, i didn't think Casemiro was the answer, either, although this place seems enamored with midfield "destroyers" and "workhorses". Fergie won his last two PL titles with Carrick and Scholes/Giggs in their mid/late 30s playing in the midfield. If you think about it, he never actually cared for such profiles (for those lucky enough to have watched him, Keane was so much more than a defensive midfielder). Why? Rhythm and tempo...
 
I’d definitely pay him £250,000 a week if the contract length was low. There’d still be a few players earning more than that in our squad. A 1+1 or a 2 year deal would be fine. We just wanna avoid a four year deal like we gave Casemiro.
He’s a good player and would improve us in the area we are in desperate need of some quality
 
If he was British instead i doubt any of our fans would be talking about him as much.

Nothing special. Replacing a Mctominay with another player of the similar level.
 
250k on a 1+1
Or
200k on a 2+1
Or
150k on a 3+1

Take it or leave it Mama Rabiot
 
I don't want Rabiot, we're only in this situation because we didn't sign someone like Youssouf Fofana. For around 20m he should've been the one we went for.

Not signing a CM has left us short, but it's hard to complain given the overall sensible job INEOS did with the ins and outs.

I'd rather not tie ourselves down with a 3 year deal for Rabiot, and maybe focus on lining up players for a January transfer.

With the money saved on the payroll, and with so many players due to leave at the end of their contracts next summer I'm sure we can sign another CM in January to replace Eriksen in the squad.

Maguire, Lindelof and Eriksen all leave so reallocating their wages to a CM, LCB is the next step for the two squad players we need.

That would complete the squad players we need for the defence and midfield. We then will focus on replacing first team starters like Shaw and Rashford with better prospects.

I tip us to make a big effort to sign British players in January and next summer to replace the British players we've recently lost, and the potential future outgoings like Shaw and Rashford.

LCB - Branthwaite
LB - Problem as there aren't many English candidates atm, personally I like a good value option of Aina from Nottingham Forest even if not British
CM - Gibbs White
Winger - Eze
 
His demands have been absolutely insane, that's the reason he can't find any takers.
It’s stated above he’s asking for 40m and I explain via a calculation that his demands aren’t that crazy (for a united midfielder).

Your reply; “his demands are insane”

I mean we can argue whether he’s good enough, where I think he is, and you believe not.
And in general, don’t you think we’re still short on midfield and could really use someone of his profile?
 
It’s stated above he’s asking for 40m and I explain via a calculation that his demands aren’t that crazy (for a united midfielder).

Your reply; “his demands are insane”

I mean we can argue whether he’s good enough, where I think he is, and you believe not.
And in general, don’t you think we’re still short on midfield and could really use someone of his profile?
Always funny how United offer insane wages to dross but will negotiate or refuse average wages to actual good players. Long may it continue.
 
If he wasn't a free agent, we'd be paying at least £45 million in transfer fees, plus agents fees. That's £15 million per year amortisation over three years (albeit some of that will be offset by tax savings due to the amortisation). Even so, we're probably talking about over £10 million per year net cost over 3 years. That's equivalent to almost £200,000 per week! So all in all, paying him around between £5 million to £10 signing on fee as a free agent (bearing in mind there would have been at least £5 million signing on fee even with a £45 million transfer), and paying him £250,000 per week as a free agent is still far cheaper than paying him £150,000 per week plus a £45 million transfer fee.
And lastly, if he was sold before the end of the 3 year contract, we'd still get a transfer fee. Not big perhaps, but still at least £20+ million given his age.
Look at the total package & cost, and not just the wages
 
If he wasn't a free agent, we'd be paying at least £45 million in transfer fees, plus agents fees. That's £15 million per year amortisation over three years (albeit some of that will be offset by tax savings due to the amortisation). Even so, we're probably talking about over £10 million per year net cost over 3 years. That's equivalent to almost £200,000 per week! So all in all, paying him around between £5 million to £10 signing on fee as a free agent (bearing in mind there would have been at least £5 million signing on fee even with a £45 million transfer), and paying him £250,000 per week as a free agent is still far cheaper than paying him £150,000 per week plus a £45 million transfer fee.
And lastly, if he was sold before the end of the 3 year contract, we'd still get a transfer fee. Not big perhaps, but still at least £20+ million given his age.
Look at the total package & cost, and not just the wages

Hopefully we have looked at the whole package, however still have my doubts he is willing to negotiate on his wage and contract demands
 
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I don't want Rabiot, we're only in this situation because we didn't sign someone like Youssouf Fofana. For around 20m he should've been the one we went for.

Not signing a CM has left us short, but it's hard to complain given the overall sensible job INEOS did with the ins and outs.

I'd rather not tie ourselves down with a 3 year deal for Rabiot, and maybe focus on lining up players for a January transfer.

With the money saved on the payroll, and with so many players due to leave at the end of their contracts next summer I'm sure we can sign another CM in January to replace Eriksen in the squad.

Maguire, Lindelof and Eriksen all leave so reallocating their wages to a CM, LCB is the next step for the two squad players we need.

That would complete the squad players we need for the defence and midfield. We then will focus on replacing first team starters like Shaw and Rashford with better prospects.

I tip us to make a big effort to sign British players in January and next summer to replace the British players we've recently lost, and the potential future outgoings like Shaw and Rashford.

LCB - Branthwaite
LB - Problem as there aren't many English candidates atm, personally I like a good value option of Aina from Nottingham Forest even if not British
CM - Gibbs White
Winger - Eze
pretty sure Aina was born in Britain and came through Chelsea’s academy, but one of only a few players to pledge to Nigeria.
 
1 year deal and extends to 3 years with auto renewal each year based on champions league qualification for each season.
 
Casemiro isn’t the issue, it’s the coach. Isolating him and setting up the midfield like he does, it doesn’t matter the personnel.
This is factually wrong.

Casemiro is visibly finished. The fact that he passed the ball straight to the opposition players multiple times, during build-up, and two of those feck ups turned into Liverpool goals, is on him and him alone, has nothing to do with Ten Hag

Ten Hag has his own problems but blaming Casemiro's obvious decline on Erik is ridiculous.

Only you and Casemiro's wife would believe such fantasy. We know what her excuse is, what is yours? :)
 
This is factually wrong.

Casemiro is visibly finished. The fact that he passed the ball straight to the opposition players multiple times, during build-up, and two of those feck ups turned into Liverpool goals, is on him and him alone, has nothing to do with Ten Hag

Ten Hag has his own problems but blaming Casemiro's obvious decline on Erik is ridiculous.

Only you and Casemiro's wife would believe such fantasy. We know what her excuse is, what is yours? :)
Or you know, maybe the coach does not tell the DM to pass the ball forward immediately after he gets it. Play to the strengths of the players and also helps us get better control of the game.

Casemiro is no longer the player he once was, but it’s not like he turned into a washed up Henderson overnight. He can still provide us with options if the manager uses his hear to set us up right instead of trying to force a plan which has not worked since last season. Doubt he will do that though, so we will have to wait for him to be sacked before we see improvements.
 
This is factually wrong.

Casemiro is visibly finished. The fact that he passed the ball straight to the opposition players multiple times, during build-up, and two of those feck ups turned into Liverpool goals, is on him and him alone, has nothing to do with Ten Hag

Ten Hag has his own problems but blaming Casemiro's obvious decline on Erik is ridiculous.

Only you and Casemiro's wife would believe such fantasy. We know what her excuse is, what is yours? :)

Rubbish. He had a poor game, but he was put ib a position to fail by an inept coach. He is only 32 and could easily do a job if he wasn’t being asked to cover half the pitch and have no support when we are in possession. It’s not my fault you can’t see how flawed the setup is. The opposition coach spelt it out and it wasn’t the first time that’s happened.

Maybe you and Erik’s wife can talk about it over a cuppa. He won’t be hear by Christmas, so you should probably get it sorted soon.
 
This is factually wrong.

Casemiro is visibly finished. The fact that he passed the ball straight to the opposition players multiple times, during build-up, and two of those feck ups turned into Liverpool goals, is on him and him alone, has nothing to do with Ten Hag

Ten Hag has his own problems but blaming Casemiro's obvious decline on Erik is ridiculous.

Only you and Casemiro's wife would believe such fantasy. We know what her excuse is, what is yours? :)
Both things can be true at once.

Casemiro has clearly declined in his own right. Nothing anybody else has done will change that.

But the way ETH has us playing both in and out of possession both highlights and exacerbates Casemiro's decline.