Alessia Russo | leaves United for Arsenal

Gutting news - club absolutely fecked it on this one.

Hopefully the new owners put some money into the ladies and establish them to the point where this sort of thing doesn't happen in future.
 
In and of itself I don't think it's a huge disaster, all of the other top 5 sides (including Villa) have better strikers and if the club was serious I think they could find an upgrade. Losing Batlle, by far the best player on the team, and her together though and what that says about United, their attachment to the women's side and how they are perceived by players, is the bigger issue.
 
I think we missed our chance to keep her - I just hope she doesn't go directly to a rival. Disappointing outcome and I'll miss her - she wasn't always the most clinical goalscorer, but she was always a key player and capable of being a game changer. I liked her style.

I suspect the marketing department, once they realise that the women can be assets, will miss her as well.
 
jojojo said:
I think we missed our chance to keep her - I just hope she doesn't go directly to a rival. Disappointing outcome and I'll miss her - she wasn't always the most clinical goalscorer, but she was always a key player and capable of being a game changer. I liked her style.

I suspect the marketing department, once they realise that the women can be assets, will miss her as well.
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It seems her move to Arsenal is done.
 
Glazer family in shambolic clusterfeck shock! - can we please get rid of these leeches and their sycophantic lackeys before they totally destroy any progress the club might make! They've already cost us one brilliant manager in Casey Stoney and several amazing players....they leave a trail of shabby treatment and destruction wherever they go!
 
Can't begrudge her the move to Arsenal. They came in for her with a record transfer fee in the last window and offered her what she wanted as soon as she was available. United instead played lowball with her for 18 months before panicking when she was leaving and finally putting a better offer on the table. Arsenal valued her and treated her like a top player and she is rightly joining the team that showed they wanted her.
 
Himannv said:
Can't begrudge her the move to Arsenal. They came in for her with a record transfer fee in the last window and offered her what she wanted as soon as she was available. United instead played lowball with her for 18 months before panicking when she was leaving and finally putting a better offer on the table. Arsenal valued her and treated her like a top player and she is rightly joining the team that showed they wanted her.
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If she gets a good bit of that proposed transfer fee as a signing on bonus then fair play to her.
 
Seems we did our usual dilly dallying and waited too long with a suitable contract offer.

I'm sure I read that her family live in London, so that'd likely be a factor too (should she move to Arsenal).
 
This feels more horrible than I thought it would :( they better move heaven and earth to keep earps, if she fecks off aswell I’ll cry.
 
A final parting gift from our parasite owners who've let the women's team rot just like every other part of the club. Hurry up and sell you cnuts.
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Gutting news - club absolutely fecked it on this one.

Hopefully the new owners put some money into the ladies and establish them to the point where this sort of thing doesn't happen in future.
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Yeah - I’m not exactly dancing with the prospect of Qatar but I do think they will invest more in the women’s team than INEOS would and I hope that is indeed the case if they win the bid.
To truly be at the top of world football our women need to dominate like Chelsea and City do domestically and like Barca and Lyon do internationally. They deserve better than they have had so far, especially as they have achieved so much in such a short period.
Sad news either way.
 
It's a wonder we've had the success we've had so far given the ineptness of how we're run (mens & womens team). We can all merely hope that the new owners when they finally arrive improve everything, though I fear losing the likes of Battle & Russo (and potentially Earps) will be a huge setback for us that will seriously impact our ability to sustain our success from the womens team. I wouldn't be surprised to see us slip back out of the top 3 next season.
 
Well, it just shows you that being a life long Manchester United fan means jacks sh1t when it really matters! Surely Russo must know United are building something up from scratch 5 years ago are doing it to be sustainable. 18 months ago this team was not where it is today an Russo just came back from a long term injury and had not made a breakthrough with England even. Russo if not dense must have also been aware of this and possible give the club of her heart some slack.

Lots of harsh words for the the club, but If Russo was committed to Manchester United, her childhood fan club, then she would still be here! Uniteds actions are not ideal, but not the absolute disaster its been proposed as.

Giving Russo this contract 18 months ago would have blown or whole salary structure among the players and the club probably had not grown into that role yet.

The question is, is her 10 goals worth paying her Maradona money? Time will tell!
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When she steps out in that Arsenal jersey she will be dead to me, that is 100% certain, she went for greener grass elsewhere and showed zero loyalty!


And dont forget Russo is going to be silly rich from commercial deals outside her earnings as a player, was fecking over the club who gave her the chance and fecking over the fans who supported her through thick and thin worth it?

 
Batlle is a much bigger loss player wise and Russos form has been poor since she didn’t move in January.

The club haven’t been good with the negotiations but they matched Arsenals offer, she’s chosen to go.

That said her brother/agent has been awful through the whole process. He’s been playing at being Raiola and now he’s been DMing fans telling them that she wanted to stay and she loves them. It’s all rubbish. You can’t put out a montage with sad music just to go and sign for a rival in the same league.

He’s been touting her to clubs since 2021. He’s been very unprofessional with the fans while at the same time wants to be everyone’s mate. The Lyon links never transpired, he tried to drum up interest from Michelle Kang but she’s got bigger plans and so do Barça. Arsenal have been interested since she left NC, but she joined us because she’d not start in front if Viv in 2020.

Currently Russo is being marketed like she’s a much better player than she is right now, she’s becoming a brand and that’s what they’ve been working at since she signed.

She can be replaced relatively easily on the pitch, there’s a number of available strikers although I’m not convinced we’ll get who we’re going for. 10 goals is easier to replace than a RB with 16 assists.
 
Lightbringer said:
Well, it just shows you that being a life long Manchester United fan means jacks sh1t when it really matters! Surely Russo must know United are building something up from scratch 5 years ago are doing it to be sustainable. 18 months ago this team was not where it is today an Russo just came back from a long term injury and had not made a breakthrough with England even. Russo if not dense must have also been aware of this and possible give the club of her heart some slack.

Lots of harsh words for the the club, but If Russo was committed to Manchester United, her childhood fan club, then she would still be here! Uniteds actions are not ideal, but not the absolute disaster its been proposed as.

Giving Russo this contract 18 months ago would have blown or whole salary structure among the players and the club probably had not grown into that role yet.
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I compare this to Stanway at City. Then as well the club were at fault, but the player turned down multiple WSL clubs and instead went abroad.

Ona also has had WSL offers.

There’s no respect for the fans from a player like Russo. I’ll enjoy booing her.
 
Himannv said:
Hopefully Daly, but you just know we'll take two months to prepare a bid, by which time she'll just extend her contract or sign for someone else.
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That’s a brilliant shout actually, she’s actually a better player/goal scorer than Russo in my opinions, just much older in footballing terms.
 
As much as we supposedly matched Arsenal's offer for Russo I completely get the line her camp are putting out there that it wasn't a money issue by the time they did. Making her a competitive offer from the get go shows you want her to stay, matching someone elses competitive offer shows you don't want her to leave. It may seem like semantics, but it does matter when the money is equal. You can be a fan of the club from being a kid, but when they are your employer it is different as you see the grizzly underbelly and all their ills. If she didn't feel as though the club wanted her enough you can't blame her too much for leaving.

I must agree I'm not a huge Russo fan compared to others anyway and see Battle as the much bigger loss for the team. Losing them both though is an awful message to put out there to the fans and other top players. We can try to bring in a replacement (Daly please), but how tempted will they be to join us when they always see our best players move at the first opportunity?
 
I don’t see Daly as an option due to the personal situation (Millie) and the fact she has 2 years left on a massive deal at Villa. She’s paid more than any Utd player other than maybe Toone.

Kerolin has been linked. Then there’s a few players in Spain and the Netherlands that would be improvements on Russo.
 
Wixqaz said:
I don’t see Daly as an option due to the personal situation (Millie) and the fact she has 2 years left on a massive deal at Villa. She’s paid more than any Utd player other than maybe Toone.

Kerolin has been linked. Then there’s a few players in Spain and the Netherlands that would be improvements on Russo.
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Why would her relationship with Millie stop her joining? You're right though about the contract, Villa are under no pressure to sell unless she forces her way out.

Speaking of replacements though and Russo likely going to Arsenal, Miedema is out of contract now isn't she...?
 
Lightbringer said:
Well, it just shows you that being a life long Manchester United fan means jacks sh1t when it really matters! Surely Russo must know United are building something up from scratch 5 years ago are doing it to be sustainable. 18 months ago this team was not where it is today an Russo just came back from a long term injury and had not made a breakthrough with England even. Russo if not dense must have also been aware of this and possible give the club of her heart some slack.

Lots of harsh words for the the club, but If Russo was committed to Manchester United, her childhood fan club, then she would still be here! Uniteds actions are not ideal, but not the absolute disaster its been proposed as.
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You don't wait until the last month to offer someone what it will take to keep them and actually expect them to stay. I used to contract and when a company did that I did not stay having another offer even though I liked the place, you've had to go to the effort of looking elsewhere, the stress of the situation, you've at some point when time was running out given your word to the other company. When if they actually wanted you they could have sorted it out before. It's a sign of a shitty company who don't value you. You can make all the arguments about why you don't think she was worth it, but the market said differently based on the fact she had another offer for that.
 
TMS said:
Why would her relationship with Millie stop her joining? You're right though about the contract, Villa are under no pressure to sell unless she forces her way out.

Speaking of replacements though and Russo likely going to Arsenal, Miedema is out of contract now isn't she...?
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This is my personal opinion and may be coloured by Dalys history and not wanting relationship drama. But we don’t have any (known) internal relationships, Rach has a girl at every club and she’s Millie’s ex.

Viv has at least another year. Arsenal don’t release contract lengths. It also seems like she reneged on the Barca deal because of her and Mead starting up so as long as they’re together she stays now I think.
 
IWat said:
You don't wait until the last month to offer someone what it will take to keep them and actually expect them to stay. I used to contract and when a company did that I did not stay having another offer even though liked the place, you've had to go to the effort of looking elsewhere, the stress of the situation, you've at some point when time was running out given your word to the other company. When if they actually wanted you they could have sorted it out before. It's a sign of a shitty company who don't value you.
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You compare a regular job at some company to a newly founded football club that is trying to build a sustainable way of operating the womens team? The stress about the situation? Russo was speaking to 10 clubs and offering her services to the highest bidder via her brother who acted as her agent. How is that stressful? You did not counter what I wrote in my post, you just ignored it and are writing it off like United should have just handed her the best contract in the league before the clubs structure was in place for that. Not even sure if she would be worth paying that much for her football contributions alone either tbh. Its not a sign of a total shitty club, we operate or club differently than the russian oil club and the state funded teams.

Was it perfectly handled by the club? No. Would Russo still be here if she really loved Man United, yes.
 
Wixqaz said:
I don’t see Daly as an option due to the personal situation (Millie) and the fact she has 2 years left on a massive deal at Villa. She’s paid more than any Utd player other than maybe Toone.

Kerolin has been linked. Then there’s a few players in Spain and the Netherlands that would be improvements on Russo.
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Ah, didn't know about the personal situation. That probably rules her out.
 
Wixqaz said:
This is my personal opinion and may be coloured by Dalys history and not wanting relationship drama. But we don’t have any (known) internal relationships, Rach has a girl at every club and she’s Millie’s ex.

Viv has at least another year. Arsenal don’t release contract lengths.
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Ah I knew of their relationship, but didn't realise it was over. They seemed friendly enough after the Villa games though so I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue if we could tempt her away.

I swear I read that she only renewed for 1 season last year?
 
Lightbringer said:
You compare a regular job at some company to a newly founded football club that is trying to build a sustainable way of operating the womens team? The stress about the situation? Russo was speaking to 10 clubs and offering her services to the highest bidder via her brother who acted as her agent. How is that stressful? You did not counter what I wrote in my post, you just ignored it and are writing it off like United should have just handed her the best contract in the league before the clubs structure was in place for that. Not even sure if she would be worth paying that much for her football contributions alone either tbh.

Was it perfectly handled by the club? No. Would Russo still be here if she really loved Man United, yes.
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For me it’s not even staying. I understand leaving but I don’t accept the PR rubbish when you had other options and chose to stay in the league at a rival. Stanway is how you do it.
 
Wixqaz said:
For me it’s not even staying. I understand leaving but I don’t accept the PR rubbish when you had other options and chose to stay in the league at a rival. Stanway is how you do it.
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Yes, it she had some loyalty left for Man United she would not signed with our biggest rivals, thats for sure. Thats also pretty telling. Russo is not a victim that needs to be consoled. We need to say good riddance, get Kerolin in as a replacement and get our shit together moving forward! If this was no the signal to upper brass we need to move into next gear with the womens team, when we will never get it.

We need 2 world class strikers now, nothing less is OK!
 
TMS said:
Ah I knew of their relationship, but didn't realise it was over. They seemed friendly enough after the Villa games though so I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue if we could tempt her away.

I swear I read that she only renewed for 1 season last year?
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I thought she signed for 3? But could be wrong totally.

TBH I’m being a bit facetious about the dating history, they did hug at the last Villa game and they went through a lot while together. It’s more the fact I want to avoid relationship drama like you see at Arsenal with Walti/Foord/McCabe etc.
 
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