Eikrem...

Was really hoping this wouldn't happen, hopefully there's a buy back clause in their somewhere.
 
I was thinking about that and I worried what If he doesn't want to come back. I would be a tad salty I didn't get a chance whilst seeing the likes of Gibbo and Bebe (no slight on either) getting game time.
Apparently he is a very nice guy so hopefully he won't suffer tue same hang ups
 
Yep, it's the Gibson episode that baffles me most in regards to this whole saga. It's not as if Eikrem is a different type of midfielder to the one that many fans have been crying out for either, given his techincal ability on the ball.

It's just feckin' weird. He's a much, much more gifted footballer than Gibson, in my opinion. Saying that, I don't get to compare the two everyday in training.
 
Being Gifted and being better are too different stories. I think Eikrem development is far less advance than Gibson's.
 
Mainoldo said:
Being Gifted and being better are too different stories. I think Eikrem development is far less advance than Gibson's.
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Gibson's considerably older, and hasn't really had the complications that Eikrem has had in terms of his growth. Would also disagree that Gibson showed more in his reserve days.
 
I think the talent goes past Gibson. We play him but not this kid? Ok but We are incredibly healthy. It's a shame but not a shock if it does happen. I mean we've drinkwater, James, Cleverly, Tunnicliffe, Pogba, Morrison, Petrucci all at lower levels.

If we sell him, it will be because we believe we have better prospects. In 2/3 years time will it be Gibson? It's a long way down the line. We've also Anderson who at 22 is the clubs creative future you'd hope or atleast one of them
 
It's definitely an exciting period, though I was hoping Eikrem would be one of the reasons for this. Bit difficult to keep calm about Morrison, in particular, though, and I hope that the reason Eikrem was let go was simply because it was unlikely he'd get much game time due to the emergence of him in the reserves lately.

That looked very impressive against Newcastle the other day.
 
Striker10 said:
I think the talent goes past Gibson. We play him but not this kid? Ok but We are incredibly healthy. It's a shame but not a shock if it does happen. I mean we've drinkwater, James, Cleverly, Tunnicliffe, Pogba, Morrison, Petrucci all at lower levels.

If we sell him, it will be because we believe we have better prospects. In 2/3 years time will it be Gibson? It's a long way down the line. We've also Anderson who at 22 is the clubs creative future you'd hope or atleast one of them
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You have to be judging Gibson's first team performances against Eikrem's reserve and youth performances; hardly fair. Gibson often looked like a man among boys in the reserves and especially at youth level.
 
moses said:
You have to be judging Gibson's first team performances against Eikrem's reserve and youth performances; hardly fair. Gibson often looked like a man among boys in the reserves and especially at youth level.
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Isn't that what everyone else is doing though. I didn't see Gibson when he was that man in reserves. Everytime I saw him, he was typical Gibson. I know he won reserve player of the year or something but he must have gone backwards in his development or we've bought in better players as he don't stand out when i've seen him. It's fairer to compare him against Gibson then Scholes or Giggs. These are the only real gaps their could be in the next year or two for players like Eikrem to get games

Obviously with him leaving that won't happen but we're stacked in midfield at that level and it's hard to say that over a duration, Eikrem was the best coming through and it's true we can't say he would have done more then Gibson. I think though people are wary of accepting Gibsons development because again this season due to injuries and not getting games, it's passed him by somewhat so he's not been able to improve/build on the seasons before
 
I'm a big fan of Eikrem and the way he tries to play the game as I've said many times, and as we can't compare him to first teamers lets compare him to other players who had to leave to get games and compare where they went; this is not a Pique or Rossi situation, the lad is going to Molde, not Barcelona.
 
I'm sort of confused about what is going on here as well Prateik! I've been hoping it's just a loan.
 
Molde are going to have a press conference today at 14.00 Norwegian time. It is expected that the reason for this is a presentation of new players, and Eikrem is, according to most media in Norway, supposedly one of them.


Edit: Latest updates before the press conference, claims that Eikrem will not be presented today. This comes from a journalist on twitter, who stated he just had lunch with Eikrem in Molde.

Edit2: It is still very likely that he will be presented as a Molde player in the coming days. According to local media in Molde, Eikrem just arrived at the stadium in a MFK-car.
 
Loan or permanent?

He's at an age where I thought he'd be breaking into the first team in the CC atleast. Needs to play regularly now.
 
We have a buy back clause in Eikrem's contact according to a norwegian journalist, great news. Really like this player, hope he comes back as a much improved player.
 
trio_solskj_r_131926o.jpg


He has signed a three year contract with Molde, and United have first rights to him.
 
Central midfield is probably Molde's strongest link. I imagine they'll play a form of 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 with Berg Hestad, Hoseth and Thioune as the three central midfielders. This means that Eikrem will sit on the bench mostly, although I'm sure there will be some rotation.

FAO Eirik Raude: Do Molde have a right back?
 
Laphroaig said:
Central midfield is probably Molde's strongest link. I imagine they'll play a form of 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 with Berg Hestad, Hoseth and Thioune as the three central midfielders. This means that Eikrem will sit on the bench mostly, although I'm sure there will be some rotation.

FAO Eirik Raude: Do Molde have a right back?
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I hope he forces the issue of him not being sat on the bench. If Markus Henriksen can dominate like he did last season then Eikrem's first touch and passing range alone should see him become one of the better playmakers in Tippeligaen.

I may of course be quite off, and he may struggle and not find people as easily, but I can't say I've seen anyone in reserve or youth teams spray passes with such ease as Eikrem has done, so I think he'll fit nicely in the Noggy league.

Chuffed to see we have a buy back clause in place too. Though I'm not in any way sure we'll make use of it, it's good we've got it in place at least.
 
Yeah, I like Eikrem and think he might do well, but he is up against three heavyweights really. But if Thioune continues his form from last season, he might not find it too difficult to win a place in the team. (Or did he improve towards the end?)


A1Dan said:
Anybody know the details of this "buy back clause"?
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Solskjær described it as first dibs, so I'm not sure if we have agreed upon a sum.
 
Laphroaig said:
Central midfield is probably Molde's strongest link. I imagine they'll play a form of 4-5-1 or 4-3-3 with Berg Hestad, Hoseth and Thioune as the three central midfielders. This means that Eikrem will sit on the bench mostly, although I'm sure there will be some rotation.

FAO Eirik Raude: Do Molde have a right back?
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Solskjaer has said that he will play different formations for different teams, and I believe there will be some rotation. Also, Berg Hestad is getting older, and will certainly not play every game this season. I think there will be a great deal of time for Eikrem on the pitch. Solskjaer would not sign him from United if he didn't intend to play him regularly.

Regarding the right back position, the answer is yes, they have two players fighting for the spot. Kristoffer Paulsen Vatshaug extended his contract with 1 year earlier this winter, and young Magne Simonsen was bought from Lyn before last season.
 
Who is that guy celebrating at the end there - I am sure I have seen him before :)
 
Nice interview for those still following Eikrem:

Former Red – Magnus Eikrem:

It’s just over eight months since Magnus Eikrem followed Ole Solskjaer, Rich Hartis and former United coach, Mark Dempsey to Molde FK. His time at United was rarely straightforward with peaks and troughs but he left with no regrets and moved back home to Norway to start a new project.

Magnus was handed the number 7 shirt by Ole and immediately it became clear that the team was to be built around him. To date he’s thrived on the responsibility and he is at the centre of a charge for the title. Molde have never won the Norwegian Premier League but in their centenary season they’re 8 points clear with nine games left to play.

With a first ever title for Molde, Ole and Magnus in sight, we decided to catch up with him and reminisce about his time at United whilst daring to dream about the future. Magnus, ever the professional politely pointed out he didn’t want to think too far ahead and would rather work hard on the pitch than speculate about what could happen. Nevertheless, here’s Magnus on…

…joining United:

“It’s never easy as a 16 year old to move away from your home and leave your family behind. However many people experience that same situation in life and of course with me, Paul McGuinness and Ole helped me a lot on and off the pitch.”

…life at United:

“The older players at United are brilliant. They give you advice all the time and encourage you to work harder every day. They’ve won so much but you can still see the effort they put into training every day, I couldn’t pick out any players specifically, I think every one of them helped me out. The hardest thing about United is that there are so many good players from all over the world. It’s hard to get in to United’s first team, people say it’s easier to win the lottery!!”

…captaining the Reserves:

“I am a bit of a moaner! But I tried to lead through what I did on the pitch; not necessarily shouting or something like that.”

…leaving United:

“It had come into my mind. I was in the squad a few times but never felt I was going come on. Already at Scunthorpe (in the League Cup) I had a feeling that I had to move on. A few clubs were interested in taking me on loan but I turned them all down because I was training with the first team a lot and nothing is better than that. It was tricky near the end, I didn’t know where my future lay and I think my performances suffered a bit because of that. Of course, it’s hard to leave. You’ve got everything there: players, facilities etc, but often players who do move on from Man United will still have good careers elsewhere. The thing that I miss the most is training with Paul Scholes and seeing the things he could do. You can’t believe it…”

…the Norwegian Premier League:

“I think it was a good step up for me. I had to play first team football and play in front of big crowds. I love it here and hopefully we (Molde) can achieve some big things here.”

…differences between Molde and Manchester:

“It’s mostly the same to be honest, but in training with the reserves we couldn’t do any tactics or set pieces because we often didn’t have enough of the same players; but the next day in a game, there would be 7 first team players playing!”

…staying in touch:

“I speak to Joshua King of course as we play in the same national team…. and Ben Amos – he was going to visit Molde for a holiday, but he wasn’t able to find the time! I’ll go back to Manchester and watch a few games in December though!! In terms of playing, I miss Corry Evans running around and playing the ball to me, I’ll have to get Molde to buy him!!”

…the current United youngsters and Mats Dæhli specifically:

“Many of them impressed me, everyday a different player would do something out of the world. It’s so hard to pick anyone out specifically. Mats is a brilliant player, I have trained with him a few times and he even trained with Molde on his holiday. I don’t want to lump any added weight on his shoulders but I think everyone who watches him can see what talent he has.”

…diabetes and football:

“Of course it stopped my development at the time. I didn’t play much football for 6 months but now it doesn’t stop me at all, it’s no problem. Many people at United helped me a lot with it and the break I got for 2 months to get on with it… well, that was vital.”

…goals for the future:

“My goals for the future are to help Molde to win something; will it be this year, next year or the year after? I don’t know, but we work hard every day to get better. In football you can never tell, things can happen so quickly. Of course I would at one point love to play in England again but at the moment I love playing in Molde. Believe me, I’ve still got plenty to learn!”
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Interesting he says Molde is just like United, that has to be a compliment to Ole's set up, everyone says United has an extremely professional atmosphere.
 
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