UnofficialDevil
Anti Scottish and Preoccupied with Donkeys.
I still maintain we were never in for Thiago.
Well if weren't we are thickest club on earth.
I still maintain we were never in for Thiago.
I think we were most certainly in for Thiago. I actually think it's mental to think that we weren't given everything that was going around.
Definitely, Fabregas is our essentially our second choice, can't see him being too pleased with that.
Jesus Christ. On another level to Fàbregas? Some people do talk nonsense.
Definitely, Fabregas is our essentially our second choice, can't see him being too pleased with that.
I actually hate Pep now. I hope we draw them in the CL and knock them out.
I still maintain we were never in for Thiago.
Jesus Christ. On another level to Fàbregas? Some people do talk nonsense.
I also predicted in the Thiago thread weeks before he joined Bayern that this would be the line half the caf would take should he not join us. It's always the same thing when a player doesn't come, it's 'can somebody show me proof that would be passable in a court of law that we, Manchester United Football Club, actually wanted to sign this player?'
Sounds like denial to me, there was obviously some level of interest to me.
I only think he was our 'second choice' because Thiago was readily available at a very low fee. Fabregas, as we've found out, is a lot harder to prise away from Barca and would cost about twice as much.
I hope we don't draw them in the CL because I can't see how we'd knock them out.
Iniesta is on another level to Fabregas. Thiago has the ability to get closer to that sort of level in my view.
No he wouldn't, if Thiago didn't have a release he would cost twice as much, I'm sure they would rather have kept Thiago over Fabregas.And dont forget Thiago is 22 which means that no matter how much you pay for him now you can get back by selling him in 4 years time, something you cant do with Fabregas.
But he did have a release clause, so yes Fabregas would cost twice as much.
You missed the point in Walsh's post to which I was replying.
Potentially. Fabregas has already been the best midfielder in England and would probably be again if he came back. Plus it's easy to forget that he wasn't at all far off Xavi and Iniesta in his last season at Arsenal. Respectable pundits were genuinely wondering if he might not be able to unseat one of those two. It's probably fair that his reputation has gone downhill a bit since being a little underwhelming at Barca, even if it hasn't really been his fault. But it shouldn't rewrite history. He was up there with those two when he was playing in a team and a system that suited him as well as theirs suits them. And he could be again.
For me they're still equally desirable targets. Thiago has the best-in-the-world potential, Fabregas has the proven best-in-the-league quality. The only advantages Thiago had were that he was going cheap, and that we'd have had him for longer.
You replied to the bit in bold I assume, the bit where he said Fabregas would be harder to prise away and would cost twice as much. No?
Lets put it this way, if they both had a release clause of 20m who would be first choice for us, and, if neither of them had a release clause who would be more expensive?
I have a genuine question (although any answer will likely be speculation): was our not getting Thiago due to not coming in with a sufficiently high bid (ie. a fair bit more than the release clause?)
I know people will chime in with 'he was always going to sign for Bayern once Pep showed interest' but it seems like there was a fair bit of time that passed before Bayern jumped in. Had Bayern always been the place he was going to go, then why did it take so long to go there? One can't help suspecting that we lowballed, and then lost our chance once Bayern decided to get involved.
Anyway, any insight anyone?
No he wouldn't, if Thiago didn't have a release he would cost twice as much, I'm sure they would rather have kept Thiago over Fabregas.And dont forget Thiago is 22 which means that no matter how much you pay for him now you can get back by selling him in 4 years time, something you cant do with Fabregas.
Bayern did pay over the release clause, to get the deal wrapped up quickly.
On the other side, didn't Thiago pay a part of the money over the release himself, just to get to Bayern?Well that would lead me to believe Bayern were worried he'd opt for United.
I still maintain we were never in for Thiago.
On the other side, didn't Thiago pay a part of the money over the release himself, just to get to Bayern?
To the extent that someone is forming an opinion on absolutely no evidence that would point them to it, they are being daft, yes.
Anyways, this tangential straw clutching of yours has less and less to do with my original point about your faulty logic.
Said it before but I still think Thiago had a higher ceiling as a player, very special talent. Fabregas is not to be sniffed at either, to be fair he's never played in a side where his true potential has been realised.. at Arsenal he was playing in a side he was too good for and for Barca and Spain, he's had to play out of position.
What faulty logic are you talking about?
This was your original piece of brilliance. Now, that's like saying "It's raining today, therefore the stock market will crash". One simply doesn't follow from the other.Assuming that Barca is privately inviting us to bid for him, then there must be either a miscommunication, or something is not right about how we're approaching this.
People can get a sense, or an inkling, or a hunch, or an impression. You can hold a subjective opinion on the matter and we all do, but you should at least be aware that that's what it is, and that the people who are actually involved will always have an infinitely better understanding of it.Did you or did you not suggest that people not involved in the transfer negotiations can't possibly have a sense of how the outcome is going to be? Do you still hold on to that point?
Which is just daft beyond belief, as well as incorrect. If United were given encouragement, you wouldn't know about it. That's kinda the point of privacy.And apparently we're making a third bid. All good, except that I don't sense any encouragement from the Barca at all.
The story reported was Guardiola told him to concentrate on the Euros and they'll sort things out afterwards. Explains why it was all quiet from Bayern all along and then they got the transfer done shortly after the Euros final.I have a genuine question (although any answer will likely be speculation): was our not getting Thiago due to not coming in with a sufficiently high bid (ie. a fair bit more than the release clause?)
I know people will chime in with 'he was always going to sign for Bayern once Pep showed interest' but it seems like there was a fair bit of time that passed before Bayern jumped in. Had Bayern always been the place he was going to go, then why did it take so long to go there? One can't help suspecting that we lowballed, and then lost our chance once Bayern decided to get involved.
Anyway, any insight anyone?
I dont know why but the prospect of signing Fabregas feels nowhere near to how excited I was about signing Thiago.
This was your original piece of brilliance. Now, that's like saying "It's raining today, therefore the stock market will crash". One simply doesn't follow from the other.
People can get a sense, or an inkling, or a hunch, or an impression. You can hold a subjective opinion on the matter and we all do, but you should at least be aware that that's what it is, and that the people who are actually involved will always have an infinitely better understanding of it.
What you originally said anyway was:
Which is just daft beyond belief, as well as incorrect. If United were given encouragement, you wouldn't necessarily know about it.
I have a genuine question (although any answer will likely be speculation): was our not getting Thiago due to not coming in with a sufficiently high bid (ie. a fair bit more than the release clause?)
I know people will chime in with 'he was always going to sign for Bayern once Pep showed interest' but it seems like there was a fair bit of time that passed before Bayern jumped in. Had Bayern always been the place he was going to go, then why did it take so long to go there? One can't help suspecting that we lowballed, and then lost our chance once Bayern decided to get involved.
Anyway, any insight anyone?
That's simply not true. You're not doing a very good job of filtering useless gossip.Such clever words. Logic and language 101 in session here?
When all is said and done, from the looks of it what I sensed was right. I got that sensing from the idea that 1) Barcelona is a rich club, does not need money despite splashing on Neymar, and is not desperate to offload players. They've quickly rejected our bid. There was no posturing here, a rejection straight and simple. 2) Fabregas fought hard for a move to his dream club two years ago, has been a key player for Barcelona, played lots of games for them, including the big games, and is well paid. He's living his dream there, and there has been no indication from him to suggest that his club doesn't want him. You read papers and stuff, filter out some of the useless gossip etc, and I think you get a pretty good sense.
Some people obviously pick up on other stuff they read, or they feel that "No we can't be that unprofessional to make such a public bid if we weren't given encouragement by Barca or Fabregas". Fair enough, perfectly reasonable too.
Just because people here do not know all the facts doesn't mean we can't form an opinion, or express it with conviction. This is a football forum, not a court of law, nor a place for intellectual masturbation.
In any case, the people who are privy to all the facts seem to have failed in their (very public) bid to sign Fabregas.