Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap

Frenkie to United?

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Not bothered either way. If he goes to Chelsea, then he’s stuck two fingers up to his previous manager after probably promising that he would come. If that’s the case, would only be a matter of time before statements about returning back to his ‘dream’ club. Also, any club can have ‘talks’ with a player, that’s a million miles away from an agreement.

Sadly we are a cash cow for fan channels and media to create histrionics for clicks and column inches
 
Bestie07 said:
I feel we got involved too early in this mess. There are clearly issues between Barcelona and de Jong that need to be sorted before a move should even be discussed. We should have waited on the sidelines and let Frenkie and his agent know that we would be ready to bid if they were able to sort out their exit terms. And I think with the briefs from our side stopping in the last two to three weeks, this is what we now seem to be doing. If we had done this from the very beginning, the whole saga would have played out quite differently in the media. We would have been the club that rescued him from Barcelona, rather than the club that he is being pushed to. Aah well, Murtough and Arnold will only learn from this, there are good players to be had from Madrid and Barcelona but need to be careful not to get involved in their politics.
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I had said this earlier and it still holds true. We threw our hats in the ring like amateurs while there were so many issues still to be sorted out between the player and Barcelona.
 
Superunknown said:
Haven't United already agreed a deal with the club? The hold up seems to be on these much-talked-about deferred wages/payments that FdJ is owed. The word is that he doesn't want to leave Barcelona, and certainly not without his owed money.

I'm not sure United chucking cash at Barcelona is going to make a whole lot of difference at this point. It's real on Frenkie and where he wants to go, and also on Barcelona and these deferred wages. That seems to be where we're stuck.
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Well of course, if any club comes in, United or Chelsea and offers x-million pounds extra for Barca to pay off Frenkie, well of course the problem can go away easier.
Appears United upped the original deal to half the amount Barca owed, I think this Chelsea talk is to make United shit the bed and up their up front amount by another 8-10m.
And I actually think we’ll do just that.

That’s the problem when you are working from a position of desperation. Hopefully next year we won’t be so desperate.
 
Chief123 said:
Yes we didn't, but my point is the personal terms were never the obstacle. We were reported to be offering same as what he was receiving at Barca. The issues with this transfer were all due to external factors outside of the clubs control. There are many times we can criticise the club, but I just don't think this is one of them.
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Yes. The club is hardly to blame for not bringing Frankie. IMO better to pass then to give him cosmic wages.
The club should've been working on alternatives since the very beginning of this circus though. It's not that big of a story to be honest, we've seen much much worse. In this saga the deal always seemed far off from happening anyway.
 
phelans shorts said:
Absolutely. Paying that money would have been, dare I say it, embarrassing.
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This seems to be such an easy answer but is it really? Would it have been embarrassing to do what is necessary to bring in the one player the manager feels integral to his plans? I mean, if we end up wasting the whole window chasing him and not getting him because of 17 million, then it would be stupid. A club in our position could have been just pragmatic, jump in, make no big deal out of it, ask Barca to give a little leeway, ask FDJ the same and in the end United would increase the offer by 10-12 million, deal over. Right now, there isn't really a way to get away from it as a winner. I mean, even if FDJ will join us, this saga will be connected to him for quite some time. The pressure will be huge. A serious club would've tried to avoid getting dragged into the whole mess - at least not with the most important piece of business of the summer. If it falls through and we have to go into the season with McFred again, then questions will be asked if it really was the right situation not just to stump up the cash. And then we can ask ourselves, what feeling morally right really gives us.

Look, I get it, you shouldn't reward such behaviour from Barca. So step away from making any business with them after the transfer. But it has taken too much time of us now - the opportunity costs are rising every day. We have to do our business to prepare for the season. This is what matters - being consequential is fine, so lets not get dragged into such a mess ever again, never deal with Barca ever again but for now, just do the right thing and get it over with - if that is really all the player wants.
 
I’m still hoping FDJ comes only because I can’t see how Chelsea will deal with FFP. Only a month ago Boehly was saying they can’t spend like they used to, they already have the highest squad cost in the PL (wages and amortisation) along with City according to Swiss Ramble.

They’ve already spent £100m this summer and only have a loan fee for Lukaku in return. Spending £70m on FDJ, and £50m on Cucurella would take them to £220m, that’s before you consider Tuchel apparently still wants another CB (if he’s playing 3 at back he’s going to need one) and another forward. They could end up spending well over £300m with very little sales (their player sales are what has kept them compliant with FFP previously) which is way out of line with every other top club in Europe.
 
Zaphod2319 said:
The other aspect of this is Barca want both Azpi and Alonso from Chelsea. Who knows what kind of tinkering could be done to make the deal more attractive?
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There's that, which is another layer to it. It still comes down to de Jong and where he wants to play. The other layer to it is that Chelsea already have competition for places, whereas he would be first choice every single week in every single game at United. So, that may influence his decision-making, too. Chelsea are already well-stocked in that position, perhaps better than anywhere else in the field, so whether that influences how much they bid or offer Frenkie is another thing to add to the list. He isn't an absolute necessity for Chelsea. United desperately need him, so they're the more likely to spend bigger on him, including higher wages.

It's...a messy deal made messier.
 
I see the reality is setting in that we’ve once again wasted our summer and set the club up for a disastrous season…
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Well of course, if any club comes in, United or Chelsea and offers x-million pounds extra for Barca to pay off Frenkie, well of course the problem can go away easier.
Appears United upped the original deal to half the amount Barca owed, I think this Chelsea talk is to make United shit the bed and up their up front amount by another 8-10m.
And I actually think we’ll do just that.

That’s the problem when you are working from a position of desperation. Hopefully next year we won’t be so desperate.
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My thoughts on where we are right now: we desperately need a player in this position. The manager has identified the player, and we've dedicated a huge amount of time to him in the window. At this stage, we've really got to do everything we can to get the player. If that means paying more, then I guess that's what needs to be done. It doesn't entirely sit right with me with the thought of the potential wages he'll be on or the huge transfer fee, but...when you're this far into the deal, you've got to see it through. As you say, we're in a position of desperation.

Unfortunately, we really fecked it last season.
 
Bestie07 said:
I had said this earlier and it still holds true. We threw our hats in the ring like amateurs while there were so many issues still to be sorted out between the player and Barcelona.
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If we didn’t you would be the same person saying we are just “monitoring” monitoring FC and we need to act quicker in the market. Look we don’t know what has truly happened, Chelsea has had a crap window they’ve lost most their targets and settled for second options and players who their clubs wanted to sell. Now they need a marquee signing to overshadow this mess and the see Frenkie as that even though they don’t need him. Let them have him and his 400k per week and 80m fee. We will move on and get someone else that wants to be here. I’m tired of the constant crying and shitting on this club by our own fans. Thank God the season is starting in a few days and we can concentrate on actual footie.
 
Zaphod2319 said:
He was absolutely on point on every angle during Boehly buying the team. He has known every target we have gone after during the transfer window. Someone at Chelsea is feeding him information but it is only as good as what Chelsea knows. It was that Matt Law had all the inside sources at Chelsea, and he still seems to know what is going on. Ben does seem to be an addition since Boehly became a thing.
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Exactly he only get what he’s told. But Chelsea‘s information has been poor this summer which is why I don’t class his Chelsea news as credible. Just my opinion.
 
Regulus Arcturus Black said:
Well of course, if any club comes in, United or Chelsea and offers x-million pounds extra for Barca to pay off Frenkie, well of course the problem can go away easier.
Appears United upped the original deal to half the amount Barca owed, I think this Chelsea talk is to make United shit the bed and up their up front amount by another 8-10m.
And I actually think we’ll do just that.

That’s the problem when you are working from a position of desperation. Hopefully next year we won’t be so desperate.
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But why would Chelsea be in direct talks for the player if it's just to get United to offer more money?
Unless this is all from the Barca side and nothing from Chelsea? I just don't know. We have no idea where the info is coming from in this saga, is it from England, or is it from Spain?
 
pcaming said:
I see the reality is setting in that we’ve once again wasted our summer and set the club up for a disastrous season…
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We're paying the price for last season. We look further off the top 2 than we ever had. It will take a huge season this season to convince players we're on the up again, at the moment somewhere like Newcastle would be a more positive experience for an up and coming player
 
TheReligion said:
So as a non United fan?

United are the bigger club in every sense. United and Liverpool are in that upper tier of English clubs when you consider history, prestige and reputation.

Playing under EtH, playing with Ronaldo, playing in front of 75,000 each week, good money, buying in to being part of the project, wanting to be the main man?

If he’s only bothered about CL football and living near London then feck him. Who cares?
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Although I agree with some of what you've said, I think in this instance FDJ will be factoring in other factors before coming to a decision. His first and foremost desire is to stay at Barca. But if he can't then a big factor in choosing where he goes will be influenced by his GF. She'll most likely want to choose London over Manchester. He's also looking at the added benefit of CL football and still being able to work with top class players and one of the best coaches.

Ultimately, he has to choose between a CL club in a good location or continuing a relationship with ETH at a club trying to rebuild.
 
If he goes to Chelsea now after all this it is the worst disaster of any manager post SAF and it’s most embarrassing one too. Would be such an awful start for the manager and he would definitely take his fair share of the blame.
 
Mickeza said:
When he says Chelsea are confident he means of striking a fee with Barcelona. Not the player side. Nobody knows what’s going on there.
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Aye, my last bit of desperate hope that i am holding on to, is that EtH and the player would/should have been talking all along. :(

It's the hope that kills you.
 
Chelsea could be looking to offload a player too. We could be in for more sloppy seconds like Matic once this gets sorted.
 
Rolaholic said:
Seems Barca's daddy club PSG are coming into the picture for Silva now

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That would be hilarious if he went to PSG, though it would mean that they'd likely want to keep de Jong regardless. Well, they'd still try to get him to take a pay cut though
 
Mess of a window. It’s really De Jong or no one. I understand not wanting to get a second rate option to De Jong, but the midfield NEEDS to be improved on THIS window. Eriksen coming in is not enough.

I hope Ten Hag is confident enough in himself to trot out McFred every week.
 
So Mikky’s angry face was because she’s worried about moving to London after having her heart set on Manchester. Makes sense now
 
jamesjimmybyrondean said:
Is it still true Barca can't register players without selling De Jong?
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apparently they can, after activating their gazillionth lever! (their 3rd lever if i drop the hyperbole).

If he stays issue remains his high wages, which "breaks" their wage structure and they seemingly don't value him "that much" anyway. They are also heavily linked to wanting B Silva who they deem a better fit for Xavi's system.
 
I know it feels like a shit show right now, but if Neves is the alternative it honestly isn't a bad option. We were crying out for him in the middle of last season. Neves, Bruno/Eriksen, Fred is an improvement on what we've had in recent years. FDJ is a v good player but I honestly don't believe the gap between FDJ and Neves is as huge as some feel. Neves' passing range is brilliant and will resolve the problem we've had for years in being able to transition the play from back to front. We've had some shocking backup transfers in recent years like Kroos/Fabregas/Thiago to end up getting Fellani. This backup option is probably one of the best alternatives we've had.
 
If this is really about FdJ not wanting to leave Barca, I can’t see Chelsea being attractive enough to convince him otherwise. There’s nothing particularly exciting going on there either.
 
I’d be more worried if nobody else was interested in him, which has seemed to be the case until now. Do no other clubs rate him that highly?
 
Neves is a good back up, but is more of a passer than an all-rounder. I think the reason ten Hag wants De Jong so much is because, as well as his ability to dictate the pace of the game, he's also very press resistant, using his body manipulation and dribbling to get out of tight spaces. There's not a lot of players around like that, especially those who are also good defensively. Remember, this is someone who will be sitting in front of our back four screening our defence. Declan Rice, Thiago, Mateo Kovacic and Marco Verratti are similar types, but neither are attainable.

I'd say the most realistic player who has a similar skilset to the aforementioned players is Ismael Bennacer.


 
Yeah, never mind signing a DM, of which we have none, where’s our annual 3rd choice goalkeeper signing?
 
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