Yeah I was thinking the same. Its been reported that Ten Hag has spoken to De Jong multiple times, so with that in mind I don't know why we'd waste time negotiating a fee if there were no interest from the player
Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap
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One element missing from the rumour: deadline. Barcelona needs to sort it out financially in a certain short period of time. We readies ourselves in position to pay reasonable amount, because we prioritize this midfield signing. While there is rumor of other clubs sniffing around, they don't have the same priority, so for Barcelona it is more likely easier to deal with us. And sounds like they gave us permission to talk to FdJ and mood the deal.
Yeah, that was very poor by Athletic standards. Basically doesn't tell you anything you don't already know from reading the thread titles in the transfer forum.
Player can simply tell Barca to do one and simply refuse to leave , Barca can't force him out at the end of the it all it would still be his decision he has big fat contract with Barca with years on his contract Barca can't afford not to Use him if he stays .
Somebody is lying somewhere.
The club aren't stupid, they won't be pressing this hard if they've been given no indication that he would be open to it.
I suspect his first choice was to stay at Barca, but if he's being pushed out then we are hardly a bad 2nd choice.
It all depends who the competition is I suppose. City have spent their cash on Haaland, do PSG really need him?
They were signed from Southampton and Newcastle respectively. They were not top players signed from top clubs.
Much harder now thanks to the legacy of Woodward. Difficult to convince a top player after recent on pitch performance.
I agree with the overall premise of your posts, but what does that look like in the real world? Being booed every weekend as FdJ is fingered by the Barca press as the sole reason for stopping all Barca deals? likely dropped for crucial games or relegated to a bit-time player? Just living a hellish existence every time you under-perform?
I'm not trying to be too adversarial here, I swear. I'm just playing the devil's advocate. Does a player have to be interested to agree to a new club if their current club is telling them they have no future and will be sold? Is this really a situation we want to find ourselves in again after such a bad season?
As i mentioned previously, my personal opinion is: If ETH wants him, I want him. I just think that the narrative/reporting around this is nothing really positive to phone home about. Until we see otherwise, this is very much a "what other options did i have" scenario.
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You make good points but you have to realise De Jong has big fat contract with Barca if he stays Barca would utilise him accordingly after initial bad blood , just for example Dembele who refused to leave in January and was told he would never Play for Barca again got plenty of game time and Barca tried to renew his contract despite all the posturing . If De Jong comes to United it would be his decision .
Frenkie would be the best signing since RVP
The selling clubs do not really matter, because in this case even Barcelona wants to sell to us. This is not a case of us trying to strong-arm a player to come here despite Barcelona's desire.
We played equally bad football under Moyes, a much less inspiring name than Erik ten Hag. Yet even Toni Kroos agreed to join us from Bayern (The European reigning champion) if not for LVG vetoing the deal.
We played zombie football under Van Gaal's 2nd season. That didn't stop Zlatan, Pogba and Mkhytarian from joining us (All attacking players who needed flair and freedom).
We used to say Messi and Ronaldo were a pull for players because they want to play alongside the GOAT. Yet now no one talks about that "pull" anymore after Ronaldo himself has rejoined us? Even if he might be getting on with years, he arguably had a better season than Messi regarding personal output.
FdJ & Kante 
That would be the quickest route back to winning ways
That would be the quickest route back to winning ways
We wouldn't be negotiating if Barca if he has said no to us.
There's a difference between trying to attract players from Southampton and Newcastle to join your project than there is signing a top player from one of the few clubs in the world that are above United's level. Mane had nowhere near the reputation FdJ did at the time of his move either. Also, you have to look at trajectories. United were a top team that are in steep decline. Liverpool were a fallen star that hired a top coach and had a SERIOUS footballing department behind them that are cutting edge in almost every way.
Keep the faith troops.
This transfer would be so unsexy if the plan is to play him with Fred/Mctominay and Bruno
Once I did some interviews with a company that I was not sure about joining. Once I had the offer in my email, I started to see the company with better eyes.
FDJ may not see us as the ideal club to join, but if he sees that we try to sign him, that we are already negotiating with Barça and that we have a contract ready for him, and that we only need his “yes”, this may mentally bring him closer to us.
Another example, at school, when I learned that a girl liked me, I started to believe that she was pretty beautiful, even if before I was not thinking that. The same psychological biases happen with football players.
Would:This transfer would be so unsexy if the plan is to play him with Fred/Mctominay and Bruno
..............de Jong....mctominay.....
.........................Bruno....................
Be more suited to the premier league than:
.........................de Jong................
.................vdb................Bruno......
Based on vbds performances so far I think it might be
I'd take functional over sexy football at the moment given how much of a gap we have to close
Which is probably what we need to do now. Find some good upcoming players from small teams. We are talking about buying old kante as the CDM while there could be a top player in sangare (I know nothing about him though). This whole fdj saga feels like Fabregas again. Hopefully the club will move on quickly if the answer is no from him.
I think you’re just about right there but it’s depressing to think Mctominay gets another season as a starter
Fdj fred bruno
Can see us pushing for this one but reckon it will drag on like always. Still feel like we need this signing plus another DM… I don’t see FDJ as being the one to protect the back 4. Need a solid DM next to FDJ who can play as a deep lying playmaker and then another CM to play as the advanced playmaker. I think ten Hag will probably prioritise getting a solid back line and midfield first. So CB, RB and DM. He’ll have confidence in his ability to get the best out of rashford, sancho, Elanga and get them all firing.
That second one there would never work. Two 10s and a DM that isnt really a dm. Imo we need a workhouse DM next to De Jong with either Bruno or VDB in front.
I don’t see any defensive minded player there though. We’ll get out run every game.
I don’t think Fred can effectively shield that defence of ours like rodri or Fabinho either. Probably better at winning the ball back that Mctominay is though.
CHOO CHOO!This will be done soon enough bro
This part is speaking in hindsight. Liverpool when Klopp joined was as much of a shamble as us. What was the proof of this "cutting-edge footballing department" back then?
They signed Firmino as a "blockbuster" to counter our Memphis deal, and did not even know how to use him properly, hence Firmino flopped in his 1st season. It was Klopp who resurrected Firmino's career at Liverpool. Don't get me started on their panic deals like Benteke who quickly showed he was not suitable for top-class clubs (As many people had already seen if they watched Benteke before). They were a one-man army in that almost-win-the-league season and all they did with the Suarez money after that was raiding Southampton for the likes of Lallana and Lambert. I see no sign of this supposedly cutting-edge footballing department you mentioned. It was Jurgen Klopp who completely elevated them. They were not like City who had a very good structure in place and only waited for the final figure (Pep Guardiola) to complete their organization.
So moving on from that, you mentioned we are in a different trajectory than Liverpool back then does not really have proof. Liverpool was a fallen star that won the lottery with Klopp. We are a fallen star (with more money than Liverpool) who got Erik ten Hag. Time will tell if he is a similar jackpot.
You had some points about Mane did not have FDJ's reputation. But we have the past working relationship between ETH and FDJ to take advantage of instead. The profiles of Southampton/Newcastle and Barcelona are really different. But it's a moot point because this is the case of Barcelona WANTING to sell. If Barca are determined to keep FDJ, then that's an entirely different story, though.
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perhaps but why would being in the champions league next season (in what he knows is the new managers first year here) really matter? We would have zero chance of making any real impact next year. It would only make his Premier League first season even more difficult to settle into..something he experienced in Spain? More likely we’d just thumped against a decent team as you’d expect. I think it’s a nonsense media thing. You pay the big money and if options are limited…they are for him otherwise we’d not be in the conversation because no trophies are on the table right now for next season! city attracted world class players in aguero and silva and co with no realistic chance of being anywhere close at the time to a Champions League…It is odd how we are the only club in Europe who “a project” doesn’t attract the worlds best players. We never got them with SAF when we were on top and we don’t get them now.
People are already making excuses for him as to why he flopped. If he was so good they'd play him in his natural position.
Set a time line, and if he cant make his mind up by then (or does not want to join), we move on. No time to waste this summer
I can't really argue with you if you fundamentally don't think Champions League matters unless you're going to win it. Players just like being in the top competitions in my view. From a commercial standpoint, I presume it makes them far more marketable, from a professional standpoint any ambitious player wants to play there. Don't know why you're saying we'd get thumped in it when we haven't this year. Hardly going to get much worse.
City bought Aguero in 2011 after finishing third in the league and came first the following year so don't know what you're talking about being anywhere close to the Champions League.
By the looks of it the deadline is already set due to Barca's finances, seen a few mentions of June 1st being the crucial date. Could be nonsense though.
Until i see FDJ post "Se Queda", it's on, right?
Good for us. I just hope we improved our scouting in the mean time and have a few good options ready
Even as squad player Kante would be a really good addition. I feel we would need to manage his games because of his injury history.
This. If we followed the "players need to be desperate to join us" train of thought, we'd end up with the forum members in the midfield.
Agree with this
An ageing star with a patchy injury record on huge wages? What could go wrong!FdJ & Kante
That would be the quickest route back to winning ways
Laughing loudly at this valid comment. Fingers-crissed, it will be a good summer for us.
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