It's going to be Mctominay de Fred this year. Get used to it.
Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap
- Thread starter davidmichael
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Think positive. It will happen. It will be like di Maria.
May the name John McGinn be stricken from any future “FDJ alternative” lists. Disgusting hack on a 16 year in a friendly with no intent to play the ball. That is not our way.
Weird post.
There’s a difference between selling the club and selling financial leverage. Barcelona are literally selling future income in order to satisfy current financial demands which would undoubtably hamstring them in the future. If they operate at the _% deficit or they buy back the financial leverage and A) increase then-current debt B) rely on that financial leverage even being of value to buy back.
We’re in debt but as explained many times by many people there’s a difference and our debt is structured favourably (as well as debt can be). And most of that debt is in regards to the club’s purchase - not just reckless poor financial management like Barce’s.
As happened last summer - Barce can sign whoever they want if terms are agreed between parties and financial obligations are met. That doesn’t mean La Liga well let them register the players, that trouble is yet to come and even if they ~do~ register these new players - they still have to deal with the regular wage increases as well as the deferred payments which will cripple them. Regardless of if De Jong leaves or not we have good sources confirming the financial implications of him and others staying.
ETH wants De Jong, and if De Jong had no interest in joining we would have walked away already. This isn’t like a Moyes/Fabregas situation. Of course De Jong would like to have a long successful rich career at Barce but evidently that is seeming unlikely and why wouldn’t he join a club with a manager that essentially made him the player he is and has every chance of CL next season, as well as being paid handsomely for the services and being the “main man”. This is the club backing the manager, people would complain if we didn’t and now complain when we do. It’s absurd.
De Jong isn’t the “only” midfielder in Europe. But he is the player ETH wants, and knows is perfect for his system, and is available. Sure it’s long and drawn out but here’s a tip for you: just stop following the saga. Don’t click on this thread, don’t read clickbait articles, stop following all those weird little Twitter accounts.
If on the balance of probabilities De Jong wasn’t coming then the club will get someone else; look at Martinez . But why rush onto Plan B when Plan A is in motion.
I understand your point. Just to make sure I don't get misunderstood - I don't want us to bring in a true CDM like Ndidi. My point is that we need somebody in the squad who is a reliable midfield player who is good in the defensive aspects i.e. ballwinning. He may have other qualities but the first quality would be first priority. If plan A without such a player works out, great, then we don't have to play him. But in case it doesn't work out, in case somebody gets injured, we have to change systems, we want to see a game out or we have to face a team that is very dangerous, it would be very important to be able to have somebody who can do the job.
Look at the other big teams, Fabinho, Rodri, Casemiro, Busquets - all players with lots of abilities, but ball winning is one of them and they bring it to the table. We are missing that in my eyes. And we are paying for it since years.
Just for the record, as I am probably the latest one to bring this name to the table: I didn't meant McGinn as a good to great player I'd like to see at United. I meant it as McGinn, a reliable performer in a decent PL side, who is relentless, capable in defense and offense and won't let you down in most games.
Try to step away from specific players to player profiles, characteristics and skill sets.
What a waste of time this saga is.
No need for that - you are talking about a game after all.God that's just depressing.
You're right. I changed it. I translated my German thoughts, I suppose it has a more serious undertone in English than it was intended. Thanks for noticing.
I see what you mean but I do think that if we get FDJ we will be done with midfield signings for the season considering we already added Eriksen. The fees for FDJ, Martinez and Malacia add up to a little over the budget we were expecting to have and even if we raise money with outgoings I think with Frenkie on board we would see another striker and/or another option at RB as being the main priority.
Getting FDJ at all will be huge. Getting nobody will be a problem for us.
I’m not overly keen on Tielemans (although he would improve us) but Neves would be much better and if we can’t get FDJ he would be a good alternative.
But we need a specific player with those profiles / skillsets etc. Not McGinn, okay, but we have to identify actual players.
I don’t think it will happen. Barcelona won’t pay him the deferred wages in one go so FdJ won’t leave.
It may take us walking away to shock Barcelona into sorting the situation out.
The whole thing feels like a game of chicken at the moment with each party waiting for the other to move.
The whole thing feels like a game of chicken at the moment with each party waiting for the other to move.
Wolves have set Neves asking price as higher than the fee we have agreed for FDJ so he is not a real alternative. I don't genuinely think they expect to get 100M for him, more that they don't want to sell and so unless they get a stupid offer they won't but in truth he would be overpriced at anything North of around 35M.
I don‘t think our problem will be ball-winning in midfield, we have two ball-winning midfielders in Fred and McTominay, and McT is a bully/destroyer as well.
Pressing creates a different dynamic defensively as well, basically turning every player into a ball-winner until it is won back.
What we do lack is composure, ball-retention and distribution in midfield. No one better than FdJ to fix that issue at the moment.
Are we there yet.
And that is a problem?
Yeah to be honest, I think, that this is scenario with the most likelihood. For me personally, it wouldn't be a successful window though (I know, debatable standpoint) - as Malacia is nothing than a cheap punt, Eriksen is a free agent we don't really know about the actual capabilities of and Martinez is good to great and useful player that nobody had asked for before we got turned down by Timber... There were many areas we had to do something before the windows started and I wasn't expecting to find a solution to all of them, but to go for a LB and CB is a bit sideways, bringing FDJ in replaces Pogba in a way, improves us probably but still doesn't fix the issues our midfield had over the last years. Lets see what happens.
We have to, sure, but we should start by identifying what we want and need and if we know that, we should be pragmatic if a specific player comes with hindrances like FDJ is now and go to the next player who fits the profile. If we want to many boxes checked by one single player it is more difficult to find one. And it always carries the risk that when the player is out, you lose way more than one capability of the team.
Of course, nothing has changed so we’re still on course to get him until further notice. We knew it would be a long game. It will happen, he is coming.
Looks like lots of people ringing the bell in here today! Mass muppet drop out incoming?
I think its the medias fault. They haven't breathed any life back into us in a while. Athletic leading with a "alternatives to de jong" storyLooks like lots of people ringing the bell in here today! Mass muppet drop out incoming?
I agree in principle but Fred is often weak and easy to dribble away from while McTom, while being a big unit, isn't very good at tracking runs and has no feel for defensive positioning. Expecting them to play defensive doesn't bring out the best of them, which then hurts the team as it doesn't have a fundament to stand on.
Pressing is good but we don't know how capable we are of doing it for longer periods as well - I mean, last year we didn't manage to do it effectively under Ralf. We shouldn't just assume that ETH implements it flawlessly from one day to the other.
Maybe to emphasize the point: I don't want to paint the picture in a way that ball winning is Uniteds main issue. It is one of many, next to composure and ball retention. I am not against bringing in FDJ. But I think bringing him in will not check all the boxes.
No. He'll stay in Barcelona. In other news, Glenn Miller has just landed in France.
Said every Christian since about 50 A.D.
He's still coming, calm before the storm.
I can't think of anything positive about Di Maria's time at United, unless you mean Frenkie will sign then decamp to PSG a year later.
Is this forum becoming RotesCafe Mainzester Vereinigt at last?
Oh yes, in my opinion, things should start picking up soon.
If Xavi has actually spoken to de Jong, then we'll see some action as soon as the lever money has arrived
Well yesterday Kounde was going to Chelsea according to Laporte because Barca could not afford to bid and this morning the media are telling us Kounde to Barca is 99% done so something changed. The lever money was already factored in so they must have found some more cash in the last 24 hours and striking a deal with Frenkie over a payoff to get his transfer done is the most obvious answer.
Agreed. Beyond sick of this now.
Tbf the same was said when Barca hijacked Raphinia and bought Lewandowski.
Don't think them buying players is correlated to the De Jong wages in the weird upside down world of Barca's accounting
If it is true that they've reached an agreement with Sevilla, then theres definitely something going on and they've got money from somehwere. Whether it's the second lever thats been activated and the money from that is here, or they have paid Frenkie off, or are in a position too, and progress has been made, enabling them to "spend" some of his transfer, they must have gotten the money from somewhere.
It is shocking how they just continue spending regardless of their problems though
I love De Jong as a player but would be lying if I said I'm loving FDJ's attitude
He's walking on eggshells trying not to piss off Barca. Just publicly state that Barca are conning him out of his wages and he wants to leave, lawsuit otherwise. But seems like he's clinging onto the hope that some arrangement is sorted and he gets to stay.
Maybe something else is going on behind the scenes but I don't understand why he is so reluctant to burn bridges.
I’m putting my neck on the line. If this doesn’t happen, delete my account the morning after deadline day.
Nice knowing you!
What?! you can’t do it.. surely not
Because he doesn’t want to leave. He’s been going to Barcelona for holidays since he was a kid, they’re his team he’s supported since he was a child. He doesn’t want to burn any bridges if there’s a chance he can stay.
Any news on this recently? Seems to of gone a bit quiet. What’s worrying though is that we’re not moving on or changing to an alternative. Longer this drags out the more chance of us not signing a massive priority position which we desperately need to start with for next season.
If he wants to stay, there's little Barcelona can do about it. From his perspective, this move might seem like a lose-lose anyway. He'd have to leave a place he doesn't want to leave and to forego outstanding wages in the millions. Not exactly enticing, if you ask me.
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