We bought Pogba while in competition with Real Madrid and would have got Griezmann too. We also got Lukaku who is not in the same league as these others but still one of the best players in the league. I wouldn't worry about our ability to get world class players as yet. I fully expect us to sign Griezmann or someone equally capable next year. But there have been some articles by Castles on how Glazers are increasingly tightening the purse again - which if true would worry me a bit.
Has our window of opportunity to sign world class attackers just closed?
- Thread starter KingMinger22
- Start date
If Dembele would be open to coming here, moving for him now would be wise. The prices being touted are around €90m - and if Mbappé and Neymar go for double or more this year, another impressive season would increase his price massively.
Jose's intent from day one was to build a football team capable of winning the premier league above all else. Win games at all costs being the primary objective, entertaining the crowd being a distant second. He signings up to this point, from Bailly through to Matic, have for the most part been about strengthening those key areas of weakness, and for me at least he's a signing away - a left winger (wingback?) - from achieving that objective. Turning United from a bunch of timid also rans who struggled to reach top 4, in to a squad of warriors capable of winning the league outright.
Big name signings will come after we've re-established ourselves as a domestic force to be reckoned with once again, but as of this moment United remain a team in transition, and are simply in no position to be blowing an entire transfer budget on a solitary big name superstar in the mould Neymar etc. Jose is a pragmatist, his approach in the transfer market has been sensible, tactical and over all successful.
Perhaps, but having a talisman that can make a difference is key to winning the league. No team has ever won it without one or more of them on their ranks.
Any top attacker is going to be upwards of £100m now. Absolute minimum.
Except Griezmann who I think we can get if Barca don't come in for him too.
Except Griezmann who I think we can get if Barca don't come in for him too.
True, but a talisman may emerge as the season progresses. It could be Mkhitaryan, Martial, Rashford, Lukaku... it could be Zlatan in the second half of the season. Honestly, De Gea being unbeatable for a period would do it.
Even that's becoming harder by the minute as clubs like Madrid spend 45mil euros on 16 year olds.
Word is the new number is 100million, however it'll be 200million until January.
I'm confident every big club had the chance to sign Neymar back when he was attainable, but predictably clubs thought he was too much of a risk. Weren't Chelsea close to signing him at some point.
Think it's crucial that the Premier League negotiates reduced work permit criteria worldwide (in particular South America) with the FA when Freedom of Movement for European players ends, the continent offers gold on a talent/price ratio compared to Europe and we need to start sticking our oars in significantly more aggressively than we currently do.
The work permit criteria is something that shouldn't even exist. Rather put a cap on how many foreigners each team can have and leave it at that. Football is too much of a global game for such rules to make sense.
Well footballer or not the Home Office still needs to check and track why they're coming to the country. Besides there already is a cap in the form of the squad size/HG quota.
Griezman's price just doubled 
I thought he had a release clause?Griezman's price just doubled
Ah ok maybe not!
Then they should end putting limitations on what clubs can or cant do. Tell the home office they are here to play professional football.
I think the Neymar fee is actually going to open the floodgates. PSG will need to sell players, Madrid will need to do the same if they buy Mbappe. Barcelona will be looking for big signings.....if for example Coutinho or Hazard move, Cheslea/Liverpool will be looking to replace them.
I dont think a window that has alread seen such ridiculous premiership fees is going to change much within our league fee wise, it may well do on the continent, I think it is going to be a merry go round with more players being available rather than the other way round. To the original poster though I dont think Bayern will be involved, think they have already done there business pretty much.
I dont think a window that has alread seen such ridiculous premiership fees is going to change much within our league fee wise, it may well do on the continent, I think it is going to be a merry go round with more players being available rather than the other way round. To the original poster though I dont think Bayern will be involved, think they have already done there business pretty much.
So, is it safe to say that we won't sign a world class attacker this window now?
Big doubts on whether we will sign an attacker as the Perisic saga has gone quiet past 3 weeks and we aren't linked with anyone else.
Big doubts on whether we will sign an attacker as the Perisic saga has gone quiet past 3 weeks and we aren't linked with anyone else.
What about Bailly so far?
And he isn't an attacker.
This for me is the problem, like I said in the 'what do our scouts actually do' thread, we only ever seem interested when they're hot.
Frustrating that there were a lot of attackers who would have really improved us this summer but looks like we'll be signing no one, and if we do it's most likely Perisic. A solid player but not someone who'll lead us to glory and certainly not the star attacker that the opposition will fear. If you want to be a top team you need at least 2 or 3 of those players in your team. Pogba, Lukaku and one other would be ideal. Martial has the potential but needs to actually do it, along with a little help from Mourinho too by not sabotaging him.
I'd love 3-4 years of no transfers, all around. Every team just focuses on the players they have and try to work on their tactics, conditioning, and game management.
Transfer have become such an obsession for fans, an excuse for managers, and seemingly the only solution for anything according to everyone.
Nauseating.
Transfer have become such an obsession for fans, an excuse for managers, and seemingly the only solution for anything according to everyone.
Nauseating.
What he said.
Our talisman for now is our manager. He's won the league before with tactically flawless teams. Once we have a proper functioning team, we will be able to attract top players more easily. My guess? Next summer.
It does feel that way tbh, we aren't the draw we used to be. Still frustrated we missed out on Hazard in 2012 and ended up with Kagawa...
That would certainly be in keeping with the political zeitgeist - less trade with our neighbours and more with places further afield.
I don't think we're going to sign any a-list attacking players this window but I'm sure we will in future windows. I think as someone said above, Mourinho wants to build a solid team for a functional assault on the PL first and attract the superstars to serve as the cherries on top later.
These always make me lol
We've signed
Di Maria
Falcao
Bastian
Zlatan
Pogba
Mhiki
Lukaku
matic
We would of brought in Griezman but for Athleticos transfer ban
Some real big names there, the problem is there are only a few big names available to buy right now
If you want to buy something that another person simply can't do without, you will end up being much lighter in the pocket. Today, due to inflation in player transfer fees, clubs are unable to replace their prized assets adequately and hence unwilling to part with them without insane fees as compensation.
To buy top players, we will need to identify them ahead of time and gamble on their success. Prizing away the best player in the world is something we have never done before and are unlikely to do in the future.
To buy top players, we will need to identify them ahead of time and gamble on their success. Prizing away the best player in the world is something we have never done before and are unlikely to do in the future.
We need to get out of the mindset that the only way of getting a World Class player is to spend big money on World Class signings. World Class players can be made here.
You are 100% right but good luck trying to convince the masses in here. If you guys didn't spend massive amounts of cash on a player they are worthless - at least thats the way it comes across sometimes.
It's absolutely crazy that a world transfer record fee can be more than doubled in one year. This transfer also involves world record wages, business opportunities, benefits, signing on fees, and etc which may take the deal approaching half a billion or more for a single player. Neymar is not even the best player in the world. Imagine the fees for Messi!
We shouldn't be competing with Arab states backed club like PSG and City for the world best player because they have hundreds of billions to throw around and Glazer is no where near their league. Furthermore, they maybe doing this for political reasons where money is secondary.
Having said that we should still be able to compete in the very high end of the market with players a tier below like Griezman, Sanchez, Dembele, Aubamayeng, Bale. Combined with our tradition of developing world best young players, this is definitely a more sensible way to run a club for long term. Something like what Bayern Munich is doing and to a certain extent Real Madrid is moving towards.
We shouldn't be competing with Arab states backed club like PSG and City for the world best player because they have hundreds of billions to throw around and Glazer is no where near their league. Furthermore, they maybe doing this for political reasons where money is secondary.
Having said that we should still be able to compete in the very high end of the market with players a tier below like Griezman, Sanchez, Dembele, Aubamayeng, Bale. Combined with our tradition of developing world best young players, this is definitely a more sensible way to run a club for long term. Something like what Bayern Munich is doing and to a certain extent Real Madrid is moving towards.
Last edited by a moderator:
Call me crazy but I still think Bale is in play. Once Barcelona start spending their Neymar money and if Real Madrid sign Mbappe it basically kicks life into this strange Transfer window. No way Real can sign Mbappe without selling Bale and I think we are waiting to see what happens with that first before we get Perisic. Problem is, if it gets late in the window we then may have to overspend for Perisic if Bale doesn't happen, but if Bale does happen we have got a world class attacker so it was worth the wait.
Bale is an aging crock, not worth what he would cost
Bale is an aging crock, not worth what he would cost
I'd pay around £70-80m easily, He is a class player on his day. What's the alternative, Lingard? I'd rather have Bale on one leg.
Saying that, I wouldn't pay around the £100m mark as that would be too much.
Can Bale play on the right? If we'd only use him on the left, the alternative is Martial rather than Lingard.
70-80m is still steep for someone who's likely to play half the games in a season (guessing) and only remain at peak for around 3 years. He relies quite heavily on pace and power.
Though, if the only alternative is Perisic for 50m...
Can Bale play on the right? If we'd only use him on the left, the alternative is Martial rather than Lingard.
70-80m is still steep for someone who's likely to play half the games in a season (guessing) and only remain at peak for around 3 years. He relies quite heavily on pace and power.
Though, if the only alternative is Perisic for 50m...
I'm sure he could. As long as he is playing in an attacking front 3 he would be fine. I've seen him switch to that side on lots of occasions for Real.
We don't know if he would only play half the games, Hopefully it would be more if he was managed correctly. We do have the likes of Mkhi, Martial, Rashford after all that could cover him. I do agree that long term I worry about him, but the situation we are in, in that we need to succeed now and the transfer window being inflated anyways, the transfer could pay for itself if we win trophies this season. With him we would be challenging for everything i'm sure. Like you say, the alternative is a big drop off in quality like a Perisic for not that much cheaper anyways.
Gentleman, excuse me how Di Maria, who was tied for third best assists in the EPL in his only season here was a flop? Do we remember the squad he played with and the football that was played? Imagine him linking up with Lukaku and Rashford now.
Anyway, someone posted about how Sanchez, Bale, Neymar, and Mbappe all seem available and yet we didn't compete for any. And it's true. That's definitely a problem. I understand Mourinhos understanding for not choosing a Mbappe to be honest. I think he trusts what he knows he needs to win the English Premier League, which I'm certain is this seasons goal. Next is the CL. And who knows, maybe Greizman for 180 will happen. Could be why they are being so frugal with Perisic. Perhaps Atletico figure they have enough to get into the top 4 anyway.
Should we all just check back in after the window is closed and stop all this grasping at straws??
Anyway, someone posted about how Sanchez, Bale, Neymar, and Mbappe all seem available and yet we didn't compete for any. And it's true. That's definitely a problem. I understand Mourinhos understanding for not choosing a Mbappe to be honest. I think he trusts what he knows he needs to win the English Premier League, which I'm certain is this seasons goal. Next is the CL. And who knows, maybe Greizman for 180 will happen. Could be why they are being so frugal with Perisic. Perhaps Atletico figure they have enough to get into the top 4 anyway.
Should we all just check back in after the window is closed and stop all this grasping at straws??
Real and Bayern have the distinct advantage of being able to bully almost every single club in their domestic leagues for the best talents from them.
The PL teams are much wealthier, so they can't be bullied. Coupled with the fact that we compete with several big clubs in the PL for talent.
I think a figure of £135M is being talked about. Or something crazy. And Barcelona want him.
If it came to a choice between playing for MUFC (who struggle to score goals) or working at Barca, alongside Messi/Suarez who score freely, as an attacker, I think its obvious who he would choose.
I'd question a players motives and desires if he picked us over Barca/Real currently honestly.
Sadly agreed. We can't offer them anything that they can.