Henrikh Mkhitaryan | BVB confirm transfer

[Ecstatic]

The money demanded is looking a bit too much now considering it's his final year. No one else would pay it. We could wait till Christmas and buy him then when Dortmund will be glad to get €20 million. It looks like he's had only one very good season in the Bundesliga : 2015/2016. Nothing exceptional before he came to Germany when playing weaker leagues. He's no spring chicken at 27. He's not going to improve; he's reached his peak. His game is very reliant on the counter attack and if teams continue to park the bus he may find it just as hard as Mata & Co. to break them down. I'll admit Mkhitaryan is more of a José type player as he has no defensive weaknesses (unlike Mata, Di María, and 90% of top attacking players). At the same time, I'd say his skill set is more limited than Mata, or Di María. E.g. I'd prefer Mata's free kicks, although it's almost certain Zlatan will take direct free-kicks if he comes here. Yes, I'd like him at OT, as there are so few José-type attacking players available. At the same time, it's just so embarrassing getting ripped off all the time. We should be bringing players like this though our youth system. I don't expect our youth system to produce a Messi, but it should be able to produce a Mkhitaryan.

1. If you want to enjoy a great season, you need to have a good start. A delay would be counter-productive for many obvious reasons.
2. Martial only 6 very good months with Monaco
3. Cristiano Ronaldo: nothing exceptional before he came to United.
4. United is not AJAX: our business model is not to produce young players and sell them at the age of 23-25 in order to make money/survive.

 

[Raoul]

The money demanded is looking a bit too much now considering it's his final year. No one else would pay it. We could wait till Christmas and buy him then when Dortmund will be glad to get €20 million. It looks like he's had only one very good season in the Bundesliga : 2015/2016. Nothing exceptional before he came to Germany when playing weaker leagues. He's no spring chicken at 27. He's not going to improve; he's reached his peak. His game is very reliant on the counter attack and if teams continue to park the bus he may find it just as hard as Mata & Co. to break them down. I'll admit Mkhitaryan is more of a José type player as he has no defensive weaknesses (unlike Mata, Di María, and 90% of top attacking players). At the same time, I'd say his skill set is more limited than Mata, or Di María. E.g. I'd prefer Mata's free kicks, although it's almost certain Zlatan will take direct free-kicks if he comes here. Yes, I'd like him at OT, as there are so few José-type attacking players available. At the same time, it's just so embarrassing getting ripped off all the time. We should be bringing players like this though our youth system. I don't expect our youth system to produce a Messi, but it should be able to produce a Mkhitaryan.

Who cares what the fee is. Its not your money, its the clubs.

 

[Mark Pawelek]

Januzaj has never looked remotely close to being a top player. His over-inflated reputation is based on little more than 2 goals against Sunderland and a few decent performances.

Adnan's skill set is better than 99% of other players. So he looks very close to being a top player. He just needs to learn how to play against physical defenders and how to improve his defending. He won't be a Messi/Neymar/Ronaldo/Zlatan, but he can become a Mkhitaryan+. I'm not saying he will be. I'm saying he can become, which is something 99% of football players can't aspire to.

 

[Raoul]

When Mkhitaryan was 21 he couldn't get a place playing in a top league. At least Adnan shows enough to get a loan move to the Bundesliga and a few starts in the PL. If Adnan can iron out his defensive weaknesses he'll be a better player than Mkhitaryan.

Januzaj is probably done here. He has talent, but he is clearly lacking in the football brain and work ethic departments which more or less completely undercuts the value of his natural talent. LvG's massive youth experimentation campaign last year would've been the most logical time for Januzaj to force his way into a permanent starting XI job, but instead he got overtaken by the likes of Rashford, Lingard, TFM, CBJ et al.

 

[Blackwidow]

His game is very reliant on the counter attack and if teams continue to park the bus he may find it just as hard as Mata & Co. to break them down.

Actually he functioned a lot better in a ball possession orientated system with Tuchel than in the counter attacking setup with Klopp.

 

[Mark Pawelek]

I think we'll buy him anyway because, as I said:

Mkhitaryan is more of a José type player as he has no defensive weaknesses (unlike Mata, Di María, and 90% of top attacking players).​

Who else can José buy?

 

[Zoo]

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Adnan's skill set is better than 99% of other players..

Put the hashpipe down Mark.

 

[NoLogo]

Who cares what the fee is. Its not your money, its the clubs.

While that's of course right it never feels good to see your club getting ripped off or do you not care if we massively overpay for a player you don't think is worth this much? It also carries another meaning to, that we are bad at transfers if we end up overpaying too many times.

Of course this perception often gets distorted because people haven't realized that slightly above average players go for 30-50M € these days where the really exceptional ones go for 90M+ €.

Edit: just to be clear, I think in today's market Mkhitaryan is worth 40M € and we should pay it.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

No shit they would.

"According to kicker Regulus Arcturus Black would be wiling to sell his Renault Megane Estate 2008 if anyone offers €20,000".

Pointless pointless tweet.

 

[fellaini's barber]

Adnan's skill set is better than 99% of other players. So he looks very close to being a top player. He just needs to learn how to play against physical defenders and how to improve his defending. He won't be a Messi/Neymar/Ronaldo/Zlatan, but he can become a Mkhitaryan+. I'm not saying he will be. I'm saying he can become, which is something 99% of football players can't aspire to.

Better than 99% of which players...feck me is there some secret league Adnan is tearing up somewhere that we don't know about?

 

[Zoo]

No shit they would.

"According to kicker Regulus Arcturus Black would be wiling to sell his Renault Megane Estate 2008 if anyone offers €20,000".

Pointless pointless tweet.

Yeah sure.

 

[slig]

40 mio €, just what i wrote everytime in this thread. Ah, and dont forget to pay for the chair!

 

[Cassidy]

40 mio €, just what i wrote everytime in this thread. Ah, and dont forget to pay for the chair!

Didn't you say there was no way he would be sold before.....

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

40 mio €, just what i wrote everytime in this thread. Ah, and dont forget to pay for the chair!

I wouldn't laugh just yet. If Dortmund reveal they are prepared to sell, they've just weakened themselves considerably. Best option for Dortmund is to point blank refuse until a club offers them something they cannot refuse.

 

[slig]

Didn't you say there was no way he would be sold before.....

In the first place yes. But i also wrote after that "thinking over it, with enough money Watzke will probably let him go"

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Didn't you say there was no way he would be sold before.....

Yes, he changes his tune in reaction to every new tweet

 

[Raees]

Adnan's skill set is better than 99% of other players. So he looks very close to being a top player. He just needs to learn how to play against physical defenders and how to improve his defending. He won't be a Messi/Neymar/Ronaldo/Zlatan, but he can become a Mkhitaryan+. I'm not saying he will be. I'm saying he can become, which is something 99% of football players can't aspire to.

How has he shown that he can get as many assists/goals as Mkhitaryan.

Apart from his breakthrough season, even in that he didn't really get many goals etc.

Mkhitaryan is faster, more agile and has a good eye for goal.. he misses chances galore but the fact is he is often at the centre of chance creation or at the end of chances.. he has a genuine consistent attacking impact at the highest level. Januzaj has barely any credibility at the highest level and his first step should be to establish he can operate as a first team footballer at division one level.

 

[SwansonsTache]

Didn't you say there was no way he would be sold before.....

He is just getting his excuses in for his inevitable meltdown. It will be grand I tell you, walls of text of angry german ranting

 

[do.ob]

No shit they would.

"According to kicker Regulus Arcturus Black would be wiling to sell his Renault Megane Estate 2008 if anyone offers €20,000".

Pointless pointless tweet.

Why? They supposedly got €38m for Hummels, so it was always looking like an offer in the region of €40m would be required to sway them. United have been throwing around silly money for mediocre players for years now, so why should anyone be satisfied with a low offer?

 

[Mark Pawelek]

Januzaj is probably done here. He has talent, but he is clearly lacking in the football brain and work ethic departments which more or less completely undercuts the value of his natural talent. LvG's massive youth experimentation campaign last year would've been the most logical time for Januzaj to force his way into a permanent starting XI job, but instead he got overtaken by the likes of Rashford, Lingard, TFM, CBJ et al.

Not overtaken by any of those 4 because none of them has Adnan's all-round ability, don't play his positions, or are not left-footed. I hope people like you have no influence with United coaches. If we tried to buy Adnan, he'd cost us £50 million in today's market. Your advice is? Just throw a potentially great player away. My advice: get him a different coach.

Januzaj ... is clearly lacking in the football brain

Something he so obviously has, and has shown since he was 16.

 

[Raoul]

While that's of course right it never feels good to see your club getting ripped off or do you not care if we massively overpay for a player you don't think is worth this much? It also carries another meaning to, that we are bad at transfers if we end up overpaying too many times.

Of course this perception often gets distorted because people haven't realized that slightly above average players go for 30-50M € these days where the really exceptional ones go for 90M+ €.

Edit: just to be clear, I think in today's market Mkhitaryan is worth 40M € and we should pay it.

I stopped caring about that sort of thing a while back. The club know far better than anyone else what their budget is and how much they value a certain player relative to future plans, so if they buy him for x amount then they obviously know the cost/benefit of doing so to be within their means.

 

[Raoul]

Not overtaken by any of those 4 because none of them has Adnan's all-round ability, don't play his positions, or are not left-footed. I hope people like you have no influence with United coaches. If we tried to buy Adnan, he'd cost us £50 million in today's market. Your advice is? Just throw a potentially great player away. My advice: get him a different coach.
Something he so obviously has, and has shown since he was 16.

50m ? Perhaps in an alternate Universe. He was loaned out last year and flopped, which in addition to him not making any progress at OT is probably a sign that he doesn't demonstrate the aptitude to improve in training. If he can't make it during LvG's youth friendly two years, then he will almost surely not during Mourinho's.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Why? They supposedly got €38m for Hummels, so it was always looking like an offer in the region of €40m would be required to sway them. United have been throwing around silly money for mediocre players for years now, so why should anyone be satisfied with a low offer?

I don't understand how this is a response to my post @do.ob

I'm saying "of fecking course they would say yes to €40m", and you appear to agree.

Fwiw, they got more for Hummels because they sold to a direct rival, that much is obvious.

 

[Judas]

Adnan hasn't provided me any entertainment since he took that bird to Nando's.

 

[Cassidy]

I don't understand how this is a response to my post @do.ob

I'm saying "of fecking course the would say yes to €40m, and you are agreeing".

Fwiw, the got more for Hummels because they sold to a direct rival, that much is obvious.

 

[NoLogo]

I stopped caring about that sort of thing a while back. The club know far better than anyone else what their budget is and how much they value a certain player relative to future plans, so if they buy him for x amount then they obviously know the cost/benefit of doing so to be within their means.

Well that's a good point. Clubs usually factor more into the price they are willing to pay for a player than just their quality. Marketability, importance and need to the squad of course, so yeah in the end they of course have to know what they are doing but I can't help it leaving a bad taste in my mouth if I feel we are getting ripped off on players, which is basically the only reason why I care.

But in the end the club has to know what they are doing, not like we can influence that in any way, so yeah it's probably best to stop caring about how much we over- or underpay.

 

[slig]

He is just getting his excuses in for his inevitable meltdown. It will be grand I tell you, walls of text of angry german ranting

I am wondering what you talking about.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Well that's a good point. Clubs usually factor more into the price they are willing to pay for a player than just their quality. Marketability, importance and need to the squad of course, so yeah in the end they of course have to know what they are doing but I can't help it leaving a bad taste in my mouth if I feel we are getting ripped off on players, which is basically the only reason why I care.

Not many top clubs get "ripped off" these days, they are rich as feck. If we pay €35m for this bloke, who cares? Everton turned down like €45 last summer for Stones and a €25m offer was recently rejected for Troy fecking Deeney.

Top clubs are money machines.

 

[VP89]

Not many top clubs get "ripped off" these days, they are rich as feck. If we pay €35m for this bloke, who cares? Everton turned down like €45 last summer for Stones and a €25m offer was recently rejected for Troy fecking Deeney.

Top clubs are money machines.

I don't think much of the caf would have a problem with 40m EUR on him despite the year left on contract if we weren't in June. There is still time yet to haggle, call bluffs and let the agent persuade the club.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I don't think much of the caf would have a problem with 40m EUR on him despite the year left on contract if we weren't in June. There is still time yet to haggle, call bluffs and let the agent persuade the club.

Agreed.

 

[Attila]

Not overtaken by any of those 4 because none of them has Adnan's all-round ability, don't play his positions, or are not left-footed. I hope people like you have no influence with United coaches. If we tried to buy Adnan, he'd cost us £50 million in today's market. Your advice is? Just throw a potentially great player away. My advice: get him a different coach.
Something he so obviously has, and has shown since he was 16.

£50m? That's ridiculous

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

If we tried to buy Adnan, he'd cost us £50 million in today's market.

I reckon there's a huge chance we'll sell him within the next year for less than 15.

Adnan a £50m player and a better skillset than 99% of players... you've hit it hard today Mark.

 

[SwansonsTache]

I am wondering what you talking about.

Your inevitable meltdown mate, dont worry, I have several each day.

You started out with that he would stay, slating us, our transfer business, our lack of success etc and in general taking a "holier than thou" attitude towards us. Then reports came out that negotiations had moved a bit further, then you started with your price points, and now you have accepted that he will likely go.

Actually you might have insulated yourself from a total meltdown by gradually adjusting your stance according to new information and new tweets. But, just admit it, the night of the transfer you will go wacko on your Audi with a bat.

 

[do.ob]

I don't think much of the caf would have a problem with 40m EUR on him despite the year left on contract if we weren't in June. There is still time yet to haggle, call bluffs and let the agent persuade the club.

I don't get this: German clubs for example usually try to have most of their business done by the time their pre season begins, so their new players have the best possible chance of settling in well and so their coach has the most time to create a cohesive team (again), in the PL however people don't seem to care about that and appear obsessed with deadline day to do major business under huge pressure. If a German club would act like that people would call out the DoF for messing up his transfer window and accuse him of wasting money on damage control. In the PL culture it seems like the opposite.

Now BTT: Mkhitaryan is a risky investment. He can settle in well and pick off where he left last season or this whole deal could turn into a huge clusterfeck for United when he gets in a downward spiral and shuts down completely (like for example 14/15 in Dortmund). Signing him late into the window would make the initial transition a lot harder for him and thus carry a risk.

 

[SwansonsTache]

Not overtaken by any of those 4 because none of them has Adnan's all-round ability, don't play his positions, or are not left-footed. I hope people like you have no influence with United coaches. If we tried to buy Adnan, he'd cost us £50 million in today's market. Your advice is? Just throw a potentially great player away. My advice: get him a different coach.
Something he so obviously has, and has shown since he was 16.

Adnan's fathers caf account exposed.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

I don't get this: German clubs for example usually try to have most of their business done by the time their pre season begins, so their new players have the best possible chance of settling in well and so their coach has the most time to create a cohesive team (again),

Nar, English teams prefer that too, it's just that's it's often inevitable.

 

[do.ob]

Your inevitable meltdown mate, dont worry, I have several each day.

You started out with that he would stay, slating us, our transfer business, our lack of success etc and in general taking a "holier than thou" attitude towards us. Then reports came out that negotiations had moved a bit further, then you started with your price points, and now you have accepted that he will likely go.

Actually you might have insulated yourself from a total meltdown by gradually adjusting your stance according to new information and new tweets. But, just admit it, the night of the transfer you will go wacko on your Audi with a bat.

I can't speak for him, but I assume most Dortmund fans will be quite happy to see the back of Mkhitaryan, especially if it's for a decent fee.

 

[Mark Pawelek]

get him a different coach.

Top 500 tennis players in the world tournament circuit all have their own specialist coach. Footballer MVPs, and potential top players should also have their own coach who can devote at least an hour a day to them.

 

[SwansonsTache]

I can't speak for him, but I assume most Dortmund fans will be quite happy to see the back of Mkhitaryan, especially if it's for a decent fee.

Yeah well, but one shouldn't judge M.Targaryan from his agents antics. Micki obviously has a hard-on for United, this is his last chance for a big paycheck and a big transfer and he is eager to get on with it.

All in all, both parties will be happy. Dortmund will get a huge fee for a wantaway player in his last year of contract, and United will get a good player for a fee (that for us) is very affordable.