Or we knew Otamendi wasnt worth £30m+ (which he has shown he isn't) and didn't fit the profile of the CB we were looking for last summer and didn't want to take the risk on Gundogan last summer.
Our profile appeared to be "noone" last summer.
Really? Overwhelming majority of us were over the moon with Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin. Midfield was sorted right. And plenty expressed concerns over Gundogans back problems. Now we're moaning that City might have signed him.
Our profile appeared to be "noone" last summer.
True for Neymar and Müller but you could have gotten Gündogan. United didn't meet BVB's asking price and went to Schweinsteiger instead.
Yeah spend 60m on KDB for a position that was of far less concern and read the outrage on here. A lot of people were happy with Mata and Herrera as no 10 options so signing a 60m valued player for that spot would have been ridiculous.
Did you see the shape Gundogan was in last summer after being over a year out of action coupled with his wage demands? How is LVG a shithead for turning him down after the Falcao debacle?
I'm not a fan of LvG but think you're judging a bit quickly here. He said that Woodword is responsible for negotiations and finances. Therefore I'm more inclined to think that Woody was too risk-averse.
He went on a European tour whoring himself out to everybody. He only stayed because nobody wanted him. Fair play for getting back to the level he is at now but nobody could take a chance on him last summer. It would have been ridiculous.
Come on mate, that's bullshit.
@cyberman Gofelx is correct. In fact Gündogan and United had agreed on his terms. SKY Germany and Der Westen reported this and in fact it was the truth. United though refused to pay BVB's asking price, and no party budged. Gündogan had an offer from PSG but refused. The rest is history.
I exaggerate just a bit. They are heavily working on it, spread so much bullshit that in the beginning I couldn't believe I was on their own website but a fake site.
But that's my point. This would be exactly the same situation as United was in last summer: Agreement with the player but not the club.
Fair enough i knew we refused to budge on some aspect of the deal and it wasnt a case of United ballsing it up.
Dortmund wanted something in the €17-20m so IMHO with United's financial muscles it would have been a no-brainer but I'm not complaining.
Don't worry, Jose will go full muppet and start negotiating Pogba & Kroos or something like that.
That's how it was but it's of course up to you what you believe. Barcelona looked at him (IIRC he flew there) after United moved to Schweinsteiger but they did not come to terms.
Dortmund wanted something in the €17-20m so IMHO with United's financial muscles it would have been a no-brainer but I'm not complaining.
Gündogan is too smart to tell the media that bluntly who's his most favorite destination but it's very obvious that Barcelona ranks very high on his list.
It was my understanding that the contract demands were the sticking point. At the time he was still considered a risky signing by many and we weren't willing to offer a massive sum to a player we couldn't guarantee would return to the heights he was performing at prior to his surgery. Instead we opted for Schweinsteiger, his age meant his fee would be relatively cheap and we didn't need to tie him down to a lengthy contract.
Gündogan's agent briefed SKY Germany* and Der Westen otherwise - that United and Gündogan agreed terms - and this fits with what I was told.
If you can/can be arsed find it that would be great. Not that I'm suggesting you're making it up just might for some reason I had it as down as contractual reasons.
