January Transfer Window

Hernandez - BFA said:
I think this'll be the window in which we sign a player from the Portugese league again.
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Honestly I think that our CM must get sorted. The excuses are getting a bit old now and are even frustrating the Neviller.

If we are not buying anyone then we should at least recall our loanees and give them a run for their money. Surely the likes of Powell and Tunnicliffe can compete with the crap we've got in that area.

The fact that we had two managers who seem to struggle to find a better alternative to the likes of Giggs and Ando is concerning.
 
LonelyFire said:
Hes not only midfielder out there - Matuidi, Matic, Carvahlo would all improve us immensely
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I'm sure, and we do need more than one or two options, but it's not going to be a list of 20 possibilities, and we need to make sure we select the right ones. And if the right one's could be bought in the summer but simply not at the middle of the season, we'll have to wait rather than take someone who is not a top choice.

Money does talk, but in January we're not talking about paying a little bit over the odds. We're talking about spending tons more than the value of the player, places we shouldn't go to.
 
Imagine if he came out and said, 'yeah we're going hell for leather this january', that'd be retarded.
 
It's been mentioned in the thread before but the ideal signing would be Coentrao. It won't happen as he's signed a new contract, but his versatility in being able to play in midfield and at left back would be a glorious option for us :drool:

Still - I see us signing two players. One from Portugese league (why, I don't know - just a gut feeling) and one from the PL.



Adzzz said:
Imagine if he came out and said, 'yeah we're going hell for leather this january', that'd be retarded.
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Moyes: "Get ready lads - I'll be splashing the cash this window. Watch this space. You ain't seen nothing yet. Lehgoooooo........", as he bounces out of the press conference room waving his santa hat.
 
Amir said:
I'm sure, and we do need more than one or two options, but it's not going to be a list of 20 possibilities, and we need to make sure we select the right ones. And if the right one's could be bought in the summer but simply not at the middle of the season, we'll have to wait rather than take someone who is not a top choice.

Money does talk, but in January we're not talking about paying a little bit over the odds. We're talking about spending tons more than the value of the player, places we shouldn't go to.
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With all due respect Amir but unless we find a player whose close to his end of contract or with a minimum release clause which is manageable then we simply have to pay over the odds to get this sorted out. Just look what happened with Fellaini. We spent 28m for an extremely average player in a summer which was considered 'ideal' to buy (no WC etc). Our CM has been screaming for quality for years and wherever we go we'll going to get fleeced because of it. No wonder we have been postponing this issue for years.

I'd say lets get a good quality CM now. He may exceed expectations ala Carrick and sort the issue or else he would prove to be a good quality backup. Whatever happens its a win win situation as we would look less desperate in summer. FFS at this point Ill be happy if the club announces that a quality midfielder had signed a pre contract with us and will join us next year.
 
Hernandez - BFA said:
It's been mentioned in the thread before but the ideal signing would be Coentrao. It won't happen as he's signed a new contract, but his versatility in being able to play in midfield and at left back would be a glorious option for us :drool:

Still - I see us signing two players. One from Portugese league (why, I don't know - just a gut feeling) and one from the PL.






Moyes: "Get ready lads - I'll be splashing the cash this window. Watch this space. You ain't seen nothing yet. Lehgoooooo........", as he bounces out of the press conference room waving his santa hat.
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I hope you're right. However we've been hearing the same script for quite a long time. We start strong only to fickle away when the time is right to put our hands in the pockets.
 
The Neviller said:
Honestly, why don't you just feck off? Your negative, miserable shtick got tired ages ago. You just make the same shite post over and over.
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utterly bizarre how he's still at this tiresome routine. He was banned last month for being a tit so he's winding his neck in a bit more now, thankfully.
 
devilish said:
With all due respect Amir but unless we find a player whose close to his end of contract or with a minimum release clause which is manageable then we simply have to pay over the odds to get this sorted out. Just look what happened with Fellaini. We spent 28m for an extremely average player in a summer which was considered 'ideal' to buy (no WC etc). Our CM has been screaming for quality for years and wherever we go we'll going to get fleeced because of it. No wonder we have been postponing this issue for years.

I'd say lets get a good quality CM now. He may exceed expectations ala Carrick and sort the issue or else he would prove to be a good quality backup. Whatever happens its a win win situation as we would look less desperate in summer. FFS at this point Ill be happy if the club announces that a quality midfielder had signed a pre contract with us and will join us next year.
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I was talking about January. Say we want Koke, say he could be bought in the summer for 25m pounds. If you want him in mid season, you'll have to make Atletico a crazy - Monaco/PSG/Chelsea - like offer, 50m or so. It's not going to happen.

We'll get fleeced no matter where we go, for which player and for whatever position, because it's United trying to sign someone. You're saying let's get a midfielder now, but we shouldn't if we believe we can get a better, more fitting player in the summer.
 
charleysurf said:
Yeah, I can see Baines being bought, and Powell coming back. Too difficult to get top class midfielders in January. Hard enough to do it in the summer.
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This. Not to mention you're going to pay over the market as well. Bring back the loans and save the "warchest" for the summer.
 
Amir said:
I was talking about January. Say we want Koke, say he could be bought in the summer for 25m pounds. If you want him in mid season, you'll have to make Atletico a crazy - Monaco/PSG/Chelsea - like offer, 50m or so. It's not going to happen.

We'll get fleeced no matter where we go, for which player and for whatever position, because it's United trying to sign someone. You're saying let's get a midfielder now, but we shouldn't if we believe we can get a better, more fitting player in the summer.
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Don't you think that if Monaco/PSG/Chelsea want the player they wouldn't mind outbidding us in summer?

And I disagree with this United BS. Other big clubs are able to do some shrewd signings without getting fleeced. For example Juventus did that with Pogba and Vidal. The problem with United is that we're slow to act, cocky (read my previous posts and see the pathetic excuses said in the past) + we're desperate for some real talent in midfield. Under such circumstances its only natural that you get fleeced.

In my opinion CM needs to be rebuilt from scratch. Ando and Giggs are goners, Carrick is the only good CM we have (and he's at the wrong side of his career), Clev is squad player material at the very best and Fletcher is a massive gamble. Under such circumstances, signing a midfielder whose good but may not be the world class player we're seeking (ex someone like Carrick was at Spurs) would not only strengthen us but would also make us look less desperate in summer.
 
I actually trust Powell to do a job for us. By no means would I feel comfortable yet to throw him in against City or so, but he'd be a good body to have to rotate with Cleverley as the season goes on.
 
devilish said:
In my opinion CM needs to be rebuilt from scratch..
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On that we are in complete agreement. People want us to sign a midfielder, but if one injury means we're back to the options we have now, we've done nothing. It really should be rebuilt completely. Getting it right would make a huge difference.
 
devilish said:
With all due respect Amir but unless we find a player whose close to his end of contract or with a minimum release clause which is manageable then we simply have to pay over the odds to get this sorted out. Just look what happened with Fellaini. We spent 28m for an extremely average player in a summer which was considered 'ideal' to buy (no WC etc). Our CM has been screaming for quality for years and wherever we go we'll going to get fleeced because of it. No wonder we have been postponing this issue for years.

I'd say lets get a good quality CM now. He may exceed expectations ala Carrick and sort the issue or else he would prove to be a good quality backup. Whatever happens its a win win situation as we would look less desperate in summer. FFS at this point Ill be happy if the club announces that a quality midfielder had signed a pre contract with us and will join us next year.
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Spot on.
 
I'm coming round to the opinion that we need a top quality winger and left back more than a central midfielder, although obviously we need all three. We really can't afford to do nothing in January though, the left back and central midfield area should have been sorted six months ago with us then concentrating on adding a young central defender to replace Rio and an absolute top class winger next summer, but unfortunately we wasted £27.5m and solved absolutely nothing. I think Sandro is gettable in January, and Koke would be brilliant, but we'd need to throw a lot of money at him.
 
Amir said:
It's still different between January and the summer. You'll have to pay over the odds in the summer, but for a good team to release a quality player in January, you'll have to make a crazy offer.
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Summer will be a nightmare because of the World Cup. Players will go on holiday to get a break before they join up with National teams and then will be focussed on the competition. Not to mention the fact that selling clubs will delay deals until after the competition to in case their player has a good tournament and the value increases.
 
Amir said:
It's still different between January and the summer. You'll have to pay over the odds in the summer, but for a good team to release a quality player in January, you'll have to make a crazy offer.
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There are plenty of quality midfielder we could get for £30m or less, or even less then 20 in some cases, all who would improve our first team or able replacements for Carrick.

Koke and gundogan would probably come if we bid £30m and good enough wages (although it's far from guaranteed), then there are others like cabaye or Schneiderlin in the premier league who would improve us and replace Carrick. I doubt they would be very expensive either. In the serie a there's marchisio at juve, pjanic at Roma, and probably a few others who I can't remember off the top of my head who would be attainable and would instantly improve us.

Matuidi's contract is expiring in the summer and it would be fantastic if we at least tried to get on a bosman in the summer, but we could probably bid less then 10m and get him in January if we wanted and he wanted to come.
Then in Germany there are loads of quality midfielder, as well as Spain, like the benders, Herrera, etc.

Basically, there are loads of quality midfielders out there who we could get, if we bid the right amount. It doesn't have to be anything ridiculous either, but if we're thinking of getting them for bargain prices then we can rule out ever signing a quality midfielder basically. We just need to be decisive and show we actually want to sign them early on, rather then feck about all window and panic at the end.
 
Redfighter said:
Summer will be a nightmare because of the World Cup. Players will go on holiday to get a break before they join up with National teams and then will be focussed on the competition. Not to mention the fact that selling clubs will delay deals until after the competition to in case their player has a good tournament and the value increases.
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Not every player will be there. For instance, we wanted Herrera - I doubt he'll be in the spanish squad. Some of the players we've been linked with are also not going to be in Brazil. There's scope for doing business early and we be looking to do things before the season ends.
 
bosnian_red said:
There are plenty of quality midfielder we could get for £30m or less, or even less then 20 in some cases, all who would improve our first team or able replacements for Carrick.

Koke and gundogan would probably come if we bid £30m and good enough wages (although it's far from guaranteed), then there are others like cabaye or Schneiderlin in the premier league who would improve us and replace Carrick. I doubt they would be very expensive either. In the serie a there's marchisio at juve, pjanic at Roma, and probably a few others who I can't remember off the top of my head who would be attainable and would instantly improve us.

Matuidi's contract is expiring in the summer and it would be fantastic if we at least tried to get on a bosman in the summer, but we could probably bid less then 10m and get him in January if we wanted and he wanted to come.
Then in Germany there are loads of quality midfielder, as well as Spain, like the benders, Herrera, etc.

Basically, there are loads of quality midfielders out there who we could get, if we bid the right amount. It doesn't have to be anything ridiculous either, but if we're thinking of getting them for bargain prices then we can rule out ever signing a quality midfielder basically. We just need to be decisive and show we actually want to sign them early on, rather then feck about all window and panic at the end.
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I'm sorry I have to repeat myself time and again, but there is a difference between January and the summer. We may be able to get each and every one of those players in the summer, but it'll be hell in January. Dortmund would not sell and Atletico would not sell unless you offer them something crazy.

Anyhow, Moyes may well know all those players, has set his sights on two or three targets and we heard from clubs/agents a deal is possible and they'll be interested, but we have to wait for the summer. Would you really move on to secondary choices just to get them in January?
 
Amir said:
I'm sorry I have to repeat myself time and again, but there is a difference between January and the summer. We may be able to get each and every one of those players in the summer, but it'll be hell in January. Dortmund would not sell and Atletico would not sell unless you offer them something crazy.

Anyhow, Moyes may well know all those players, has set his sights on two or three targets and we heard from clubs/agents a deal is possible and they'll be interested, but we have to wait for the summer. Would you really move on to secondary choices just to get them in January?
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I understand what you are saying, but those players would all be available in January if we wanted to, for less then £30m less as well (apart from gundogan and koke, but even then there's a chance). I doubt we will get them, because moyes is known for dithering and second guessing his opinions on transfers and is never decisive when it comes to that, but it's come to the point where he needs to trust his gut rather then checking out every single detail and looking for the perfect player, because he doesn't exist.

I think too many people take what sir Alex said about January windows too seriously. You'd think its impossible to pull off any signings without paying 40m for 20m players. It doesn't work like that. Managers would ideally sign players in the summer so they have time to bed in the club before the season, rather then join half way, but we don't want to wait until the summer and risk missing out on them all or them becoming overpriced. I guarantee you players like pjanic will have his price sky rocket because apart from people who watch him pretty often, they don't know about him. Once he shows what he's like in the World Cup, then teams will be pouncing all over trying to get him. There are still relatively cheap players right now at mid sized clubs who we could lure away.
 
Oh, you certainly can make good signings in January without paying a kings ransom. It just depends on who you've targeted and who they play for. But like I said, the issue is who we've targeted. If it means we have to wait a few months in order to get a better player, I'll wait.
 
Amir said:
Oh, you certainly can make good signings in January without paying a kings ransom. It just depends on who you've targeted and who they play for. But like I said, the issue is who we've targeted. If it means we have to wait a few months in order to get a better player, I'll wait.
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If the selling club + player would settle for a pre contract deal then I wouldn't really mind. The risk of us ending out of the CL next season is real but if that's the price to pay then feck it. However if that's not the case then we have to act now. We're risking ending outside the CL zone, with a WC coming up and with a manager who many players would see him as unknown and definitely not a champion material. Prices will go haywire and the team will not be as attractive to players as it is now.
 
That's what so annoying with last summer (and Fellaini). Getting one good deal might not have sorted us out, but would have given us some more breathing space.
 
devilish said:
If the selling club + player would settle for a pre contract deal then I wouldn't really mind. The risk of us ending out of the CL next season is real but if that's the price to pay then feck it. However if that's not the case then we have to act now. We're risking ending outside the CL zone, with a WC coming up and with a manager who many players would see him as unknown and definitely not a champion material. Prices will go haywire and the team will not be as attractive to players as it is now.
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This. Don't get why people don't see this as a problem. We can wait till the summer all we like, if we finish outside top 4 then the pool of players that will join will reduce substantially. We can delude ourselves that the name of Man Utd will still attract world class players but um afraid, in the majority, it won't.

There are plenty of players to choose from in January - all of good quality. Time for us to stop dicking about and make it happen.
 
Redfighter said:
Summer will be a nightmare because of the World Cup. Players will go on holiday to get a break before they join up with National teams and then will be focussed on the competition. Not to mention the fact that selling clubs will delay deals until after the competition to in case their player has a good tournament and the value increases.
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This and they'll not a have a pre-season and be quite likely miss the start of the season if they've been part of a succcessful tourno! January would be a good time for us, but very early summer even better
 
LonelyFire said:
This. Don't get why people don't see this as a problem. We can wait till the summer all we like, if we finish outside top 4 then the pool of players that will join will reduce substantially. We can delude ourselves that the name of Man Utd will still attract world class players but um afraid, in the majority, it won't.

There are plenty of players to choose from in January - all of good quality. Time for us to stop dicking about and make it happen.
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In my opinion we're passing from a similar trauma to that passed by the top Serie A clubs a couple of years back. During the 80s and early 90s nearly every single player on the planet wanted to play there. They were paying top salaries and even smaller scale clubs like Napoli. Lazio and Fiorentina could afford top players like Maradona, Zola, Dunga, Gazza and Batistuta. With the money flowing in the EPL again, this dominance started loosening and it needed time to get used to the shock and adapt to it.

United's case is somehow different but still similar. We're a top side and yet for obvious reasons we're struggling to financially compete with the ever increasing number of sugar daddy clubs + other top clubs who have invested wisely through the years and are on top of their game (Bayern, Barca etc).That's why I like to use the Juventus model as an example. Juventus hasn't been a top spender before the Serie A financial bubble collapsed. Their current midfield is made up of shrewd signings like Pirlo (who left Milan because deemed too old to be given a 2 year contract), homegrown talent (Marchisio), former unexperienced players (Pogba) and a 10m rated 'risk' from Leverkusen (Vidal). All these players were deemed by the club as not good/experienced enough and yet they would now walk easily into our first team.

Mind it wasn't all well and good. Juventus ended up losing reasonably good money on players like Diego and Felipe Melo who failed to make an impact. However the moral of the story here is that when a club can't compete for the top talent then it must risk by getting promising players who are supposed to be 2-3 years away from their top game and develop them further.

We cant keep on dreaming of the Fabregas type of player and we must act quickly before the top dogs end up sniffing our targets up.
 
LonelyFire said:
There are plenty of players to choose from in January - all of good quality. Time for us to stop dicking about and make it happen.
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Not all of them are of the same quality, style, etc. We can't look at it like it's a pool of 15 midfielders and we should just pick any of them.
 
The silence is deafening regarding anything transfer related and our club. I hope this is a positive and that we really have learned a lesson from last summer's very public balls up!! I hope we have and are active early in January with any ins and outs....
 
As much as I'd love us to do a scoop in January I honestly can't see who it should be.

Then again I'm not the one with a worldwide array of scouts to my disposal.
 
Less is more regarding comments from our people.

Last summer we were saying foolish stuff like we'd be after the best players in the world, there wasn't any budget, and ludicrously telling all and sundry about our Fabregas bid.

Then we ended up buying Fellaini, who looks like a squad player at best.
Lessons must have been learnt.

Hopefully this time round, we'll hear jack all until a deal is done.
 
Salfordlad70 said:
The silence is deafening regarding anything transfer related and our club. I hope this is a positive and that we really have learned a lesson from last summer's very public balls up!! I hope we have and are active early in January with any ins and outs....
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This is a learning experience for Moyes and Woodward and I'm convinced we won't see the same mistakes

They embarrassed the club, themselves and ended up over paying for Fellaini - if the first two happened again we should make a personnel change

A mistake is human, to repeat that mistake is idiotic
 
I don't think I could put up with speculation all Jan after last summer. If we're going to do anything, I hope it is the first week in Jan. It's my birthday on the 4th, hope Moyes'ey (I can call him that) gets me a pressie!
 
Amir said:
Not all of them are of the same quality, style, etc. We can't look at it like it's a pool of 15 midfielders and we should just pick any of them.
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The reality is there is a number who would considerably improve us. Matuidi, matic, gundogan, Koke, bender, rakitic, witsel, defour, fernando, carvahlo - all would be an improvement. The idea that we can't get players cause it's January is SAF nonsense - it just costs money....which we've not been prepared to pay.

If we had done our business for midfielders 2 years ago, we wouldn't be in this position. God, if Moyes had done things properly in the summer we wouldn't be in this position. We're in agreement that it costs more in January but we only have ourselves to blame for that.

As for waiting till the summer, what happens if we don't get top 4? Cause lets be honest, it's very doubtful at this moment in time. The question of whether we can afford a Koke or Gundogan is then irrelevant....cause they will not be interested in Europa League football.

It's imperative, more than ever, that we buy now.
 
Whilst I can see why a player wouldn't want to move in a WC year, I don't think it would be too much of a decision to make if you were a central midfielder of real quality. You would be pretty much nailed on a starting place and if United started playing well because of this then surely their stock would rise and become even greater. If we really are after Koke and the Dortmund chap then if the chance came to move to United I think they would be more crazy yo turn it down than stay put, as they will easily play week in, week out here.
 
soapythecat said:
Whilst I can see why a player wouldn't want to move in a WC year, I don't think it would be too much of a decision to make if you were a central midfielder of real quality. You would be pretty much nailed on a starting place and if United started playing well because of this then surely their stock would rise and become even greater. If we really are after Koke and the Dortmund chap then if the chance came to move to United I think they would be more crazy yo turn it down than stay put, as they will easily play week in, week out here.
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Say that to Fellaini! You have no idea if a player will settle early on (see Evra, Vidic). It's a big gamble! I could see the likes of Rakitic moving as Sevilla are in the Europa League, safe from relegation and on the door step of a European place. Getting a chest full of cash would be useful for them for a player with 1 year left on his contract in August. Atletico won't sell Koke in January so we can ignore that, same scenario for Gundogan.

Porto would be interesting, they have some decent players available. I'd go for Sandro if we aren't confident of getting Shaw in the Summer. While Mangala would be a good addition if we're thinking of pushing Jones full time into midfield. Might be able to force PSG's hands for Matuidi considering he's out of contract in the Summer, this will be their last chance to get any kind of money for him.

There's plenty of players out there that'd improve us and would be available in January, we just shouldn't be chasing any players from clubs in the CL unless their out of contract (see Matuidi).

I could however see us getting a pre contract agreed for the end of the season for one of Koke, Gundogan etc. But i'd be more inclined to get Sandro and one of Matuidi/Rakitic first.
 
What this squad needs more than anything is for whatever midfield signing we make, be it January or July, to be a big personality. Someone who shoulder's responsibility and leads us on the pitch and can inspire those around him through his actions.

Just a small ask.
 
“I’m a spectator with responsibility, I’m a director and I want to make a contribution as a director that will play a part. We’ve got a young chief executive now who will need help, I think. And David Gill is still there to help him. We’ve got a young manager and I’m there to help him. We’ve had a lot of dialogue, David [Moyes] and I, over the last few weeks, and he’s been very, very good. He’s been very open about what his plans have been. Any help he’s needed or wanted, he’s got it there.”
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Fergie said this back in October. After the summer we have just had I think the next couple of windows is where Moyes and Woodward will need the help and guidance of Fergie and Gill most.
 
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