You forget he's 19 and a CB. He isn't reliant on pace and PSG style is much more common to him than ours. If he comes to United he has to adjust to our style(whatever it is or if we have one) and pretty much different culture than France. If your argument revolves around PSG being so far ahead of the pack then what will be the difference to going to Barca? He will be rotated there, they are way ahead than anyone else bar Real and Atletico and will still chill for 75 mins a game.
He wouldn't be a rotational player at Barcelona. They won't spend 75m on a centre back and not give him planty of games Umtiti is a crock and he'd be ahead of Lenglet.
At Barcelona he'd operate in a far superior league against teams that would test him far more frequently than what he'd face in France.
United at the moment isn't a barometer. We don't have a blueprint of how we will play and there is no stability in the development cycle for a young CB. We played a whole different bunch of formations and if our players gas out like they did after the first 2 months he'll find himself in a less suited approach to his game.
I struggle to find the "appeal" of being part of a restructure. We have been restructuring since 6 years and getting managers with polar styles leading to nowhere and ending up in worse position since restructuring. Mbappe and Neymar are hardly forgotten mate. The latter had an injury that took him out for half of the season.
French league is hardly shit. Many good players are currently playing in La Liga or EPL that developed in the French league.
Certainly agree that United are no barometer. I wasn't aiming to make that as a point because we are far behind. But the league we play in coupled with the inevitable restructure in the playing squad is a good moment for a player like De Ligt to come into. In a worst case scenario we don't cut the gap with the teams above us and De Ligt moves on to Barcelona at 22/23 years of age. We'd be a far easier club to buy from than PSG, and the Premier League experience would be a lot better for him. Just look at current PSG players who are open to moves, they'd likely have to run down their contract and leave PSG because no one can afford them (Veratti, Mbappe, Neymar). It's a sticky club to leave from.
We haven't developed a player since ages. Rashford is not really breaking strides since he broke through, Martial has gone backwards. Who is the last 19 years talent that we developed?
Man Utd's ethos is only just changing under Ole, to focus on buying potential talents and developing them. It could be argued now is the best time for a 19 year old great talent to join, because they'd get the room to make mistakes whilst getting opportunities to become a leader in the squad.
Rashford may not be making strides, but I don't think he's regressing either. Martial certainly regressed, but he's a player with systematic problems of his own and not very comparable to De Ligt. Outside of that we don't have anyone really to compare because we weren't operating in a way that would compliment a player like De Ligt - but I think we are moving that way now. AWB, James, De Ligt are all similar ages and whilst De Ligt is the most established in his potential I think AWB at least has all the potential in the world to be one of the best in his position. It wouldn't be a mountain step up from Ajax in quality, but it's a perfect transition if Barcelona is his end goal.
It just amazes me that some people (not saying you) take offence at his choice. Players don't think like fans, they generally don't care about "a challenge" or "being the guy that brings United back to its former glory", unless they have some special connection with a club. Why should they? They want to win trophies and rake in money, both of which can be achieved at PSG. It might be a red flag indeed that players want out of PSG but struggle to do so, but if he simply runs down his contract he can choose to do whatever he wants when he's 23 or 24 years old, which is still incredibly young for a CB.
Ole, De Bruyne, Aguero were all Liverpool fans growing up. I think Terry was a United fan, Carragher an Everton one, Bale an Arsenal one, ... It's just a business for them, and of course we as fans can judge them for their choices, but it doesn't tell you anything about his personality imo.
Yeah, I'm certainly not offended by his choice. I just find it odd PSG is the destination when he made it abundantly clear that development is the most vital selling point for him. Top clubs and a good step-up in salary are a given because Juve, Barcelona and ourselves were keen on him. If you rightly threw us out the equation due to the Champions League element, he would have likely developed as a player more with Juventus or Barcelona. At PSG sure he'd develop, as many players do by virtue of experience and getting older, but not as much as the other clubs.
Also I don't think he is going to PSG because he can play with Mbappe and Neymar. I don't think that's much a factor in decision making, because he can go to Barcelona and play with Frenkie, Messi Suarez etc. It's clearly money driven.
Comparing to United, whilst granting PSG are head and shoulders more established than we are, they are ultimately in a one-horse league. He'd rarely, if ever, face situations with his back against the wall needing to dig deep against teams domestically. Far less so than even during his time with Ajax. His real tests will come in the Champions League.
Not really true, considering he's coming from the Dutch league. He won't have a massive jump and get to play with some great players and learn from players like Thiago Silva. He'll also get to go pretty far in the CL and they were extremely unlucky to go out this year to us.
Weird also, as a shit tonne of players are bought from Ligue 1 and play extremely well in the top leagues. Not to mention, it's not like anyone was clamouring over Pepe before this season. I'm not sure how you think he won't develop there. He's bloody 19.
A lot of players are bought from France that fail too. There's a reason why French teams can't dominate European tournaments too. The good ones are normally bought and exit France and it's normally the lesser quality ones that remain in League 1. I'm not saying they are Dutch level of quality, but they are comfortably lower quality oppositions than La Liga, Premier League or Serie A.
Also he could hypothetically also play with Messi, rejoin Frenkie and learn from Pique's experience. I don't think rubbing shoulders with Thiago Silva the deciding factor. It all comes down to money. Money can be overlooked if he's at least joining a competitive league and taking on a challenge at a club (either having competition for his spot at Barca, or coming to a transition club like ourselves).. but he's not doing that. He's just joining a team where he can watch the game like a spectator for 90% of his league games.