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Raphael Varane | Signed for United!
- Thread starter davidmichael
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We haven’t won the league in nearly 10 years, and the Champions League in 14 years.
Paint it anyway you like, Real are one of the few clubs ‘bigger’ than Man Utd.
We’re in a bigger, better, league, currently much better than La Liga. That’s not “painting” anything, just reality.
He's only got to be better than Lindelof and that won't be difficult.
A new challenge often focuses people, Varane has been at Madrid a long time and won everything, he might step up a level again.
It was initially reported that we were paying 40million euros. How an extra 19 was added confuses me. I dont care at the end of the day but it does annoy me when posters pretend that getting the best possible deal doesn't matter. We are not backed by a whole country compared to City.
The last few years has cemented The premier league as the best by a distance. I agree with you that the gap will only get wider with the financial troubles currently in la liga.
Next thing is Sky will pre-empt the signing to look like they know what they’re talking about. Sky have been clueless for over a decade now.
I'd probably take Dias at 65m
More prestigious maybe, in some parts of Europe. Bigger, no. Never, hasn't been the case ever since football's been on tv.
Because he's won ......?
Varane is actually really smart. He knows Madrid is on the decline with an ageing squad and wants to ditch before its too late. Great foresight from him.
I think a lot of this is pretending Real Madrid are financially capable of keeping him and it's been deal agreed for ages. It's not a secret Madrid are in MASSIVE trouble financially- hence why they let Rodriguez go for literally nothing. They --need the money and we are probably one of the few clubs in world football today that still have -any-.
We should be able to force down the price, surely? 50mil is a joke.
I'm sure we can cope with Lindelof for one more year. Can Real afford to lose Varane for nothing next year?
I'm sure we can cope with Lindelof for one more year. Can Real afford to lose Varane for nothing next year?
On one hand it’s a muppets dream. On the other hand I’ve got a week off this week so there’s going to be some serious refreshing going on.
It’s a signing our board as always wanted to make. I don’t think they’ll risk losing this signing. Also by signing him it could be the difference to wether we win anything or not this year, which would make up for the 50 mil we’re about to spend on him. Don’t fancy seeing lindelof again for a full season.
Feck that, let’s go win something next season. Y’all trying to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Name the last time we had a chance to sign a player of this caliber for such a steal? He’d be the first £100 million CB if it wasn’t for his contract winding down. The prices being quoted are absolutely worth it
Are free transfers a myth now
It is a myth. I'll just spend a few minutes of my life writing this anyway.
If a player leaves on a Bosman/free transfer they get a massive signing on fee together with his agent. They also get a much higher salary over the course of their contract.
If they stay with their contract then it leaves them on a lower salary for a few years. A number of clubs delay renewing contracts in the hope of them signing nearer the end date. This saves giving them a higher salary and costs associated with new contracts. This policy risks players leaving on a free if they don't renew. Players agents, club accountants will crunch the numbers which of these options will be better depending on the length of the current contract, wage, and expected wage after a free transfer from both perspectives.
It's a gamble for both the player and the club. If a player waits for a free and has a bad season or a long term injury that would be a massive blow to their career and finances. Similarly, if a player signs a contract and has a long term injury the club suffers. Jones at United and Bale at Madrid are just some of the examples of how clubs can be put in a difficult situation.
Skybet joining the 90% club today clearly due to Sheth's story earlier
Is he still very good? @Brwned is sceptical and that puts me off somewhat.
The absolute state of that thread and the posts in them.
I'm still thinking its gonna fall through or its just talk in the press like we've seen many times before, would be nice for it to be done quickly now or Madrid to say something.
Also if they wait for a free, is their heart really at the club they play for as they know theyll jump ship at the end of the season. Id love to get him for free but then the likes of Juve and Bayern will come sniffing round and drive the price up for wages, agent fees and signing on fees.
Interesting to see if Pogba then signs a new deal with the club after this summers upgrades, would hate to see him leave on a free, similarly would hate to see him sign a 400k deal.
Real equally came 2nd much closer to their champions and actualky made it to the CL final, the same competition where we failed to get past the group stages, again. Having won nothing in the past 4 years in which Real have won what? 2 CL's? Come on, just come on. For sporting reasons, Real is clearly a level ahead, however United is a huge club with more financial possibilities and a nice challenge for Varane.
I hardly think he wants to move to win big competitions. I would highly doubt he would consider a move to United on the same terms. Money has to be right as well as the project.
That early promise materialised when he was named in the 2018 World Cup team of the tournament - he and Griezmann were the only two WC winners in there - and in the 2018 Ballon d'Or where he finished 7th alongside club team mates Ronaldo and Modric in the top 10, largely due to their 3rd CL in a row. He was the best defender in the world that year and had lots of imperious performances in the two biggest tournaments. The idea he was just a promising young player who lived off Madrid's prestige is ludicrous...
Actually, they generally have their best seasons in their last year. The better the performances the more clubs will bid and pay a higher salary.
The club is in a difficult position. Pay 400k over the length of his new extension, say at a cost of 80 million. If United had to replace a player of similar quality at around say 60 Million and a salary of 200k that would end up costing United 100 million over 4 years.
I'm mostly sceptical because of the big intangible: motivation. It seems obvious that Madrid and France have reached the end of their cycle, the elite players have lost that edge, and Varane's a very visible part of both. There really isn't any evidence that United has the kind of atmosphere to turn that around, and there is historical evidence that we're quite good at doing the opposite.
If he was able to get that edge back then I'd be delighted. Such a good partner for someone like Maguire on paper. But for Varane, United is a step down from Real, Manchester is a step down from Madrid, Ole is a step down from Zidane. The only thing we have in our favour at the moment is a group of players that are mostly on the up, and Varane could relish the role of leading them from challengers to winners, in a way that Ramos did for him.
The idea that he'll be motivated by a new challenge by default is just not true unfortunately. He could be coming here for a pay day, he could be coming here to have less pressure, he could just be coming here because he's being forced out and no-one else can afford him. We've had all three scenarios before with big names coming from bigger European clubs and ultimately being a disappointment as a result. I think people ignore that because accepting it would mean acknowledging the fact United are not a top-tier club for elite players outside the UK. Sir Alex recognised that and tailored his transfer strategy accordingly, since then people like Woodward have ignored that reality and been stung multiple times.
Never mind comparing Varane to Lindelof.
We were fortunate Maguire was injury-free nearly all season. Just imagine a longer-term injury for Maguire? There is no way we would have managed second place. Varane would command and replace Maguire if injured and is an upgrade on Lindelof and Bailly in the first eleven.
We were fortunate Maguire was injury-free nearly all season. Just imagine a longer-term injury for Maguire? There is no way we would have managed second place. Varane would command and replace Maguire if injured and is an upgrade on Lindelof and Bailly in the first eleven.
€58M for a defender in the final year of his deal who wants to leave? Please be true.
As for the player himself, he's great but very replaceable
Back when I was a kid, Sir Alex and his brother would pop in at the supporters club almost every year. It would be just prior preseason so they would be pretty relax at the time. Occasionally one beer lead to another and one of them would let it slip which players we were targeting and at which stage of the negotiations we are. You can imagine how we felt back in the day. If Romano is tier one then Sir Alex would be ground zero information. I mean the only guy who would have known more then him was Edwards and Sir Alex would call him 2-3 times a day.
Most of the time the information was 100% correct but you'll be surprised how many times things went wrong even when things looked done and dusted. I remember Sir Alex telling us point blank that he's set to return to Manchester on Monday (ie in 2 days time) to sign Paul Gascoigne. Guess what? It never happened.
The reason being is that even back then when football was way simpler, the transfer market was complicated. You're relying on people (United negotiators, the other club negotiators, rival clubs negotiators, the player, the agent etc) who tend to be fickle and won't always work on logic. One offer, one misplaced word or action even one extra telephone call is enough to tip a balance. I heard this story of a young kid who would later on becoming a top star. He was around 13-14 at the time so United expected the transfer to be quite straightforward. Everything proceeded just fine and the boy was close to sign with us. Turned out that his father barged into Sir Alex's office last minute and made ridiculous demands as a condition to have his son signed with us. Sir Alex sent him to feck off and that was it. Ramsey was set to sign with us. The guy was a United fan, the fee and personal terms weren't a problem and he even came to OT for a show around. Sir Alex wasn't available, captain Gaz is said to have taken over, the guy left OT and went on signing with Arsenal instead. The guy took Sir Alex's absence as a sign that United didn't want him enough. That's the fine margins transfers work in
These days things are even worse. First of all the fees and the salaries are beyond ridiculous. A top player can go for 90m + another 10m-20m signing on fee and of course another 15m-20m per year in salary for lets say 5 years. That's huge money. I was involved in big investment (although not to that amount) in a total different industry. I assure you that everything was done hush hush. Information was given on a strictly need to know basis and the prospect of someone leaking such information would be unthinkable. Imagine losing out on a 150m investment simply because someone decided to leak it out. That person would be literally burnt on the stake career wise. So this idea that there's a 28 year old Italian whose got a finger in so many pies (EPL clubs, German clubs, Spanish clubs, Italian clubs etc) is ridiculous.
What probably happens is that clubs or agents intentionally leak the information they want journalists to know for their own agenda. For example lets say there's a player who'll soon be a free agent. Tottenham had made contact a few months back but the offer was too low so the agent politely declined it. Unfortunately Spurs had never came back with a counter offer. Everyone is getting nervous at that point so the agent leaks that Manchester United had contacted him with a solid offer that is being considered right now. That is of course BS but suddenly many clubs will have a second look at the guy simply because Manchester United are doing that. Its the same with real estate. If you're interested in a house and the guy trying to sell it to you tells you that no one wants it then you'll probably not bothered about it. You'll bide your time and search for other options only to settle for that house if you don't find better. So the real estate agent guy will tell you that you better move quickly as 3 people have already given it a second look and one is set to make a bid for it. I know because I am seeking to buy a new house at the moment and strangely enough every house I visited, is in that situation right now. The rest is all hedging bets, something Romano is master in. He'll cover each and every option and he'd rely on meaningless quotes like personal terms is not a problem, United are preparing a bid, they have made direct contact, Real wants to keep the player, they'll sell if the players want to go but only at the right price which in reality is nothing but a lot of fluff.
No they didn’t. The strongest league in Europe, by some distance, had both final teams again, for the second time in 3 years, which is my point.
Varane wouldn’t be taking a step down, he’d be coming to the strongest league in Europe.
Varane is also great in the air - something Lindelof and Bailly are simply poor at. With Varane and Maguire, we will be conceding less headers for sure - and maybe also will score more of them
I agree with all of that (I think - there was a lot of it). But I think that shows that it's not a perfect science for someone like Romano and on occasion he's going to be fed some wrong information. Where we differ is that you think he has absolutely zero contact with people inside clubs where I think he obviously does.
It's a different world to the days you spoke of where Fergie or Edwards would let slip a few truths over a beer, and these journalists serve a purpose for the clubs. For every transfer where it is essential to keep things hush, there are a few other more straightforward deals where clubs can throw someone like Romano a bone in order to use them for their own agenda in the future.
There are clearly loads of spoofers, just covering all the angles and looking for clicks, but I don't see that with Romano. I don't think he's hedged his bets on this Varane deal for instance. He has just released what he's heard as he's heard it, firstly that Varane was our first choice, then that Varane was interested in a new challenge and signing for United, and then that Madrid were prepared to negotiate.
I love that Fergie and Edwards story by the way. Sure beats my memories of following United transfer deals on Teletext during rainy summer days. I'll never forget refreshing the page to check had Ronaldinho signed and the shock of seeing the Barca headline pop up!
The Premier League is a clear step UP from La Liga, and now with the financial problems in La Liga and the financial strength of the Premier League, that step is likely to grow in the coming years.
Stop pretending it’s 2018, it’s not, one league is massively in the ascendancy, the other on a downward spiral.
Yeah it was like 300k profit which is amazing in comparison to Barca. And yeah most of their debt is long term related to their stadium development.
He's great in the air in Spain though. Different beast than the PL. Still though, he should be able to compete,hold his own and not be targeted like Lindelof was.
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