Rate our (extended) Summer 2020 Transfer Window

Rate United's summer transfer window

  • Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!

    Votes: 161 34.0%

  • Displeased, but could be worse considering the circumstances.

    Votes: 193 40.8%

  • Some good and some bad, can't complain. Solid 5/10?

    Votes: 83 17.5%

  • I'm quite content, a distinctly positive window.

    Votes: 30 6.3%

  • Ecstatic, one of the best in recent memory!!

    Votes: 6 1.3%
  • Total voters
    473
  • Poll closed .
Mixed feelings overall.

Donny van de Beek is, for all intents and purposes, a good attacking midfielder. He should be miles better than Lingard or Pereira so we can rotate Bruno and Pogba more, or send him on to try and change a game. Bit expensive for a squad player.

Telles I've seen play probably three times. But he's an attacking full-back and we're short on those so I'm hopeful about him.

Cavani... meh. It's a (relatively) low risk, low reward thing at this moment. He'll cost around €10m to €15m a year and after not having played a professional game of football for six months, it will take a time before he's ready to even play. He's been clearly on the decline so I don't expect anything spectacular from him. Looks a panic buy mostly, let's be honest.

Pellistri - cheap punt on young talent. I have no issue with those but he's exceedingly unlikely to have an impact on the first team this season.

Diallo - not-so-cheap punt on a young talent who definitely won't have an impact on the first before January. Still, I don't mind it - I'd rather have these signings than more Di Marías and Sánchezes.

We haven't signed a starting RW, we haven't upgraded on Matic, we haven't strengthened the CB position. Our squad is clearly stronger than at the start of last season but that was true at the beginning of the transfer window.
 
This club is crying out for a director of football or whatever fancy name you want to give it, it needs a football man/women in place to run the football side of the business, not a bunch of bankers and lawyers ffs,

There is no real plan, , no authority or leader or direction in place with us, we just flap about for 8 weeks and then in the last 24 hours pretend we are good at transfers and buy players that were probably so far down a list of others in the last second already 4 games into a season and pretend that everything is fine.

I look at VDB even, good player, he really is and i know everyone mentions squad depth which is of course a good point but was he really a priority ? I wouldn't mind him if it was after we secured our main targets but we needed first team players ! We needed a RW, a new CDM , a new CB to walk into this starting 11 and did not achieve any !?

We needed Sancho, Upamecano and Saul , now that would have been ambition after securing UCL, but yet here we are about to endure a very tough season due to the idiots who run this club and ultimately Ole will pay the price.
 
MaxiPaxi said:
Why are people harping on about Cavani. I’m convinced now people only see the name and instantly think he’ll be good. He’s a massive, massive gamble.

No doubt he’ll be on big wages. 9 million quid to his agent. Probably another 9 as a signing on fee. He scored 7 goals last season in a team that’s head and shoulders above anyone in their respective league.

I’d have been excited about this signing if he was 5-6 years younger. He’s a 33 year old dude who hasn’t played in 7 months.
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I don’t see how it’s a a gamble when’s clearly not coming in to be first choice. We are hoping he’s better than Ighalo. That’s it.
 
Osobia said:
Do you really think all that is reasonable with today's climate?
People who expected a window THAT good were bound for dissapointment.
7/10 window. I'm happy and I think Telles and Cavani are excellent additions. Cavani is going to be Ibra 2.0 and will help the attacking youngsters in the team.
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I think we can afford to spend like that given we have a lowish net spend year on year but i dont have access to united books so cannot be certain. I definitely did not expect it though, i think the way the board conduct business is amature. I am glad you are happy to be honest, personally, it just not measure up. We badly need a right winger for now, maybe Pellistri hits the ground running, but the probability of that is low given his age and experience. I like the Cavani signing too but I see it as a nice to have rather than what we desperately needed. I dont think we addressed what we to, in fact i don't think we ever do.
 
Gobsmacked, it is hard envisaging it being done any worse in advance. Not really putting much thought into the youngsters, as they will not play for the here and now. Hopefully they become something in the future, time will show.

We have not shown intent, we have not taken advantage of the market to become better, relatively speaking we have once again failed to catch up whilst letting the clubs below us do exactly that. It should not be possible given the privileged position we are in - it is just difficult to both grasp and explain. Man Utd is no longer what it used to be, our advantage does no longer exist.

The worst and utmost important aspect is that after yet another window/opportunity, Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard are important squad players still and are players we need to put faith in when players are injured, suspended and fatigued. This mere fact is a sackable offense, I just can’t accept any rational behind it. Last year we brought in an incapable Daniel James as the only offensive recruit and we are suffering immensely from it.

I was absolutely certain of a top 4 given the obvious signings we would/should make this year, but now it’s looking distant. We are perhaps not even good enough for top 4 even on merit, even with a better manager.
 
Mixed feelings:

If we had signed Pellistri and Diallo earlier in the window it wouldnt have such a bad taste and reek of panic buying.

Leaving 4 deals until the final day just highlights how utterly useless our board is. I've been vocal regarding our lack of planning and our need for structural change behind the scenes (DOF etc)

So at the beginning of the window I genuinely thought we would try and improve and make a big statement.
I was expecting big out-goings:
Smalling/Sanchez/Rojo/Romero/Jones/Lingard/Periera

We was linked to just about every player at one point which is par for the course but anyone can see the lack of a plan going into the window cost us dearly.

Donny - Great signing. Adds quality to midfield which we lack. Can play as a AM and CM. Will be a success if we play him
Diallo - Unknown. Big punt on an untried youngster. The kind of signing we crave as fans but we are rightly dubious - I doubt anyone knows much about him.
Pellistri - See above but much lower risk as the cost is low.
Cavani - I'm pretty furious with this one. He's not played since March, had injury woes, is 33. On huge wages and we waited until the last day to bag a free transfer. Not exactly an inspiring signing - could have got him early doors and got him match sharp. Will happily be proven wrong. Makes me question why we extended Ighalo - unnecessary wages being blown there for no reason it seems
Telles - Solid signing. He looks to be a different LB to Shaw and will add quality depth - no more Williams at LB can only be good as he isnt a natural LB and slows us down with his constant cutting in. When I have seen him for Porto I haven't been blown away but he certainly improves our squad.

To sign 4 of your 5 additions on the final day is hugely concerning. The fact we've missed out on our top targets and not improved the weakest areas of our team also doesn't bode well for this season.

Ultimately - this window we needed top class additions for RW and CB. We haven;t done that. We've bombed in the two areas we need improvement in the most. I'm happy we have improved the cover for LB and CM/AM and Cavani may prove useful but to neglect RW and CB is criminal.

Pellistri may hit the ground running but i;m dubious. Happy to give the lad a chance.

The Sancho pursuit has ruined our window ultimately, while I believe we have scouted the players we've brought in - we've had to act sharpish and rush the deals somewhat.

I can somewhat understand why Jones, Lingard and Rojo have stayed as they are beyond deadwood - there's just no interest. We need to cut our losses and let them go and get them off the wage bill. Romero i feel for as well - club has been pretty classless with his treatment, out of respect we need to get him a perm move

I feel for Ole too - he already has a disjointed squad and the fan base will be on the team and the club after a poor transfer window coupled with recent results.

Can you imagine the targets Ole wanted compared to what Ed has given him? Jesus, Ole has a hard job.

But if we look at the squad overall and use it well - we can have a good season. We have some excellent players, most of which are still developing.
We need to come together - if the team play as a team and improve they're workrate and desire to win games and don't give up then we can play some good football and have a good crack this season.

If Telles bombs on and gets as many assist as he did for Porto thats an instant improvement, Cavani is a work horse so lets hope he stays fit and pushes Martial.

If Rashford hits forms and stays fit he's a proper player, Greenwood is clinical. We can have reasons to be positive despite the boards efforts this transfer window
 
Not too bad in my opinion, but a clear statement that we are not pushing for the title this season, and that this year is one of consolidation/ staying in the top 4 and not much more than that. Have some fun in the CL, try to get into the early phase knockout stages. No major ambition.

In contrast, Chelsea, who finished last season pretty much level with us, have gone balls deep in the market and signalled their intention to challenge for the title.

A lot of our lack of spending may be Covid related, in fairness.
 
I‘d say 3/10 max.

Donny is a great player, but the midfielder we would have needed he is not. If the plan is to sell Pogba next summer I will say well done to get him in now.
Telles should be a useful addition, second choice or not.
Cavani should be an upgrade on Ighalo (not very difficult) as bench option, but we might see him playing more than we expect.
No idea about the 2 youngsters. If we had a decent scouting department like other big clubs I would be excited but knowing our club these might just be shots in the dark.

In the end we have not fixed our biggest issues.
Looking at the arrivals and the ignorance of bringing in a decent winger I got a strong feeling we might see a lot of 5 at the back or a diamond.
 
Hated the last ditch PR move to win the fans.

Tried to sign Sancho without realistic budget until the end of the season and then that lost to Tottenham really put the pressure to keep the fans happy.

Failed to sign Dembele, then maybe Pellistri and Amad was planned for many years of scouting, but not this window. They pulled the trigger just to calm the fans down.
 
It could have been worse. Every year we give out about spending far too much money on over hyped players (Maguire, Di Maria, Pogba) and how we are rinsed clean, while other teams buy cheap alternatives and get great value.

Telles, VDB and the two youngsters could be shrewd signings. Cavani I am less than impressed by, he may be worth it, but he hasn't played for a long time and the wages he is on just makes the deal sound stupid.

I know everyone isn't happy with the defence, but we spent 130 on it last year and it is down to the manager to get the best out of those players he invested heavily upon.
 
Loads wont agree with me about this window but if that list of players had Sancho on it too I would be buzzing . But it doesn't have Sancho on it So if we take that into account I'm Ok with the transfers ,although I am not ok with how shambolic we looked trying to get players in last minute .

VdB - I haven't made it a secret that I am a big fan of this guy . he is quality and in my opinion should be a starter pretty soon .

Cavani - Direct replacement for Igahlo . And let's be honest he is head and shoulders above Igahlo . This one may surprise people .

Telles - Good attacking FB that can cross a ball and link with A striker that's good in the Air ( We have one of them now )

Traore and Pellistri - So for years I have read on here that we need to sign the next Messi. Apparently these two are really highly rated so I'm very excited to see them in the next couple of years add to that some of the talent we have like Mengi and Greenwood and the future should be very exciting if these young guns live up to their potential .

Willy - Academy player with the other couple that were brought in , good luck to them all .

Do I think our approach is shambolic- Absolutely .we reeked of desperation, Ed is not the man or Judge .

Will this cost Ole his Job - Maybe ,unless he can gel all this together. Some good players in this squad but getting the balance will be difficult .

Sancho - This for me would have been the ideal signing but alas . I'm not sure any player is worth 120M in the current climate and maybe we wait to see how the pandemic plays out over the next 6months and this may have been part of it too . Do we see One of Greenwood, Traore or Pellistri becoming our version of him ? who knows. But sadly I think this ship has sailed .

so overall 6 out of 10 for me .

I am excited about the Youngsters and hopefully we can get VdB into the team soon .
 
UNITED ACADEMY said:
If Ed & Matt knew it's impossible to sign Sancho this year long back during or after the lockdown pandemic or at least August, I'm sure Ole would have an alternative plan what to do in transfer window. Bayern moved on quickly by saying they won't sign Perisic permanently while Real Madrid made it clear to Zidane that they couldn't afford to spend money to sign player this summer, this quick decision from their board made the manager's job easier. They are successful football clubs because they are well organised properly.
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Agree with this, seems as if Woodward and Judge knew all along that they weren't going to buy Sancho but they were not honest with Ole. I think the target was to have a low net spend this window and as such they didn't give Ole the time and space to formulate an alternative plan without Sancho.

If they had told Ole that Sancho was a no go then maybe we could have spent on defensive improvements like Partey and a CB in addition to Telles. Overall that would have been enough to make us solid defensively such that we could win games without needing to score three or more goals.

Ole has been royally shafted by these clowns.
 
The new signings offer lot of different variation in attack.

Our attackers were just pure flair & pace. Cavani added the physical strength, aerial duel, aggressiveness & pure goal instinct something that we never had.

We never have attacking full back to provide creativity on width. Telles added the creativity and imo this is a very good additional to our squad as well as likely an upgrade of Shaw.

People were moaning about the lack of depth squad and what will happen if Bruno or Pogba got injured. Donny is just a good additional for it.

The disappointed obviously no new centre back and also top class winger, these two are needed to provide balance in our XI. I wouldn't include the two teenager wingers we just signed as I don't expect them to make impact straight away (though one of them will only be able to join us in January). But our bench look better now, we finally have attacking full back that can assist and cross, and we also have plan B to change the game when needed. 5/10 or 6/10 on paper, just meh but interesting to see how it will work out.
 
5/10... but could be a fair bit better depending on how Diallo and Pellistri develop.

Mind you I would lay a bet that if we had started the season better, publicly written off the Sancho chase earlier, and brought these players in, people would be being a lot more positive.

I am pleased we have bought a left-back who can offer more in attack; that was sadly lacking last year... plus this year Luke Shaw seems to have forgotten that he is a left back. It will be interesting to see if Williams or Laird get some chances on the right, too. I still like AWB and he can I hope get better going forward but we need an option who is now, especially for the cups etc.

I see Van de Beek as a bit of a luxury purchase, but could be a nice replacement for Pogba if we sell him next summer which I am increasingly hoping we do. Cavani is a good option for the attack I think, and though obviously I know little about the youngsters I like the policy we are pursuing of getting the best young talent into the club early on.

One of the main reasons for the low mark has been a disappointing failure to move players on. Romero, Jones, Rojo, Lingard, James, Mata could all have gone with pretty much no impact to our ability to compete. Dalot and Pereira are only on loan. I also would have been quite open to a bigger refresh with De Gea and Pogba both sold, but I guess this was always unlikely this summer.

I have no idea about CB, and haven't for years. It feels like all the players we have are ok, but a notch below the standard we really need, and I would include Maguire in that. I still have high hopes for Axel Tuanzebe though, and maybe Teden Mengi too. Maguire for £80m was a big mistake I think, we could have Upamecano at the club if we hadn't done that and I think he will be class... though who knows?

Defensive midfield remains a bit of a concern for similar reasons. Matic is good and hardly ever gives the ball away but is not dynamic enough. Fred is dynamic but loses the ball too often. Ideally we need to fuse these two together somehow and have Fredic in the team. McTominay is decent but needs regular games to develop and is not really a defensive player. Pogba doesn't look right at the moment and obviously isn't defensively minded. And here our young players like Garner and Levitt are clearly not ready.
 
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4-5/10, if we managed to get a CB it would have been a solid 7, really wish we got Koulibaly.

Cavani: World Class striker, upgrade on Ighalo

Telles: Attacking LB, upgrade on Shaw (at least in the final third)

VDB: Attacking Midfielder, upgrade on Lingard/Perreira and can play in different positions

Pellistri/Diallo: Too early to tell but seems like a welcome addition to our youth system with other clubs being linked to them

Outs:

Perreira/Sanchez: Finally
Smalling: Good deal for us
Dalot: Never cut it here unfortunately, was expecting him to nail down the RB position given all the hype around him, hope he can get some form in AC Milan and come back stronger, or simply we sell end of this season.
Chong: Loan deal that would improve him as a player and get him more game time.
Gomes: Weird one, for a player that we all been raving out in the academy, something really bad must have happened down the line for Ole and co to pull the plug on him.

My main issue with our transfer activity was us not putting a huge effort to get rid/terminate contracts of the fringe players (Jones, Rojo, Lingard, Romero) to free up some resources for other players but with the economical situation and covid, it was understandable nobody wants to pay for below-par players.
 
Absolutely pathetic to have 4 months of transfer window, only to do 4/5 deals on the very last day. VDB looks a solid buy. Should be starting ahead of Pogba, but won't. Excited to finally have a left back who knows how to attack. Cavani? Literally nobody was asking for him. Could turn out to be a great addition, or another complete duffer. Looking forward to seeing Diallo but I fear that his arrival in January will be an excuse for us to do no business in that window. Yet another window goes by without us moving on the likes of Rojo, Jones, Lingard etc. 4/10.
 
Football365 have us as their biggest loser - https://www.football365.com/news/pr...indow-losers-manchester-united-woodward-dyche

Manchester United
It was July 5 when Borussia Dortmund’s decision to impose a deadline on the sale of Jadon Sancho first became public knowledge. Manchester United had, by all accounts, agreed personal terms with the player, giving them five weeks to choose between two options: decide on the structure of a fee the German club had made explicitly clear they would not deviate from; or move on.

They went for neither. Manchester United ignored that message. Manchester United issued updates of Sancho’s desperation to join to a media cabal all too happy to be strung along. Manchester United leaked an endless stream of alternative targets to try and pressure Dortmund. Manchester United resisted making a bid for fear of how rejection would look. Manchester United assumed their interest and presence at the negotiating table would be enough to have a Champions League side bend to their whims.

Their response was equal parts arrogance and ineptitude. For a club that has long lamented the fact other teams try to take advantage of them in the transfer market, they provided a compelling, months-long case as to why.

This is a side that entered this summer needing a centre-half, a holding midfielder and a right-winger, who had the benefit of seeing those deficiencies thoroughly exposed at the start of a dreadful season with time remaining to address them, who embarked on a deadline day panic akin to the sort they themselves induced in Arsene Wenger almost a decade ago, who still managed to stumble out of the transfer window with none of their problem positions solved, while providing the manager enough rope to finish the job.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has yet to even start the only player Manchester United had signed before Monday. Donny van de Beek was a great purchase, the only member of this squad who had enjoyed a full pre-season – a Champions League semi-finalist and Europa League runner-up. But he has done little more than adorn the bench at a time his new club desperately needs an injection of inspiration and something different.

It is not difficult to see the reasoning behind his signing, nor that of Edinson Cavani. He is an improvement on Odion Ighalo and can aid the development of the club’s young forwards. But he was released in July; if he was ever a serious Manchester United target, why the three-month wait to sign him?

Amad Diallo, Facundo Pellistri and Alex Telles similarly have their uses in this squad but one will join in January, another has been supposedly tracked for a year on the recommendation of sacked former Penarol manager Diego Forlan and still bought only mere hours before the deadline, the other excels going forward but less so in defence, and none genuinely improve the starting XI enough to make their arrivals worthwhile in isolation.

None of those five signings would have been within Solskjaer’s top 20 or so ideal targets this transfer window. If they had it would not have taken so long to get them, nor required an embarrassing result at home to a direct rival to force interest to the surface. But there is a blatant disconnect between what the manager says in public and what the club does in private. As understandable as some of that is – it is often necessary to keep face and retain a sense of unity – it jars with what is happening at every other team around them.

Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Leeds, Leicester, Sheffield United, Tottenham: clubs at opposite ends of the Premier League spectrum but each of whom have displayed trust in their manager by emphatically delivering what has been requested. United have shown the opposite. They would have signed Sancho if they had believed in Solskjaer. They would have gift-wrapped the one player the world knew he wanted. They would have found the money, the will and the way to swallow their pride and meet Dortmund’s ultimatum instead of using it as a convenient smokescreen to stumble through yet another aimless, wasted transfer window.

This transfer window has amounted to little more than a vote of no confidence in the man in charge.
 
No Sancho - 0/10

Donny van de Beek - Very happy with him, huge upgrade on Pereira and Lingard. Still young and can hopefully replace Pogba. 8/10

Alex Telles - Never heard of him before. Supposed to be decent to pretty good. Looking at his wiki page he has 13 goals last season, 2 this one. 7/10

Edinson Cavani - Meh.. old, past it, injuries, high wages. It's still hopefully a version of Cavani, we'll see. 2 years older, but probably better than Ighalo, at least. 6/10

Amad Diallo (2021) - Never heard of him. Supposed to be very talented. Great. 6/10

Facundo Pellistri - Never heard of him. Know nothing about him. ?/10

Overall 5/10
 
You really are a spoiled club. Get a bunch of new and talented players and are still crying. You should see what's like being a supporter of Ultimate Strikers and having your best players dying of Malaria or something! yet they keep on smiling, day in, day out...
 
Annihilate Now! said:
Football365 have us as their biggest loser - https://www.football365.com/news/pr...indow-losers-manchester-united-woodward-dyche

Manchester United
It was July 5 when Borussia Dortmund’s decision to impose a deadline on the sale of Jadon Sancho first became public knowledge. Manchester United had, by all accounts, agreed personal terms with the player, giving them five weeks to choose between two options: decide on the structure of a fee the German club had made explicitly clear they would not deviate from; or move on.

They went for neither. Manchester United ignored that message. Manchester United issued updates of Sancho’s desperation to join to a media cabal all too happy to be strung along. Manchester United leaked an endless stream of alternative targets to try and pressure Dortmund. Manchester United resisted making a bid for fear of how rejection would look. Manchester United assumed their interest and presence at the negotiating table would be enough to have a Champions League side bend to their whims.

Their response was equal parts arrogance and ineptitude. For a club that has long lamented the fact other teams try to take advantage of them in the transfer market, they provided a compelling, months-long case as to why.

This is a side that entered this summer needing a centre-half, a holding midfielder and a right-winger, who had the benefit of seeing those deficiencies thoroughly exposed at the start of a dreadful season with time remaining to address them, who embarked on a deadline day panic akin to the sort they themselves induced in Arsene Wenger almost a decade ago, who still managed to stumble out of the transfer window with none of their problem positions solved, while providing the manager enough rope to finish the job.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has yet to even start the only player Manchester United had signed before Monday. Donny van de Beek was a great purchase, the only member of this squad who had enjoyed a full pre-season – a Champions League semi-finalist and Europa League runner-up. But he has done little more than adorn the bench at a time his new club desperately needs an injection of inspiration and something different.

It is not difficult to see the reasoning behind his signing, nor that of Edinson Cavani. He is an improvement on Odion Ighalo and can aid the development of the club’s young forwards. But he was released in July; if he was ever a serious Manchester United target, why the three-month wait to sign him?

Amad Diallo, Facundo Pellistri and Alex Telles similarly have their uses in this squad but one will join in January, another has been supposedly tracked for a year on the recommendation of sacked former Penarol manager Diego Forlan and still bought only mere hours before the deadline, the other excels going forward but less so in defence, and none genuinely improve the starting XI enough to make their arrivals worthwhile in isolation.

None of those five signings would have been within Solskjaer’s top 20 or so ideal targets this transfer window. If they had it would not have taken so long to get them, nor required an embarrassing result at home to a direct rival to force interest to the surface. But there is a blatant disconnect between what the manager says in public and what the club does in private. As understandable as some of that is – it is often necessary to keep face and retain a sense of unity – it jars with what is happening at every other team around them.

Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Leeds, Leicester, Sheffield United, Tottenham: clubs at opposite ends of the Premier League spectrum but each of whom have displayed trust in their manager by emphatically delivering what has been requested. United have shown the opposite. They would have signed Sancho if they had believed in Solskjaer. They would have gift-wrapped the one player the world knew he wanted. They would have found the money, the will and the way to swallow their pride and meet Dortmund’s ultimatum instead of using it as a convenient smokescreen to stumble through yet another aimless, wasted transfer window.

This transfer window has amounted to little more than a vote of no confidence in the man in charge.
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I agree word for word. So depressing.
 
That article in Football365 sums things up nicely. An awful window for us and a terrible one for Ole.

It looks even worse when you compare it to the business done by Chelsea, Tottenham, and Arsenal. I had a look at odds checker and we are now 6th favorite to make the top 4. Given that the season is so intense, clubs without European commitments may be at an advantage so I wouldn't put it past Everton or even Leeds to be in the mix. Wolves and Leicester are better managed than us so they also have a good shot at top 6.

I think we will struggle.
 
Not happy at all with this really.

It feels like ole has been thrown under the bus here, and the Glazers / Woodward are prepping for that vicious cycle of fcking up things themselves and sacking the manager and putting a rebuilding spin on it to the fans. Does anyone else feel like these signings, that none of them were on Ole's preferred list at all?

Telles - honestly dont know enough about him, heard he's alright, not amazing. Read hes not the quickest, but seems to get plenty assists in there (but so did AWB)

Pellestri - doesnt matter, wont play. we need people to improve our first team now. The kid could turn out good, but thats no good to Ole if he'll prob b sacked by the time he does come good

Traore - Again, wont be here til Jan, and prob wont play too much. I heard good things, but again, Ole needs first team improvements now, not down the line.

Cavani - massive gamble. I always liked him, was a great player, but we know hes been off the mark a bit for a few seasons now. Potential to have the negative effect behind the scenes Sanchez did with with the big wages etc. Plus he hasnt played in months. Hope he hits the ground running but im very skeptical. It screams Panic buy / shirt seller by Woodward. if United always wanted him they would have signed him a long time ago since he has been a free agent. Says it all really. This type of signing seems to go against what Ole has been building. last minute panic scramble that Ole had no say in i think.

Van de Beek - looks quality, I quite like this signing. Seemed a strange buy though since the priorities were clearly in other positions (CB /RW)


Apart from VDB, the window sums up the failures and Glazers / Woodward / Judge's incompetence. Pissing about for a long long time on a deal they should have walked away from a long time ago if it was unrealistic. Made look fools in the end up by Dortmund as they thought Dortmund would be weak and cave at the last minute. And have left no time to work on the other targets, therefore we see what we got yesterday. A bit of panic scramble.

Unorganised. incompetent. Put many people off dealing with the club in the future. Anyone of us in our everyday job performs in the same manner we would likely be sacked for simply not doing our job right. These lads seem to be immune to that. More effort will be put into the PR spin off the back of this, than into doing deals efficiently and respectfully. Clowns
 
  • Donny van de Beek: not too happy. I'm not sure he'll improve us. Would have tried to get Grealish if we weren't to get Sancho.
  • Alex Telles: happy, he'll be fine.
  • Edinson Cavani: mixed feelings, but he's better than Ighalo and is a fighter. We need character.
  • Amad Diallo (2021): Seems an absolute talent.
  • Facundo Pellistri: Can't judge him.
Overall, quite happy. 6/10. We signed a lot of exciting prospects too, such as Big Willy. Next summer, get a CB, CM and Sancho and we are set.
 
One of the worst in recent memory IMO. No RW, no DM, no CB. Probably the three areas where we most needed strengthening. Happy with Telles though, excited to see him.
 
EireRed_GS said:
Not happy at all with this really.

It feels like ole has been thrown under the bus here, and the Glazers / Woodward are prepping for that vicious cycle of fcking up things themselves and sacking the manager and putting a rebuilding spin on it to the fans. Does anyone else feel like these signings, that none of them were on Ole's preferred list at all?

Telles - honestly dont know enough about him, heard he's alright, not amazing. Read hes not the quickest, but seems to get plenty assists in there (but so did AWB)

Pellestri - doesnt matter, wont play. we need people to improve our first team now. The kid could turn out good, but thats no good to Ole if he'll prob b sacked by the time he does come good

Traore - Again, wont be here til Jan, and prob wont play too much. I heard good things, but again, Ole needs first team improvements now, not down the line.

Cavani - massive gamble. I always liked him, was a great player, but we know hes been off the mark a bit for a few seasons now. Potential to have the negative effect behind the scenes Sanchez did with with the big wages etc. Plus he hasnt played in months. Hope he hits the ground running but im very skeptical. It screams Panic buy / shirt seller by Woodward. if United always wanted him they would have signed him a long time ago since he has been a free agent. Says it all really. This type of signing seems to go against what Ole has been building. last minute panic scramble that Ole had no say in i think.

Van de Beek - looks quality, I quite like this signing. Seemed a strange buy though since the priorities were clearly in other positions (CB /RW)


Apart from VDB, the window sums up the failures and Glazers / Woodward / Judge's incompetence. Pissing about for a long long time on a deal they should have walked away from a long time ago if it was unrealistic. Made look fools in the end up by Dortmund as they thought Dortmund would be weak and cave at the last minute. And have left no time to work on the other targets, therefore we see what we got yesterday. A bit of panic scramble.

Unorganised. incompetent. Put many people off dealing with the club in the future. Anyone of us in our everyday job performs in the same manner we would likely be sacked for simply not doing our job right. These lads seem to be immune to that. More effort will be put into the PR spin off the back of this, than into doing deals efficiently and respectfully. Clowns
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Same every transfer window. Now it will be, change the manager, and start again.
 
onemanarmy said:
  • Donny van de Beek: not too happy. I'm not sure he'll improve us. Would have tried to get Grealish if we weren't to get Sancho.
  • Alex Telles: happy, he'll be fine.
  • Edinson Cavani: mixed feelings, but he's better than Ighalo and is a fighter. We need character.
  • Amad Diallo (2021): Seems an absolute talent.
  • Facundo Pellistri: Can't judge him.
Overall, quite happy. 6/10. We signed a lot of exciting prospects too, such as Big Willy. Next summer, get a CB, CM and Sancho and we are set.
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Who's "Big Willy" .
 
I don't really include the young lads as part of the transfer window. Such players are part of a separate process.

We've strengthened our depth with VDB and Telles who are two decent signings. Cavani fills a whole and while I'm not over the moon with it there is some logic to it.

Depth was apparently the thing holding Ole back so that's that resolved. Let's see if he can improve our performances now. I'm hoping we don't see fans suddenly just add to the players supposedly not good enough for Ole to use.
 
My only question is, where can the jadon Sancho Support Group members seek help now that the thread is closed?
 
On paper it might not look terrible but it's no secret the window only ended in a flurry because we were in a mad panic.

I think the overarching feeling is still one of frustration. We spectacularly messed up the Sancho deal and didn't start exploring alternatives until it was already too late. Now our hopes hinge on a couple of teenagers with very limited experience hitting the ground running.
 
5/10 This transfer window was a mess and clearly wasn't plan A, B or C. On reflection though I'm quite happy we didn't spend the money on Sancho. We've bought other players previously with great stats from Dortmund that haven't worked out (Mkhitaryan and Kagawa), there's no guarantee that Sancho would've been fantastic.

Fans moan when we don't buy the big name players and fans moan when we spend big money on English players instead of using our scouts, so it's a lose, lose situation. Hopefully Armadillo and Pellistri can prove fans wrong and be the next big thing.

My only disappointment is that we didn't spend the 'Sancho money' on a CB or CDM. Maybe the bloated squad is why we didn't. Cavani as no.7 is a joke tbh.
 
BigBebe said:
That article in Football365 sums things up nicely. An awful window for us and a terrible one for Ole.

It looks even worse when you compare it to the business done by Chelsea, Tottenham, and Arsenal. I had a look at odds checker and we are now 6th favorite to make the top 4. Given that the season is so intense, clubs without European commitments may be at an advantage so I wouldn't put it past Everton or even Leeds to be in the mix. Wolves and Leicester are better managed than us so they also have a good shot at top 6.

I think we will struggle.
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Agree with this, it's not just the fact we haven't done good business (outgoings too!) it's the fact that so many mid table teams have done such good business and improved.

We are in danger of becoming too static as we are not transitioning the squad to a good enough level to compete for even top 4.

Everton - Outstanding window.
Arsenal - Outstanding window - Partey will make a hell of a difference to them
Spurs - Good window, playing well and Bale hasnt got on the pitch yet
Chelsea - Outstanding window is they can all gel. Form seems erratic, we are lucky they got Lampard as manager really
Leicester - Solid window. Not done major business but they're a good outfit anyway
Wolves - Lost Doherty but still look good.

Going to be a right battle to even compete for top 4 - we need to hit some form and soon
 
It's a weird one. If after the seville game I was told we'd sign Telles, van de beek, and cavani and 2 prospects id have been happy.

After the start to the season it doesn't feel enough. The regression of the defence is alarming. While not top level last seasons defence was good enough to improve from. This season it feels like full overhaul needed
 
Main issue for me was the shambolic way we appeared to conduct our business. A truly ridiculous pursuit of Sancho and then the rush for our deadline day signings. Was it a panic due to failing on other targets we assumed we’d get? Was it a strategy by the accountants trying to be clever by saving money by holding off till last minute? Who knows for sure. It makes us look chaotic and disorganised and doesn’t help the manager or the team though.

The players may go on to do an excellent job but they probably need time to settle, especially the Uruguayan kid. With luck Telles and Cavani can hit the ground running.
 
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