That's why I really do hope we have alternatives lined up because this season is going to warrant a fair amount of good squad depth given the schedule congestion due to covid.
No chance, this will be quite the opposite really!
That doesn't mean this was the right option. It wasn't. Why should we develop a player for Madrid? We may have been relatively shit to our standards for the last few years but we aren't small time. Some of you need to get that in your heads.
United dont want to pay, that is the truth. The buy back can be negiotiated around by adding 5m or so and there were some indications that can happen but they didn't want to. Buy back is just an excuse for them so they can say we tried
Who/what are we saving the money for if not for Ole's targets in that case?
Apparently, it was David Ornstein. Laurie Whitwell, however, stated that United were involved though not of their own accord; apparently, Reguilon's agents were driving much of the negotiations, and we were happy to get involved in order to potentially get a good deal. Once Madrid started playing hardball and Spurs came in, we pulled out.
Our squad is average but our first XI can hang with most. There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the season if we can add 1 or 2. More needed to properly compete I agree.
Interesting thought. But I think your theory will be proven correct if no one else is purchased this summer. If we sign someone like telles then I would say that the buyback was the real issue.
The player does have a right to refuse. The contract between the player and the club isn't fully owned by the club (like in American sports leagues); the player has a significant amount of control over it as well. If a player says no to the club triggering a release/buyback clause, then the contract won't break. This would typically be written out into the contract to protect the player, but it's generally understood between football clubs.
It sort of feels like the agents are driving our activity more than the other way around. If a player's made available to us by an agent, that's when we start to make moves. Even then, the agents would negotiate on our behalf, which would make our activity even slower.
Or, you know, it could be the fact that he's already said that succeeding at Real Madrid is his dream and he's not willing to let go of that, so IF he develops into a world class star, even with no buyback clause, he'd force our hand to accept a Real offer, or just run down his contract and leave for Real on a free.
Nuno Mendes is the one i'd like us to get.
Unless Spurs play a back 3, which they can; Davies at LCB, Davinson Sanchez/Dier at RCB, and Alderweireld/Dier at CB.
I don't mean to be argumentative here but I think if we're worried just about keeping face and our image as "not small time" then we need to be slapped.
Thanks, makes sense although I wasn't sure as sense doesn't always seem to apply within the football world...
Brazilians have an easier time settling into the Latin countries where the language and cultural barriers aren't as large. Outside of the Latin countries, there are still a decent number of Brazilians who've come into England though most of them aren't bigger names.
I feel like it's more cultural than anything. They're used to a warm tropical climate and a certain kind of cuisine/culture and England is quite different in all those respects.
