United in this Summer transfer window
- Thread starter LawCharltonBest
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We also had Rooney to play in RvPs position too though and let's not forget he had scored 34 goals that season and we had bought Kagawa presumably to play in behind him.
Who would have put the number 10 position as a key area Arsenal needed to strengthen? I wouldn't, but Özil is a massive boost for them. The players have been waxing lyrical about it and the fans are completely off Wenger's beck (despite that he's spent less than the previous two summers) and its generally created a lot of optimism.
I'm not necessarily saying we should have bought him but Fergie always said you make room for special players when they become available so I don't think what we already have is an excuse or not buying him because he's an upgrade on the players we have there.
Ozil of course is the better playmaker while Rooney is the better Striker/goalscorer...
but now we'll see whats Ozil made of. This is not LFP and he is not at RM anymore. His stats will start dropping for sure.
but now we'll see whats Ozil made of. This is not LFP and he is not at RM anymore. His stats will start dropping for sure.
Wayne Rooney staying on at Manchester United was the key to summer transfer activity at Old Trafford
The transfer window closed for Manchester United with a sense of calm.
True the club had failed in bids for Cesc Fabregas and Leighton Baines — their two top targets – but the best piece of business was, according to senior sources, keeping Wayne Rooney.
“If you had been able to click your fingers on the day the transfer window opened and told us that when it closed Wayne Rooney would still be at the club, and nothing else would happen, then we would have absolutely taken that,” said one source.
“He was the biggest concern we had and it was the number one focus for several key people at the club.”
The source added: “Chelsea were unbelievably serious about trying to get him. They had heard that the player was going to try and see what was out there at the end of last season and wanted to make sure that if he left it was to join them.”
But United had no intention of selling. Two bids were rejected but, as they toyed with a third, of up to £40million, Chelsea came to realise it was not going to happen even if Jose Mourinho mischievously waited until after the two sides met at Old Trafford — on August 26 – before he confirmed that fact.
It is remarkable that, once again, Rooney has been the dominant English footballer going into a season. Dominant not just because of his ability, which he has at times struggled to fully exploit, through fitness and other issues, but also in terms of the talking points and headlines he has generated.
That ability is not questioned — the application of it sometimes is – although United do not subscribe to the school of thought that after nine years it might have been in the club’s and player’s interests for him to move on.
Maybe if he was sold abroad, if that craved interest from Barcelona or Bayern Munich had materialised, United may have thought differently. But they had no intention of allowing Rooney to remain in the Premier League if he did not remain with them.
Hopefully that faith — and the measured approach of United’s new manager David Moyes, who spoke about helping Rooney break the club’s goalscoring records but also the need for him to get back to the “level” he can achieve, will be vindicated. Certainly Rooney appears calmer than during the summer.
The determination to keep Rooney is why United showed no interest in Mesut Ozil when he was offered to them weeks ago before he joined Arsenal last Monday — not even inquiring about the price and certainly not making an offer — or Willian when he was made available by Anzhi Makhachkala.
Instead, for Moyes, Rooney was to be his first-choice number 10 — the main playmaker with the team-strengthening priorities in other areas. United now hope — and believe — that they have not only convinced Rooney it is in his best interests to stay but that he will further his career with them.
That “focus” on Rooney, however, did not distract from other business. The planning for the next transfer window — and, more crucially, the next one after — started last week immediately after this window closed. There will be no inquest, as none is felt needed. Far from being a chaotic failure, as some have suggested, United are pleased with their work. Time will tell.
There are still those clear plans as to where the club wants to strengthen: central midfield, left-back and, eventually, a top-quality central defender with Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic well into their thirties and their understudies suffering from injuries. United will also investigate as to whether there are any “top stars” who can be dislodged. The club is keen to flex its financial muscle. But only for the right player.
There have been suggestions that United now need a director of football but there is no inclination at the club to follow this route. David Moyes, with the mandate of a six-year contract, has been given the responsibility of who to sell and who to buy with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward then tasked with negotiating the deals. That traditional approach, which United claim shows huge faith in the manager, and also a commitment that he is in the job for the long haul, will continue.
Certainly the unique nature of this window — with a rush of money from the new television deal inflating prices and Moyes not in place until July 1 — affected matters. United did not want to impose players on the new manager, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s plans, so he started with a clean slate — while the club also believe that the work he has done on the training field will hopefully see a fresh approach from some players, such as Anderson and Nani, who appeared surplus to requirements.
The first-team squad is exceptionally big, with four new additions, but will be trimmed next year once Moyes has decided who to move on.
The deals that United did pursue were clear. They wanted Baines, they wanted Fabregas and they also wanted Marouane Fellaini and there was always a quiet confidence, which proved correct, that signing the Belgian midfielder would be the easiest of the three to land.
Why then did United not trigger the £23million release clause in Felliani’s contract at Evertonand allow it to lapse? The answer is simple: they decided on a strategy to try and get Baines and knew that if they signed Fellaini early then Everton would have the money they needed and be able to resist any attempt to also sign Baines.
So United made a joint bid, after having an initial offer of £12million for Baines rejected, although the level at which they initially went in at was undeniably low. But they also knew that both players wanted to join them.
The transfer window closed for Manchester United with a sense of calm.
By Jason Burt, Football Correspondent
11:00PM BST 07 Sep 2013
True the club had failed in bids for Cesc Fabregas and Leighton Baines — their two top targets – but the best piece of business was, according to senior sources, keeping Wayne Rooney.
“If you had been able to click your fingers on the day the transfer window opened and told us that when it closed Wayne Rooney would still be at the club, and nothing else would happen, then we would have absolutely taken that,” said one source.
“He was the biggest concern we had and it was the number one focus for several key people at the club.”
The source added: “Chelsea were unbelievably serious about trying to get him. They had heard that the player was going to try and see what was out there at the end of last season and wanted to make sure that if he left it was to join them.”
But United had no intention of selling. Two bids were rejected but, as they toyed with a third, of up to £40million, Chelsea came to realise it was not going to happen even if Jose Mourinho mischievously waited until after the two sides met at Old Trafford — on August 26 – before he confirmed that fact.
It is remarkable that, once again, Rooney has been the dominant English footballer going into a season. Dominant not just because of his ability, which he has at times struggled to fully exploit, through fitness and other issues, but also in terms of the talking points and headlines he has generated.
That ability is not questioned — the application of it sometimes is – although United do not subscribe to the school of thought that after nine years it might have been in the club’s and player’s interests for him to move on.
Maybe if he was sold abroad, if that craved interest from Barcelona or Bayern Munich had materialised, United may have thought differently. But they had no intention of allowing Rooney to remain in the Premier League if he did not remain with them.
Hopefully that faith — and the measured approach of United’s new manager David Moyes, who spoke about helping Rooney break the club’s goalscoring records but also the need for him to get back to the “level” he can achieve, will be vindicated. Certainly Rooney appears calmer than during the summer.
The determination to keep Rooney is why United showed no interest in Mesut Ozil when he was offered to them weeks ago before he joined Arsenal last Monday — not even inquiring about the price and certainly not making an offer — or Willian when he was made available by Anzhi Makhachkala.
Instead, for Moyes, Rooney was to be his first-choice number 10 — the main playmaker with the team-strengthening priorities in other areas. United now hope — and believe — that they have not only convinced Rooney it is in his best interests to stay but that he will further his career with them.
That “focus” on Rooney, however, did not distract from other business. The planning for the next transfer window — and, more crucially, the next one after — started last week immediately after this window closed. There will be no inquest, as none is felt needed. Far from being a chaotic failure, as some have suggested, United are pleased with their work. Time will tell.
There are still those clear plans as to where the club wants to strengthen: central midfield, left-back and, eventually, a top-quality central defender with Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic well into their thirties and their understudies suffering from injuries. United will also investigate as to whether there are any “top stars” who can be dislodged. The club is keen to flex its financial muscle. But only for the right player.
There have been suggestions that United now need a director of football but there is no inclination at the club to follow this route. David Moyes, with the mandate of a six-year contract, has been given the responsibility of who to sell and who to buy with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward then tasked with negotiating the deals. That traditional approach, which United claim shows huge faith in the manager, and also a commitment that he is in the job for the long haul, will continue.
Certainly the unique nature of this window — with a rush of money from the new television deal inflating prices and Moyes not in place until July 1 — affected matters. United did not want to impose players on the new manager, with Sir Alex Ferguson’s plans, so he started with a clean slate — while the club also believe that the work he has done on the training field will hopefully see a fresh approach from some players, such as Anderson and Nani, who appeared surplus to requirements.
The first-team squad is exceptionally big, with four new additions, but will be trimmed next year once Moyes has decided who to move on.
The deals that United did pursue were clear. They wanted Baines, they wanted Fabregas and they also wanted Marouane Fellaini and there was always a quiet confidence, which proved correct, that signing the Belgian midfielder would be the easiest of the three to land.
Why then did United not trigger the £23million release clause in Felliani’s contract at Evertonand allow it to lapse? The answer is simple: they decided on a strategy to try and get Baines and knew that if they signed Fellaini early then Everton would have the money they needed and be able to resist any attempt to also sign Baines.
So United made a joint bid, after having an initial offer of £12million for Baines rejected, although the level at which they initially went in at was undeniably low. But they also knew that both players wanted to join them.
At the same time United were offered Fabio Coentrao by Real Madrid but did not want to give up on Baines. “It was always going to be difficult to get Leighton out which is why we did a joint bid,” the source said. “It was the tactic to try and make it happen.” As soon as it eventually became apparent that Everton would not countenance losing both players, no matter the offer, United moved for Fellaini, disputing they paid the £27.5million it was claimed they did, while they were then offered — and agreed — to take Coentrao on loan. That deal collapsed solely because Real were unable to sign up Guilherme Siqueira from Granada as his replacement.
The failure to sign Fabregas is also explainable. United had received encouragement that although, in his heart, the midfielder wanted to stay at Barcelona his head was telling him that he was effectively competing with Pedro and Alexis Sanchez for one place. “He was very much thinking about his future,” the source added. “But it was always a less than 50 per cent chance that we could get him although it was definitely worth trying.” In truth, also, there was a will to try and make a mark with Fabregas.
There was a sense of nervousness if a player from his former club — Fellaini – became Moyes’ first big signing while there were even indications, right up until the window closed, from those close to Fabregas that he was still unsure of what to do.
“We have been looking since 2007 for top-class central midfielders to improve the team,” the source said. “And that search will continue.” Ander Herrera, from Athletic Bilbao, was a player United had tracked for two years so was not a panic buy alternative to Fabregas.
One offer was made, of around £20million plus £3million in add-ons, and rejected and United then walked away. There was no deadline day attempt, no wrangle over Basque tax laws — and no representatives from United sent to the offices of the Spanish league.
Where does it all leave United and Moyes? There will be no repeat of this window, it is hoped, with the club wanting to do its business, in future, early. There is also, though, no sense of panic and certainly no pressure on Moyes with United extremely happy with the way he has gone about his job as their new manager. And not least with the way that he has handled Wayne Rooney.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...summer-transfer-activity-at-Old-Trafford.html
The failure to sign Fabregas is also explainable. United had received encouragement that although, in his heart, the midfielder wanted to stay at Barcelona his head was telling him that he was effectively competing with Pedro and Alexis Sanchez for one place. “He was very much thinking about his future,” the source added. “But it was always a less than 50 per cent chance that we could get him although it was definitely worth trying.” In truth, also, there was a will to try and make a mark with Fabregas.
There was a sense of nervousness if a player from his former club — Fellaini – became Moyes’ first big signing while there were even indications, right up until the window closed, from those close to Fabregas that he was still unsure of what to do.
“We have been looking since 2007 for top-class central midfielders to improve the team,” the source said. “And that search will continue.” Ander Herrera, from Athletic Bilbao, was a player United had tracked for two years so was not a panic buy alternative to Fabregas.
One offer was made, of around £20million plus £3million in add-ons, and rejected and United then walked away. There was no deadline day attempt, no wrangle over Basque tax laws — and no representatives from United sent to the offices of the Spanish league.
Where does it all leave United and Moyes? There will be no repeat of this window, it is hoped, with the club wanting to do its business, in future, early. There is also, though, no sense of panic and certainly no pressure on Moyes with United extremely happy with the way he has gone about his job as their new manager. And not least with the way that he has handled Wayne Rooney.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...summer-transfer-activity-at-Old-Trafford.html
Doesn't explain the absurdly low bids though. If United were serious, £35m to £40m should have been the starting point. Wanting to make a mark with a marquee signing was understandable but the initials bid did not make sense for a player who probably is worth up to £50M in todays market.
.
That does not make any sense at all. Think a club like Everton are going to be duped by the football transfer fee version of 2 for the price of a 1?
I don't think Rooney knits attacks together like Ozil. The likes of Kagawa, Nani, RVP and Welbeck would work better with Ozil, though the more direct style of Young and Valencia is more suitable to Rooneys style of passing it out wide and sprinting into the box for a cross.
Could have gotten Ozil and Hazard for less than the price of bale.
oh the ironyIMo as the owner of the business, you will be concerned about the bottom-line and the 'brand' of United. Our reputation has certainly been damaged by this lack of marquee signing. Made us look like a less desired, smaller club esp when a struggling Arsenal goes and spends 42mill on Ozil. That showed Arsenal had the ability to attract major world class players and the financial power to do so.Thats what strong football brands do.
Yep. Good point, we are overstocked in that position and more importantly have excellent quality in that position. Ozil whilst being better than what we have would simply have complicated the squad situation and considering the money spent would have been a waste considering that our CM needed strengthening.
Since 2007 we've been looking for a world class center midfielder then - 6 years later, still not found it.
The Mirror and The Telegraph articles are as daft as each other.
We did not miss Herrera due to Spanish tax laws, we just didn't want to spend the money.
OTOH - the idea that Everton would be more likely to sell two players than one, so it was worth bidding lower than their joint valuation and waiting until deadline day? Really? Who came up with that plan?
And as for the Coentrao loan falling through because Real Madrid couldn't get their man? They still had their replacement on hold less than two hours before the deadline. Benfica finally got nervous with how late it was getting and insisted that their loan for the player go ahead. We faxed through our provisional paperwork 3 minutes before the deadline, and were surprised that the rest of the clubs/the player and the agents had got bored/nervous waiting? Really? Then we're extremely lacking in imagination and/or common sense.
Anyway no harm done, particularly if we learn from it. But hearing that we're monitoring Fabregas and we think that we had our tactics right makes we wonder exactly what we learned. Hopefully it's just a pile of self-justifying spin bollocks we're feeding the papers, and the internal analysis is being done in a more self critical manner.
We did not miss Herrera due to Spanish tax laws, we just didn't want to spend the money.
OTOH - the idea that Everton would be more likely to sell two players than one, so it was worth bidding lower than their joint valuation and waiting until deadline day? Really? Who came up with that plan?
And as for the Coentrao loan falling through because Real Madrid couldn't get their man? They still had their replacement on hold less than two hours before the deadline. Benfica finally got nervous with how late it was getting and insisted that their loan for the player go ahead. We faxed through our provisional paperwork 3 minutes before the deadline, and were surprised that the rest of the clubs/the player and the agents had got bored/nervous waiting? Really? Then we're extremely lacking in imagination and/or common sense.
Anyway no harm done, particularly if we learn from it. But hearing that we're monitoring Fabregas and we think that we had our tactics right makes we wonder exactly what we learned. Hopefully it's just a pile of self-justifying spin bollocks we're feeding the papers, and the internal analysis is being done in a more self critical manner.
The ship as sailed regarding Baines ,Herrera on the on the hand may be a possibility.
Coentrao too hopefully.
I hope we just go for Coentrao instead of Baines.
If there's a possibility of the younger, better, more experienced in Europe Coentrao being available, any move for Baines would be mental.
Evra 31/32, Coentrao 25, That's better succession planning than moving for a soon to be 29year old.
Evra 31/32, Coentrao 25, That's better succession planning than moving for a soon to be 29year old.
I would prefer Coentrao as well on the account of him being younger but he's certainly not better than Baines
but how about his actual level? he dont play much for RM, is he playing for his national team at least?
Yeah I deffo feel that Keeping Rooney was the priority.
Yeah, I wouldn't get too caught up in those saving face articles. I'm pretty sure the club know they have to do better and make sure there isn't a repeat of this window. All this 'we wouldn't do anything differently' stuff is just defiant PR rubbish as far as I'm concerned.
Rooney was priority but I hope he was worth it in view of the Ozil opportunity.
Rooney > Ozil? We will see.
No point getting Coentrao in Jan when he will be cup tied for the UCL.
Much better to wait for the summer and see how Luke Shaw has progressed before making a move for either him or Coentrao.
Much better to wait for the summer and see how Luke Shaw has progressed before making a move for either him or Coentrao.
Agree with this. Shaw should be the focus because he could be the long term solution.
Jamie Jackson seems to think we will be right back in for Baines though.
If we are going for shaw we may as well use Fabio tbh. Coentrao is the perfect age to bridge the gap between Evra and Fabio, who I see aaa first choice LB for us in the future.
Fellaini is PL proven and is an international. Herrera isn't. The Ozil thing, well it better be worth all the effort they put into keeping Mr. Rooney and he better put the effort in. They probably thought it wise not to annoy Rooney even more by signing another threat to his position, personally I would have kept him and signed someone, bugger Rooney.
Only shopping in the 'PL proven' bracket is unnecessarily limiting yourself to a small pool of players, and missing out on potentially very good ones. Plenty of players have come in to the PL and done well from other leagues. Keeping Rooney from Chelsea was a better option than strengthening a rival but yeah, I'm not overly enamoured with him at the moment either and would have preferred Ozil but maybe not if it meant Rooney would be off to Chelsea.
Maybe because Rooney had absolutely no intentions of moving abroad?
It seems pretty likely that his advisors warned everyone else off.
you can't tell me a player like Rooney wouldn't attract massive interest.
His baggage of acting like a spoiled twat combined with absolutely massive wages, us demanding a quite hefty fee and the fact that he's not really a dead cert world class player like you probably could buy for that kind of money?
I'd say it's entirely feasible that only Chelski were in for him. Likely, even.
Because despite the lip service ,clubs around the world do not rate him as highly as the red tinted United fans.
Or because he wanted to go to Chelsea, to be with his mates and to work under Maureen. I'd guess there were a host of clubs ringing his agent and I suspect they were all told that.
You would have ripped your cock off into your chelsea duvet if he signed for you and you fecking know it
feck, I didn't think about that
Actually, I thought you were Duffer. He's the renter, no?
What I'm trying to say is feck off. Ta
