That more or less means we are second tier though as money is exactly what other clubs or players are unfortunately looking for.
Nothing new though.
United linked with Fernando Llorente
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) are here to discuss Amad saving our blushes in a win against Southampton as well as our now annual loss at home to Brighton. They discuss Amorim's post-match comments, revisit how mid-table we may or may not be, and discuss some transfer news.
That more or less means we are second tier though as money is exactly what other clubs or players are unfortunately looking for.
Nothing new though.
i only consider us 2nd tier compared to barca and madrid when it comes to 'pull'.
On the evidence of?
We always struggled against the likes of Real and Barcelona. Clubs with a huge history who paid more then us and could offer the players a better standard of living (ie no Manchester rain etc).
However we're now competing against a new breed of clubs ie the ones financed by sheiks and billionaires who spend money like there's no tomorrow. So under such circumstances we're now back to third tier.
I stress on the phrase 'back to third tier' because we were once in that role ie during the late 80s/early 90s when we couldnt match the salary of top Fiorentina players. However things did change from those times. During that period we were the EPL big guys and the 3 foreigners rule shielded us from seeing an exodus of EPL players (it did happened but at a manageable level). We can't rely on that now.
historical world class stars they have had over the years and their ability to get almost any target they really want and make players turn their heads the instant they make their interest known.
The only players that knock them back are players that worry about playing time because they aren't the business and players that don't want to up and leave their home countries for personal reasons.
There's only 20-30 players who can play for those clubs at one time though. We're still one of the attractive names, but we just can't / won't pay the money the plastic clubs are paying. It's the future I'm afraid
If you had the choice between Lewandowski, Van Persie or Llorente who would you pick and why?
Here we go...
RvP.
highest quality, premier league proven and complements our strike force in terms of age profile.
LLorente is same roughly age as rooney, lewa is younger than hernandez.
Rvp would give us an age profile of rvp 29, rooney 26, hernandez 24, welbz 22.
That is perfect in terms of ages.
Watch the Daily Mail manufacture a story now.
I'd pick Van Persie because he's used to the premiership. He'll cost a bit but waynes come out and said he would like him here and I think that's the general feeling. I realize Arsenal hate it but the fact is they had to rebuild anyway. 20 odd million for a player who wants to leave is not a bad price. It's a lot better then what we got for Ruud.
I think llorente is made for the premiership. Seen him a few times. He doesn't have that high a profile but for me he'd get 20+ goals a season. With the strikers coming through, the likes of Keane, King and Cofie I'd prefer Van Persie with an eye to the future.
I think llorente is made for the premiership. Seen him a few times. He doesn't have that high a profile but for me he'd get 20+ goals a season. With the strikers coming through, the likes of Keane, King and Cofie I'd prefer Van Persie with an eye to the future.
Agree with this - by the time RVP is 31/32 I expect welbeck to be first choice anyway
Llorente does give you another element with his heading ability though
What are you talking about? We have plenty of experience in the squad, in no way is RVP's age a positive.
I agree with this. RVPs age is the only thing that stops me thinking he is far and away the standout choice. You can say about Welbecks development etc but the main thing is to do what is best for Man Utd.
rvp's age does not block the long term path/progress of welbz and hernandez.
if we bought a striker that was the same age as welbz and hernandez, their long term path is derailed if the player we bought was of much higher quality.
Van Persie
Llorente
Lewandowski.
That comes from someone who can't stand Van Persie. Llorente is a level below, Then Lewandowski is one and a half level below Llorente.
That's talking about quality, I won't comment on age issue as I believe we need quality up front right now, not potential talent.
I wonder what Bielsas reaction to this will be. Probably will leave him on the bench for the rest of the year and threaten Bilbao with resignation if they will sell him. 
I wonder what Bielsas reaction to this will be. Probably will leave him on the bench for the rest of the year and threaten Bilbao with resignation if they will sell him.
Bielsa left the club a few months ago after getting into an argument with some workmen at the training ground.
EDIT: According to this http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/s...bilbao-manager-marcelo-bielsa-resigns?cc=3436
Although wiki still lists him as coach so I'd imagine there's been a u turn in there somewhere.
He hasn't left the club. It was rumoured that he had but he didn't eventually.
Lewandowski a level and a half below Llorente? You really don't like him.
He didn't leave in the end.
Though reactions like this were the main reason why I made that joke about him threatening with resigning or letting Llorente rot on the bench.
I just love how mad he goes with things like that. I also heard on Sky News he threatened to leave the club if they would sell Martínez to Bayern.
The man has his principals, you gotta give him that.
I'd much rather shell out 30 million quid for Llorente than 20 million RVP right now...
Not that I think either would be a good decision considering our priority should be midfield and our lack of desperation in the striker department...
Not that I think either would be a good decision considering our priority should be midfield and our lack of desperation in the striker department...
If he is only a stop-gap player then that hardly merits us forking out 20mil+ on him.
I admit I don't. Which is strange because I liked him an awful lot during his early days at Poznań. Since then he's done nothing wrong to change my tune about him but hey. Couldn't stand the ******** here in Poland, can't stand it spreading across the Europe. I've literally seen his first touch starting opposite team's counter-attack time and time again in some games, mainly UCL. His finishing is also being over-rated. He seems to mess up two golden chances for any goal he scores.
Sometimes I wonder whether I'm the only one who can see the glaring and screaming deficiencies of his or I'm too blinded with my dislike towards him. But
Reckon it's the former, as I've never under-rated let's say Van Persie, whom I've despised hugely.
As for your question itself it's debatable. Van Persie is at the very least two levels above Lewandowski, and I think Llorente is somewhere between them, put it this way. Actually maybe he is indeed closer to Lewandowski than Van Persie.
The merits can only be reasonably measured by how successful we are during his time here. If he inspires us to numerous titles and another CL's, then £20m will look like a bargain.
If we win feck all and he plays crap, £20m will seem a huge waste of money. SAF must think he is worth the risk though, or we wouldn't be in for him at all.
Discussions with Juve at an advanced stage. 16-20 million Euros would be my guess.
they want 30m.
So you'd much rather we paid 50% more for a worse player? On the basis of what?
30M euros against 20m sterling.
Llorente is an excellent striker, he's 27 and not injury prone.
He said quid.
He's not at the same level as van Persie and only a year and a half younger, in the exact same contract situation - it's about to expire in 2013. There's no way in hell he's worth more than van Persie.
He's only a year and a half younger then RvP aswell as the fact that he hasnt proven himself outside La Liga, whereas van Persie has been banging them in in the Premier League for quite a few years now. As good as a buy Llorente would be, van Persie would be better in my opinion.
Well 2 years are alot for a striker + RVP is in a much worse shape then Llorente (injuries etc).
It's a year and a half, and lets say it takes Llorente a season to adjust to the PL. Llorente would not play every game with us, nor will van Persie which means that his injuries will probably be better handled with him getting rest when he needs it. I also dont think that Llorente will reach the level of van Persie within the next two years, which is probably the most important thing.
If only what you're been saying about injuries is true. In that case the likes of Owen and Saha would probably have been more useful for us. Injuries are quite a bitch and injury prone players tend to feck off to the treatment room when you need them the most.
BTW Why would Llorente need a year to adjust for the EPL? Torres scored more then 30 goals in his first year at Liverpool. De Gea did well for us in his first year.
Yeah obviously. RvP is on the back of his best season in terms of injuries though, so who knows? He might get lucky.
Llorente could slot right into things and be a success from the beginning, I'm just speculating. There is no guarantee that he would cope with the English league, just as there are no guarantees that van Persie would avoid any major injuries. Every transfer involve risks, and we cannot say which of these players would have the best season until the season is over. I'm just saying that I personally would prefer to have Van Persie in the squad rather then Llorente because he's proven himself over and over again in the PL, whilst Llorente has been great in La Liga.
Let makes things clear. RVP is a magnificent player, there's no doubt about that. However if I had to choose between a 29 year old player whose been pretty unlucky with injuries and someone whose younger, maybe slightly less good but he's not an injury prone player then Ill go for the latter. Recent History (Saha, Hargreaves etc) has taught us that injury prone players tend to get worse once wearing the red shirt.
I get that, but I guess we are just not going to agree on this. I'd rather risk having a proven world class player with a questionable injury record at our club rather then a slightly younger, slightly less talented player who has not proven himself in the league. It's a matter of opinion obviously, so I fully understand why you would prefer the Spaniard, though I dont neccessarily agree with it.
Oh comeon Llorente is a world class player too. His league goalscoring record with Bilbao is astounding, 41 league goals in 94 games. Anyway lets agree to disagree on that. Strangely enough it was the same argument discussed on MUTV with Paddy taking your role and the MUTV journalist mine
And by "in the league", I obviously mean the PL. He's good, but VP is better. Now I think you're arguing just for argument sake.