United trying to sign players who aren't eager to join

Forevergiggs1 said:
Exactly. Given that we're one of the biggest names in world football, the wages we pay, needing quality in many positions which could influence a player on his playing time and starting a new project under one of the most highly rated managers in Europe I think we could be quiet a draw for 99.99% of the players out there.

Thinking about it logically there's hardly any WC talent out there that's looking for a move (bar Haaland) so it's a new generation coming through which hopefully means we won't be paying astronomical wages for players supposedly in their prime and for nearly every single player out there United would be a massive step up for them. Part time player for Liverpool/City/Madrid/Barca or full time player for us if he's good enough?
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We're one of the big teams. But the players we want and strive to sign arent exactly left with no choice.

Sure players like longstaff would want playing for us but pogba wont. And many other good solid names prefered to play with Chelsea,city , bayern.

At best we could try to lure then with money but then again the cirlce of evil continues
 
The only ones that are eager to join us now are mercenaries with no ambition who are only looking for a fat paycheck.

We have no CL football, we haven't won anything in like 5 years, our dressing room is toxic, our management are run by people with no footballing experience (hopefully that changes next season). Why wouldn't any aspiring player question if their career will be on the decline after joining us? The only thing that won't is their paycheck.

It's up to Ten Hag's to convince him that we are still a serious club that still aspire to compete at the highest level.
 
A lot of you are living in the 90's and 2000's and for some reason think United is the be all and end all of football. It's truly astonishing to see how many people think the sun shines out of the clubs ass and think any prospective player for us needs to come begging on their hands and knees just for the crumb of an opportunity to play for the mighty Manchester United. Honestly when did we become so unrestrictedly arrogant?

Fact 1. United were once known as an illustrious football club that, yes, a lot of players far and wide wanted to join to become a part of a well run organisation that entertained worldwide and made a habit of winning things a lot of the time under the great Sir Alex Ferguson.

Fact 2. United haven't been this club for over 10 years, where instead, we've seen a very public mismanagement of the club leading to incredible drops in standards, terrible league performance and finishes, awful cup runs, horrendous recruitment, public fallouts and toxicity from boardroom to dressing room, falling behind our rivals in multiple departments locally and on the continent, overpaying and keeping players for a stupidly bloated squad, not playing attractive football whatsoever, not moving with the times and I can still carry on listing more things.

Fact 3. Only now that Woodward has left, Richard Arnold and John Murtough have come in and recruited ETH that do we see the possibility that some things are finally looking to change and potentially get back on track to where we can go back to Fact 1.

The reality however is that we are stuck in the cycle of Fact 2. You don't think any players of repute are looking at everything we've done, and again very publically over the last 10 years I might add, and question why in gods name they'd want to join such a mess? FDJ is one of the best midfielders in the world and he would have to be insane not to be hesitant about joining the club when he wants to play with the best, compete against the best and win the best. Yet for some reason you all think he should hear the name Manchester United and come running, granted you have red tinted specs but you cannot be that foolish? A footballers career is short lived.

The club has to fight for its place back amongst the greats of attracting the worlds top talent, that's just how it is, we cannot be so arrogant as to turn our noses up at players who aren't begging to join us. All we should ask is that if they do end up joining us that they give their hardest on the pitch that is all.
 
I doubt anyone would be eager to join in our current if any other half decent team is available to them.

Let's be honest it's still a job so unless there are some hardcore fans we won't be on the top of the list for anyone considering how unattractive Manchester as a city seems to be for players.
 
Our scouting department is shite and behind the times. We have to hope that Arnold and Murtough are genuinely working hard behind the scenes to modernise and bring it up to scratch.
 
Do people honestly think we'd drag De Jong, or anybody else for that matter, kicking and screaming into this club?

For me, it would be completely understandable, and acceptable, for De Jong to have some reservations and need convincing. This isn't just wearing a different colour shirt. It's uprooting himself and his family from his home and moving to another country, with a different culture and climate. He may not like the current situation that he finds himself in but, over time, you accept that it hasn't worked out and then you start to assess your options and you'll get excited about a new chapter. If people think we are going to sign him without also being convinced by him, then they don't really understand how this works.
 
L1nk said:
A lot of you are living in the 90's and 2000's and for some reason think United is the be all and end all of football. It's truly astonishing to see how many people think the sun shines out of the clubs ass and think any prospective player for us needs to come begging on their hands and knees just for the crumb of an opportunity to play for the mighty Manchester United. Honestly when did we become so unrestrictedly arrogant?

Fact 1. United were once known as an illustrious football club that, yes, a lot of players far and wide wanted to join to become a part of a well run organisation that entertained worldwide and made a habit of winning things a lot of the time under the great Sir Alex Ferguson.

Fact 2. United haven't been this club for over 10 years, where instead, we've seen a very public mismanagement of the club leading to incredible drops in standards, terrible league performance and finishes, awful cup runs, horrendous recruitment, public fallouts and toxicity from boardroom to dressing room, falling behind our rivals in multiple departments locally and on the continent, overpaying and keeping players for a stupidly bloated squad, not playing attractive football whatsoever, not moving with the times and I can still carry on listing more things.

Fact 3. Only now that Woodward has left, Richard Arnold and John Murtough have come in and recruited ETH that do we see the possibility that some things are finally looking to change and potentially get back on track to where we can go back to Fact 1.

The reality however is that we are stuck in the cycle of Fact 2. You don't think any players of repute are looking at everything we've done, and again very publically over the last 10 years I might add, and question why in gods name they'd want to join such a mess? FDJ is one of the best midfielders in the world and he would have to be insane not to be hesitant about joining the club when he wants to play with the best, compete against the best and win the best. Yet for some reason you all think he should hear the name Manchester United and come running, granted you have red tinted specs but you cannot be that foolish? A footballers career is short lived.

The club has to fight for its place back amongst the greats of attracting the worlds top talent, that's just how it is, we cannot be so arrogant as to turn our noses up at players who aren't begging to join us. All we should ask is that if they do end up joining us that they give their hardest on the pitch that is all.
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Fachts
 
We have players at the club who aren't willing to wait 3 seasons for new incoming players to be good enough to win stuff. We need to sign a combination of players that are going to be great and players that are already great but aren't bellends.

The current thing the club has going for it is how much money we can offer, apart from that, you'd have to be a United fan as a kid to want to be part of what we currently have to offer.
 
Sky1981 said:
We're one of the big teams. But the players we want and strive to sign arent exactly left with no choice.

Sure players like longstaff would want playing for us but pogba wont. And many other good solid names prefered to play with Chelsea,city , bayern.

At best we could try to lure then with money but then again the cirlce of evil continues
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Even when we where at the height of our (SAFs) powers we still missed out top players like Shearer, Ronaldinho, Essien etc etc so it's not a new concept. 5 or 6 years ago football was awash with top top talent who could basically pick and choose where they wanted to go but things have changed. What top top talent is out there now where he has a choice to pick and choose the club he wants to go to? Of course there's up and coming players like Camavinga but once a club like Madrid come calling he's never going to be an option for us no matter how good/bad we are.

Do players look at game time they'll have at clubs? Most definitely which does give us an advantage of many clubs because we're short in so many areas whereas they could very well be fighting just for a place in the squad at a team like City. We've just hired one of the most exciting prospects in management. I refuse to believe that a player wouldn't be interested in being a part of this new cycle just because he may be a squad member at other clubs. I understand having doubts for managers like Mou, LVG or Ole but ETH? I just can't see it. Add to the fact playing in front of 76,000 every other week and the wages we pay I would think we'd be a very viable option for any player to come into.
 
We're not good and haven't been good enough for a long time to be limiting ourselves to players that are desperate to come. That also runs the risk of signing players who lack ambition are happy to be here and possibly ones that are bang average.

It has been and will always be a part of football transfers in convincing.

I think we're basing too much of thise sentiment based on Di Maria alone. Can't remember the circumstances at the time but I'm pretty sure the likes of Robben and Sneijder would have preferred to stay at Madrid but they were eventually forced out.
 
So if X employer contacts you, offers you a job for Y amount, you jump right on it?
Of course people are reluctant to join ffs, it's a negotiation tactic.

Also, the rumors in the press are just gossip. For example, nobody really knows what FDJ said about United, except lies from the media or things they leak to force us bump our offer. Stop believing the shit written in today's press.
 
Outside of Madrid and City this season, which team has bought big name, ready made stars and had sustained success?

Liverpool? Bayern? Milan? Lille? Athletico?

Most of these teams have bought players on the up, not at the top.

KDB, Saleh, Mane, Gundogan, Gnabry, Fabinho, Kovacic etc.
 
People want the club to do all sorts of things until they don’t work out.

Buy the obvious player smashing it further down the league. They’re a guarantee - all well and good until Schneiderlin falls down like a pack of cards.

Bring in those Championship punts like club ‘X’ does - Daniel James says hello.

Get ahead of the curve and plunder South America like Atletico and Porto - but not Pellistri; not like that.

Bring in the next Messi - but not Amad; we needed a central midfielder for the first team instead.

Sometimes you’ve just got to back the manager and put up the fee for what he wants - unless it’s Slabhead, because he’s shit.

I mean, I really could go on. See where I’m going with this? Can’t please everyone.

In summary, getting recruitment right is bloody hard. There are plenty of players we’ve brought to the club post-Ferguson who arrived to fanfare. This includes Matic to Schweinsteiger to Van de Beek. Great signings, apparently, until they weren’t. Essentially, we’ve already tried to find the next star from Leverkusen and Bilbao. Take Martial; for a period it really did look like he’d be that player. But the malaise emcompasses everything.

As for persuading players to come here, I’d say that’s normal. Players have a limited shelf life and are well within their rights to explore their options and express doubt. It’s up to the club to address those doubts.
 
If Frenkie joins, he's going to make a lot of people on here eat their words.
 
The only issue affecting our recruitment is no champions league football. United are still a draw for many players, as seen with our signings the past few seasons but not qualifying for CL will provide more hurdles in convincing players to join. However, I would argue that there isn’t a better time to sign with the club. There’s no pressure to immediately challenge for the league and with no links to the feckers in our squad, new players will come in with a clean slate and backing from the supporters. The new manager has a good reputation around Europe and the club has cleaned house with respect to recruitment.
 
Sandikan said:
Pretty much any player who is at a lesser club!? Which is about 99% of clubs?
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Who happen to be "lesser" players too?! United finished 6th in the premier league - their historical rivals - the guys we are supposed to compete with - were having quad shouts two weeks before the end of the season. you're going to catch up, let alone compete, with that by buying players from the second half of the prem table?

nevermind the fact that "don't sign players who aren't eager to join" is framed as if these players are guaranteed to flop, when the alternative - signing players from "lesser" clubs who are eager to join - hasn't proved itself any more sucessful in recent times for United.

Almost as if United shouldn't take a blanket approach to things and deal with transfers on a case by case basis and understand that United isn't what it used to be and now has to put the grind in to convince quality players to join?
 
We have the history, we are one of the biggest and best known on the planet and we have a new manager.

New manager, new era, it is up to the manager and the club to sell 'the project' and get the buy in of players to persuade them to sign

Fifteen years ago the hardest part was probably convincing players from warmer climates but until we seriously start challenging for the league again we have to convince them that we are a better choice than one or two other clubs in the EPL.
 
TsuWave said:
Who happen to be "lesser" players too?! United finished 6th in the premier league - their historical rivals - the guys we are supposed to compete with - were having quad shouts two weeks before the end of the season. you're going to catch up, let alone compete, with that by buying players from the second half of the prem table?

nevermind the fact that "don't sign players who aren't eager to join" is framed as if these players are guaranteed to flop, when the alternative - signing players from "lesser" clubs who are eager to join - hasn't proved itself any more sucessful in recent times for United.

Almost as if United shouldn't take a blanket approach to things and deal with transfers on a case by case basis and understand that United isn't what it used to be and now has to put the grind in to convince quality players to join?
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The thing is, we've signed players from the top clubs, Varane, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger,, Pogba we've signed players from the second tier of Europe (add examples here), and we've signed players from lower down the Premier league (many examples).

Over the last 8 years, it's very difficult to put hardly any of the signings into undoubted success territory.
Which means there is no "right" way or right club to sign from. It's all about the individual player and their potential.
 
We won't go for players rationally ever I think. E.g. Kessie is a player who would improve is instantly. Were we ever in for him?
 
Jacob said:
And those are the players that will bring us back where we belong. Sure, taking a punt on Championship players can work out, and most would be keen to join for obvious reasons. It's the people we really want that are more inclined to say no.
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Because Di Maria, Falcao, Schweinsteiger, Alexis, Lukaku, Pogba, and Matic worked out so well.
 
There’s probably a significant amount less eager to join than you think, we’re complete shit.
 
Not half some depressing nonsense that gets spouted. There will be many quality players out there eager to join and that wouldn't think twice. You play for an upcoming manager, in the world's best league, for a historic club where you are the centre of attention (and can build your own brand if you're into that kind of thing) for vast sums of money.

Yes there are a handful of players out of our league due to our position relative to theirs, but they are the exception not the norm. The actual trick is scouting the best players that are going to break out before they do. That's the hard part, not convincing anyone.

I think what people tend to forget is fans are in a little United bubble. We are way more sensitive to the vagaries of our performances, the ownership etc than random players across the continent. They are not necessarily any more informed than knowing we're not the CL and we were great at some point, because they don't need to be. I don't think there is this mist of depression descending on every target.
 
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Blood Mage said:
Our scouting department is shite and behind the times. We have to hope that Arnold and Murtough are genuinely working hard behind the scenes to modernise and bring it up to scratch.
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Amen.

I honestly have no faith that we are going to sign the right players this Sumner until I see how we are playing next march & challenging for something meaningful.

We've been bitten to many times on the ass.
 
Rojofiam said:
Because Di Maria, Falcao, Schweinsteiger, Alexis, Lukaku, Pogba, and Matic worked out so well.
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That has more to do with the fit in the squad and manager's preference on how to play football. They were obviously quality players before joining United.
 
I'd be worried if they were eager to join! "Cause all we can realistically offer a top footballer is $$$$
 
JJ12 said:
If De Jong is told by Barca they want to sell him and then he decides United is where he wants to go I think I’d be okay with that.
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So would I. I also got the impression from De Jong's interview that he will end up leaving Barca and he didn't deny speaking with Ten Hag. I think we have a great chance of getting him, he'd be the perfect player for Ten Hag. Surprised at the negativity today.
 
Needed a midfielder for years...our grand plan is to bid for a guy who has no intention of leaving..

Not looking great is it.
 
Kag said:
People want the club to do all sorts of things until they don’t work out.

Buy the obvious player smashing it further down the league. They’re a guarantee - all well and good until Schneiderlin falls down like a pack of cards

Bring in those Championship punts like club ‘X’ does - Daniel James says hello.

Get ahead of the curve and plunder South America like Atletico and Porto - but not Pellistri; not like that.

Bring in the next Messi - but not Amad; we needed a central midfielder for the first team instead.

Sometimes you’ve just got to back the manager and put up the fee for what he wants - unless it’s Slabhead, because he’s shit.

I mean, I really could go on.

In summary, getting recruitment right is bloody hard. There are plenty of players we’ve brought to the club post-Ferguson who arrived to fanfare. This includes Matic to Schweinsteiger to Van de Beek. Great signings, apparently, until they weren’t. Essentially, we’ve already tried to find the next star from Leverkusen and Bilbao. Take Martial; for a period it really did look like he’d be that player. But the malaise emcompasses everything.

As for persuading players to come here, I’d say that’s normal. Players have a limited shelf life and are well within their rights to explore their options and express doubt. It’s up to the club to address those doubts.
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And considering our last 8-9 years, if players of high caliber are not hesitating then I would worry more.
 
Latest Soundbite from OT is that United will not be held to ransom.

Meanwhile Benfica won't discuss player sale for less than £80m :lol:
 
Back when we got Robben, he wasn’t eager at all to join. It took Van Gaal a lot of convincing to get him to Bayern. It worked out fine.
The best players need some convincing to join. That’s just normal. And if you aren’t that great right now, which is the case with you, it will be even more difficult. But that doesn’t mean those players have to flop. It might just mean that those players are ambitious and want to win. Which is a good thing for every top club.
 
We've probably already moved on from De Jong. Don't believe everything on twitter. The fact is we're no longer a draw to the most in demand names but it's probably still worth a try.
 
Sandikan said:
The thing is, we've signed players from the top clubs, Varane, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger,, Pogba we've signed players from the second tier of Europe (add examples here), and we've signed players from lower down the Premier league (many examples).

Over the last 8 years, it's very difficult to put hardly any of the signings into undoubted success territory.
Which means there is no "right" way or right club to sign from. It's all about the individual player and their potential.
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hence why I said transfers should be assessed on a case by case basis and that United is now not above having to convince players to join.
 
Forevergiggs1 said:
Even when we where at the height of our (SAFs) powers we still missed out top players like Shearer, Ronaldinho, Essien etc etc so it's not a new concept. 5 or 6 years ago football was awash with top top talent who could basically pick and choose where they wanted to go but things have changed. What top top talent is out there now where he has a choice to pick and choose the club he wants to go to? Of course there's up and coming players like Camavinga but once a club like Madrid come calling he's never going to be an option for us no matter how good/bad we are.

Do players look at game time they'll have at clubs? Most definitely which does give us an advantage of many clubs because we're short in so many areas whereas they could very well be fighting just for a place in the squad at a team like City. We've just hired one of the most exciting prospects in management. I refuse to believe that a player wouldn't be interested in being a part of this new cycle just because he may be a squad member at other clubs. I understand having doubts for managers like Mou, LVG or Ole but ETH? I just can't see it. Add to the fact playing in front of 76,000 every other week and the wages we pay I would think we'd be a very viable option for any player to come into.
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No they're not. Their lifeshelf is short, they want trophies or at least a good chance to win NOW, not 3-4 years attached with a big "IF" ETH made it.

Look at Pogba, he wasted 5 years of his prime here. Granted it's down to him partly but why risk it when he can have the same amount of salary and bigger chance to win playing for Juve/Barca/Madrid 5 years ago. If he choses Madrid 5 years ago he could have a few CL on his belt.

So no, we're considered a very high risk career move. At best we're top 4th material realistically, all the risk non the gain
 
De jong wanting to stay at barcelona isn't the same as not wanting to join us to be fair. If he winds up here he'll probably have turned down half a dozen other offers on the way.
And frankly if we go in with an attitude of 'your lucky were even considering you for our wonderful club' then he wont wind up here because the alternatives aren't fecking bolton or shanghai fc.
 
Not easy to convince them to join a club where you're not guaranteed to win trophies, but are guaranteed to get a shit load of abuse by a generally awful fanbase
 
I wonder what was SAF style when recruiting players? I'd like to think that a big team like United somehow would just put final take-it-or-leave-it offer on the table, and deadline. Just do it quick and swift.
 
OP is spot on. The Caf has now taken the stance of “any player who wants to join us would be mental”. Obvious bullshit. As the OP says there’s will be countless players who would jump at the chance to sign for United.

The club just can’t resist going after the rejects of other big clubs who don’t fancy it here. And after countless balls up big name signings the majority on here can’t help but get sucked in by the possible rush of signing another big name. They justify it with the “this is the situation we’re in” nonsense.

The situation we’re in is exactly why it’s time for some proper smart recruitment.
 
You should rename this thread “Insecure United Fans whining about whether Players
want to Play for United.”

You gotta go after the best players and prospects. Their mental disposition is part of the picture. It is more important they won’t give up when things are hard.
 
Frank Grimes said:
So would I. I also got the impression from De Jong's interview that he will end up leaving Barca and he didn't deny speaking with Ten Hag. I think we have a great chance of getting him, he'd be the perfect player for Ten Hag. Surprised at the negativity today.
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We are so burnt as a fanbase by the Di Maria situation that anyone not keen is branded like him
 
Frank Grimes said:
So would I. I also got the impression from De Jong's interview that he will end up leaving Barca and he didn't deny speaking with Ten Hag. I think we have a great chance of getting him, he'd be the perfect player for Ten Hag. Surprised at the negativity today.
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Which interview? The last one I've seen he was talking about wanting to stay at Barca?
 
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