We need more players like Dan James

Alright, I think your point is more a general one rather than about Dan James specifically.

In that context, you're right, we should be looking to take a punt on the next Kante or those 10-20m signings that are relatively low risk and can have a high upside.

But I think as a club we need to build a starting 11 and 4/5 core, top quality squad players. From there, every window then you can look to improve on one first teamer, and have a couple "Dan James" signings. We're not there yet, let's fill the gaps first.
 
wangyu said:
Somewhat agreed but I think it is impossible for utd to buy quality players on the cheap. We can still buy cheap like we did with James but that is only because he just doesn't have the required quality.
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Of course you can, but only from teams in financial difficulty or players with a year or less on their contracts.

It's not £15m but Gakpo is reportedly available for £26m in January. Would be a brilliant addition to the squad.
 
MUFC OK said:
Of course you can, but only from teams in financial difficulty or players with a year or less on their contracts.

It's not £15m but Gakpo is reportedly available for £26m in January. Would be a brilliant addition to the squad.
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Yeah but are we that smart and on the nose that is the question. Also identifying top players before everyone else is something that should keep players relatively cheap.
 
What we need is players that fit how ETH wants to play regardless of their star power, if ETH decides that there’s someone he wants to fit a specific role that costs £15 million instead of £75 million then I trust his judgement.
 
wangyu said:
Yeah but are we that smart and on the nose that is the question. Also identifying top players before everyone else is something that should keep players relatively cheap.
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That's a different question but it's definitely not impossible as you stated.

Lots of big clubs across europe have signed good players for cheap due to expiring contracts etc; Juve and Barca spring to mind. Then there's the likes of Dortmund who I never think are a fair comparison as they entice players on the promise that they will be sold on in a few years. i.e. a stepping stone.
 
We just need to be quicker at acknowledging which players wont make it here or fit into the team and selling before their fee plummets.

I think i read Dan James is the 3rd highest fee we have ever received which is pretty shocking really.
 
Selling our young players earlier would be a far better financial decision.

Sell a player for an appropriate fee, add in a first option buy back, and a sell on fee.

I believe that ETH will take a more pragmatic view on young player sales. I can’t see him hoarding young players and loan them out to the end of their contracts.
 
Gavinb33 said:
We just need to be quicker at acknowledging which players wont make it here or fit into the team and selling before their fee plummets.

I think i read Dan James is the 3rd highest fee we have ever received which is pretty shocking really.
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Tells a clear story about two things: One, how extreme transfer fee inflation has been over the past 10-15 years and two, what a huge mess our outgoing transfer business has been over the same period.
 
Gavinb33 said:
We just need to be quicker at acknowledging which players wont make it here or fit into the team and selling before their fee plummets.

I think i read Dan James is the 3rd highest fee we have ever received which is pretty shocking really.
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You must have read wrong. There’s no way he went for more than Ronaldo, Lukaku and Di Maria.
 
Wish people would shut the feck up about us 'not identifying' Caicedo.

We were literally in to sign him when he went to Brighton, it was pretty obvious.
 
It was halloween yesterday not April fools’ day. Easy to mix up the two I know…
 
Other than stamina, I'm not sure what Dan James has that Elanga doesn't. Elanga has slightly higher potential, and is from the academy, which is why James was shipped out.
Although neither will go on to start for top 6 teams.
 
During his time at the club we statistically won more games and scored more goals in games he started than in those he did not, he is also going to the World Cup unlike Sancho and a few others I could mention. I am bookmarking this thread and will be back to mercilessly target everyone who called him shit when he scores a 30 yard screamer to knock England out of the World Cup after he gets done making Maguire look like the Championship player he is :lol:
 
If only he can get an end product he will become a decent player.
 
I actually got a bit angry when I realised this wasn’t an old thread which was bumped during his 3-4 game ‘purple patch’.

We are aspiring to be a world class football club again, who gives a crap if we make £5-10 million profit here and there on transfers.

Our transfers should have football in mind as the priority, not about resale value and making profits.
 
Gandalf said:
During his time at the club we statistically won more games and scored more goals in games he started than in those he did not, he is also going to the World Cup unlike Sancho and a few others I could mention. I am bookmarking this thread and will be back to mercilessly target everyone who called him shit when he scores a 30 yard screamer to knock England out of the World Cup after he gets done making Maguire look like the Championship player he is :lol:
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I was pretty sure this was exactly the wrong way around, at least in the league. So I looked it up, and it was indeed.

PWLDGFGAPtsPts per Game
James starting
39​
17​
9​
13​
59​
40​
64​
1.64​
James not starting
40​
24​
5​
11​
87​
42​
83​
2.08​

Pretty much exactly what I said in my earlier post in this thread. We were a borderline midtable team with James and a top 4 contender without him.
 
King Azaz the Unabridged said:
I was pretty sure this was exactly the wrong way around, at least in the league. So I looked it up, and it was indeed.

PWLDGFGAPtsPts per Game
James starting
39​
17​
9​
13​
59​
40​
64​
1.64​
James not starting
40​
24​
5​
11​
87​
42​
83​
2.08​

Pretty much exactly what I said in my earlier post in this thread. We were a borderline midtable team with James and a Champions League challenger without him.
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Cannot believe such an obvious troll post was taken seriously, well played.
 
Should we sell players that aren't making the grade whist they still retain some value? Yes.

Do we need more players "like Dan James"? Absolutely not.
 
King Azaz the Unabridged said:
Post inaccurate numbers, get corrected, "haha I was clearly trolling, you idiot!"
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I posted no numbers and please go back and read the whole post and tell me honestly that you thought it was serious. It is all good anyway, I did not call you an idiot I actually appreciated your commitment to the bit by going and digging up some numbers.
 
Gandalf said:
I posted no numbers and please go back and read the whole post and tell me honestly that you thought it was serious. It is all good anyway, I did not call you an idiot I actually appreciated your commitment to the bit by going and digging up some numbers.
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Fair. Edited my post to say "post inaccurate statement".

You'll note I didn't bother with the whole post, just the bit people might actually read and take seriously based on other posts in this thread.
 
A club like Manchester United are too big to be buying players to try and make a profit from. We would want to sign players who can become dependable members of our squad to help us win titles. I doubt many of the top teams in Europe sell many of their 'starlets' for massive amounts.

I agree with the idea of signing more shrewdly but this comes with vision. If ETH has a plan, which he surely must, then our scouting team should be looking for players with attributes that fit that mould. Obviously if they don't work out it would be nice to move them on for a profit but that shouldn't be our business model.

If we sign some of the hot prospects very young - and develop our own youth players - I feel this is an area where we can see some level of profitability if they don't make the grade a la Garner.
 
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