Where are we in the pecking order for the top players?

[beergod]

The same tier as Juventus and Bayern. We have history and money but don't have the ability to get a player away from a peer like Real/Barca and aren't in one of the destination cities such as Paris/London. Under the final years of Fergie's reign we seemingly were unwilling to leverage our financial power while Woody's stint as chairman has us mistakenly thinking we are on the same level of drawing power as Real/Barca. When we start doing as @Balu describes and start going after players before they reach top clubs, we will stop looking like buffoons.

 

[jojojo]

Barca/Real Madrid would be at the top for established players (Neymar, Bale etc) unless something truly exceptional means they themselves want to be somewhere else.
Bayern and now increasingly PSG as the next option.
Then us, Chelsea, City - for different reasons - will be a tough choice - probably only decided by the money on offer and the sales pitch of the manager in charge.

I'm more concerned about the next layer and the top youngsters - Koke, Kane, Aubameyang, Oliver Torres types - the layer where we'd traditionally expect to do well. I'm not sure we look very tempting right now. Of course, I don't think we're so far behind that bidding high on the wages front can't fix it. But I can't imagine many players insisting they'd go to United over a comparable bid from City or Chelsea right now.

 

[Minimalist]

Beside the obvious reality that everyone has already mentioned (Barca/Real is the pinnacle for a lot of top players), I would just say...

United should always be after the top British and Irish players (basically the players who have less desire to play in Spain). It was criminal I think that we didn't wrap up Bale before Real came sniffing. That was a major sign of United slipping up in the transfer market.

Beyond that, we should be getting those top young players with potential (whether they move on to Barca/Real later or not).

 

[ravi2]

Beside the obvious reality that everyone has already mentioned (Barca/Real is the pinnacle for a lot of top players), I would just say...

United should always be after the top British and Irish players (basically the players who have less desire to play in Spain). It was criminal I think that we didn't wrap up Bale before Real came sniffing. That was a major sign of United slipping up in the transfer market.

Beyond that, we should be getting those top young players with potential (whether they move on to Barca/Real later or not).

Actually it is reported we bid more than Madrid for bale but he chose Madrid.
Our problem was no top tier player really wanted to play for Moyes and we are now in the position where we will have to pay city/psg money for top players and we are now considered the "project"... Not them anymore.

The board failed to see the impact that big money would have on the game and now it seems like everyone has money , it's not only us anymore. The worrying thing is that the board seems to have no real football men to help with future decisions. With Woodward seemingly in charge of way more than he should be, it looks grim right now.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Beside the obvious reality that everyone has already mentioned (Barca/Real is the pinnacle for a lot of top players), I would just say...

United should always be after the top British and Irish players (basically the players who have less desire to play in Spain). It was criminal I think that we didn't wrap up Bale before Real came sniffing. That was a major sign of United slipping up in the transfer market.

Beyond that, we should be getting those top young players with potential (whether they move on to Barca/Real later or not).

Sorry, what top Irish players?

 

[Devil81]

Falling down the list rapidly. I honestly think the draw of London and the growth of City put's them in a commanding position now.

With regards Barca and Madrid, we've not got a chance in hell if they come calling anymore.

 

[Minimalist]

Sorry, what top Irish players?

?

It's a throw away statement to include any players that grow up in this part of Europe.

Bit like asking, "What top Scottish players?!"

Might be unlikely but it's not impossible.

 

[Blackwidow]

I don't think signing top players while they are at top clubs is the problem. Like a few posters said before, it rarely happens anyway.

The issue and the question is, do we stand a chance to sign Neymar from Santos, Hazard from Lille, Lewandowski from Dortmund, Griezmann from Atletico, De Bruyne from Wolfsburg etc. So basically players who attract the attention from all the clubs.

I don't think we're appealing to young players currently. I believe we will be forced to risk a lot of money with transfer targets like we did with Martial until we are on top again.

But with this there is often a special story.
The Lewandowski transfer was already done when any of the big clubs got interest - already 2 years prior to the time he transferred. Then he would not have been the bargain. What happened... United bought Kagawa and Lewy was not allowed to leave. The next season it seemed he already had a vocal agreement with Watzke that he could leave - he just could not prove it (there was some story around it). And then Bayern got Götze because of the clause with the fixed transfer sum. That totally destroyed everything. I guess Lewy never wanted to play second fiddle to CR7 and maybe others or go into a rivalry with Benzema - that would not have been good for his brand and he and his agency always looked for that, too - so they could not destroy that bargain.

Bayern never had spanish players and Martinez came prior to the spanish wave now. He told that he liked Bayern since 1999 - he went for the loosers of that final. His girlfriend already was taking spanish classes and had relatives in Germany. And - the most important - Heynckes started to phone him and chat with him almost weekly already half a year prior to the transfer. The spanish players really seem to love it in Munich - not just the club but I have seldom seen professionals and their wifes that really tour the city and area so much - and the cafes and restaurants - and post so many pictures of mountains, lakes etc. - it is like a holiday prospect. So I guess in the future - even without Guardiola - Bayern will not have any problems getting spanish players.

Since Lizarazu - and then Sagnol - it is no problem either to get players from France to Bayern. They really loved the time in Munich and as Liza is commentator on French TV and Sagnol was coach for the U23 national team they spread it around. They already were a big reason why Ribery came to Germany.

Vidal... Vidal came to Leverkusen as an unknown player. The scout for Leverkusen then - Michael Reschke. Bayern wanted him in 2011 - everything was already done and dusted - but Leverkusen did not let him go - and Vidal did not have the patience to wait until his contract ran out (and Bayern then was not as desireable as it is now). Reschke works for Bayern now - and when he knew Vidal was somehow available, it was not a problem anymore.

Same source - and probably extra knowledge through Vidal - was used for the Coman transfer. Bayern was on him before but was not lucky - they got to know that he is unlucky in Turin and like this made the deal. Interesting is that a lot of players from Chile now think that playing in Germany is interesting (I guess with Chicharito we will see the Mexicans next)

Costa - like many many more he was scouted since years by Bayern and watched - but he first went to Shaktar and then Shaktar called for a too big transfer sum and did not go into contract dealings to clubs who did not want to spend so big. Last winter - during the Ukraine crisis - some players including Costa - went on strike and did not return after their winter holidays for some days. At the end they did. But that caused Shaktar to let Costa leave for a lot less than they always wanted.

Just some little stories about recent transfers. And maybe to show that additional criterias count or that all of the transfers have a special story.

I do not know if Munich e.g. is less attractive than London is. If you are not the sun freak it is about the best city to live in - Munich even more than Turin or Milano who have a worker image, too. Culturally top - less than an hour to big lakes, an hour into the mountains, an hour to Austria, two hours to Italy - and about 3 or 4 to the italian beaches, to Verona and Venice.

 

[Blackwidow]

I don't think signing top players while they are at top clubs is the problem. Like a few posters said before, it rarely happens anyway.

The issue and the question is, do we stand a chance to sign Neymar from Santos, Hazard from Lille, Lewandowski from Dortmund, Griezmann from Atletico, De Bruyne from Wolfsburg etc. So basically players who attract the attention from all the clubs.

I don't think we're appealing to young players currently. I believe we will be forced to risk a lot of money with transfer targets like we did with Martial until we are on top again.

Neymar was everybody's target - but was everybody willing to pay that much? At the end he was much more expansive than everybody thought. Because in my eyes the Neymar transfer was all about the money. There were too many parties involved that just wanted to gain a financial profit with it.

I do not think the direct transfers from South American players - or African players - have so much to do with something else than money. Not if the offers aren't on the same level and not if it is a rather unknown player. That simply has to do with going from rags to riches and players that have to take care of their family - big families. There might be players with special career plans - but that are just a few. Usually this players and their transfer rights are already owned by companies - and then the players do not even have the chance for an own decision.

Lewy - Bayern just was years faster and it was already a done deal before the other big guys got interested.

Griezmann - the guy seems to like Atletico. Until he really transfers...

De Bruyne... His Grandfather is English. That I did not know prior to the transfer. So he has a connection to England. And then the sums City called out for both him and club have been in a range higher than anything another club has offered. And they really caught him and his agent with the luxury and VIP treatment they gave him. If United would have done the same I am not sure that he would play for City today...