daily star
Manchester United will have to pay £80m - a world-record fee for a defender - if they want to sign Harry Maguire from Leicester.
Last edited:
Wot, no transfers?
- Thread starter Sassy Colin
- Start date
- Status
daily star
Manchester United will have to pay £80m - a world-record fee for a defender - if they want to sign Harry Maguire from Leicester.
Our scouts are so great that they only realised that Maguire was any good after watching him in the World Cup and his price doubled.
We’ll get a CB and I can see us signing Will-I an on deadline day.
Chelsea will keep Hazard.
Chelsea will keep Hazard.
Play some darts.
There seems to be a certain uneasiness about the transfer strategy amongst Utd fans. The fans, and the Times article are blaming Woodward and the Glazers and ultimately they are right. I just feel there are other factors at play here. In the past Utd have landed the big money signings they wanted. Rooney, Berbatov, Van Persie, Van Nistleroy. It's not so easy now.
Utd were more of an attractive proposition in the past and they always had the money. Now they are not such an attractive proposition and ………. yes I'm going to question if they have money. Yes they are a world brand but are they going to pay £150m for Bale? That's if he was for sale which I suspect he isn't. Are they going to pay £150m for anyone. Relatively speaking they have moved down the pecking order when it comes to spending. Chelsea, Man City and now Liverpool are matching if not surpassing their spending and if you take in the likes of the Spanish duo and PSG, Utd are sitting around a much busier table than they used to. Yes Barca and Real have always had money but there's new money out there and Utd haven't got to grips with how to work the transfer market yet.
Mata, Matic, Sanchez, Ibrahimovic it's all a bit predictable and quite frankly …. old.
Surely it's time for youth to make more of an influence in the team. Not the squad, the team. Rashford is in serious danger of being usurped by aging and expensive "stars" who will be gone in one or two years. The recent decline at Utd could become long term if the foundations of a new wining era are not laid now.
From a players perspective is Jose an attractive manager to play for? He's certainly had success in the past. League and Champions league titles in bundles. He's gone a few years without one now and there is a new breed of manager on the block. Managers that are prepared to take it to the opposition. Jose's default setting is defend first and attacking players are aware of this. Maybe they don't want to come to Utd if they have to defend. Maybe the medias propensity to paint Jose as Mr Grumpy is also having an effect.
Utd were more of an attractive proposition in the past and they always had the money. Now they are not such an attractive proposition and ………. yes I'm going to question if they have money. Yes they are a world brand but are they going to pay £150m for Bale? That's if he was for sale which I suspect he isn't. Are they going to pay £150m for anyone. Relatively speaking they have moved down the pecking order when it comes to spending. Chelsea, Man City and now Liverpool are matching if not surpassing their spending and if you take in the likes of the Spanish duo and PSG, Utd are sitting around a much busier table than they used to. Yes Barca and Real have always had money but there's new money out there and Utd haven't got to grips with how to work the transfer market yet.
Mata, Matic, Sanchez, Ibrahimovic it's all a bit predictable and quite frankly …. old.
Surely it's time for youth to make more of an influence in the team. Not the squad, the team. Rashford is in serious danger of being usurped by aging and expensive "stars" who will be gone in one or two years. The recent decline at Utd could become long term if the foundations of a new wining era are not laid now.
From a players perspective is Jose an attractive manager to play for? He's certainly had success in the past. League and Champions league titles in bundles. He's gone a few years without one now and there is a new breed of manager on the block. Managers that are prepared to take it to the opposition. Jose's default setting is defend first and attacking players are aware of this. Maybe they don't want to come to Utd if they have to defend. Maybe the medias propensity to paint Jose as Mr Grumpy is also having an effect.
You really have to wonder... If we had a proper strategy, we'd have tried to get all the players in before the WC. It is clear that Leicester holds all the cards now. Further, we should identify the players a little bit earlier in their career. We hardly buy top class talents anymore
We have to hope that Dalot is as great as Jose said. Otherwise, I just dont think our FBs have the energy and quality that is required. A RW seems to be a dream and will most likely remain one for this transfer window
He was tho till Pep got a hold of him.
Looks like we’re going to spend a combined £160m on Maguire and Willian and that’s us done.
My thoughts remain that Woody is far too slow to move in today's market, prefers his idea of Galactico signings and at the same time wants to reserve the right to hisidea of what's value rather than the managers.
We really need to move on from a sponsorship/financier whose idea of transfer expenditures is possibly not to upset the owners balance sheet, to a football based DOF who goes in early for the targets. How can the support base trust a person who is seen constantly at other major events when signings need to be finalised. All this stuff about modern communication methods do not appear to be basis that Citeh and Liverpool work under currently.
We really need to move on from a sponsorship/financier whose idea of transfer expenditures is possibly not to upset the owners balance sheet, to a football based DOF who goes in early for the targets. How can the support base trust a person who is seen constantly at other major events when signings need to be finalised. All this stuff about modern communication methods do not appear to be basis that Citeh and Liverpool work under currently.
This. This is exactly the problem, Ed is far too concerned with balance sheets and what we can spend to make more money, compared to what we need to spend to get back to the top. What the club fails to see is that if we get back to winning big trophies, I'm talking premier leagues and champions leagues, then the sponsorships will sort themselves; United at that point go from being a big club to being THE big club.
I'm fine with Ed sorting all the finances out for the club but a DOF to sort all the transfers out is badly needed; isn't no longer a case of put it off for now, its a case of get someone in now, before it's too late. We can't keep hesitating for players then losing out just so we can spend more on someone who's is worse.
The problem here is that you assume a lot without having any element to support this theory. Every club that has money is linked with Galactico transfers, it doesn't mean that it's true and even if you give weight to the "Watch this space" comment that he made in 2014, you need to remember that after Moyes we were in damage control from a PR standpoint and we needed to make a statement about our ability to attract the best.
Now, if we look at what the club actually did then we have to realize that we purchased players that the managers wanted and that fitted their systems.
Somehow this narrative about our club being stingy doesn't seem to die. We're top spenders among non-oil clubs. I can't find our net profit figures anywhere so I have no clue where people are getting the conclusion the club is underspending relative to what we make. Is it because of the exaggerations Woody makes when he's sweettalking investors during annual meetings?
Probably and there is also the fact that we didn't purchase well, we spend too much on players that are destined to be squad players. There is a discrepancy between the total amount paid and the actual worth of the purchase to our team, it creates two things, people have a bad idea about how much players are generally worth and give the impression that we didn't spent enough. For example I wouldn't be surprised if people think that you need to spend more than 35m for a good CB because when we spent that amount we got Lindelof, the problem is that we didn't spent well, it's not that we didn't spent enough.
Mourinho has always stated that we are short on RW, from last season till now. Mourinho also stated we need 1 defender, although there is no specific info on whether he was referring to a CB, or a LB.
Why do you trust someone called Castles, instead of the manager in his own words?
We bought Martial to be fair, but that's not working due to other reasons.
When people talk about big money spending, I also believe in these 2 names. Mourinho knows and wants Willian, who is also a Right Wing BTW, so he will push for him and 70m-80m is possible, although crazy. A Swap with Martial plus some change is also possible. If Mourinho is unhappy with the current CB then he will also push for Maguire, 65m so be it. I count 140m or less, but if Maguire do come in, either 1 of Jones/Smalling/Roj will have to go, possibly faster than Darmian. My bet is Martial + 20m for Willian, Smalling + 20m for Maguire, should be win win for all 3 clubs. So 40m net spending plus 20m for Darmian after season starts.
Why would you quote a post from weeks ago thats now clearly out of date
quite obvious now we're not after a LB as Jose has said as much, that wasn't the case when I made that post.and another quick 180 when we're out of the title race by december. We'll go back to 'our squad is shite and Jose should not be expected to win shite with this lot, needs to spend another $500m to complete with Pep' On another note, trying to sign Maguire based on his world cup showing is hilarious
I think we are very good at working under the radar.
It that's not the case, worrying signs.
It that's not the case, worrying signs.
Feck me! Maguire is okay but not willian ffs
I think we should do it more often, especially as we cannot compete with other teams financially.
Good points.
I think it’s really taken a lot of prestige away from the club... the absolute dross that we have in the squad still to this day.
You don’t see that mediocrity at Barca, Real, Bayern and now City even.
Given the complexities of transfers one cannot wait until summer to decide which players to pursue.
A DoF needs to figure out the budget, define the club philosophy and develop succession plans for each position within the framework of how players interact.
To not have a top notch director football at a club like United is tantamount to not having a CEO at a Fortune 500 company.
It’s completely mental.
United will not compete at the top level until this issue is fixed.
A DoF needs to figure out the budget, define the club philosophy and develop succession plans for each position within the framework of how players interact.
To not have a top notch director football at a club like United is tantamount to not having a CEO at a Fortune 500 company.
It’s completely mental.
United will not compete at the top level until this issue is fixed.
Aleksandr Golovin is joining Monaco for £26m. For that price he would have been a good addition to our squad.
It wouldn’t of been that price for us, add another £20m at least.
It's not the case that having a DoF is either necessary, or necessarily a good thing.
For starters, it's the club chair (or board) that fixes the budget, not a DoF. Then there are many cases where conflict between the manager and DoF has developed, leading to paralysis within the club and/or chaos. And finally, it limits the choice of managers, since some of them just won't accept working with/under a DoF.
The last time Spurs had a DoF it didn't work well. Now we don't and things are going much better.
Starting to think this is it for us. What a shocking window if true.
It hasn't worked out with Martial because of Mourinho.
Just because Spurs hires a crappy DoF doesn’t mean they aren’t necessary.
Granted the title it is immaterial from the standpoint that every club needs to have someone in charge of making decisions.
While the board sets the finances a great DoF does the outlays to ask for more when necessary.
Sure things are going much better but what’s the end game. How are Spurs going to move from being top 4 contender a Knockout CL competitor to winning the PL?
How are United going to do the same thing? You're mistaken if you think that appointing a DoF will necessarily make the difference … it might make things worse.
Do you imagine that decisions at Spurs are not being taken just because we don't have a DoF?
What ever the (non) strategy is. Huge 2 weeks, I can't see anything other than a few panic buys.
Chelsea , Utd , Spurs will all be shitting it.
Pool and City are laughing.
Chelsea , Utd , Spurs will all be shitting it.
Pool and City are laughing.
So we probably are getting trolled but is my wet dream of Dybala signing for us becoming a reality based on Pogs wearing his Argentina shirt?
https://www.google.com/amp/www.dail...gentina-Manchester-United-star-enjoys-LA.html
https://www.google.com/amp/www.dail...gentina-Manchester-United-star-enjoys-LA.html
Last edited:
So we probably are getting trolled but is my wet dream of Dybala signing for us becoming a reality based on Pogs wearing his Argentina shirt?
https://www.google.com/amp/www.dail...gentina-Manchester-United-star-enjoys-LA.html
Or he wants to go back to Juventus to play alongside him again.....
Shush - he clearly wants his buddy in Manchester.
I’d love it.
13 days left.
Just want it over now. This has been a shambolic window. I'm chuffed we've signed Fred and a super talent in Dalot, but it just seems that we needed another month or so to actually get things complete. Just expecting us to facing extreme prices now because teams know we're desperate. I know everyone is in the same boat due to the world cup, it's just a shame that it seems as if we just did nothing over the world cup period and just thought we'd get everything done once it's finished.
Just want it over now. This has been a shambolic window. I'm chuffed we've signed Fred and a super talent in Dalot, but it just seems that we needed another month or so to actually get things complete. Just expecting us to facing extreme prices now because teams know we're desperate. I know everyone is in the same boat due to the world cup, it's just a shame that it seems as if we just did nothing over the world cup period and just thought we'd get everything done once it's finished.
So in amidst all the threads about players we are interested in, what's the club doing, whats Ed Woodward doing, what's Mourinho doing etc. In particular Mourinho has bemoaned our squad several times since being here and I think we would all agree that even at this very moment if we made a good couple of signings that it is very unlikely we would have a good enough squad required to challenge City, some talented players? Sure, but the squad still just has a load of average players on it that we've bought, given extortionate wages to, or given new contracts that probably aren't deserved.
My issue is, Moyes was a disaster, yes, aload of LVG's signings arguably ravaged the squad even more and this will be Mourinho's 3rd full transfer window and yet the squad still looks imbalanced, it still has members of the squad that for the life of me i can't understand are still around. So why is this, why does it look like we are so inept, especially when it looks like other clubs have their head on straight in this market, half the time it feels like our scouting department has their head in the sands when it seems to be rare we sign a young up and coming talented player, Dalot aside. Right now we are supposedly targetting Maguire for £65mill, why, because he had a half decent World Cup? Everyone can also point out better options for the long term future of this club than spunking over £60-70 odd million that Chelsea are apparently asking for, for Willian.
What bugs me even more is investigating transfer dealings and the confirmed prices, lets say, since Mourinho took over and then making a list that would remain within the finances that Mourinho has spent, and yet would radically change our squad from what it looks like now.
For example, players that have been signed by clubs since Mourinho took over;
1. Timo Werner - £9mill to RB Leipzig
2. Julian Draxler - £35mill to PSG
3. James Rodriguez - £50-60mill - Loan with an option to buy to Bayern
4. Ruben Neves - £16mill to Wolves
5. Eric Bailly - £30mill
6. Paul Pogba - £89mill
7. Marcos Alonso - £20mill to Chelsea
8. Davinson Sanchez £4mill to Ajax
9. Thomas Meunier £5mill to PSG
10. Gelson Martins - Free to Atletico
11. Aleksandr Golovin - £27mill to Monaco
Thats around £295mill there, signed over multiple summers since Mourinho has taken over, 2 this summer.
That list includes 1 young exciting forward, 3 young exciting attacking players, 3 midfielders, 2 centre backs and 2 full backs. I mean you could swap out players, you could do more, my point is that, whilst not maybe all world beaters, yet, would this list not have dramatically improved our entire squad from top to bottom. It's not far fetched to be signing 3 or maybe 4 players a window, maybe 1 or 2 in January and shipping the same amount out, and yet we aren't. Why?
Some will argue oh well the players wouldn't be that cheap for us because 'Manchester United tax' on top, maybe we wouldn't have a chance against other clubs, but you can replace each player on that list with an equally priced like for like that arguably we should of been in for. Instead we're playing wingers as fullbacks, we seem to love square pegs in round holes and we're signing for positions we don't even need when we have gaping holes like at RW, it just makes absolutely no sense to me and surely i'm not the only one.
I know this may come across as negative, me moaning, having a go at Mourinho or Woodward etc but it's actually just genuinely confusing for me, if we hear any rumours its always constantly for players like Bale who we play transfer merry go round with every summer it feels and it gets us nowhere.
Why is this all such an issue and why is it we are like deer caught in the headlights in the transfer market. I really wish we would sort this side of things out, get an actual strategy in place for the clubs immediate and long term future and be vastly more decisive.
My issue is, Moyes was a disaster, yes, aload of LVG's signings arguably ravaged the squad even more and this will be Mourinho's 3rd full transfer window and yet the squad still looks imbalanced, it still has members of the squad that for the life of me i can't understand are still around. So why is this, why does it look like we are so inept, especially when it looks like other clubs have their head on straight in this market, half the time it feels like our scouting department has their head in the sands when it seems to be rare we sign a young up and coming talented player, Dalot aside. Right now we are supposedly targetting Maguire for £65mill, why, because he had a half decent World Cup? Everyone can also point out better options for the long term future of this club than spunking over £60-70 odd million that Chelsea are apparently asking for, for Willian.
What bugs me even more is investigating transfer dealings and the confirmed prices, lets say, since Mourinho took over and then making a list that would remain within the finances that Mourinho has spent, and yet would radically change our squad from what it looks like now.
For example, players that have been signed by clubs since Mourinho took over;
1. Timo Werner - £9mill to RB Leipzig
2. Julian Draxler - £35mill to PSG
3. James Rodriguez - £50-60mill - Loan with an option to buy to Bayern
4. Ruben Neves - £16mill to Wolves
5. Eric Bailly - £30mill
6. Paul Pogba - £89mill
7. Marcos Alonso - £20mill to Chelsea
8. Davinson Sanchez £4mill to Ajax
9. Thomas Meunier £5mill to PSG
10. Gelson Martins - Free to Atletico
11. Aleksandr Golovin - £27mill to Monaco
Thats around £295mill there, signed over multiple summers since Mourinho has taken over, 2 this summer.
That list includes 1 young exciting forward, 3 young exciting attacking players, 3 midfielders, 2 centre backs and 2 full backs. I mean you could swap out players, you could do more, my point is that, whilst not maybe all world beaters, yet, would this list not have dramatically improved our entire squad from top to bottom. It's not far fetched to be signing 3 or maybe 4 players a window, maybe 1 or 2 in January and shipping the same amount out, and yet we aren't. Why?
Some will argue oh well the players wouldn't be that cheap for us because 'Manchester United tax' on top, maybe we wouldn't have a chance against other clubs, but you can replace each player on that list with an equally priced like for like that arguably we should of been in for. Instead we're playing wingers as fullbacks, we seem to love square pegs in round holes and we're signing for positions we don't even need when we have gaping holes like at RW, it just makes absolutely no sense to me and surely i'm not the only one.
I know this may come across as negative, me moaning, having a go at Mourinho or Woodward etc but it's actually just genuinely confusing for me, if we hear any rumours its always constantly for players like Bale who we play transfer merry go round with every summer it feels and it gets us nowhere.
Why is this all such an issue and why is it we are like deer caught in the headlights in the transfer market. I really wish we would sort this side of things out, get an actual strategy in place for the clubs immediate and long term future and be vastly more decisive.
Something I read on the caf recently - our transfer strategy (if you can call it that) is reactive instead of being proactive.
I also think that our board are trying to follow the business model of Arsenal in that so long as we're in the CL, they're not going to make vast investments in the squad in one window.
We'd perhaps see some big signing every other window but beyond that, they won't put a ton of cash on the table too try and buy out a squad like City or PSG.
I also think that our board are trying to follow the business model of Arsenal in that so long as we're in the CL, they're not going to make vast investments in the squad in one window.
We'd perhaps see some big signing every other window but beyond that, they won't put a ton of cash on the table too try and buy out a squad like City or PSG.
- Status