Manchester United Transfer Rumours/Discussion 2007

PHB

It's also common knowledge that Bayern don't want to sell them, and I'm pretty sure they are not what you would consider a cash strapped club.

Nalz

Sizzler wrote:

Bale (Bollix) Havent been impressed with the 4 or 5 games I have seen this lad play in, Soton must be muck if this lad is by far their best player. In saying that hes young, has to get better.

take it you werent watching at the weekend when he got past 2 players and played a peach of a ball for Best to score? HE will come good he's barely 18 years old ffs

bucks73

Ive only seen him 2 or 3 times and wasnt overly impressed but was watching the football league review on sky yesterday and the lads in the studio were raving about him.

PHB

He looks like a cracking player, but I wouldn't really see the point in buying him. We have Evra who is quite young and is already top class.
I can't see us spending what 6 million? on a player who is clearly second choice.
That said, there are rumours that Fergie wants to convert him into a Beckham style left winger, to get a similar Giggs-Beckham type thing going with Bale-Ronaldo, but I've seen him too little to know if that has any chance of working.
If he does get signed, I think he will be signed as a winger, not as a left back.

Nalz

PHB wrote:

If he does get signed, I think he will be signed as a winger, not as a left back.

Interesting! He does have great delivery and can carry the ball. I think if we can get him for around 6m - 9m he'd be worth it. Silvestre will probably make way, but there is still 3 players at United than can play comfortably at LB (O Shea, Heinze and Evra).

time will tell lads.

herbieflowers

I wouldn't call Evra top-class yet...he's been awful since his return from injury, hopefully he can regain his confidence and play like he did up until his absence

PHB

I wouldn't say he has been awful, but he hasn't got back to his previous form. Players need a consistant back four I think, and with that now returning, I think we'll see the best of Evra again.

Sizzler

Trilla wrote:

take it you werent watching at the weekend when he got past 2 players and played a peach of a ball for Best to score? HE will come good he's barely 18 years old ffs

LOL...against Southend the bottom team, call me cautious but I wouldnt rate him on that performance

PHB made fair comment, theres potential for him on the left wing but I wouldnt buy him to sit in the stand. Hes certainly not good enough to oust Evra....or even Gabby...and hes been ropey this season!

madds

Trilla wrote:

...but there is still 3 players at United than can play comfortably at LB (O Shea, Heinze and Evra).

Last week we were dumped out of the CL and this will continue to happen if we persevere with players of Heinze's and JOS's quality. Heinze is a complete liability and offers nothing in defence or attack, whilst O'Shea is a versatile defender who offers cover on both sides as well as midfield (for this reason SAF will keep him) but offers nothing going forward in open play.

Personally I'd love to see Riise join us but that will never happen.

irishpartyboy

There's no way Riise is any better than what United have already. He has a great shot, a decent performer but nothing special.

We need accomplished full-backs with good technique, who don't just simply boot the ball up the line aimlessly. Heinze, O'Shea and Brown are guilty of that.

I'm a United fan but am really appalled at Heinze's poor distribution for a South American.

Sizzler

The Nani lad looks half decent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECH5e_Nns0Y

Class goal where he turned on the halfway line and buried it after a 30 yard run!

Nalz

I agree on the whole Heinze thing...he's a very good player. Gutsy and all heart but thats as far as it goes imo, a liability at the highest level.

Mitch Connor

Sizzler wrote:

The Nani lad looks half decent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECH5e_Nns0Y

Class goal where he turned on the halfway line and buried it after a 30 yard run!

his initial turn appears to be (partly) a mistake, as a result of his first touch not being where he wanted it - the strike didn't appear that good either.

Had a look on YouTube last night, and i came to the conclusion that he looks pretty good, and i wouldn't mind seeing what he could do in a United shirt (especially at the reported 7million release clause) Not blown away by what i have seen of him though, like i was with Ronnie.

Sizzler

Tauren wrote:

his initial turn appears to be (partly) a mistake, as a result of his first touch not being where he wanted it - the strike didn't appear that good either.

If hes able to turn people and free his marker by mistake and also score goals with 'poor' finishes then imagine what he would be like when he sharpens up

Mitch Connor

Sizzler wrote:

If hes able to turn people and free his marker by mistake and also score goals with 'poor' finishes then imagine what he would be like when he sharpens up

Treu - he could be John O'Shea; i refuse to believe anythign good he does is what he ment to happen!:D

I just didn't feel the goal being talked about was that good - there were better finishes on the video i saw, such as the first time strike into the top left corner from just outside the box; i thought that was a fantastic finish.

Headshot

Trilla wrote:

I agree on the whole Heinze thing...he's a very good player. Gutsy and all heart but thats as far as it goes imo, a liability at the highest level.

i agree

he was found out for pace against kaka

but i think united should keep him especailly thats he's a great friend of Ronaldo and a good back up to have

PHB

I thinK United will want to keep him, but he will want to play first team football.
He was top class in his first season, but he needs to play consistantly to keep at the level, something United can't provide.

fortuneg

Not the most reliable of sources but TV3 News said Fergie should be given somewhere in the region of 75m this summer.
Could you imagine that?

Start drawing up your dream teams lads!:D

Mitch Connor

apparently it was a massive prize fund for winning the league this year, i heard 50million for the champions, so maybe fergie is gettign all of that.

Headshot

Tauren wrote:

apparently it was a massive prize fund for winning the league this year, i heard 50million for the champions, so maybe fergie is gettign all of that.

does that incl sky tv deal

and if united win the FA cup, more money and then getting to the semi finals of the Champions League

Sizzler

fortuneg wrote:

Not the most reliable of sources but TV3 News said Fergie should be given somewhere in the region of 75m this summer.
Could you imagine that?

Start drawing up your dream teams lads!:D

Yeah...75m EURO...same as £50m...so we havent got an extra 25m

madds

Lads, ye wouldn't want to lose the run of yourselves too early about the cash resources Fergie does or doesn't have to send on players. It's going to be a long Summer!

Safe to say that with the nett spend from the Glazers since they took over being less than 10m, this news Fergie has 3 signings earmarked for the off season is either to appease the season-ticket holders who will be renewing in the next couple of weeks, or else Fergie is trying to force Uncle Malc's hand.

I reckon it's the latter and the "new" signings we'll see come August will be Hargreaves, Rossi, and Foster. Cue that old chestnut from SAF saying that "Rossi and Foster are like new signings".

I hope I'm wrong.

PHB

Yeh, I still hold out hope that we have this year and last years transfer budget to spend. This is just based on the fact that we were desperately trying to get Hargreaves last summer, so hopefully the money is left over.

If we have a netspend of more than 40 million I'd be gobsmacked, pretty suprised if it was about 35 million to be honest.

We might have lots more money from TV etc, but I'm pretty sure that won't have any effect on the transfer kitty. We still have massive massive debts to pay off remember.

sprinkles

Is it not the Glazers have massive debts to pay off!?

I think last years budget will be there and Fergie has said he has identified 3 targets fto David Gill. He hasn't said they'll definately sign but they are chasing 3 players. To me that doesn't mean rossi or Foster. I think it's obviously Hargreaves (whether we get him or not), Bale and a striker.

The Muppet

{(-_-)}HeadShoT** wrote:

i agree

he was found out for pace against kaka

but i think united should keep him especailly thats he's a great friend of Ronaldo and a good back up to have

To be fair Kaka will test a lot of defenders. I like Heinze but i agree he does not look as good since his injury. I would be happy enough for him to stay.

I think Sylvestre Richardson and Saha are sure to be sold if anyone is interested in them

Mitch Connor

Tevez, Nani and Hargreaves.

ccccccccccccccoooooooooooome on.

S.M.B.

I'm secretly hoping West Brom get promoted through the playoffs so we can flog off Richardson to them.

The Muppet

Tauren wrote:

Tevez, Nani and Hargreaves.

ccccccccccccccoooooooooooome on.

Bale Hargreaves and Berbatov would be nice too.


Smithy might be another one to be sold , I love his attitude but I think Fergie would sell if he got a decent offer

adox

Bale hasnt impressed me at all from what Ive seen of him and if theres one area that doesnt need strengthining...........:rolleyes:

The Muppet

adox wrote:

Bale hasnt impressed me at all from what Ive seen of him and if theres one area that doesnt need strengthining...........:rolleyes:

What are you rolling your eyes at me for, Does fergie consult you about his transfer targets ? It'll neeed strengtheing when Heinze is sold.

Bale is young gifted and English and he has already been linked as a probable target.

aidan24326

The Muppet wrote:

Bale is young gifted and English and he has already been linked as a probable target.

He's Welsh. And will probably be way overpriced for what he's achieved so far, which isn't a whole lot. He is talented but I wouldn't be paying more than 4 or 5 mil for him.

The Muppet

aidan24326 wrote:

He's Welsh. And will probably be way overpriced for what he's achieved so far, which isn't a whole lot. He is talented but I wouldn't be paying more than 4 or 5 mil for him.

Same difference, Ronaldo and Rooney were way overpriced for what they had achieved before going to United. If Fergie rates him that's good enough for me.

Mitch Connor

If he can stop Ronaldo from taking free kicks within 30yards, he'd be worth every penny!

adox

The Muppet wrote:

What are you rolling your eyes at me for, Does fergie consult you about his transfer targets ? It'll neeed strengtheing when Heinze is sold.

Bale is young gifted and English and he has already been linked as a probable target.

I wasnt rolling my eyes at you.And whats with the bs about Ferguson consulting me??

Heinze being sold?Is he consulting you??????

Nalz

adox wrote:

I wasnt rolling my eyes at you.And whats with the bs about Ferguson consulting me??

Heinze being sold?Is he consulting you??????

HA HA great response!

Sizzler

From sportinglife...

Manchester United have reportedly taken the first steps towards signing Samuel Eto'o for £27million this summer.

According to the Daily Mail Sir Alex Ferguson has identified the Barcelona striker as his number one transfer target as he begins his quest for three major signings in the close season.

It is understood Israeli agent Pini Zahavi, who has links in Barcelona, is behind the deal while Eto'o's friendship with Rio Ferdinand is also a factor in United's favour.

Only last week the United boss spoke of his desire to add more pace to his attack and the Cameroon international clearly fits the bill.

"Speed is important to us," said Ferguson as he talked about his plans for next season's title defence and Champions League challenge.

"At the moment that's what we're looking at. Whether we can get more speed."

Eto'o has been unsettled at the Catalan giants since his fall out with coach Frank Rijkaard and Brazilian star Ronaldinho after he had just returned from four months out with a knee injury.

At the time he was accused of refusing to play and wounds between the trio have never fully repaired.

In recent weeks however, Eto'o has let his football do most of the talking having scored 10 goals in his last 14 games and this kind of form has sparked interest from a host of European clubs.

AC Milan, Liverpool and Chelsea are also rumoured to be in the hunt for the three-times African Player of the Year but sources indicate he would prefer a move to Old Trafford.
Assuming Ferguson manages to also land Bayern Munich's Owen Hargreaves for £20m, United will have spent nearly all of their summer budget of £50m on just two players.

herbieflowers

Can Man U afford to splash on Eto'o? I'd say Hargreaves is the priority but how much will be left in the kitty (roughly) after he signs? (if he signs...)

irishpartyboy

If we can only make ONE big signing, then ETO would definitely be my choice. We have not replaced RVN. We must get rid of SAHA, another Premiership Club would surely take him. Newcastle had a good record of paying way over the odds for rubbish players I know he played there before but Freddie S really knows how to make a mess of things and waste some more money.

herbieflowers

I don't think the pan was to replace RVN, more to change the attacking style generally freeing up players like Giggs, Ronaldo and Rooney...if Eto'o sign hopefully he could slotinto the current offensive dynamic

Mitch Connor

i reckon United will have a fair whack to spend this summer, fact is we are well ahead of where teh Glazers need us to be in order to fund an average summer; the prize money from the Prem win is massive (I heard it was upped to 50million this season) plus we will hae made a lot more money through the CL then we did last season.

I don't think we will be spending the type of cash Chelsea have in the past, but i wouldn't bet against 50 being available, and whatever we get back through player sales, or close to it.

The Muppet

adox wrote:

I wasnt rolling my eyes at you.And whats with the bs about Ferguson consulting me??

Heinze being sold?Is he consulting you??????

LOL

Who was the roll eyes at then if not me?


Do you not think Heinze will be sold this summer, I think he will and even if not Sylvestre is definitely on the way out and Bale tcould well be one for the future.?

PHB

Look, United will never spend more than 40 million, that's just crazy. The Glaziers have huge debts to pay off, theres no way they are just gona give Fergie an open checkbook. Where are these reports that prize money has gone up? Anybody got a link? The broadcasting money has gone up, but that is clearly going towards paying off the debt.

We sign Hargreaves for about 20 million.
If we have, and this is optimistic, another 20 million to spend, we're gona obviously have to sell Saha to make up the money. If Eto did come, IF, then Saha would be surplus to requirements anyway.

Nani came out today and said it would be a dream, and since it's Sporting, we always have first choice on him.

But in order to buy nani aswell, we are going to have to make quite a bit of money off the sale of Brown, Heinze, and maybe even Smith.

I think that's how the summer is going to go to be honest.
3 big signings, say for now Hargreaves, Eto, and Nani.
A good few sales, of Brown, Smith, Saha, Heinze in order to fund the signings.
A recall of the top youth players to fill in the gaps in the squad.

evad_lhorg

Her tbh F*ck nani, hargreaves and Bale. if we get eto'o ill be one happy camper

herbieflowers

PHB wrote:

Look, United will never spend more than 40 million, that's just crazy. The Glaziers have huge debts to pay off, theres no way they are just gona give Fergie an open checkbook. Where are these reports that prize money has gone up? Anybody got a link? The broadcasting money has gone up, but that is clearly going towards paying off the debt.

I think the Glazers will give Fergie a little extra. I mean the signing of Hargreaves should have happened last summer bringing last summer's expenditure to around 38m including Carrick. Tht money (for Hargreaves) is still probably there plus this summer's kitty. True the Glazers have debts but a little more investment could go a long way - ie CL winners, league winners again - they're experienced and I'm sure they recognise the need to move forward in the transfer market.

PHB

they're experienced and I'm sure they recognise the need to move forward in the transfer market.

There's moving forward and being stupid.
An Investment of say 50 million in the transfer market in one summer just isn't a good business move. There's no amount of success that could justify that.
Even if you could guarantee the CL, it still wouldn't be worth it.

I'm hoping that we have money left over from last year's transfer kitty, but we did buy Carrick for 18 million.
If we had say 30 million a year, like they promised, that means we have 12 extra from the year before. We were hoping to get Hargreaves for that price initially anyway remember?

So assuming they are giving out 30 million a year (which is bull**** btw, last year our net spend was in the negative) we'd only have 42 million.

I'm not saying we won't have any money to spend, I just think it's crazy to assume that we are going to get magic money from businessmen for no particular reason.

If we do buy Eto, Hargreaves and Nani, it will be both due to about 40 million from Glaziers, and a lot of money raised from the sale of Brown, Heinze, Saha, and probably Smith aswell.

There isn't a huge difference between coming 1st or 2nd in the premiership, or getting to the quarters of semis of the CL.
You can't make business plans based on possible success, just look at Leeds. They are experienced, and they won't.

Sizzler

Heres something...IF Utd had have got Hargreaves last summer would we have won the league? Who would he have displaced in the team? Would the tactics and overall play have worked as well?

Even if we get him this summer Im struggling to see who we would drop to slot him in

Nani would be handy to play as an impact sub...or more if he adjusts quickly.

Eto : instant choice up front with Rooney.

Bale, erm, he can slot in when Evra gets tired and we are winning 3-0 with 10 mins to go

herbieflowers

PHB wrote:

There's moving forward and being stupid.
An Investment of say 50 million in the transfer market in one summer just isn't a good business move. There's no amount of success that could justify that.
Even if you could guarantee the CL, it still wouldn't be worth it.

I'm hoping that we have money left over from last year's transfer kitty, but we did buy Carrick for 18 million.
If we had say 30 million a year, like they promised, that means we have 12 extra from the year before. We were hoping to get Hargreaves for that price initially anyway remember?

So assuming they are giving out 30 million a year (which is bull**** btw, last year our net spend was in the negative) we'd only have 42 million.

I'm not saying we won't have any money to spend, I just think it's crazy to assume that we are going to get magic money from businessmen for no particular reason.

If we do buy Eto, Hargreaves and Nani, it will be both due to about 40 million from Glaziers, and a lot of money raised from the sale of Brown, Heinze, Saha, and probably Smith aswell.

There isn't a huge difference between coming 1st or 2nd in the premiership, or getting to the quarters of semis of the CL.
You can't make business plans based on possible success, just look at Leeds. They are experienced, and they won't.

I agree but I still think the money (within reason) will be there to strengthen the squad. Do you ot think the lazers would want tomake the lcub as successful as possible? It is a business after all, and I agree, not stupid money thrown at players a la Leeds but the sufficient funds required imo.

You need money to compete after all. I don't think they'll make an exorbiant amount available, they'll be frugal but I still think they'll give enough to secure one or two good quality players. Personally I wouldn't like to see upwards of 20m spent on Eto'o if I was to prioritise, it would be Hargreaves and a few smaller signings perhaps

herbieflowers

Sizzler wrote:

Heres something...IF Utd had have got Hargreaves last summer would we have won the league? Who would he have displaced in the team? Would the tactics and overall play have worked as well?

Even if we get him this summer Im struggling to see who we would drop to slot him in

Nani would be handy to play as an impact sub...or more if he adjusts quickly.

Eto : instant choice up front with Rooney.

Bale, erm, he can slot in when Evra gets tired and we are winning 3-0 with 10 mins to go

Scoles and or Giggs will probably play a less prominent role imo they'll play only the important matches - not every game with the long-term seeing a 4-2-3-1 with Carrick and Hargreaves sitting / holding, and perhaps Rooney dropping into the Scholes / playmaker or second striker role

PHB

Even if we get him this summer Im struggling to see who we would drop to slot him in

In games where we dropped points, it was because of midfield. Carrick and Scholes couldn't impose themselves in those games, and Hargreaves would be the type of player we could have. It would be alternating, depending on the type of game.Boro and Portsmouth are good examples of this. Also Milan away, Roma away, and hell, Lille away.

Nani is a long term replacement for Giggs.
Eto would be incredible, but I'll believe it when I see it

---

sufficient funds required imo.

I agree, but there's sufficient and then theres crazy. That's why I can't see more than 40 million being given at the absolute max, so in order to complete three major deals, we're going to have to sell.
Nani should cost around 10 million btw, the whole 17.5 thing from Sky is based on Sporting wanting to get a new contract with that as a min release cause. Furthermore, they are broke, and need the money, and United always get first choice from Sporting

herbieflowers

PHB wrote:

I agree, but there's sufficient and then theres crazy. That's why I can't see more than 40 million being given at the absolute max, so in order to complete three major deals, we're going to have to sell.
Nani should cost around 10 million btw, the whole 17.5 thing from Sky is based on Sporting wanting to get a new contract with that as a min release cause. Furthermore, they are broke, and need the money, and United always get first choice from Sporting

Oh yeah I agree, don't get me wrong, I doubt Fergie would be silly enough to spend huge amounts on players anyway! Fergie saying they won't be held to ransom suggests it'll be a wrangling, negotiated on/off summer...which is good