Manchester United Transfer Rumours/Discussion 2007/2008

Giruilla

Can anyone explain to me what Fergusons problem with Alan Smith is? BBC says he's thinking about leaving because Ferguson has yet to assure him about his future role, and the club haven't offered him a new contract yet. When Smith first came to united he scored plenty of goals whilst playing up front. When Keane was injured he didn't complain about going into center midfield to basically fill a gap, and completely learn a new postition. He obviously wasn't brilliant but had some great midfield performances, Ferguson even saying he could be the next Roy Keane. Then he suffers a horendous injury, out for year, comes back determined and imo the key player in Uniteds 7-1 win over Roma. He chases down every ball, was a bit rusty up front, but still gives it more effort than any other player in the United team. I see Smith as a perfect United player, someone who can really drive the team and shake up and rattle opposition. Fair enough he can be over agressive and get red cards but a lot of the greats have had that trait, Keane/Cantona/Zidane. He continually expresses his desire to stay with United and play for them, which was key to him being signed in the first place! His record and commitment to Leeds back in the day was impecable. So what the heck is wrong with him Fergusons eyes? He's 26, skillful, agressive, motivationed, a good header/finisher, English and twice the player Saha is. I think it would be a travesty to see him leave United because of this, and hes easily one of my favourite united players. I just don't get why he's seemingly not in Fergusons picture for the future? Any thoughts?

Grid.

If only we'd hung on to Ruud!! Fergie should've swallowed his pride on that one.:mad:

sprinkles

I'd tend to agree Giruilla, he's determined, passionate and he'll harrass defences. Add to that he's a decent finisher you have to wonder why he's on the fringes of being let go, but at the same time he's not a 20+ goals a season man, something united are missing at the minute.

Rooney plays too deep to be an out and out striker, saha could possibly fill the role but he tends not too score too many from the treatment table (out til december) so we need another striker. Well actually we probably don't need one but it wouldn't hurt

Anyway, if we do bring in a 20+ goal scorer then someone has to go.

Rossi? He's gonna be a great player soon but does Fergie see him fitting in?

Saha? Out of action til the end fo the year so he won't be sold before January.

It may turn out that with Saha injured Fergie will bring in another striker and wait until January to off load. Remeber we recently bough 2 great attacking prospects so hopefully the goals will still come from all area's of the pitch again next season so I really don't think it's that important to improve the front line.

EDIT: Gridlock - United won the league, I think Fergie's pride is justified. Ruud gone, ronaldo played out of his skin. The tension between the 2 was disturbing the setup. He was right to let him go. He just hasn't replaced him yet.

LegacyUser

Saha will be back for the new season:

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=471719&CPID=8&clid=1&lid=2&title=Saha+back+for+new+season

Louis Saha 'fully expects' to be fit for the start of next season, contrary to earlier claims he would be out until November.

The Manchester United striker has undergone a knee operation in the United States and Ranko Stojic had revealed Saha would be sidelined until the autumn.

However, Stojic is no longer the France international's agent and his current representatives - Stellar Group - have issued a statement on the forward's fitness.

"Louis Saha is exclusively contracted to the Stellar Group who advise the player in all football and career-related matters," read a statement from Stellar Group.

"Louis Saha has absolutely no ties with Ranko Stojic, who has no authority whatsoever to speak on behalf of the player or his management group.

"Louis has successfully undergone knee surgery in America and is now undergoing rehabilitation in the South of France.

"He hopes and fully expects to be fit for the start of the new season and any claims to the contrary are completely false."

homerjay2005

Gridlock wrote:

If only we'd hung on to Ruud!! Fergie should've swallowed his pride on that one.:mad:

which would you rather? a happy dressing room,free flowing football, the goals spread around the team and a league title

OR

an unhappy dressing room, crap football based around one man, one man scoring taps ins all season and 2nd or 3rd in the league. dont get me wrong, ruud was a magnificent signing for united, but we play far better football without him

Giruilla

homerjay2005 wrote:

an unhappy dressing room, crap football based around one man, one man scoring taps ins all season and 2nd or 3rd in the league. dont get me wrong, ruud was a magnificent signing for united, but we play far better football without him

I agree, Uniteds football has dramitacally gotten better since Ruud left. I think he had to leave at the time and the team has developed a lot since then. But looking at how much the team has progressed, I think united would be even more formidable with a poacher like ruud back in the team. It would mean United would be getting the best of both worlds with the classy ronaldo/rooney worked goals and still picking up the messy tap ins which united were almost depending on the season before he left!

Attractive Nun

As good a player as Ruud was and is, I really can't see how people can complain about Fergie's decision to sell him. He made the choice to switch to a style of play based on the free-flowing play of players like Rooney and Ronaldo. Even though injuries to Saha forced Rooney out of position, the decision has surely been unquestionably vindicated. With the universally celebrated signings of Nani and Anderson he has moved further towards that style of play (dare I suggest a brand of 'total football'?), yet people are still lamenting Van Nistelrooy's loss? He simply wouldn't fit in...

PHB

He's 26, skillful, agressive, motivationed, a good header/finisher, English and twice the player Saha is.

Sorry, I just don't agree at all. He is aggressive, motivated, and determined. After that, his game is very limited. He is an average finisher. His heading is good, not great. His hold up play is average. All in all, he's a smaller more aggressive Peter Crouch, that's it. He's not good enough for United, and whenever he has played up front, he has shown that.
Saha is a much much much better play than him, a much better player. The only problem with Saha is his fitness. If he had stayed fit, he would have been top goal scorer in the premiership this season.

Grid.

Giruilla wrote:

But looking at how much the team has progressed, I think united would be even more formidable with a poacher like ruud back in the team. It would mean United would be getting the best of both worlds with the classy ronaldo/rooney worked goals and still picking up the messy tap ins which united were almost depending on the season before he left!

Exactly , anyway enough about Ruud, whats everyone think about possibly picking up Trezeguet??

Mitch Connor

PHB wrote:

Sorry, I just don't agree at all. He is aggressive, motivated, and determined. After that, his game is very limited. He is an average finisher. His heading is good, not great. His hold up play is average. All in all, he's a smaller more aggressive Peter Crouch, that's it. He's not good enough for United, and whenever he has played up front, he has shown that.
Saha is a much much much better play than him, a much better player. The only problem with Saha is his fitness. If he had stayed fit, he would have been top goal scorer in the premiership this season.

apart from games like Roma where he played a massive part in the hammering. He won't get many goals, but i think his hold up and link-up play is very under-rated.

And what is the point in saying if saha had been fit all season he would have been top goal scorer - he is NEVER going to be fit for an entire season, and even when available to play if he is not 100% match fit, he'll suck balls. Would much rather we sold Saha then Smith, at least with Smith you know what he'll bring to the team and that he'll actually be fit to bring it.

marius

PHB wrote:

Sorry, I just don't agree at all. He is aggressive, motivated, and determined. After that, his game is very limited. He is an average finisher. His heading is good, not great. His hold up play is average. All in all, he's a smaller more aggressive Peter Crouch, that's it. He's not good enough for United, and whenever he has played up front, he has shown that.
Saha is a much much much better play than him, a much better player. The only problem with Saha is his fitness. If he had stayed fit, he would have been top goal scorer in the premiership this season.

Disagree PHB, as has been mentioned before he scored goals for fun in his first stint up front for UTD, something like 6 in his first 8 (ish;) ).
He was then thrown into midfield and then had a horrendous injury. I agree - looking at him now he does not look good enough for UTD. I grew pretty frustrated with him in recent matches but I feel he is still improving after coming back from his injury and has a lot more to show.

I would love to see him with a full pre-season under his belt and raring to go from the start of the season.

Personally I don't think UTD will be getting anyone else in this transfer window, if last year proved anything it is that we don't necessarily need a front line striker brought in, we score from all over the pitch and dont rely on an out and out striker. We have enough up front here at the moment - and with the return of Rossi we will deffo have cover.

Saha, Rossi and Smith will be fighting it out for one position for most of the season. Which is perfect for me - horses for courses etc.

Lastly, Smithy is a character, a really honest player, I really think he adds a lot to the UTD attitude on the pitch when he plays - unlike Saha who at times can be totally anonymous.

LegacyUser

Smith is a brilliant character and a very decent player, there is no way Fergie will get rid of him.

keltoms

i cant see ferguson getting rid of smith but i cant see smith getting him game up front. hes a good player to have in the squad but definitely not a first team striker for one of the biggest clubs in the world!

he has great determination,motivation, aggression and tackling. but after that as PHB said rightly he is limited..

Steve_o

marius wrote:

.Lastly, Smithy is a character, a really honest player, I really think he adds a lot to the UTD attitude on the pitch when he plays - unlike Saha who at times can be totally anonymous.

Totally agree....Saha is a good enough finisher, but his work rate leaves alot to be desired...Smiths performance against Roma in Old Trafford pretty much sums up his character...he'll fight for every ball....He's going nowhere!

keltoms

keltoms wrote:

:eek: how isnt he the answer?? hes one of the best strikers in the world

Because he is very like Wayne Rooney, what we need is a goal poacher to compliment that. Is it that hard to understand that?


Look at how Brazil went in the last World Cup, they tried to fin in players who were too similar. Ronaldo and Adriano played up front while Kaka and Ronaldinho played in behind......didnt work, they were too similar. Im sure Tevez and Rooney could play together, but i feel it would be better to have someone getting into the 6 yard box and looking to poach

PHB

There is no denying Smith seems like a great guy, and has a good effect on the pitch. But his game just isn't good enough. He had a good spell at the start of his career, but since then, has done nothing. He was moved to midfield not only because of his attitude, but because Rooney and Van Nist and Saha were just better than him. Nothing's changed. Hell, I'd much rather Rossi to play ahead of him than Smith, he's a better overall player already.

Rumours today of a swap deal for Gudjohnson with Pique. I hope it doens't happen, I think Pique is going to be a cracking player, that said, at least these sort of links show how highly Pique is rated

PHB

PHB wrote:

Rumours today of a swap deal for Gudjohnson with Pique. I hope it doens't happen, I think Pique is going to be a cracking player, that said, at least these sort of links show how highly Pique is rated

God I hope not....Pique had a great season at Zaragoza

PHB

God I hope not....Pique had a great season at Zaragoza

I agree, and the general feeling is that he is going to come back to United as 3rd choice CB, but a lot of the Spanish clubs seem to want him, so it'll be an interesting summer regarding him. I personally don't think he will be sold for cash, but I can see him as a makeweight in a deal, much like Heinze, who might go to Barca if we get Eto or something.

Mitch Connor

Pique, Heinye and cash for Eto'o...i' be happy with that!

keltoms

Deleted User wrote:

Because he is very like Wayne Rooney, what we need is a goal poacher to compliment that. Is it that hard to understand that?


Look at how Brazil went in the last World Cup, they tried to fin in players who were too similar. Ronaldo and Adriano played up front while Kaka and Ronaldinho played in behind......didnt work, they were too similar. Im sure Tevez and Rooney could play together, but i feel it would be better to have someone getting into the 6 yard box and looking to poach

so what u mean is your looking for a new van nistelrooy? yeah i see where your coming from and eto' would be a great replacement but you still wouldnt say no to tevez.

see on the bbc webite this morning that united are going to bid for Fabio Quagliarella (the sampdoria striker) - not a bad player:)

PHB

Because he is very like Wayne Rooney, what we need is a goal poacher to compliment that. Is it that hard to understand that?

He isn't very like Rooney, he has a similar characteristic to Rooney, in that he likes to drop deep. That said, Rooney drops deep on the left while Tevez drops deep on the right. Also, Tevez is much more of a poacher than Rooney, and Tevez can play as the lone front man, and has in the past.

Im_No_Superman

Balls anyways Rossi isnt in the starting 11 for Italy U21s tonight, was looking forward to seeing him. Nani supposidly played quite well for the Portuguese last night, only saw about 10 minutes of the game myself.

Little-Devil

Steve_o wrote:

Totally agree....Saha is a good enough finisher, but his work rate leaves alot to be desired...Smiths performance against Roma in Old Trafford pretty much sums up his character...he'll fight for every ball....He's going nowhere!

I agree here 100% here, Saha maybe a good finisher, but his all round play is terrible and he is not a team player in my view. Smith is good enough for Manu, maybe not starting eleven, but very close to it. Smith has being out injured for over a year, he was fantastic against Roma, Watford and i think next season he will get the goals.

Gudjohsen again, good player but not what Manu need, he has no pase what so ever. Carlos Tevez is quite similar to Rooney. They both like to pick up the ball deep, run with the ball and attack, to say Tevez is an out and out striker is rubbish. Personally i dont know what all the hype is about with him, he only started to play well in the last six games. I much rather see us keep Saha then sign Tevez.

Im_No_Superman

Rossi was excellant tonight for the Italy U21s. A front line of Rooney, Saha, Rossi, Smith and Solskjaer isnt too bad at all, plus Nani and Anderson could do a job up front if needed too. Obvisouly if a top class striker was to become available that would be great, but we are not in dire need of a striker imo.

yabadabado

does anyone else think we cud get rid of saha and smith if we get in a top class striker?ferguson was clearly unhappy wit saha towards the end of the season and with smith speaking out about his contract/ferguson in the last few days his days cud be numbered aswel(most peoples r when they question fergie).I think we need a striker to lead the line rooney more of a link man .so if we got say etto,fergie mite sell saha and smith raise about 16m.see we are linked wit Fabio Quagliarella from sampadoria(co-owned wit udinesse) aswel.we cud then have a strike force of :rooney,new singing(etto ?),rossi and ole.i think that wud be pretty strong wud also give rossi a decent chance to prove himself.

Im_No_Superman

yabadabado wrote:

does anyone else think we cud get rid of saha and smith if we get in a top class striker?ferguson was clearly unhappy wit saha towards the end of the season and with smith speaking out about his contract/ferguson in the last few days his days cud be numbered aswel(most peoples r when they question fergie).I think we need a striker to lead the line rooney more of a link man .so if we got say etto,fergie mite sell saha and smith raise about 16m.see we are linked wit Fabio Quagliarella from sampadoria(co-owned wit udinesse) aswel.we cud then have a strike force of :rooney,new singing(etto ?),rossi and ole.i think that wud be pretty strong wud also give rossi a decent chance to prove himself.

I think that would leave us short up front if we sold Saha and Smith. Dont know if you can count on Solskjaer to play alot of games next season, his knee seems to be playing up abit again. I think Rooney, New signing, Rossi, Smith/Saha, Ole would be far better.

pyure

Fabio Quagliarella's agent is claiming that united made a £10million offer for the player a month ago and that if the offer still stands he could be on his way to old trafford
http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=472026&CPID=21&clid=603&lid=3&title=United+'bid+for+Serie+A+star'&channel=&

interesting stuff, i reckon he'd be a great buy and at a decent price no less. hope there's something to this, i really do.

Peyton Manning

Why do you reckon he'd be a great buy?

kaisersose77

well if they sold smith and bought this guy for 10m or under it wouldnt be a bad deal. Martin Ferguson has being spotted watching him so theres some truth in their interest.

yabadabado

Im_No_Superman wrote:

I think that would leave us short up front if we sold Saha and Smith. Dont know if you can count on Solskjaer to play alot of games next season, his knee seems to be playing up abit again. I think Rooney, New signing, Rossi, Smith/Saha, Ole would be far better.

yeah i agree it wud leave us a bit short up front but saying that ole saha smith only made around 40 league app. between them last season so surely rossi and a new signing wud cover that and anderson can also play upfront.i agree wit u id say it will be either smith or saha to go.id let smith go myself

pyure

Archimedes wrote:

Why do you reckon he'd be a great buy?

he's young, seriously talented and knows where the goal is. that'd be good enough for me, but add the fact that he's relatively cheap, and with smith "considering his options" if he isnt going to be guaranteed first team football this guy would be a very good replacement.
would add serious depth to our strike force

yabadabado

if Quagliarella was to cost 10-13m i think it wud be a good deal and sell smith for 7m.hes about 23 got good pace and just had a good season in serie A scored 13 in 35 for a fairly average team so i think he will be well worth a shot if united dont have much cash left.still hoping etto will be bought

homerjay2005

yabadabado wrote:

if Quagliarella was to cost 10-13m i think it wud be a good deal .........just had a good season in serie A scored 13 in 35 for a fairly average team so i think he will be well worth a shot if united dont have much cash left.still hoping etto will be bought

eto, no chance, forget about him.


as for the 13 goals in 35 games, rossi scored 9 since february, in a struggling for survival, so on that basis, he deserves a real chance.

herbieflowers

Premiership teams sigining Italian / Italian based players is always a risk...besides if Rossi can cut it just as well what's the point in signing this lad?

yabadabado

yeah i think rossi shud be given his chance did great stuff at parma in a short space of time.

besty

Rossi - similar to Zola. No real reason why he would struggle in the Premiership. If anything, he's a better out and out striker than Zola but his era was 7/8 years ago so it is hard to judge.

Personally, I'd like to see Rossi given a chance. I feel that himself, Rooney, Saha and Smith would be adequate as goals aren't a problem for the team. If there was a real problem, someone like Anelka could be brought in during January and he would still be available for the Champions League.

PHB

PHB wrote:

He isn't very like Rooney, he has a similar characteristic to Rooney, in that he likes to drop deep. That said, Rooney drops deep on the left while Tevez drops deep on the right. Also, Tevez is much more of a poacher than Rooney, and Tevez can play as the lone front man, and has in the past.

Of course he is, if u followed him last year u would notice that he turns up looking for the ball a lot around the halfway line.This is not what United need. We already have Ronaldo, Giggs, Rooney and now Nani and Anderson who will take the ball forward for us. What we need now is a guy who can run off the shoulder of the last defender, win headers, hold up the ball and poach goals from inside the box. Say what u like, but Tevez is NOT that player. Dont get me wrong, Tevez is pure class, and id be happy to see him join BUT what we need is a STRIKER not a centre forward. If he were to join along with an out and out striker then great but if he were to be the only other signing we make i wouldnt be as happy about it.

keltoms

Archimedes wrote:

Why do you reckon he'd be a great buy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh2m2Gu0cQA

and most recently..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjh7QD6zmMM

very good player!

Sizzler

herbieflowers wrote:

Premiership teams sigining Italian / Italian based players is always a risk...besides if Rossi can cut it just as well what's the point in signing this lad?

After watching this the only risk would be letting someone else buy him :eek:

Left foot ....right foot...headers....tap ins....volleys....overhead kicks....

SIGN HIM UP!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh2m2Gu0cQA

cournioni

Some great goals in there alright. He looks like a reasonably big lad too, that is what United need to replace Saha. Rossi and Rooney up front together wouldn't work. Rossi is too small, but he should definately stay.

Giruilla

Quagliarella would be an unbelievable buy, but I dont see it happening especially with the fact that hes been getting a game for Italy and scoring. I don't think he'd want to jepordise his international career is its notoriously difficult to get a call up if you play in a foreign league and not stay in serie A. Di Canio for example, Cannavaro is an obvious exception!
As for Eto'o, looking at the disruption he caused at Barca I'd say Ferguson would have no interest.

PHB

Of course he is, if u followed him last year u would notice that he turns up looking for the ball a lot around the halfway line.This is not what United need. We already have Ronaldo, Giggs, Rooney and now Nani and Anderson who will take the ball forward for us. What we need now is a guy who can run off the shoulder of the last defender, win headers, hold up the ball and poach goals from inside the box. Say what u like, but Tevez is NOT that player.

That's what he was last season, for West Ham. As I said, he has in his career played the out and out striker, and done so well.

Dont get me wrong, Tevez is pure class, and id be happy to see him join BUT what we need is a STRIKER not a centre forward. If he were to join along with an out and out striker then great but if he were to be the only other signing we make i wouldnt be as happy about it.

Well this is the thing, if I had a choice between Eto or Tevez, I'd pick Eto every time. But if I had a choice between Owen and Tevez, I'd pick Tevze every time. Or if I had a choice between Anelka and Tevez, I'd pick Tevez every time.

Rooney is not good at playing as an out and out front man. He really is purely a second striker. Tevez, while preferring the second striker role, can play as an out and out front man.
Furthermore, next season, I don't think we'll need an out and out front man to the same extent as in previous seasons, due to the style of formation we will be using.

evad_lhorg

quagluierelaalalalal can also do a beckham... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lhaIq9W_cI&mode=related&search=

keltoms

Giruilla wrote:

Quagliarella would be an unbelievable buy, but I dont see it happening especially with the fact that hes been getting a game for Italy and scoring. I don't think he'd want to jepordise his international career is its notoriously difficult to get a call up if you play in a foreign league and not stay in serie A. Di Canio for example, Cannavaro is an obvious exception!
As for Eto'o, looking at the disruption he caused at Barca I'd say Ferguson would have no interest.

yeah looks like hes gonna go to arsenal now, i swap for henry. heard on the news there that wenger has already met with the barca officials about a deal aswell

keltoms

keltoms wrote:

yeah looks like hes gonna go to arsenal now, i swap for henry. heard on the news there that wenger has already met with the barca officials about a deal aswell

Interesting, Id have thought bearing in mind Eto'o is younger that it would be cash + Henry for Eto'o

Mr Alan

for once we agree on something Neil

herbieflowers

PHB wrote:

That's what he was last season, for West Ham. As I said, he has in his career played the out and out striker, and done so well.



Well this is the thing, if I had a choice between Eto or Tevez, I'd pick Eto every time. But if I had a choice between Owen and Tevez, I'd pick Tevze every time. Or if I had a choice between Anelka and Tevez, I'd pick Tevez every time.

Rooney is not good at playing as an out and out front man. He really is purely a second striker. Tevez, while preferring the second striker role, can play as an out and out front man.
Furthermore, next season, I don't think we'll need an out and out front man to the same extent as in previous seasons, due to the style of formation we will be using.

I thought the same about Rooney until after the Roma match where he showed he can play with his back to goal...but he'll never just stick to an out-and-out if he's selected as such, he tends to mix it up more, dropping deep as usual but also getting in the faces of defenders

Peyton Manning

Archimedes wrote:

Why do you reckon he'd be a great buy?

keltoms wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh2m2Gu0cQA

and most recently..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjh7QD6zmMM

very good player!

Im sure the Chelsea fans were having a great time looking at Shevchenko's videos before he moved from Serie A...

PHB

To be honest, despite his great goals, his general play hasn't impresed me massively. He hasn't done anything to me to suggest he's better than Rossi.

Peyton Manning

^Exactly. Quagliarella scored 13 goals all season for a midtable team, whereas Rossi scored 9 goals in the short period he was with Parma, a team fighting a relegation battle.