Manchester United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread - Mod Note in OP, 25/08

magnumbud

Robson99 wrote: »

Alonso would be an upgrade on Fletcher Carrick cleverly and Ando but we still need a Vidal or similar

FYP

homerjay2005

TheDoc wrote: »

A string of victories could go a long way of masking what has been, and I can't deny it, another floundering, disappointing window. Even if something mindblowing happens, ramming our business this late is pretty poor stuff, especially after the spirits and momentum built with LVg, then Herrera, then Shaw. That was the time to KEEP going with signings, with the pre-season buzz.

fair play Doc, i think this sums up the entire suituation 100% spot on.

RayCun

Mitch Connor wrote: »

Milan are crap though - in a team which is far better offensively, and will create more for him, he will do very well. would suit the liverpool style very well, imo.

8th last year, 3rd the year before. Crap in European terms but better than most of their opposition

MagicIRL

Benita would be a sensational CB signing for United, but will it happen? Skeptical to say the very, very least. Imagine playing a back three of Evans - Benita - Rojo, with Keane/Blackett/Smalling and Jones avilable as back-up. The starting back three would be superp.

Has Vidal fallen off the planet as well? All the build up to that La Stampa article and then... *poof* nothing.

TheDoc

Mitch Connor wrote: »

I thought Bayern, and especially Chelsea were being considered far more likely.

i'd be over the moon if we got him (in terms of getting that CB role sorted)

German journalists have been ruling Bayern out and ruled them out quickly. The Italian comments this morning indicated the Chelsea interest was merely interest, but United are making serious ground.

I'm not sure on the validity of these journalists, but it's been a common trend throughout from what I can see.

Bayern are absolutely crippled in CM and CB at the moment. I'm expecting them to land someone big, probably smoeone we have our eye on. Just not sure who

ericzeking

dahat wrote: »

Alonso and Carrick in the middle, no thanks. We should look further afield than Alonso, Nov would be an ideal temp fit

Well no, Alonso or Carrick with Herrera....FWIW I think Carrick and Herrera will work well together and I think it's one of the reasons why LVG may not buy a CM as he apparently has a high regard for Carrick.

It's such a balls that MC got injured for such a spell, it's putting us under a lot of pressure for sheer numbers in the middle of the park, when we already had that problem at the back.

Mitch Connor

dahat wrote: »

imagine Alonso and Carrick in the middle, no thanks. We should look further afield than Alonso, Nov would be an ideal temp fit

alonso and herrea, behind Mata, would be a great upgrade on last years midfield imo - to be fair. I'd be more confident in us being able to do somethign with possession. the issue would be getting the ball back - neither herrera nor alonso shy from a tackle, but i don't think they would provide enough defensive protection.

I can see it being no one or a crap CM brought in, so Alonso would be an upgrade on my expectations.

MagicMarker

TheTownie wrote: »

Benatia not training it seems.

Can't see this being in any way relevant to us now that Rojo has signed tbh.

FortuneChip

Hococop wrote: »

haha we have no simple transfer do we (of course this could be false)

as for Alonso not a hope in hell we he sign for us, talking to one of my friends who supports liverpool told me how he still loves the club, still buys the kits for his kids, i cant see him joining us and destroy his reputation with them but i have to admit it would be funny to see it happen

If Alonso doesn't sign for United by the end of this transfer window, I would doubt it's a matter of pride/loyalty.
I think fans read into this a lot more than playing professionals.
If a deal was placed in front of Alonso to extend his playing career in top flight football at a club like United, and all the other criteria (wage/contract etc) were satisfactory, I'd fully expect him to sign.

Mitch Connor

RayCun wrote: »

8th last year, 3rd the year before. Crap in European terms but better than most of their opposition

yeah, but he has only been there for a season and a half. the season they finished 3rd he had good stats - what i was responding to was a criticism of his stats from last season, when they finished 8th. his stats would be better in a better side, and Liverpool are a better side.

twam2008

MagicIRL wrote: »

Benita would be a sensational CB signing for United, but will it happen? Skeptical to say the very, very least. Imagine playing a back three of Evans - Benita - Rojo, with Keane/Blackett/Smalling and Jones avilable as back-up. The starting back three would be superp.

Has Vidal fallen off the planet as well? All the build up to that La Stampa article and then... *poof* nothing.

Read that Juve said there has been no offer made, and it's too late now to make a deal, but also there are concerns that the knee situation is still in question.

homerjay2005

Robson99 wrote: »

Alonso would be an upgrade on Fletcher Carrick cleverly and Ando but we still need a Vidal or similar

not having a pop at you here mate just talking more in general, but the bit in bold there has appeared more and more in recent weeks - its a sorta "anybody at this stage will do" attitude.

we could sign multiple very average players and they would be an upgrade on our current options in many places, but that is not saying much - the problem is we need major upgrades.

personally however, i think Alonso is a massive upgrade now on Fletcher and Carrick.

a good few posters towed the "i am happy to wait until the end of the window for the best/right players as opposed to signing players in a panic now" line for several weeks, but it looks like panic and desperation is exactly what Woodward and the board are facing.

Coat22

homerjay2005 wrote: »

Ben Jefferson, perhaps the only journalist to report that Rojo was a target all summer and well in advance of everybody else in last 2 weeks, has said this morning we are going for Alonso.

what do people think of that, if it came off?

I'd love it - but can't see him burning his bridges with his Liverpool groupies by going for it.

Always thought it was a wind up when Benitez wanted to replace him with Gareth Barry but true to form he sold him. His most bizarre decision ever.

xtal191

https://twitter.com/Sport_Witness/status/502379431722487808

https://twitter.com/Sport_Witness/status/502380071488073728

rob316

FortuneChip wrote: »

If Alonso doesn't sign for United by the end of this transfer window, I would doubt it's a matter of pride/loyalty.
I think fans read into this a lot more than playing professionals.
If a deal was placed in front of Alonso to extend his playing career in top flight football at a club like United, and all the other criteria (wage/contract etc) were satisfactory, I'd fully expect him to sign.

Didn't Kuyt turn down a chance to play for united under LVG also for the same reason. Alonso is still seen at Anfield for matches, he is one player I would be confident would never even consider the move. Part of the 05 UCL winning team he is a god in Liverpool still.

TheDoc

homerjay2005 wrote: »

fair play Doc, i think this sums up the entire suituation 100% spot on.

I gave you, Mitch, Headshot and Adox some **** last year(albeit proper discussion) in what I labelled your knee jerk reaction in terms of how we were operating in the transfer market.

I still maybe felt at the time you guys were jumping the gun, but there is simply no denying that over the course of what has transpired, you lot(among others) were simply spot on.

It's really only this window where I've come to terms that lessons simply havn't been learned, and business hasn't been conducted in the way I would expect it to be done.

Cramming essential business into the space of 10 days, that should have been done over 60 days, is nothing short of madness, and I will not be suprised seeing us pay inflated fees for players, if any, that come in.

While Woodward might feel he is not answerable to the fans, it would do him some great service to make an address to the fanbase publicly after this window closes, to try explain what appears to be nothing sort of dropping the ball.

Because there is a big difference. Narrative and opinion is sharply turning on him at present. But I'd appreciate the truth. If we learned that we had offers accepted and provided what we felt were acceptable terms to players, who decided on elsewhere, that is fine. You can only persuade players so much. I believe this is what happened with Kroos.

But even if he admits he fumbled, stuttered and struggled with the demands of making signings, I'd appreciate that fully. It's nieve in the extreme on my part to expect honest, straight answers, but with the worry surrounding the club with the fanbase, I feel it's in their best interest to be as transparent and honest as possible.

A lot of bogus **** went around about him this summer, holidays, working from home with no internet access, attempting a sponsor event when he should have been meeting with a club, losing out on a target over 2m. He's going to get bombshelled at the end of this window. And he would do wise to have a response ready. Hiding and ignoring it won't help, especially after his ludacrous claims earlier this summer.

homerjay2005

Coat22 wrote: »

Always thought it was a wind up when Benitez wanted to replace him with Gareth Barry but true to form he sold him. His most bizarre decision ever.

indeed, though for what its worth Gareth Barry around 2009 was superb, his move to City didnt just happen for no reason. his performance at Old Trafford that season (the Macheda goal game) stands out for me as one of the best individual oppostion players performane that i have seen live...he was sensational that day.

since then, i have always rated Barry as a really really good player


alonso in 2009/2010 was up there with the best in the world though...

Robson99

Your Airbag wrote: »

Money has been spent and top players have been brought in. You think Ed doesn't want to spend? Do you actually think he doesn't want to bring in top players and be a fans hero?

The manager has to indicate the player he wants first. The player has to want to join us and not go to Spain. The Selling club has to want to sell and the agent has to not try to screw us on the deal. I'm sure if LVG wanted Bale, CR7 and they wanted to come Ed would have no problem handing over the money. Its not coming out of his wages after all.

I don't need an education on how transfers work but thanks anyway. We are flirting and fanning around with a lot of top players over the last two seasons and have secured two very good ones, two which we don't know whether they will adopt to the EPL and another who is was a panic buy and not good enough for utd. Signing 5 players over 3 transfer should be part and parcel of any top club. But when you need a squad overhaul and cover for 6 or 7 players leaving then its piss poor. Someone is going to get the blame. Can you see it being LVG?? I was all for giving Woodward a chance after last season but so far the little lad here has learned more about United's problems than he or the board seems to have. FFS Keane has been on about it for the last few seasons and Scholes has it highlighted again. Its both mad and sad whats going on

Coat22

homerjay2005 wrote: »

not having a pop at you here mate just talking more in general, but the bit in bold there has appeared more and more in recent weeks - its a sorta "anybody at this stage will do" attitude.

we could sign multiple very average players and they would be an upgrade on our current options in many places, but that is not saying much - the problem is we need major upgrades.

personally however, i think Alonso is a massive upgrade now on Fletcher and Carrick.

a good few posters towed the "i am happy to wait until the end of the window for the best/right players as opposed to signing players in a panic now" line for several weeks, but it looks like panic and desperation is exactly what Woodward and the board are facing.

Wit the season started (or about to start) across Europe the options for signing marquee players is gone though.

Really all thats left to sign is the "surplus" squad players at clubs like Madrid, which would appear to be Di Maria, maybe Khadeira and maybe Alonso - much like Ozil was the last pick of the bunch last summer.

Now I'd be happy with 2 out of those 3 but realistically if we got 1 we'd do well.

So we're then faced with the option to "upgrade" or wait. I don't know about you but give me upgrade in place of a repeat of last season or last weekend anyday.

KH25

I think Doc makes a good point about Woodward and Moyes. Moyes deservedly got a lot of the blame last year because the team played awful football and finished in it's lowest ever position.

However, looking at transfers, what has changed? Very little I would say. Shaw and Herrera appear to have been done and just required LVG's approval. Since his appointment we have signed one other player. This is despite Woodwards promises of the wage bill going up and telling us to 'watch this space'.

In my opinion, the problem lies with Woodward and the staff in charge of transfers. I don't think it's unfair to say that City, Chelsea and Liverpool have all strengthened this year and done so relatively quickly, especially in comparison to united. Something is obviously not working because it seems like it takes united months to even decide to make an offer for a player.

LVG knows we need a midfielder or 2. I don't doubt that at all. We know it as fans. Now ex players, who are held in high regard, are saying it. It's a glaringly obvious problem. If something isn't done to address it, something has to change and quickly.

I've probably gone on about transfers a bit lately but it is genuinely because the clubs approach is baffling me. I can't make head or tail of it.

twam2008

Coat22 wrote: »

Wit the season started (or about to start) across Europe the options for signing marquee players is gone though.

Really all thats left to sign is the "surplus" squad players at clubs like Madrid, which would appear to be Di Maria, maybe Khadeira and maybe Alonso - much like Ozil was the last pick of the bunch last summer.

Now I'd be happy with 2 out of those 3 but realistically if we got 1 we'd do well.

So we're then faced with the option to "upgrade" or wait. I don't know about you but give me upgrade in place of a repeat of last season or last weekend anyday.

Put a £20m bid in for Schneiderlin. Sorted.

MagicIRL

twam2008 wrote: »

Put a £20m bid in for Schneiderlin. Sorted.

Lovely player. Would be delighted to see him at United. He wants out of Southampton, too.

jimmytwotimes 2013

Balague on Twitter this morning- Khedira may be heading to Arsenal, Madrid want him to leave. No bid for Di Maria from United.

redbaron_99

RasTa wrote: »

It's looking like Ballotelli is off to Liverpool, annoying and embarrassing to see them improving their squad after the departure of one of their key players.

They have signed 3 defenders, one CM, two wingers and 2 strikers.

They have spent their budget for the next five years.

Adamcp898

jimmytwotimes 2013 wrote: »

Balague on Twitter this morning- Khedira may be heading to arsenal, Madrid want him to leave. No bid for Di Maria from United.

Would be a brilliant signing for them tbf, exactly what they need.

Still can't figure out why we're not in for him, especially since we've bombed out of so many other CM deals this Summer. His personal terms would be all that need to be sorted even though it sounded like they were a sticking point when his Arsenal move was meant to be done earlier.

Your Airbag

Robson99 wrote: »

I don't need an education on how transfers work but thanks anyway. We are flirting and fanning around with a lot of top players over the last two seasons and have secured two very good ones, two which we don't know whether they will adopt to the EPL and another who is was a panic buy and not good enough for utd. Signing 5 players over 3 transfer should be part and parcel of any top club. But when you need a squad overhaul and cover for 6 or 7 players leaving then its piss poor. Someone is going to get the blame. Can you see it being LVG?? I was all for giving Woodward a chance after last season but so far the little lad here has learned more about United's problems than he or the board seems to have. FFS Keane has been on about it for the last few seasons and Scholes has it highlighted again. Its both mad and sad whats going on

Well LVG dropped our interest in Kroos and Fabregas. LVG said he gave the go ahead on tranfers of Shaw/Herra and Woodward got them done.

There is no question that we need more players, 3 makes this an average window, another CM and CB are needed. Its the whos at fault bickering thats annoying with people tlaking as if they know whats exactly is happeneing.

I said it before, LVG dropping the Kroos interest and not going for Cesc was bizzare. We could have had a world class MF weeks ago and three weeks to assess the squad when its obvious that defenders were needed purely from a numbers point of view.

Robson99

magnumbud wrote: »

FYP

Better player than Carrick IMO

magnumbud

Robson99 wrote: »

Better player than Carrick IMO

perhaps but at his age its not by much

homerjay2005

KH25 wrote: »

IVery little I would say. Shaw and Herrera appear to have been done and just required LVG's approval. Since his appointment we have signed one other player. This is despite Woodwards promises of the wage bill going up and telling us to 'watch this space'.


I've probably gone on about transfers a bit lately but it is genuinely because the clubs approach is baffling me. I can't make head or tail of it.

TheDoc wrote: »

That was the time to KEEP going with signings, with the pre-season buzz.

not sure if ye read my post late last night, but the fact that we had two signings in the space of 24 hours, 3 days before our end of year finances were closed, makes me suspicious about how our business is being conducted. maybe and i stress maybe, LVG didnt have full control over those signings, he could have been told the money needed to be spent before the EOY closed and he agreed with Shaw and Herrera. now of course, it could just be a massive coincidence and just happened like that, but £22.4million worth of wage cuts kicked in 4 days later and then we didnt spend a penny for 7 weeks. Q1 finances will close end of September...are we spreading the cost of transfers across windows, or more to the point restriced in what we can pay up front, therefore deals are hard to close?

i guess thats the risk when a fund accountant is running out business, its going to be based towards financial goals, as opposed to football.

MagicIRL

On the topic of two signings in 24 hours...

Rojo himself has said we've been negotiating since the WC ended. Perhaps, genuinely, the length of this transfer was completey out of United's hands because of the bandy 3rd part ownership nonsense?

Hococop

jimmytwotimes 2013 wrote: »

Balague on Twitter this morning- Khedira may be heading to arsenal, Madrid want him to leave. No bid for Di Maria from United.

thought him going to arsenal was dead because of his wages

Harry Palmr

redbaron_99 wrote: »

They have spent their budget for the next five years.

Will have spent the Suarez cash and 30 million on top (net). Which is the money you get just for turning up for the CL group stage.

Plenty left for next year

TheDoc

Anyone know the history of LVG in terms of transfer operations. I'm wondering if at Bayern, Barca and Ajax did he operate alongside a director of football type, who was a good networked individual who orchestrated sigings. While the UK media, press, fanbase etc. have beef with Directors of football ( as they have been implemented stupidly in English football) they are good success stories all around Europe.

Be interesting to know if LVG finds this window unacceptable, would he make noise about putting a proper footballing negotiator in place. It's not a stupid position or pointless, as many nieve pundits would make out. It's just been done worringly stupidly in the English Premier League.

Might be worth the club exploring, to allow Woodward focus on the commerical aspect, which typically falls outside of the fanbase wrath. While it's normally all good ****, no one get's going after hearing we signed a new sponsor. So a lot of his goodwork is being undermined by his poor work with the player acquisition.

Good arguement that those responsabilities should be split, and someone put in place to essentially be a footballing negotiator. Whose sole purpose is the acquisition of players, and selling of players.

twam2008

Your Airbag wrote: »

Well LVG dropped our interest in Kroos and Fabregas. LVG said he gave the go ahead on tranfers of Shaw/Herra and Woodward got them done.

There is no question that we need more players, 3 makes this an average window, another CM and CB are needed. Its the whos at fault bickering thats annoying with people tlaking as if they know whats exactly is happeneing.

I said it before, LVG dropping the Kroos interest and not going for Cesc was bizzare. We could have had a world class MF weeks ago and three weeks to assess the squad when its obvious that defenders were needed purely from a numbers point of view.

I'd imagine the Shaw and Herrera deals were set in motion last season, with Herrera it was case of paying the buy-out clause, which many felt was too high, hence I don't think it would have been difficult, with Shaw we payed £30m for a 19 year old defender, money talked. We have no way of knowing who Van Gaal has or hasn't asked for. What we do know is that he will have more likely given Woodward a list of players that he wants, much like what Moyes probably did. And at the end of the transfer window we will know how successful or unsuccessful Woodward was with that list. And I suspect it will be about as successful as he was last year with said list.

Coat22

11 and a half days to go – do people really doubt we’ll bring in another couple of players in that time?

I don’t – I think we’ll see a CM and another (hopefully CB) arrive between now and then. Frustrating that we’re not being linked with those top quality players, such as Khadeira who appear to be available but I’m sure we are looking at them the same as Aresnal, Liverpool etc.

My only worry is that we allow these ones drag on and then miss out on Plan B/C. I would hope Woodward and his team are setting deadlines of this weekend on the likes of Di Maria so that if they aren’t happening we can move on and bring in others. IMO this is what was missed last season – we farted around looking at Bale, Ronaldo, Ozil until it was too late and then were left with no choice but to take Plan B and his fuzzy hair.

homerjay2005

MagicIRL wrote: »

On the topic of two signings in 24 hours...

Rojo himself has said we've been negotiating since the WC ended. Perhaps, genuinely, the length of this transfer was completey out of United's hands because of the bandy 3rd part ownership nonsense?

of course, ya its possible.

lets not forget though, herrera was "almost" signed 10 months earlier and Shaw was pretty much accepted as "done" since early May, after being heavily linked in January....they didnt exactly just get done in 24 hours, it took several months...which then further enhances my theory about perhaps rushing transfers through before EOY kicked in.

and regardig Rojo, i believe we were interested in him (we'd not just buy a player without scouting him like Bebe ever again surely) BUT, i think it was a case of Hummels > Vermaelen > Rojo and when the first two didnt work, we went straight for Rojo.

its no coincidence that the Rojo talk started a few days after we allegedly pulled out of Vermaelen.

FortuneChip

homerjay2005 wrote: »

its no coincidence that the Rojo talk started a few days after we allegedly pulled out of Vermaelen.

Durty.

intellectual dosser

This time last year this thread was a awash with complaints that the club was so transparent in their transfer interests leading them to be scuppered and the club embarrassed, now this thread is awash with complaints that there is no evidence of negotiations in progress.

I personally am going to hold out on at least one more signing before the end of the window, and will have to have faith in LVG getting more out of the existing players than Moyes did.

redbaron_99

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Will have spent the Suarez cash and 30 million on top (net). Which is the money you get just for turning up for the CL group stage.

Plenty left for next year

Don't count on it

Coat22

homerjay2005 wrote: »

not sure if ye read my post late last night, but the fact that we had two signings in the space of 24 hours, 3 days before our end of year finances were closed, makes me suspicious about how our business is being conducted. maybe and i stress maybe, LVG didnt have full control over those signings, he could have been told the money needed to be spent before the EOY closed and he agreed with Shaw and Herrera. now of course, it could just be a massive coincidence and just happened like that, but £22.4million worth of wage cuts kicked in 4 days later and then we didnt spend a penny for 7 weeks. Q1 finances will close end of September...are we spreading the cost of transfers across windows, or more to the point restriced in what we can pay up front, therefore deals are hard to close?

i guess thats the risk when a fund accountant is running out business, its going to be based towards financial goals, as opposed to football.

My understanding on how United recognise transfer fees is that they are ammortised over the contract life of the player. Thus the 16M spent on Rojo is recognised over the next 60 months etc - this would make it redundant from a finacials point of view in terms of when bought the players.

From what I read at the time (was on holidays so thankfully read feck all) the Herrara deal needed to go through before June 30 or his release clause went up (lesson learnt from last year). Shaw I would imagine was just timing in that it was completed as soon as he got back from the WC and before someone else swooped for him.

I honestly don't think finances are the issue here (although there may still be penny pinching going on) but rather selling Man Utd is more difficult than we'd all like to believe.

Rubber_Soul

homerjay2005 wrote: »

not sure if ye read my post late last night, but the fact that we had two signings in the space of 24 hours, 3 days before our end of year finances were closed, makes me suspicious about how our business is being conducted. maybe and i stress maybe, LVG didnt have full control over those signings, he could have been told the money needed to be spent before the EOY closed and he agreed with Shaw and Herrera. now of course, it could just be a massive coincidence and just happened like that, but £22.4million worth of wage cuts kicked in 4 days later and then we didnt spend a penny for 7 weeks. Q1 finances will close end of September...are we spreading the cost of transfers across windows, or more to the point restriced in what we can pay up front, therefore deals are hard to close?

i guess thats the risk when a fund accountant is running out business, its going to be based towards financial goals, as opposed to football.

Transfer fees are spread out over the lifetime of the contract on the clubs accounts. This article explains it fairly well http://www.danielgeey.com/football-amortisation-chelseas-50m-luiz-profit/

Mitch Connor

Coat22 wrote: »

My understanding on how United recognise transfer fees is that they are ammortised over the contract life of the player. Thus the 16M spent on Rojo is recognised over the next 60 months etc - this would make it redundant from a finacials point of view in terms of when bought the players.

this is correct, and it is how every club accounts for their transfers.

RayCun

Paper runs completely uncorroborated story linking player X with club Y
People come on here to complain, "hey, how come the paper didn't run a completely uncorroborated story linking player X with United?!?!?"


Paper runs completely uncorroborated story linking player X with United
People come on here to complain, "FFS Woodward, why haven't you bought Player X yet? Is it that ****er Giggs telling you not to sign him?!?!"

Mitch Connor

RayCun wrote: »

uncorroborated [/IMG]

In your opinion.

homerjay2005

intellectual dosser wrote: »

This time last year this thread was a awash with complaints that the club was so transparent in their transfer interests leading them to be scuppered and the club embarrassed, now this thread is awash with complaints that there is no evidence of negotiations in progress.

you do know/realise that both of those things, are not mutually exclusive?

we are 10 days away from end of window, maybe nothing has been reported in last 7 weeks, because nothing/very little has actually happened?

the club wasnt embarrased due to the media, it did a great job of doing it themselves. "flying home for urgent transfer business" and then disappearing for 2 months was not invented by the media, it came from our CE.

i cant even believe this is up for debate - keeping the media informed/uninformed about our transfer policy is nothing to slam or praise the club for but when the club starts becoming a laughing stock due to their actions, it then becomes an issue.

theres very little going on that the media dont find out.

paulbok

Coat22 wrote: »

Wit the season started (or about to start) across Europe the options for signing marquee players is gone though.

Really all thats left to sign is the "surplus" squad players at clubs like Madrid, which would appear to be Di Maria, maybe Khadeira and maybe Alonso - much like Ozil was the last pick of the bunch last summer.

Now I'd be happy with 2 out of those 3 but realistically if we got 1 we'd do well.

So we're then faced with the option to "upgrade" or wait. I don't know about you but give me upgrade in place of a repeat of last season or last weekend anyday.

Alonso is exactly the type of player we should be going for,
to improve the quality of the bench/squad.
However as many have mentioned it's the starting XI that is of most concern particularly in midfield with Fellani out for several months and Carrick still out. Last week it was the defence that had a gaping hole, now kinda plugged with Rojo, so the spotlight has swung again to midfield. Again it's now a numbers game, the center midfield currently consisting of;
AH, a new addition to the team & England, will have increasing pressure on him.
TC, not good enough,
DF, squad quality only & could have a relapse again
Ando, not rated by recent managers and no-one wants to buy him.
PJ, a defender at risk of "jack of all trades"

The time to get the players was the week following the teams return from the USA, now it's a desperate case of Winning Streak for any club selling to us. Lessons have obviously not been learned from last year. I do expect a further signing for midfield, but like Rojo it may well be underwhelming.
If we do get deMaria, I don't expect we will, it would be a great but low priority signing. At this stage Vidal should be forgotten about, so Kedheria should be the one we go for, available & good value at £20m but God only knows what Dudward will end up doing. I think at best it'll be a Rojo type singing, decent who may turn out really good, but not the midfielder we really need.

mufc1993

Would love you see us throw Madrid 80-90 million and get Varane, Khedira and Di Maria. Even if we left out Di Maria and got the other 2 for 40-50 million! All of them want game time, we'd be able to offer it.

One can dream...

RayCun

Mitch Connor wrote: »

In your opinion.

If the story has a quote from the selling club, or the buying club, or the player, saying an approach has been made, cool.
Otherwise it's nothing to get excited about.

intellectual dosser

homerjay2005 wrote: »

you do know/realise that both of those things, are not mutually exclusive?

we are 10 days away from end of window, maybe nothing has been reported in last 7 weeks, because nothing/very little has actually happened?

the club wasnt embarrased due to the media, it did a great job of doing it themselves. "flying home for urgent transfer business" and then disappearing for 2 months was not invented by the media, it came from our CE.

i cant even believe this is up for debate - keeping the media informed/uninformed about our transfer policy is nothing to slam or praise the club for but when the club starts becoming a laughing stock due to their actions, it then becomes an issue.

theres very little going on that the media dont find out.

I'm going beyond the clubs relationship with the media, just the general availability of information to every Tom, Dick and Harry. Its not how top clubs go about their business.

While there is no way of knowing for sure, maybe the club has returned to being shrewd and getting things done instead of providing water cooler gossip and ending up with egg on face (ie. Fabregas)

My underlying feeling is that we shouldnt be losing faith. I dont believe LVG would have taken the job had he not been given control and support in transfers. We lost to Swansea at home, not pretty, but its not grounds for a crisis.

xtal191

mufc1993 wrote: »

Would love you see us throw Madrid 80-90 million and get Varane, Khedira and Di Maria. Even if we left out Di Maria and got the other 2 for 40-50 million! All of them want game time, we'd be able to offer it.

One can dream...

80-90m would prob only get Di Maria and Khedira