Angel Di Maria | £59.7M fee agreed I Maybe tomorrow...or the day after...

[Rowem]

Don't care about the price, he's exactly what we need and the absolute best we could have gotten this summer. Opportunities like this are rare.

Now throw in a CM who isn't shit and we'll be sorted.

 

[Tomuś]

£63.9m is the fee including add-ons, right? If so, then it's not a ridiculous deal. Would make it £52m basic fee.

Right?

 

[Orton]

Can anyone see Rojo and Di Maria play on Sat lunchtime? Who should be dropped if they are?

Rooney, Fletcher, Cleverley or Young.

 

[RDCR07]

I hope he doesn't change his mind after seeing that game.

 

[Loublaze]

Who cares about the fee, we can afford to pay what Real Madrid want for Di Maria and it's a nice chance to actually pay some serious bucks on a player we desperately need. It's not my money, the club has earned the right to spend such amounts.

Here here!

 

[thejtrain]

Can anyone see Rojo and Di Maria play on Sat lunchtime? Who should be dropped if they are?

Is this a serious question? We have 10 players we can drop for someone else easily.

 

[RetroStu]

If anyone is arsed about the fee, would you rather 60m on a world class player, or in the pockets of the Glazer family?

Great signing. Hopefully a couple more to arrive too.

I don't think people are upset that we are paying a high price for a worldclass player, i think its more if we pay that much for DiMaria, will there be enough money left to buy Vidal/top class midfielder, more defenders etc, positions we really need to strengthen.
I think the price for DiMaria is a fair price in this day and age but i can see both sides of the argument.

 

[RDCR07]

Can anyone see Rojo and Di Maria play on Sat lunchtime? Who should be dropped if they are?

I hope they do. As for who Rojo should replace, it depends on injuries. If Smalling and Evans are injured, then its him, Jones and Blackett or else I want a back three of Jones-Evans-Rojo.

 

[Red Shorts]

For those who are not excited about this: get excited. This is one of the most exciting buys ever. We have just smashed the British record to get this guy, and all of his teammates are tweeting him for the best of luck, because they know what he meant to the team.

Going to buy my first jersey in years: Di Maria #7

 

[SalfordRed1960]

Did you watch the game today?

Our wingers are absolutely awful and seeing as we rely on wing play so much I'd say we definitely do need him.

I agree. I got slaughtered for saying I would take Di Maria and another striker. We pose no attacking threat to other teams at the moment and thus there is too much pressure on our young defense. Di Maria will put our attack on a complete new level.

 

[RDCR07]

I don't think people are upset that we are paying a high price for a worldclass player, i think its more if we pay that much for DiMaria, will there be enough money left to buy Vidal/top class midfielder, more defenders etc, positions we really need to strengthen.
I think the price for DiMaria is a fair price in this day and age but i can see both sides of the argument.

I don't think we can look at it that way because our wings are terrible right now. Even Sunderland have better wingers than us in Larsson and Johnson. We need a top class winger we got him. As for money we god damn have enough of it. We just have done a terrible job of finding proper targets and getting them here. If Vidal wasn't available we should have moved on a month ago instead of trying to haggle over the price of him and got in someone else by now.

 

[Van Piorsing]

James Rodriguez is a huge talent but he may not provide Madrid with so many assist like Angel did.

This is absolutely a must have player for a club that needs more finishing passes than anyone in Europe now.

 

[united_99]

Alonso
And yes they call him noodle because he is very thin

 

[RDCR07]

For those who are not excited about this: get excited. This is one of the most exciting buys ever. We have just smashed the British record to get this guy, and all of his teammates are tweeting him for the best of luck, because they know what he meant to the team.

Going to buy my first jersey in years: Di Maria #7

Excited yes but our team is still in terrible shape even if DI Maria comes in. Hard to get too excited when we are playing so poorly.

 

[Pexbo]

If anyone is arsed about the fee, would you rather 60m on a world class player, or in the pockets of the Glazer family?

Great signing. Hopefully a couple more to arrive too.

60m on Di Maria.

We previously spent less than that on Valencia, Young, Zaha, Obertan and Tosic.

5 dross or one world class? I'd go for the latter every time.

 

[SirAF]

Alonso
And yes they call him noodle because he is very thin

 

[Kill 'em all]

60m on Di Maria.

We previously spent less than that on Valencia, Young, Zaha, Obertan and Tosic.

5 dross or one world class? I'd go for the latter every time.

Bebe?

 

[Dylan94]

After watching today's game, it's going to be nice to have a player who can actually beat a man one on one again. We've not had that since Ronaldo let's be honest. Januzaj can do it too and hopefully he will get used more once Di Maria arrives and we ditch the 3-5-2.

 

[TheReligion]

Right?

Most big deals are constructed with add-ons and staggered payments.

I wouldn't worry about it. We have the money to spend and it's about time we delivered the very best.

Compared to Fellaini last season this is phenomenal!

 

[DeMono]

Alonso
And yes they call him noodle because he is very thin

Well then he needs to bulk up.

 

[crossy1686]

I agree. I got slaughtered for saying I would take Di Maria and another striker. We pose no attacking threat to other teams at the moment and thus there is too much pressure on our young defense. Di Maria will put our attack on a complete new level.

Completely agree with you. I don't give a shit if we concede 3 goals. As long as we score 4!

I think people want us to become 'hard to beat'. Moyes would be proud.

 

[TheReligion]

After watching today's game, it's going to be nice to have a player who can actually beat a man one on one again. We've not had that since Ronaldo let's be honest. Januzaj can do it too and hopefully he will get used more once Di Maria arrives and we ditch the 3-5-2.

I have been saying this for years...

Yes we need a Vidal style CM (hopefully we are working on that) but we have neglected our wings for a long time. Valencia stepped in after Ronaldo and was brilliant but since he tailed off we have had nothing out wide.

People talk about wanting to play the United way, well this is it, Di Maria is it.

RvP, Rooney and Mata will thrive on this along with Januzaj who will learn a great deal.

 

[prateik]

-------------De Gea
------Smalling-------Jones
Rafael---------------------Rojo
-------------Fletch
--------Rooney---Di Maria
-----Adnan-------------Mata
------------van Persie

for Burnley?
Eventually.. get the defenders fit..
Get a midfielder to replace Fletch.. Get Herrera instead of Rooney.


There is no way we can fit in all the attacking players we have if we play 5 at the back... and it is 5 at the back, not 3

 

[red_devil83]

60m on Di Maria.

We previously spent less than that on Valencia, Young, Zaha, Obertan and Tosic.

5 dross or one world class? I'd go for the latter every time.

Quite. Instead of wafting money at "potential", lets find our potential from within and when we buy, only buy at the top level.

 

[ItsEssexRob]

Will he have his work permit by then? He hasnt signed yet. I think it'll be QPR who have the unlucky chance to be his first victim.

 

[RDCR07]

60m on Di Maria.

We previously spent less than that on Valencia, Young, Zaha, Obertan and Tosic.

5 dross or one world class? I'd go for the latter every time.

Also Valencia, Young and Zaha alone cost around £45m didn't they?

 

[Dylan94]

I have been saying this for years...

Yes we need a Vidal style CM (hopefully we are working on that) but we have neglected our wings for a long time. Valencia stepped in after Ronaldo and was brilliant but since he tailed off we have had nothing out wide.

People talk about wanting to play the United way, well this is it, Di Maria is it.

RvP, Rooney and Mata will thrive on this along with Januzaj who will learn a great deal.

Exactly. The United way is pace, power, and wing play. Direct football. Di Maria is very much a united player, he will bring all that, and I hope for what you said about RvP and Rooney & Mata too.

 

[simonhch]

Also Valencia, Young and Zaha alone cost around £45m didn't they?

Valencia was 16m, young was 18m and zaha 10m rising to 15m I think. 44m rising to 49m total. So yes, you're right.

 

[TheReligion]

Exactly. The United way is pace, power, and wing play. Direct football. Di Maria is very much a united player, he will bring all that, and I hope for what you said about RvP and Rooney & Mata too.

Other clubs and fans will beat us with the "too much money stick" but do we really care?

We have been told there is a warchest and it is being flexed. We should have been doing this bit by bit for several years now but we have made do with what we had and got away with it until Sir Alex left. Now we need some heavy investment.

We still sell out OT and have the largest sponsorship deals in the world. The money is there and will continue to be there if we drag ourselves back into the mix at home and abroad. You have to speculate to accumulate. The money needs to be spent so spend it and when you do get players in like Di Maria.

 

[RDCR07]

Valencia was 16m, young was 18m and zaha 10m rising to 15m I think. 44m rising to 49m total. So yes, you're right.

Exactly so spending £10-15m to get an absolute, proven world class winger is absolutely no problem to me.

 

[SirAF]

Valencia was 16m, young was 18m and zaha 10m rising to 15m I think. 44m rising to 49m total. So yes, you're right.

That's brutal! What a waste..

 

[saivet]

60m on Di Maria.

We previously spent less than that on Valencia, Young, Zaha, Obertan and Tosic.

5 dross or one world class? I'd go for the latter every time.

Good lord.

 

[Dylan94]

Other clubs and fans will beat us with the "too much money stick" but do we really care?

We have been told there is a warchest and it is being flexed. We should have been doing this bit by bit for several years now but we have made do with what we had and got away with it until Sir Alex left. Now we need some heavy investment.

We still sell out OT and have the largest sponsorship deals in the world. The money is there and will continue to be there if we drag ourselves back into the mix at home and abroad. You have to speculate to accumulate. The money needs to be spent so spend it and when you do get players in like Di Maria.

Exactly. And I don't care about the fee one bit. It's not like we've been in a position to negotiate in any way anyway!

 

[simonhch]

Excited yes but our team is still in terrible shape even if DI Maria comes in. Hard to get too excited when we are playing so poorly.

Look at how many players we have out though. With players that weren't on the field today/unfit/not selected we could've put out the following line up:

Lindegaard
Rafael
Evans
Rojo
Shaw
Carrick
Herrera
Kagawa
Welbeck
Januzaj
Hernandez

Now add Di Maria to that, to make a front 3 of ADM, WELBZ, JANUZAJ.

 

[AR87]

We need somebody other than Welbeck with genuine pace. I was watching the American broadcast, you know because I'm from America (sue me), and I'm not sure who, but one of the announcers was saying that while Di Maria is a great player we needed to sign somebody with genuine pace. I kind of wanted to bang my head against the wall after hearing him say that.

I really hope we don't sell Welbeck since I think he's a better partner for both RVP and Rooney than either of them are for each other. I also think he's one of the few genuinely pacy and athletic players we have, who while not being a great natural goal scorer is fantastic in build up play and I think can be a good option through the middle in 3-5-2 or as a wide player in 4-3-3.

 

[Stretch]

We're signing Angel

I've just read through the last 20 pages. Wow just wow. The car really is a mental place. How on earth some of you can still complain about the fee or which formation would best suit him after seeing our static play today is just beyond me.

 

[DomesticTadpole]

Valencia was 16m, young was 18m and zaha 10m rising to 15m I think. 44m rising to 49m total. So yes, you're right.

I think we can say Zaha won't be rising to 15m any time soon.

 

[TheReligion]

Exactly. And I don't care about the fee one bit. It's not like we've been in a position to negotiate in any way anyway!

I honestly don't think the price is that bad either when you look at it.

He is only 26 and is one of the best players in his mould in the world (unless I am wrong and he is not particularly good?)

Who else do you get that is going to give you what he does at a reduced price? Madrid don't really want to let him go, the manager certainly doesn't nor do the fans and players.

That speaks volumes for me.

 

[AR87]

Also I agree that Valencia over the last 2 seasons has been disappointing but for his first 3 seasons at United he was quality and at £16m has been a good piece of business. Extending his contract recently IMO was stupid, but I would assume LVG sees it differently and has no bearing on the transfer fee we paid for him at the time. If the argument is we should have been in for a better and more multidimensional winger, I agree, but I don't think it's fair to say spending the amount we did on him at the time was a waste of money. I'll always remember the whipping he gave Ashley Cole in the home game at OT at the end of the 2010-11 season.

 

[simonhch]

I think we can say Zaha won't be rising to 15m any time soon.

Safe bet.