Ander Herrera Revisited

georgipep

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I don't think he was treated badly by United but I think United messed it up. They could have kept a really effective midfield player on a reasonably modest salary by locking him up earlier. They didn't rate him enough to do so and that was a mistake.

But, they've moved on and the quartet of Pogba, Matic, Fred and McTominay for 2 roles in the new system has done really well.



An immediate pass back to the player who played it to him? Watch one minute of any Xavi game ever.
Ander reportedly earns £300k/week at PSG and we offered the same for him to stay. Even if we could take that number slightly down if new contract was offered sooner, I wouldn't call it modest wages. He also would never agree on a short term contract so it would have been, overall, a deal that would be great initially and then we would grow to regret it.

Can't say I'm too disappointed with how things turned out, regardless of the fact that he was one of my favourite players in the team at the time.
 

POF

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Ander reportedly earns £300k/week at PSG and we offered the same for him to stay. Even if we could take that number slightly down if new contract was offered sooner, I wouldn't call it modest wages. He also would never agree on a short term contract so it would have been, overall, a deal that would be great initially and then we would grow to regret it.

Can't say I'm too disappointed with how things turned out, regardless of the fact that he was one of my favourite players in the team at the time.
There's no way United offered Herrera £300k a week. He was apparently on £85k a week on his original deal and there are reports that United offered him a pay decrease for his extension.

PSG could offer him £300k a week because they got a £30m midfield player for free. If his existing club allows that to happen, the buying club will clearly go big with wages or signing on fee because it's still significantly cheaper than having to pay a transfer fee.
 

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Long term, his absence won't be a great loss. He has his injury issues, we have moved on pretty well in the midfield department, and he would have been a drain on the wages with a long term deal if he'd stayed. Worked out well for all concerned.
 

hmchan

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I don't think he was treated badly by United but I think United messed it up. They could have kept a really effective midfield player on a reasonably modest salary by locking him up earlier. They didn't rate him enough to do so and that was a mistake.

But, they've moved on and the quartet of Pogba, Matic, Fred and McTominay for 2 roles in the new system has done really well.



An immediate pass back to the player who played it to him? Watch one minute of any Xavi game ever.
Watch one minute of any Xavi game ever and see if he doesn't make a shoulder check, always looks for the safe backward passes, refuses to make progressive passes and drive the ball forward given the chance, and relies so much on his teammates in buildup play.
 

Varun

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I liked Herrera a lot but I find it amazing that he's still discussed so long after he's left. For all his qualities, hardly a player that makes a huge difference or one you miss once he's gone.
 

Pogue Mahone

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How has he been at PSG?
Saw this thread and wanted to ask the same thing. I doubt he’s been pulling up any trees or this thread (and other Hererra thread) would have been bumped way more often than it has. I liked him but saw nothing from him that was any better than McT and Fred when they hit some decent form, earlier this season (allowing for McT’s youthful inconsistency)
 

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There's no way United offered Herrera £300k a week. He was apparently on £85k a week on his original deal and there are reports that United offered him a pay decrease for his extension.

PSG could offer him £300k a week because they got a £30m midfield player for free. If his existing club allows that to happen, the buying club will clearly go big with wages or signing on fee because it's still significantly cheaper than having to pay a transfer fee.
Sun and Daily Mail (both notoriously unreliable) claim we offered £300k. The Telegraph only say "United want Herrera to stay and believe their desire to keep him is reflected in the offer of a new three-year contract that represents a huge hike on his existing £80,000-a-week wages.".

In all cases, there is no way he was offered anything less than his old wages. The problem was the the contract length as much as the wages themselves.

Also, it is significantly cheaper to keep an existing player than to sign a new one (even if on a free, there are signing bonuses and as with all professions, progressing on your current job is less lucrative than moving to a new one)
 

Devil81

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300k a week for a bog-standard midfielder, no disrespect to Herrera he helped us win three trophies and did well for the side when he was here but he was Everton standard at best.

Given the midfielders PSG had at their disposal I'm not actually sure what they were thinking.
 

Devil81

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Who's better Herrera on silly money a week or Aaron Ramsey on silly money a week?
I think I'd go with Ramsey, he's had his better years but you get more creativity out of him.

Herrera had to adapt his game to annoying wasp type player as he had little other identity.
 

POF

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Sun and Daily Mail (both notoriously unreliable) claim we offered £300k. The Telegraph only say "United want Herrera to stay and believe their desire to keep him is reflected in the offer of a new three-year contract that represents a huge hike on his existing £80,000-a-week wages.".

In all cases, there is no way he was offered anything less than his old wages. The problem was the the contract length as much as the wages themselves.

Also, it is significantly cheaper to keep an existing player than to sign a new one (even if on a free, there are signing bonuses and as with all professions, progressing on your current job is less lucrative than moving to a new one)
The problem (according to Herrera himself) is that the club didn't even open negotiations until he had 5-6 months left on his deal. Most likely when Ole was in a position to influence the squad.

At that point he was free to negotiate with other clubs. If PSG had offered £300k a week, United were basically priced out. I wanted Herrera to stay but I'd have told him to take that. He would have been lucky to get 1/3 of that at United. £300k a week is marquee player money.
 

Rolaholic

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He served the club well but the way it ended rubbed me the wrong way a bit.

For all the talk of always 'playing for the shirt' and being captain material, he quite quickly went for the money ahead of footballing reasons when he got the chance as he has swapped being a contributor at United for a near permanent spot on PSG's bench.

I can't fault him much for that if he owned it but the way he blamed the club for leaving by not offering the same exorbitant wages marked his departure on a sour note for me.

I still wish him luck in the future but I just don't have the same affinity many fans seem to have for him, decent and hard working player on his day but that's about it.
 

georgipep

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The problem (according to Herrera himself) is that the club didn't even open negotiations until he had 5-6 months left on his deal. Most likely when Ole was in a position to influence the squad.

At that point he was free to negotiate with other clubs. If PSG had offered £300k a week, United were basically priced out. I wanted Herrera to stay but I'd have told him to take that. He would have been lucky to get 1/3 of that at United. £300k a week is marquee player money.
I agree but then I wouldn't blame the club for him going. He was offered a contract and he decided to accept PSG's offer. He was only offered a new deal at Old Trafford 5-6 months before he left because the club would be stupid to give an ageing midfielder new contract fully knowing they're about to sack the manager (Mourinho) and not being sure the new manager would want him in the squad. Mind that he has no resale value and on the wages he would demand it wasn't a great deal any way you look at it.
 

POF

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I agree but then I wouldn't blame the club for him going. He was offered a contract and he decided to accept PSG's offer. He was only offered a new deal at Old Trafford 5-6 months before he left because the club would be stupid to give an ageing midfielder new contract fully knowing they're about to sack the manager (Mourinho) and not being sure the new manager would want him in the squad. Mind that he has no resale value and on the wages he would demand it wasn't a great deal any way you look at it.
The timing was bad but it's United who have missed out by losing him for free. If Ole had joined 6 months earlier I think Herrera would still be at the club.
 

georgipep

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The timing was bad but it's United who have missed out by losing him for free. If Ole had joined 6 months earlier I think Herrera would still be at the club.
If he did sign a monster contract for 3+ years, most of us would've been furious to waste a significant chunk of the wage budget on him, especially considering his injury record and the fact that he has progressively more often and more severe fitness issues.
 

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It's pretty funny for me to see that most of you guys in England don't realize that the alleged salaries of the players leaving PL are always stupidly exagerated (probably fake news from the clubs to justify why they didn't manage to sign an extension).

Most reports in France mention that Herrera gets a gross salary of 8M€ a year, it's 135k£/week, not 300. It's still a lot but far from what's being discussed here.

It was even more ridiculous for Ramsey, English readers were told his wage would be 20M/y or something when in fact it's more around 7-8M/y.
 

Gazza

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It's pretty funny for me to see that most of you guys in England don't realize that the alleged salaries of the players leaving PL are always stupidly exagerated (probably fake news from the clubs to justify why they didn't manage to sign an extension).

Most reports in France mention that Herrera gets a gross salary of 8M€ a year, it's 135k£/week, not 300. It's still a lot but far from what's being discussed here.


It was even more ridiculous for Ramsey, English readers were told his wage would be 20M/y or something when in fact it's more around 7-8M/y.
So you're basing your knowledge off reports in France, people I assume are also reading 300k in other sources, so tbf there's not a lot of certainty as to the actual figures either way
 

Oly Francis

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So you're basing your knowledge off reports in France, people I assume are also reading 300k in other sources, so tbf there's not a lot of certainty as to the actual figures either way
What source is supposed to be more reliable? Tabloids in england or french sport journalists interracting every day with a specific club? Theres just no way he gets paid anywhere near 17M€/y.
 

Gazza

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What source is supposed to be more reliable? Tabloids in england or french sport journalists interracting every day with a specific club? Theres just no way he gets paid anywhere near 17M€/y.
You've literally made an arbitrary choice to believe the articles you want to believe and reject the ones you don't. Unless you want to discuss specific journalists, there is no basis or credence to the idea that France's journalists are more likely to know the truth than the English ones. You are also extremely naive if you think PSG circulates information which is all true, and doesn't feed journalists the lines they want to portray themselves in a good light (like all clubs do). You're entitled to your opinion, but it's not backed up by serious analysis or logic any more than the other posts in here.
 

Davicho

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He was a good player that did not have the quality to be the star player that he thought he could be.
 

Sayros

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You've literally made an arbitrary choice to believe the articles you want to believe and reject the ones you don't. Unless you want to discuss specific journalists, there is no basis or credence to the idea that France's journalists are more likely to know the truth than the English ones. You are also extremely naive if you think PSG circulates information which is all true, and doesn't feed journalists the lines they want to portray themselves in a good light (like all clubs do). You're entitled to your opinion, but it's not backed up by serious analysis or logic any more than the other posts in here.
Fair enough, but logic would dictate that PSG is not paying Herrera 300k/week (making him one of the best paid player at the club in the latter stage of his career) as has been reported to just ride the bench for the most part. I think the 175K figure makes far more sense.
 

stevoc

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It's pretty funny for me to see that most of you guys in England don't realize that the alleged salaries of the players leaving PL are always stupidly exagerated (probably fake news from the clubs to justify why they didn't manage to sign an extension).

Most reports in France mention that Herrera gets a gross salary of 8M€ a year, it's 135k£/week, not 300. It's still a lot but far from what's being discussed here.

It was even more ridiculous for Ramsey, English readers were told his wage would be 20M/y or something when in fact it's more around 7-8M/y.
But are these figures gross or net because in the UK they tend to report gross wages before Tax where as in Italy they work off what the player receives in Net wages?
 

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Always played at good tempo one or 2 touch. I feel it's something we need to work on in our midfield especially when we are in games where we have alot of possession. Feel we dont move the ball quick enough. Matic takes too much out of the ball in games to long to release it. Rather Herrrera in them games then Matic.
 

Foxbatt

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He is a very intelligent player. He is not a defensive midfield player. He is better player than McTominay.
The issue is that United did not even open or offer him a contract until 6 months to the expiry date. Then he has already opened talks with PSG.
As a professional player, he has won what United won after SAF left. Then the club decides that they are not going to offer him a contract. The 6 months count down starts and it's his responsibility to look for a job. That's exactly what he did.
 

SirScholes

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I think some are being harsh on him, we’ve seen the improvements martial and others have made under a positive coach
I think he’s better than both McTom and Fred
this is why we need a solid midfielder as neither Fred McTom or Herrera are missed when they’re not in the team
 

Oly Francis

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But are these figures gross or net because in the UK they tend to report gross wages before Tax where as in Italy they work off what the player receives in Net wages?
Nah, most papers use gross wages now because it looks bigger and their readers love to hate that. On top of that, foreign players get huge tax cuts in Italy. It was just complete bullshit.
And worst case scenario, the 7M announced would be around 10M gross, so VERY far from 20M.
 

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I can't fault him much for that if he owned it but the way he blamed the club for leaving by not offering the same exorbitant wages marked his departure on a sour note for me.

I still wish him luck in the future but I just don't have the same affinity many fans seem to have for him, decent and hard working player on his day but that's about it.
I don't remember him ever blaming the club for not offering the same wages as PSG. The thing he seemed unhappy about was the fact we waited until his contract was almost finished before starting to work with him for a new one, by which time he had already half-agreed to go to PSG. Of course the wage difference was so large he likely would have left anyway, but if we'd started working with him 6-12 months earlier he likely would have already been signed so PSG's offer wouldn't have been on the table.
 

Oly Francis

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I don't remember him ever blaming the club for not offering the same wages as PSG. The thing he seemed unhappy about was the fact we waited until his contract was almost finished before starting to work with him for a new one, by which time he had already half-agreed to go to PSG. Of course the wage difference was so large he likely would have left anyway, but if we'd started working with him 6-12 months earlier he likely would have already been signed so PSG's offer wouldn't have been on the table.
Herrera gave an interview 2 months ago and that's the reason he gave yes. It's only his word but i have a tendancy to believe the guy because he seems like one of the most honest players there is :


“It was not about money,” Herrera told The Athletic. “It was not about the duration of the contract offer.


"In my opinion, I waited too long (for an offer) and deserved more attention from the club. I was a player that gave everything. I never complained. I never went to the media to complain about anything.


"I never put a bad face to any manager, to any member of the board, and they waited until I had five or six months left on my contract.


"That’s why I had some disagreements with them. I tell you this but I also tell you that it is part of football, part of life, nothing personal at all - but you ask the question and I give my point of view, as a professional player.”
 

Eire Red United

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One of my favourite United players of the noughties for sure but never a 300k a week player. Was sad to see him go but Fred and McT seem to have stepped up.
 

fezzerUTD

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Herrera gave an interview 2 months ago and that's the reason he gave yes. It's only his word but i have a tendancy to believe the guy because he seems like one of the most honest players there is :


“It was not about money,” Herrera told The Athletic. “It was not about the duration of the contract offer.


"In my opinion, I waited too long (for an offer) and deserved more attention from the club. I was a player that gave everything. I never complained. I never went to the media to complain about anything.


"I never put a bad face to any manager, to any member of the board, and they waited until I had five or six months left on my contract.


"That’s why I had some disagreements with them. I tell you this but I also tell you that it is part of football, part of life, nothing personal at all - but you ask the question and I give my point of view, as a professional player.”
We been through all this a couple of pages ago. People don't appear to be able to read, and when they can they still choose not to believe something when coming from the mouth of the source.
 

Matriac

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We been through all this a couple of pages ago. People don't appear to be able to read, and when they can they still choose not to believe something when coming from the mouth of the source.
Even when he was with us he had a tendency to bend the truth to make himself (and usually by extension, the club) look better than what the full story actually was. He was one of the first with excuses after bad performances. It was almost like a broken record about how we this time would look at ourselves in the mirror and improve.

There's a reason a lot of us feel like he would have made a good ambassador for us in the future (but less likely now with how he left), he has the gift of the gab.
 

hmchan

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Even when he was with us he had a tendency to bend the truth to make himself (and usually by extension, the club) look better than what the full story actually was. He was one of the first with excuses after bad performances. It was almost like a broken record about how we this time would look at ourselves in the mirror and improve.

There's a reason a lot of us feel like he would have made a good ambassador for us in the future (but less likely now with how he left), he has the gift of the gab.
This just shows how important PR is.
 

GDaly95

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We were right to not give him that deal.

It's fair enough that he wanted one last big payday.

Fred, although it took ages, has in my opinion ended up slightly better than him.

No hard feelings, ancient history in my head at this stage.
 

lex talionis

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Ander had every right to go for the big paycheck. We could still have used him this season, especially during Pogba's long absence, but he's long gone and there's little reason to do anything but wish him the best.