Yes. I think so too. Probably soon since Barcelona is a perfect mess.
Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap
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I’m very excited. Just want to know it’s real.
At least when we sign him we can pretend we have a good midfield for 1 month before everyone realises hes fraudulent.
Who are rubbish then?
All Ajax fans could have told you upfront Klaassen wasnt a world beater and DVB was a good player in a certain style, but with obvious limitations and no where world class...
De Ligt is unquestioned at Juve, Frenkie plays everything for Barca even though there were worries from the start how he would play together with Busquets and Ziyech - even though he has been injured a lot - has been important for Chelsea.
Why would we be excited about someone who doesn’t even play for us?
You have to justify the last 3 you mentioned, and you know they've been underwhelming. Seeing a lot of Juve games this past season, De Ligt has been questioned since hes joined Juve and still has cracks. Donny excels in the right circumstance, in the right team, in the right system with the right pass and if the right run is made - then whats the point in him? And FDJ, if he was good enough, would have easily displaced an ageing old Busquets.
They're not as good as you think they are, and its because they're your ajax golden darlings that you defend em.
Then we will probably not sign anyone! Only kidding but in reality, most players want trophies and at United, that's far from guaranteed.
Imagine United, City and Liverpool went for the same player... Why would they choose us?
+1.
Its so stupid and also quite arrogant. There are tons of reasons not to join United at the moment if you're a top players. Hence needing time to consider options is compeletely justified.
On the other hand United is obviously in their right to feel that they can't wait too long. Not just on emotional basis but also for business reasons. For me it seems quite clear now that United have 120m to spend unless players are sold. United wants 3/4 players with that budget. With this situation United aims to get one 'elite' player and 2, maybe 3, talented players that are under the radar or versatile backups that are on the bench at their current club.
Frenkie has been identified as that elite player and therefore #1 priority. As said it makes sense that he needs time to think about this as there are definitely risks involved. It would be much safer for him to stay or join City or Bayern. However on the other hand United can't wait too long because then other 'elite' players that could be on Uniteds backup list might have chosen different options.
Nevertheless the whole point about 'desire to play for the club' and such are complete nonsense. Frenkie won't join if he does not want to play at United. Whether it takes one, three or six weeks, if Frenkie eventually joins United it means he wants to play at United. It's not much more complicated than that.
Which guys from Ajax? Edwin?
We have guns and missiles made out of money it seems.
Nothing has changed according to Romano. He doesnt want to come. Just give up and get two CMs instead for the same fee. Two of Neves,Laimer, Kone, Haidara, Camara or Bissouma etc sounds much better than FDJ and Fred or Mctominay anyway. Why cant we utilize our scouting network and find proper up and coming players ready to take the next step ?
That's gotta be the most uninspiring list of midfielders I've ever seen.
That is what your post implied. Otherwise, I'm not sure why you quoted my post in the first place.
Good spot
The problem I have is that there is an example of every type of signing failing.
You can’t pinpoint Di Maria’s failure at Utd as purely cos he never really fancied it. There was the home invasion, LVG was maybe the wrong coach for him and we signed him late in the summer as well.
We’ve bought high profile, we’ve been reluctant players, we’ve bought big names who wanted to come, we’ve spent big on British lads and we’ve tried under the radar signings.
Clearly we’ve had something going wrong when it comes to recruitment but choosing to close the door on any opportunity because of a different unrelated event seems foolish to me.
Otherwise what type of signing is left?
- PL proven but not British. Tielemans, Ndidi, Ruben Neves.
- European but not young but also not old. We’ve been burnt by Depay and Dalot amongst others.
Initially thought there was no chance this could happen, beginning to look more and more likely it will.
I think unless another club comes in for Frenkie, he will have no alternative but to come to us. It's a massive signing for Erik, however it's still not a defensive midfielder. I think FDJ and a DM will automatically make us look better going forward and defensively.
I think unless another club comes in for Frenkie, he will have no alternative but to come to us. It's a massive signing for Erik, however it's still not a defensive midfielder. I think FDJ and a DM will automatically make us look better going forward and defensively.
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There's an outside chance but I think it's dependant on someone like Bayern not being interested.
We don’t want known of those names. You might not of heard. But Ralph has left.
When there were reports that Ten Hag needed to be convinced to join United posters who had long already sold their souls to him cheered it. Apparently it is good that the club give him the assurances he needs first before he commits to us.
Why people are getting tight about FDJ wanting some assurances/convincing about joining a team that finished 6th is strange to me.
Why people are getting tight about FDJ wanting some assurances/convincing about joining a team that finished 6th is strange to me.
I think the biggest competition we could have would be Chelsea mate, they are the other team looking to upgrade in midfield.
Ah... From rubbish to underwhelming in 60 seconds... Interesting
There is no denying I have a bias ofcourse, but Im not defending them at all, or saying that there are flawless brilliant players..
Ziyech pretty much delivered what was to be expected of him... He has a very high peak and will therefore have moments of brilliance in which he can influence games, but he is also a player of moments. Thats also what he delivered Chelsea.. DVB has been discussed so much on here, but I agree with your statement... United didnt know who they bought.. Donny is not the player who walks into a team and makes a difference, he can be a very good player for a very good team like in that Ajax team if utilized to his strenghts, but he is not a worldclass player who just walks into a team and fits everywhere. There was no point whatsover in Donny at United. Let's see if Ten Hag can revive him somehow.. De Ligt we agree to disagree.. Ofcourse he made mistakes still this year, but the guy is 22 haha and he started in 42 games this year, in which in the majority he was by far Juve's best defender. He has a monstrous contract there but Juve want to renew and raise his contract.. He has been only underwhelming if you expected him to be the best defender in the world at age 22 and singlehandidly guide an afwul Juve team to trophees.
But this is not an Ajax thread, it's a Frenkie thread.
And the statement that FDJ would have replaces an aging Busquets is a lazy statement. There was no need to replace an aging Busquets because even for this Barca in decline for the majority of the last years, Busquets was always on of their best and key players on a position he already plays there for over a decade. When Barca bought De Jong there were a lot of eyebrows how that was gonna fit, and in hindsight all doubt were justified. They wanted De Jong because he is a brilliant player, but not because they needed him. Setien, Koeman, Xavi all tried to make it work with both Frenkie and Busquests (Frenkie at LM, AM, CD) and often it was decent but you never saw the Frenkie you saw at Ajax. His major strenghts were compromised by the absence of a clublegend who still performed great for them.
I have to say I had hoped and expected that Frenkie perhaps could develop more into the role of more attacking midfielder by dictating the play further upfront and providing more goals/assists, but he seemed out of place so far up the pitch, waiting deep while other provided the build up for Barcelona... That by far doesnt mean that he was rubbish (he still plays all their important matches (46 apps this season) and was decent (not spectacular) in most, massively underwhelming in some, and brilliant in some..
Overall you can definitely call his stint at Barca underwhelming if he leaves this summer because he did not become the main man everybody hoped he would be. That does not mean however that he was rubbish and that there are no perfectly valid arguments/reasons/explanations for this, or that he is not good enough of a player. With Ten Hag you will have a coach who already once got the best out of him and he was sensational... In aspects which have been lacking at United for almost a decade now... Because of the presence of Ten Hag United has a shot to bring in a world class player on the verge of his peak years - even though there is no CL next year - who can provide this teams with so much it currently lacks..
Yeah.. I stand with my statement.. Most of you guys are no where near excited enough as you should be about the prospect of Frenkie coming to United..
Brilliant
People forget Keane needed to be persuaded to join us over Blackburn. This sort of thing is nothing new.
We can’t afford to be arrogant about the club as we’re not the team we used to be.
Exactly any top or up and coming player (or manager) will need convincing to join this shit show. They will need to know it is changing fast and the club is in the process of a serious rebuild. Not sold some BS just for it to end up being the same crap dished out for years.
Persuading? We made a phone call and he decided to join the current EPL champions instead of a little extra money.
I know what you mean but it’s not relatable.
You asked why a club would appoint a manager and not sign who he wants. I stated the club should have its own view.
There is no implication they do not. I simply answered your question and included an example
Liverpool or United which one are you?
Feel the same way. I'm biased too, but I've seen him play week in week out for Ajax so I know what we would be getting. Also feel like a good portion of posters on this forum are just blindly copying other peoples' opinions, especially when they signed Donny. He was never that great before his move. Frenkie will be.
What type of midfielder is FDJ similar to in style of play? I havent seen much of FDJ play so am curious. Is he like jorginho at chelsea?
If we sign him he's a pinch of Scholes, a dash of Modric, a drizzle of Xavi and an Andrea Pirlo glaze. If we don't, then he's just another Donny Van de Beek.
Dont tease me, im drooling.
Sad ass list. I’d like to see a central midfielder who knows how to play with the football once again in my life
If we have the choice to sign FDJ for 70m or 2 decent midfielders for the same price which one are we choosing? It’s quite clear that he doesn’t want to join us anyway so stop fussing about. He’s a quality player and would upgrade our midfield massively but it a player doesn’t want to join then don’t try and make them. I’d take 2 decent midfield signings for the same price, gives us better squad depth.
Modric.
And I implied that they probably do have an opinion on him. Do we think it's realistic that the scouting department haven't watched him over the years when he's probably been scouted by every elite club in Europe at some stage?
My point, generally, is that the Manager - especially one tasked with trying to apply a new system is best placed to decide who he wants, especially when it's a player he knows and has already played in that system.
Yes but just choose them better.
It is not world class superstar or Harry Maguire. There is a middle ground.
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