Frenkie de Jong | The last muppeting lap

Frenkie to United?

  • Total voters
    2,033
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.

sglowrider

Thinks the caf is 'wokeish'.
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Messages
25,217
Location
Hell on Earth
LoneStar said:
I just hope we have set a strict deadline internally, and that we also have a backup lined up and ready to go. De Jong would definitely prefer to stay at Barca. If they sort their shit out by signing some deal, then it’s likely he will stay. So keeping a backup plan handy is the way to go.
Click to expand...
I am pretty sure they have that all planned out. Power has been decentralised since Woodward left. So we will not have to deal with each transfer in sequence. So one can assume that each functionary has its plans and backup options. Nobody would know who their backup plans are unless they are intentional leaks.

The only variable is how much does ETH love Frenkie at United? If he says to buy him at all costs then this whole deal will drag out.
 

RedStarUnited

Full Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
8,136
2 man midfield said:
“It’s always nice when teams show interest in you but I’m a Barcelona player” is all he really needed to say. Those saying it’s a nothing comment are a little too eager to ignore that fact that he doesn’t want to leave and continues to dig his heels in. I mean we’re about 3 weeks away from him doing these interviews in Barcelona pyjamas.

It’s a bit like when Pogba would go away with France and in some interview out of nowhere mention how he’s always liked the idea of playing in an all white kit and having Paella for tea. Then you’d get people rushing to defend him, acting like he hasn’t been shaking his arse at other clubs for the last 4 years. This summer is supposed to be about getting rid of players who don’t want to play for us, do we really want to buy another?
Click to expand...
Its so simple isnt it.

Also he can choose to not do these interviews. It feels like he has done every pre and post game interview possible in the last few weeks.
 

NoPace

Full Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2014
Messages
9,423
Rolaholic said:
Wrong


Didn't make any sense floating Eriksen as an alternative when they don't play near the same role
Click to expand...
They're very different midfielders, but I think not signing Frenkie means we'd need to sign 2 midfielders instead, a DM and a creative one, so I could see the backup plan to getting Frenkie (and presumably a Frenkie-Fred pairing) is to sign a proper DM type and then have 2 of Eriksen, Van De Beek and Bruno fighting for 2 central midfield spots in a 4-3-3, with I guess Sancho out left, Cristiano up top and then a new RW (you'd guess Antony but who knows) as the front 3.
 

RedStarUnited

Full Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
8,136
vanderpants said:
Utd began talks with Barca on the 1st June, it's now the 15th, only utd work like this
Click to expand...
Even that screams bad planning. ETHg got the job on the 21st April, nearly 2 months ago. You would like to think some sort of transfer discussion was had before that anyway. So why not approach Barca in May and give a direct deadline.
 

sglowrider

Thinks the caf is 'wokeish'.
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Messages
25,217
Location
Hell on Earth
RedStarUnited said:
Even that screams bad planning. ETHg got the job on the 21st April, nearly 2 months ago. You would like to think some sort of transfer discussion was had before that anyway. So why not approach Barca in May and give a direct deadline.
Click to expand...
What makes you think they didn't speak to his agent who probably said that Frenkie was happy where he was? You have to remember that Frenkie wasn't fishing for a move. Its Barca that needs to sell and if Barca wants to maximise their transfer fee, they cant look desperate.

So after ETH officially starts for United he then had to work on Frenkie to convenience him why United is a better option for his career. That's not a 10-minute pitch. A lot of due diligence and analysis had to go into that -- so ETH had to figure out what his budget and negotiate it with the BOM.

But before that ETH has to do his own analysis of the United squad then decide what his best approach that stays true to his own philosophy is. Then what are the tools/players he has on hand and whats the gaps?
Then he may have to go back to the BOM and ask for more money based on his due diligence/analysis of the squad. Thats not a one-day decision. There are processes in place in all companies on their budgetary process.

What people are looking at is the tip of an iceberg. There are so many more analyses, planning decisions and working within a hierarchy that is done behind closed doors that were not seen by the fans.

You just have to look at United's org chart and you can see the complexity of any major financial decisions that are made. Its no different to any other company.

ETH only got there in late May. Why do you think there has been nothing coming out of his mouth since that first day? There is a shitload of things to do as a manager or someone with financial responsibilities.

Fans are like any other customers -- they have no clue how much work is done behind the development of the product. What you see as an end product is really the tip of the iceberg. Hundreds or thousands of hours had to be put in before the product gets to the shelf.
 

DeGea

Full Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2014
Messages
1,288
Location
Scotland
Players just dont want to join us anymore. We have to accept it. I dont think it is just the board, i think it’s also players who dont find United attractive anymore. Who can blame them
 

Godfather

Full Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2007
Messages
29,962
Location
Austria
Big day today? I guess the Nations League excuse can't be used now anymore so no reason not to act quickly
 

E-mal

Full Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2017
Messages
3,720
Don't get so bothered about players turning us down, in the end they don't even get to achieve much anyway. Case in point, Dybala.
Once we have an agreement with Barca and he is not willing to come, we move to other targets, problem though is that other clubs will see what we were willing to pay for him and dig their heels.
We will be fine.
 

Bondi77

Full Member
Joined
Jun 28, 2019
Messages
7,344
I am starting to think this is a no win situation
If we do get him it is not going to be cheap and it is going to drag on and if he doesn't hit the ground running then there will be endless comments that he didn't want to come in the first place.
I do wonder if Erik has had direct contact with him as he must have some idea if he wants to come and if he has the motivation to play for us.
Fergie used to say that he could see in a players eyes at the start of the season if a player was up for it or not so the mind boggles what he would think if he had a player in front of him that would rather be elsewhere.
 

GoldanoGraham

Full Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2013
Messages
1,283
RedStarUnited said:
Even that screams bad planning. ETHg got the job on the 21st April, nearly 2 months ago. You would like to think some sort of transfer discussion was had before that anyway. So why not approach Barca in May and give a direct deadline.
Click to expand...
It takes two to tango. Barca are only looking to sell at the right time.

Other factors come to play with this as it’s not a straight deal.

Barca are trying to sort out the Lewandowski deal using sale proceeds, Bayern will not play ball until they have secured his replacement in Mane, they are trying to low ball Liverpool with a fee. Now that Liverpool got their replacement the chain of events might move things on quickly for all concerned.

Don’t forget most media noises is just speculation and hype and nobody really knows what is going on - the only thing you can be sure is that there is plenty going on.
 

Judas

Open to offers
Joined
Jun 28, 2010
Messages
36,134
Location
Where the grass is greener.
Escobar said:
More like reality check. You still believe we belong to the top clubs? Based on what?
Click to expand...
I don't think the status of the club changes that quickly. Give it another baron 10 years and yeah its fair to say our huge club status is well and truly damaged. But we're still one of the biggest clubs in the world, even if on the field its been very sad for far too long.
 

Regulus Arcturus Black

Full Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2015
Messages
22,932
Location
Somewhere out there
Escobar said:
More like reality check. You still believe we belong to the top clubs? Based on what?
Click to expand...
Do Barca? Or do we count them out too now?

Of course we’re a huge club ffs :lol:

We had a dog shit team last year mind, but that aint the same thing, top managers and players still want to come, season tickets for 50 odd thousand still sold like hot cakes.
 

BarstoolProphet

Full Member
Joined
Aug 7, 2014
Messages
6,530
With Twitter you get instant updates on transfers but you also see long quotes or responses to a question being chopped down to a couple of sentences which sometimes misses the context. Especially visible here when FDJ was interviewed before the Nations League matches had started and it looks like it could have happened with yesterday's answer aswell. The quote doesn't look good for us when seen on Twitter but seeing the video instead then it doesn't look so bad - the interviewer almost put the words in his mouth.
 

LoneStar

Full Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2017
Messages
3,558
sglowrider said:
I am pretty sure they have that all planned out. Power has been decentralised since Woodward left. So we will not have to deal with each transfer in sequence. So one can assume that each functionary has its plans and backup options. Nobody would know who their backup plans are unless they are intentional leaks.

The only variable is how much does ETH love Frenkie at United? If he says to buy him at all costs then this whole deal will drag out.
Click to expand...
Yeah I hope so too. I suppose time will tell how effective we are now. Unrealistic to expect everything to be done so soon.
 

Tom Van Persie

No relation
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
24,575
vanderpants said:
Utd began talks with Barca on the 1st June, it's now the 15th, only utd work like this
Click to expand...
No transfer negotiations that last more than a week usually happen at every club. Calm down. You would be complaining if we just paid whatever Barca want.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.