Is signing nobody a possibility?

TheForgottenOne

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Done and finalised are two different things. E.g Schniederlin went on holiday before being signed as did Pogba.
You are now naming players, which is not what I said. Players go on holiday obviously, as their Agents are paid to do the work for them. Agents dont go on holiday during transfer period as that is when they are engaging in the most business. It's like saying an owner of a giftshop goes on holiday and closes his shop in december right before Christmas.
 

Sylar

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Remmeber when Liverpool didnt get VVD in the summer, and didnt just buy anybody else? They then got him in the Jan window and it worked out for them?

I reckon we will do the same. If Sancho really is the only one Ole wants, then I reckon we will wait.

But same time, I reckon we will only spend big when we are struggling for top4.
 

Cassidy

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You are now naming players, which is not what I said. Players go on holiday obviously, as their Agents are paid to do the work for them. Agents dont go on holiday during transfer period as that is when they are engaging in the most business. It's like saying an owner of a giftshop goes on holiday and closes his shop in december right before Christmas.
Some agents do go on holiday even club directors do. Being on holiday doesnt mean they don’t answer the phone and funnily enough alot of stuff is actually done over whatsapp. I found that odd when a friend of mine interviewed an agent on his podcast
 

Schmeichel's Cartwheel

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What do Utd need really? Think the first eleven is pretty well settled. You go for a player like Sancho if he's available but otherwise why spend just for the sake of it.
We finished 30 points behind the champions. We need a lot. A left back, a centre back, a DM, a CM/AM to cover Bruno, a winger who can play both sides & maybe a centre forward.

Our starting eleven is ok but it could absolutely use improvement & our squad depth is appalling.

DDG, Henderson, Romero

Wan-Bissaka, Williams, Shaw, New LB, Dalot, Fosu-Mensah

Maguire, Lindelof, Bailly, New CB

Matic, New DM

Pogba, Bruno, McTominay, Fred, New CM/AM

Greenwood, New RW/LW, Mata/Lingard

Rashford, New RW/LW, Pereira/James

Martial, Ighalo, New CF

We have a lot of business that needs doing. Players in bold can go for me. Didn’t even bother listing Tuanzebe & Jones as they’ll just leave on a free when their contracts expire
 
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Cathy Ferguson

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We 'won' the league after the re-start iirc, Bruno and Greenwood were great improvements over Perreira and James, and we have one of the youngest teams in the PL. Adding Sancho, Saul or Upamecano, and Telles would lift us immensly maybe to contenders. If we fail to strengthen then we will fight with Arsenal to reach top 4.
 

kafta

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It would be inexcusable. Even if we can’t get the Sancho deal over the line, this window there are many players who seem attainable for a decent fee.

Given that most of us agree that it is essential to bolster the squad, we should be able to bring in at least a couple of players at decent prices. Especially as we seem to have 3-4 players that will be sold.
 

fastwalker

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It is impossible. Signings will be made but not the ones we are expecting. Tactically I can see exactly what the Board will do here; they will take this right to the wire and then make a couple of last minute mid to low profile signings. By that time we will be so desperate to get anyone through the door that it will be of no consequence that the signings are simply being made to placate us.
 

Sandikan

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Remmeber when Liverpool didnt get VVD in the summer, and didnt just buy anybody else? They then got him in the Jan window and it worked out for them?

I reckon we will do the same. If Sancho really is the only one Ole wants, then I reckon we will wait.

But same time, I reckon we will only spend big when we are struggling for top4.
Or last year when they didn't buy anyone at all and still cruised the league!


I'm surprised that even now some seem obsessed with any signings under a "but it improves the squad" banner.
It has to be the right signing or they just join the players we quote every summer as "dead wood".
 

Giggsy13

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It is 100% possible that we make no signings this summer. This is just a rehash of 2018 but now Covid has given the glazers the excuse to do the bare minimum. Smalling’s return from a successful loan spell in Italy will be treated as a new signing. Lingard will play out his year and the squad will be kept together because of the Covid impact excuse. We aren’t dealing with footballing people in Joel Glazer and Ed, they’re financial men who care only about doing enough to make the champions league.
 

Big Ben Foster

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Feels like we're the only club that doesn't start working on transfers until the window opens. Just because you can't register players outside the window, doesn't mean you can't do any planning or make any progress on transfers.
 

Sandikan

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On goal difference. The team level on points with us have bought two very good players. They are the better team on paper right now.
We were in a right mess before we bought Bruno though. He transformed things so goal difference doesn't tell the whole story.


Plus it's to be seen whether their signings are any good. Let alone better than how we'll be with a full season of Bruno.
Not to mention Pogba playing more than 20% of the games. Or Rashford with a fixed back!
 

LARulz

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We won't sign a big name player I think, that shipped sailed with Sancho (which I believe is dead). May sign some young potential/squad players though - potentially an above average addition too
 

DarkLord

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Such a dangerous water to tread on. If the board thinks that our current squad is good enough, they are in for a shock. What if Bruno gets injured? We're back to our pre 2020 form? Would be nice if we sign at least a decent cover.
 

RedCurry

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We will probably buy a player to ”appease” the fans. That player will probably be Grealish.
 

AltiUn

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I think we've also got some great talents coming out of the academy.
All the best ones seem to be going out on loan, we won’t be relying much on the academy next season it seems.
 

Devil81

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Right wing and a centre back, if we don't invest in these areas we won't improve on what we did last season.

James isn't a right winger, they should be thinking about playing Greenwood through the middle as he's the most clinical finisher at the club.

Lindelof needs replacing as well, far too many games he's been caught out on crosses or in an aerial battle.
 

Wolverine

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I can see it happening sadly. Sucks when you see other teams moving so quickly and decisively. The sad part is that we no longer are at a stage where we need a few signings to make 4th but might be a few signings away from genuinely being a very good, competitive trophy-challenging team.
 

arthurka

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It may well be run by idiots but not buying players at this time isn't the reason why. Apart from the global economic crisis, players may well not want to uproot during a global pandemic.
Nothing to do with this window really. We have been shocking with signings and new contracts since Fergie's retirement. Never seem to have a plan coming into these windows.
 

sparx99

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On goal difference. The team level on points with us have bought two very good players. They are the better team on paper right now.
On paper. Just like City are better on paper and we beat them home and away last season. Does that make us 2nd best?

Table is all that matters. You can have the conjecture about where their signings could take them but they could all flop and make them worse. Not to mention signing Thiago Silva isn’t gonna fix the gaping hole in the their back four and siege of a goalkeeper.
 

Revan

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Without making any signing, we are probably going to lose 50-100m pounds this year (that is why we got an 150m debt a couple of months back). Everything is possible, it is a very uncertain situation.
 

Revan

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On goal difference. And Chelsea have since bought two quality players in Werner and Ziyech, so I'd say we are currently the 4th best team. Mate.
Meh. Pogba missed the majority of last season, Martial/Rashford had big injuries, Bruno played half a season, while Greenwood was used sporadically until late in the season. I think we will be significantly better than last season, and probably are still the third best team in the league.
 

Revan

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Eh? How are you coming to that conclusion?
We reported financial losses in the last quarter, and the income was 30m less than in the same quarter one year ago. For every match without fans, we lose 5m or so compared to other seasons (which is why we acquired the 150m new debt, to cover the operational expenses). The pandemic is affecting us and every other team, even the likes of City are being very careful.
 

Munkehboi

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People need to grow up and get a grip. I'm certainly not an advocate of Woodward but saying things like 'Woodward will just blame COVID for his incompetencies...' etc etc. is ludicrous.

We are in the middle of a pandemic, people are losing their jobs, countries are entering recessions and there is a huge cloud of uncertainty about the future. Yet people want us to sign players like its Football manager. How far detached from reality are some of you?