5 for the price of one Lukaku - could this be our most shrewd window post Fergie?

M Utd

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The squad needed expanding, how anyone can look at our bench at the weekend and feel enthused by Mata and Lingard coming off the bench to change the game is beyond me.

Should have told Borussia to do one a month ago and be in a better position than we were yesterday though.
In hindsight I think you are right. If combined cost of fee, wages and agent fee was far too high a month ago we should have switched targets. Maybe we did behind closed doors but that doesn't seem fully accurate as we did table a bid that was rejected.

Perhaps we will use the delayed national transfer window to look at players in the Championship to further strengthen the squad if we can improve the first team.
 

tombombadil

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I think the purchases have a lot of potential to shore up the squad depth and provide more tactical flexibility to the squad. This was painfully obviously needed at the end of last season.

Telles and Cavani also have potential to improve on the first 11.

Roughly same first 11, slightly stronger bench. That seems to have been the gamble.

Overall, an average/decent window. That Sancho debacle left a bad taste in the mouth though. And now it seems like we might not be able to get him anymore. I hope that isn't true. That alone might make the whole window disappointing. Especially if the punts on the young wingers fail. Which is common.
 
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calodo2003

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It is decent at best. We have the U-23s a couple of exciting wingers, but they will not be making an impact in the senior squad for a few years. One could probably be going out on loan in the next couple of years. VdB was good, but did we really need another b2b-ish MF? Telles will immediately help us. We might not be too amazed by Cavani’s time with us, but he has the possibility to offer some upside right after the international break.
 

lilcurt

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£75.15m before performance related add-ons

Cavani
Telles
Van De Beek
Diallo
Pellistri

Bit of optimism perhaps?
This is a shocking window, I don't get threads like this. We didn't fix our biggest problem positions.

All the new signings other than VDB and Telles are complete punts.

Cavani who we are paying big wages to is 33 and never played in the league, the chances of that being good value are slim.
 

lilcurt

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This window reflected what we used to be so good at. Hoovering up some unheard of gems to develop, while trying to get a last minute big-name signing through the door for a decent price.

If someone had said would you like Cavani, De Beek, Telles and a handful of unheard of super talents by the end of the window, you'd have snapped their hand off.

We're still suffering the damage that Jose and Van Gaal did to the club through wreckless panic spending, but we're definitely on the right track now.
No, just no. I don't think many would have snapped your hand off for that business.

A CB, CDM and RW (ready now) were the priority positions. Sancho should be a united player and the fact he isn't tints the window negatively, but even that aside we haven't strengthened the right places and have obviously panicked on the last day to appease fans without spending big. Seems to have worked on you.
 

jackal&hyde

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No, just no. I don't think many would have snapped your hand off for that business.

A CB, CDM and RW (ready now) were the priority positions. Sancho should be a united player and the fact he isn't tints the window negatively, but even that aside we haven't strengthened the right places and have obviously panicked on the last day to appease fans without spending big. Seems to have worked on you.
The striker and LB were priority positions leaked to the media for months, they were not panic buys, just looking to find the right deals. DVB is quality and depth to a key position of creativity that allowed us to move Pereira, again, very much part of the plan. The other 2 are highly rated youngsters that might not even play this season, so no panic buying here.

With Smalling gone, I think there is a decent chance we go for a CB in Jan. if we can make a deal if not the summer with Rojo expected to leave too.

We made very good use of the money that we had imo.
 

Dans

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Yet we haven’t actually plugged any leaking gaps. No DM, no CB and no RW
That's a matter of opinion. Cavani fills a gap in my opinion...... that created by Martial..... I'll be very happy to see someone else at CF. Van de Beek should be filling the huge gap that appears every time Pogba starts..... Not sure why he isn't starting yet. Telles will surely fill one of the many gaps we continually see in our defense and with luck, perhaps Diallo can start to offer a solution to RW starting in Jan?
 
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lilcurt

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The striker and LB were priority positions leaked to the media for months, they were not panic buys, just looking to find the right deals. DVB is quality and depth to a key position of creativity that allowed us to move Pereira, again, very much part of the plan. The other 2 are highly rated youngsters that might not even play this season, so no panic buying here.

With Smalling gone, I think there is a decent chance we go for a CB in Jan. if we can make a deal if not the summer with Rojo expected to leave too.

We made very good use of the money that we had imo.
My friend you sound deluded.

Telles and VDB I will give you. However a properly run club doesn't sacrifice the first 3 games of the season before bringing in a needed LB and VDB further strengthens our strongest position.

Cavani is a panic buy 100%! You don't sign a free agent on deadline day if you have a plan. He hasn't played for 6-months!

The two young lads are just that, young and probably not ready. In a position we need immediate impact I don't consider this good business.
 

jackal&hyde

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My friend you sound deluded.

Telles and VDB I will give you. However a properly run club doesn't sacrifice the first 3 games of the season before bringing in a needed LB and VDB further strengthens our strongest position.

Cavani is a panic buy 100%! You don't sign a free agent on deadline day if you have a plan. He hasn't played for 6-months!

The two young lads are just that, young and probably not ready. In a position we need immediate impact I don't consider this good business.
I think we expected Dortmund to lower their demands and do the deal so everything else was put on hold, but that doesn't make them panic buys.

An experienced striker was always on the cards but with our limited budget and hopes for Sancho, we probably had to wait till Jan after Ighalo leaves. With Dortmund not moving, we push some of those deals forward imo. This is not panic in the sense of getting players in for the sake of doing some business, it's rearranging priorities based on the reality of the market and money available.

You don't rate Cavani and I respect that, time will tell here.
 

lilcurt

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I think we expected Dortmund to lower their demands and do the deal so everything else was put on hold, but that doesn't make them panic buys.

An experienced striker was always on the cards but with our limited budget and hopes for Sancho, we probably had to wait till Jan after Ighalo leaves. With Dortmund not moving, we push some of those deals forward imo. This is not panic in the sense of getting players in for the sake of doing some business, it's rearranging priorities based on the reality of the market and money available.

You don't rate Cavani and I respect that, time will tell here.
I also respect.your opinion. I think the bold part is where we fundamentally differ, you appear to be accepting of the amount of money willing to be spent, I am disgusted, the amount we have spent servicing debt and the dividends sucked out the club in the last few years. I refuse to accept we couldn't compete economically this summer like many of our rivals.
 

SaboTaj

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Despite the Sancho disappointment, I’m low key excited to see how the new guys fit in and improve us.
 

FrankDrebin

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I'm still unsure.
I've got 00's haphazard Liverpool vibes with these signings.
 

Pogue Mahone

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It’s really just three signings. The kids have a lot of potential, no doubt, but we’ve got plenty of kids with potential already.

Which leaves us with a CM in a squad already packed full of CMs and a 33 year old striker whose previous club (who we’ll be playing in the CL) have already decided his best days are definitely behind him.

Telles is an interesting signing though. I actually thought Shaw was one of our better players last season. We badly missed him when he was injured, that’s for sure. So good to have quality cover. Shaw has started this season in poor form but our whole defence is a chaotic, badly organised shambles. Won’t be easy for a very attack minded LB to shine in that context.
 

christinaa

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He’s 18 and been playing in a nothing league. Yes, lots of top players have come straight from that league and been incredible but at this stage there’s nothing we can get excited about. He doesn’t immediately address the fact we need a world class forward/winger.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will consider immediately integrating new signing Facundo Pellistri into Manchester United's first-team squad following his arrival from Penarol.
 

Pavl3n

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I am really excited about Diallo. Left footed, pacey, with tricks up his sleeve, right winger.
He was on the brink of breaking through in a very entertaining Atalanta team. To me feels like purchasing last season's Greenwood.

DM was never a target for this window. It was always a #10 - Grealish or VDB. CB might have been, but we weren't entertained by the options that were on the market.
Another one that I'm happy about - getting Dalot and Pereira loaned out in Italy. If they have the succes former United players had in Italy, then we could bring in some
more cash, to go to that RW/CB pot.

I'm failry satisfied with the dealings we made. But I'll be happier if the transfer team starts working on a deal to bring Upamecano.
 

Falcow

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£75.15m before performance related add-ons

Cavani
Telles
Van De Beek
Diallo
Pellistri

Bit of optimism perhaps?
Great post and I wholeheartedly agree with you. People keep banging on that we haven't improved the first 11 and we should have signed a CB and a defensive midfielder. Also a right winger. Here is my 2 cent worth:

1. CB, who did people want us to sign here? Honestly, who is or was available that is better that what we already have? Nathan Ake? That 30 year old that Napoli want 80m for? There was nobody better than what we currently have that was available as far as I know, unless someone can tell me otherwise?

2. Defensive midfielder. We have Matic, Pogba, Fred, DVB for two positions. More than adequate as far as I am concerned. Perhaps we could have sold Pogba and bought Partey, that would have been a good move in my view.

3. Right winger, 100% agree that ready made player was needed, ideally that would have been Sancho but once Dortmund insisted on an inflated pre covid price we should have walked away. Anybody who doesnt understand this should look at barca and Madrid's spending this window. Also as a stark illustration of the economic meltdown that is currently underway and to which many on here seem to be oblivious to for reasons unknown to me, there is a shipping port in Turkey which is currently booming as they are dismantling most of the luxury cruise ships from around Europe which are now being turned into scrap metal, cruise ships having been empty for the last 6 months and for how long more is anybody's guess. I know I am rambling a bit but the Glazers were 100% right not to spend 120m Eur at this point in time on the guy who misses training as he has 'sleeping issues'.

So what should we have done instead? Bale, Perisic or Costa were all available and I blame Ole for not signing any of them, Perisic or Costa would have been ideal for 12 month loan. Cavani is a gamble but at least it's only a 12 month contract and not 4 years.

Overall, the squad has been much improved in my view, January window is just around the corner and if Ole cant manage at least 80 points with this squad then he needs to go.
 

Ibi Dreams

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2. Defensive midfielder. We have Matic, Pogba, Fred, DVB for two positions. More than adequate as far as I am concerned. Perhaps we could have sold Pogba and bought Partey, that would have been a good move in my view.
Out of those players only Matic is actually a defensive midfielder, and we could absolutely do with an upgrade on him. He still has his good games, but yes, Partey would have been a good signing.
 

Lennon7

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will consider immediately integrating new signing Facundo Pellistri into Manchester United's first-team squad following his arrival from Penarol.
Okay, so did Dan James plug that gap too?
 

Forevergiggs1

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This transfer window is just another Ed master stroke to keep the wolves from the door until the next transfer window which judging by a lot of comments on here seems to be working. He spent Sunday night (tongue in cheek) thinking how can I appease the fans without spending much money? I know. I'll sign 2 youngsters and call it the United way. When what he should of done is sign a RW that could get us out of the hole right here right now. Not 2 years down the line.

4 transfers on the last day doesn't show any type of planning when we're already 3 weeks into the season, especially with Cavani who's been a free agent since the summer. VDB is a good signing but while Pogba is here the only way it's going to work is him getting the odd start with mostly sub appearances which I'm sure VDB didn't count on which in turn means another unhappy player.

The only signing for me which makes sense is Telles and the club were right in pushing it to deadline day with him being able to sign a pre contract in 3 months on a free. How he takes to the PL is anyone guess but for me it's the only half decent business we've done all summer.

I'm not saying the kids won't come good but at the minute we don't need more potential.
 

Champagne Football

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No, just no. I don't think many would have snapped your hand off for that business.

A CB, CDM and RW (ready now) were the priority positions. Sancho should be a united player and the fact he isn't tints the window negatively, but even that aside we haven't strengthened the right places and have obviously panicked on the last day to appease fans without spending big. Seems to have worked on you.
So if Tuabzebe becomes a world class CB for us this season, then you still feel we should have splashed 80 million on Tyrone Mings just to keep fans happy? Upamecano was not available at any price as his club stated they needed him for 1 more season.

There's every chance Scott McT can become a solid CDM. Garner should be ready in 1 year to compete for a first Xi place. Rice was not available as Chelsea were willing to pay huge money for him but West Ham said no.

I think we would have bought Sancho if Juventus had paid us 80 million for Pogba, but the pandemic wrecked our spending plans, and Real Madrid and Barcelona not spending any money is evidence of how hard football finances have been hit. We spent more than most big clubs during the pandemic, and ended up with 5 new players, for far less than Sancho alone would have cost.
 

Bestietom

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I'm actually really optimistic about the signings we've made relative to the fees we've paid. But the lack of proper first-team signings to improve us in positions that badly needed improving casts a negative shadow over the transfer window.

I don't think you could ever call it a shrewd window when we failed to address the glaring weaknesses in our squad. That doesn't mean the signings won't turn out well, though.
A CB could still arrive, we have until the 16th.
 

TwoSheds

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All the people whingeing about Sancho I really don't understand. We were quoted a silly price that we can't really afford in the midst of a global recession with no matchday revenue, and we bought a couple of talented punts instead. End of the day Sancho is class but he would still be a punt and he definitely wouldn't have changed the fact that Brighton, Palace and Spurs have run through us like Usain Bolt through the Swedish netball team.

Fact is, it appears our biggest needs were at DM and CB. Unless VdB can somehow make that DM spot his own then we haven't made any moves in those areas and have in fact weakened ourselves at CB with the loss of Smalling. We also still have a bunch of trash in the squad that we couldn't get rid of because Woodward is a feckwit.

I think all the signings we made are probably quite sensible and I'm looking forward to watching them, it's just a question of whether targeting Partey for example would have been more sensible.

What I'm hoping is that Ole has a plan at CB and is going to find a way to work Mengi into the first team rotation, or that Tuanzebe stays fit and impresses. I think those are very difficult things to make happen but at this point I have to give Ole the benefit of the doubt and see whether he can make the best of a bad situation.

If we make it through this season we might be set up quite nicely for next season though, particularly if Garner keeps improving while out on loan. Unfortunately for Ole I'm not sure whether he will make it through this season though as the PL is becoming a truly unpredictable beast and Woody has masterminded a very difficult year for him.
 

Hammondo

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Our central midfield and central defense are poor, biggest weaknesses, we solved neither.

Terrible transfer window.
 

OverratedOpinion

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I think they all seem like decent players and they were shrewd value for money wise.

Problem is that we needed a centre back, a holding midfielder and a top class right winger.

We also sold our best defender whilst keeping hold of a load of dross. Chris Smalling is great, playing out from the back is overrated and contributes to style more than the substance of actually winning matches.
 

lilcurt

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So if Tuabzebe becomes a world class CB for us this season, then you still feel we should have splashed 80 million on Tyrone Mings just to keep fans happy? Upamecano was not available at any price as his club stated they needed him for 1 more season.

There's every chance Scott McT can become a solid CDM. Garner should be ready in 1 year to compete for a first Xi place. Rice was not available as Chelsea were willing to pay huge money for him but West Ham said no.

I think we would have bought Sancho if Juventus had paid us 80 million for Pogba, but the pandemic wrecked our spending plans, and Real Madrid and Barcelona not spending any money is evidence of how hard football finances have been hit. We spent more than most big clubs during the pandemic, and ended up with 5 new players, for far less than Sancho alone would have cost.
This post is full of "IF'S" and "MAYBES". You could make those statements for any club in any window.

When did I suggest spending £80mil on Ming's???

I've said in another thread, we are Manchester United and the board have out expectations at the level of West Ham or Newcastle! Accepting we couldn't buy due to not selling Pogba ... Pull the other one!

This club generates a fortune and hasn't been hit any harder than say Arsenal of Spurs in this pandemic, if anything we should have been able to exploit the situation. You carry on being satisfied with our underinvestment and watching the owners leverage debt and take a handsome dividend. People have become deluded.

I don't expect success on the pitch, in football anything can happen. But I expect us to act like the club we are and do the work off the pitch to the correct degree of our stature, at present we are slowly turning off the life support.
 
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This post is full of "IF'S" and "MAYBES". You could make those statements for any club in any window.

When did I suggest spending £80mil on Ming's???

I've said in another thread, we are Manchester United and the board have out expectations at the level of West Ham or Newcastle! Accepting we couldn't buy due to not selling Pogba ... Pull the other one!

This club generates a fortune and hasn't been hit any harder than say Arsenal of Spurs in this pandemic, if anything we should have been able to exploit the situation. You carry on being satisfied with our underinvestment and watching the owners leverage debt and take a handsome dividend. People have become deluded.

I don't expect success on the pitch, in football anything can happen. But I expect us to act like the club we are and do the work off the pitch to the correct degree of our stature, at present we are slowly turning off the life support.
Given uniteds match day revenues are likely higher than anyone else in the league, losing £5m per home game, which could be £150m by the end of the season suggests in actual fact we will be hit harder than anyone else.
 

lilcurt

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Given uniteds match day revenues are likely higher than anyone else in the league, losing £5m per home game, which could be £150m by the end of the season suggests in actual fact we will be hit harder than anyone else.
It's relative our sponsorship, merchandise, subscriptions, ad revenue, TV deals will all be much higher still putting us in a better position than our rivals.

The fact we have been services the debt and paying dividends to the extent we have over the past 15 years demonstrates this as fact. Just look how much money is being sucked out our club.
 
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It's relative our sponsorship, merchandise, subscriptions, ad revenue, TV deals will all be much higher still putting us in a better position than our rivals.

The fact we have been services the debt and paying dividends to the extent we have over the past 15 years demonstrates this as fact. Just look how much money is being sucked out our club.
But we make long term decisions, transfers, recruitment, wage packages etc based on our match day revenues, which are very consistent (or used to be).

The fact is we will lose more revenue than every other club due to Covid. We can’t pivot and increase other revenue streams to make up for it, and our cost base is pretty fixed.
 

KM

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I'm also of the opinion that this window will eventually turn out to be very good. I'm also disappointed that we didn't sign Sancho but I'm quite happy with the rest of the signings.
 

lilcurt

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But we make long term decisions, transfers, recruitment, wage packages etc based on our match day revenues, which are very consistent (or used to be).

The fact is we will lose more revenue than every other club due to Covid. We can’t pivot and increase other revenue streams to make up for it, and our cost base is pretty fixed.
Really don't think it works how you think, not trying to be Billy big bollocks but the financials are not purely going to be based on gate reciepts, it's my area of expertise.

You also ignore the oppurtunity cost in not acting. If we don't perform on the pitch sponsorship, merchandise and TV deals will also call. So it doesn't make sense to underinvest to the extent we have.

Next summer one of two situations will arrive, either markets are in and even worse place which by your logic will mean even less spending. Or markets have picked up, gates are open again and transfer fees are inflated due to many of the big foreign clubs being back in the market. Either scenario doesn't look great.
 
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Really don't think it works how you think, not trying to be Billy big bollocks but the financials are not purely going to be based on gate reciepts, it's my area of expertise.

You also ignore the oppurtunity cost in not acting. If we don't perform on the pitch sponsorship, merchandise and TV deals will also call. So it doesn't make sense to underinvest to the extent we have.

Next summer one of two situations will arrive, either markets are in and even worse place which by your logic will mean even less spending. Or markets have picked up, gates are open again and transfer fees are inflated due to many of the big foreign clubs being back in the market. Either scenario doesn't look great.
You are probably misunderstanding me.

Utd could be set to lose £150m in gate receipts this year. 30 home games x £5m.

Compare that to City for example, and the impact will be nowhere near as high.

I’m not saying thats a reason not to invest, or to suggest that investing in players will not have an impact on future revenues. I’m not advocating not spending anything, and we may need to increase our debt.

My point was simply, in terms of coronavirus, because we have the biggest crowds - (And everything else has essentially remained the same) taking the gate receipts away from every club affects us more than anyone else.
 

Champagne Football

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This post is full of "IF'S" and "MAYBES". You could make those statements for any club in any window.

When did I suggest spending £80mil on Ming's???

I've said in another thread, we are Manchester United and the board have out expectations at the level of West Ham or Newcastle! Accepting we couldn't buy due to not selling Pogba ... Pull the other one!

This club generates a fortune and hasn't been hit any harder than say Arsenal of Spurs in this pandemic, if anything we should have been able to exploit the situation. You carry on being satisfied with our underinvestment and watching the owners leverage debt and take a handsome dividend. People have become deluded.

I don't expect success on the pitch, in football anything can happen. But I expect us to act like the club we are and do the work off the pitch to the correct degree of our stature, at present we are slowly turning off the life support.
Well the club has stressed repeatedly that they hadn't planned to spend in January but had no choice to spend £ 50 million on Bruno due to shocking failings of the squad. The club stressed many times that this would be taken from our summer kitty for 2020. So if you add the £50 million we spent on Bruno to the £90 million more or less that we spent on Amad Traore, Alex Telles, De Beek and Facundo Pellistri then that makes us comfortably the 2nd biggest spenders in the transfer window by far, if you add up what every team spent in both January and the summer.

If you add the £140 millon we've spent since January to the £146 million we spent last summer, then you're talking £286 million has been spent more or less on new players in 1 year with very little incoming for player sales. This makes Man Utd by a country mile the biggest spenders in the Premier League in the past year, considerably more than even Chelsea and their endless spending.

Add all that to the £5 million Man Utd lose every game since the pandemic, and the fact we have the 7th highest weekly salary bill in European football, then I don't get your point really.
 

lilcurt

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Well the club has stressed repeatedly that they hadn't planned to spend in January but had no choice to spend £ 50 million on Bruno due to shocking failings of the squad. The club stressed many times that this would be taken from our summer kitty for 2020. So if you add the £50 million we spent on Bruno to the £90 million more or less that we spent on Amad Traore, Alex Telles, De Beek and Facundo Pellistri then that makes us comfortably the 2nd biggest spenders in the transfer window by far, if you add up what every team spent in both January and the summer.

If you add the £140 millon we've spent since January to the £146 million we spent last summer, then you're talking £286 million has been spent more or less on new players in 1 year with very little incoming for player sales. This makes Man Utd by a country mile the biggest spenders in the Premier League in the past year, considerably more than even Chelsea and their endless spending.

Add all that to the £5 million Man Utd lose every game since the pandemic, and the fact we have the 7th highest weekly salary bill in European football, then I don't get your point really.
Your math in sound but again relative to our income we do underinvest. I think we can agree to differ on this my friend.

The other aspect of course is looking at what we have spent that money on I suppose.
 

Pretzels81

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2020, major pandemic, major worldwide financial crisis, none of the Top clubs spending big (other than Chelsea, with cash at the ready after the ban)...yet for some reason people expected 180 million spent this transfer window. 120 on Sancho alone.
 

Mr PG

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These young players are a shot in the dark. It could be, just because everyone likes to think they’ve unearthed a gem, but I doubt it.
They are both at Greenwood level rhat much is clear. I’m a very good judge of talent and any keen eye can see these lads technical level is even above Rashfords.
 

Loon

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This window smacks of throwing shit at a wall and seeing what sticks.

Would love to see one of the youngsters turn out be another diamond and wonder if we still plan to move domestically before the 16th.
 

cyril C

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Is it a depth problem or a first team problem? cos if it's just a depth problem why did we let Smalling go? And if it's a first team problem that still goes back to signing Maguire for 80 freakin million. We're creating new problems with poor decisions
Correct, and both. Keeping Smalling would address our depth problem. IMO Smalling is still capable of managing Deeney type of players. But if Ole thinks he is not good enough for the big boys, and after observing what we have under Bailly , Lindelof and a bit of Maguire, then perhaps it is also a 1st team problem. Selling Smalling (and Rojo, Jones if we are lucky), we should/could have address our quality problem in 1 go.