Maybe. But I think you would struggle to name a 21 year-old central defender, anywhere in Europe who earned a bigger fee, after only getting 9 first-team appearances in his final season at the selling club.
Barca agree £6m fee for Pique
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Theres little hope of him making the first team, Rio and Vidic will be around for atleast another 4 seasons, even if he goes on to be a top player we've already got our two
6 million is plenty for a kid like him, he shows promise, he's far from certain to be a star
6 million is plenty for a kid like him, he shows promise, he's far from certain to be a star
Vidic has also been skinned often.
As for SAF thinking he wouldnt make it? Its far more likely Pique pushed for the move.
If he's going to warm a bench, why wouldnt he choose his home town club over us?
That hardly stacks up given the extended chance given to Fletcher. The fact is that none of them have been nearly good enough as they have proven when they've gone elsewhere. Pique's far too slow for the PL and was mediocre in la Liga, he's no great loss.
Guessing he came off the bench away at Villa, or home and away against Roma. That's just off the top of my head.
And people keep mentioning Evans, yet i have seen no indication that Fergie rates him higher than Pique at all.
As for the fee, surely that isn't the driving force for us? That's what selling clubs focus on. 'At least we got good money'. I would imagine we'd get good money for Ronaldo if we wanted to.
Anyway, obviously we will cope without Piqué, probably quite easily, but it just brings the reseves into question that's all. Does anyone really have a chance?
£6 million is a good price.
Pique is at his years where he really should be playing 1st team football and he won't get that at United because the Vidic and Rio combo could go on years and years to come.
Good for both parties i reckon. Wish him all the best
Pique is at his years where he really should be playing 1st team football and he won't get that at United because the Vidic and Rio combo could go on years and years to come.
Good for both parties i reckon. Wish him all the best
There were questions being asked as soon as Rossi went. I'm still bewildered about that. I really feel it was a huge mistake letting him slip away.
Good to be back, padawan.
If/when you ever get married, try to ensure that United win the league, two days after your wedding and the day before your honeymoon. Puts a massive spring in your step, let me tell you
Sad to see him leaving.
He'll do well at Barca, good luck to him.
Another promising startlet sold
He'll do well at Barca, good luck to him.
Another promising startlet sold
Hehe, I bet it does!Good to be back, padawan.
If/when you ever get married, try to ensure that United win the league, two days after your wedding and the day before your honeymoon. Puts a massive spring in your step, let me tell you
We are foremost talking about potential in cases like this.
Anderson had also not played a lot of football during his last couple of seasons for Porto/Gremio. I know it's an extreme case, but my point remains.
The thing that annoys me the most is Hoyte being rumoured on his way to Villa for around £5 mill - no matter how average you may find Pique then he's still much better than Hoyte who's looked terrible in pretty much every single match he's played this season.
But you really can't compare a transfer between Brondby/Liverpool with a transfer between United/Barca - the transfer fees here in Denmark are not at all on that level, and £6 mill for Agger was the biggest fee ever in Danish football, my local club is spending big when spending £0.4 mill on a player.
Evans will be more satisfied with the O'Shea and Wes Brown route of a career at United. But Pique was the one with bells and whistles who will stand out in years to come.
He made a mistake at Bolton - as young defenders do. I've seen Evans making mistakes at Sunderland too. But it's also worth noting he played 4 times in the champions league (including subs) and scored 2 goals in that time. That's not bad at all.
As for speed, he's no slower than Vidic and although Evans is faster, there's not a lot in it.
He made a mistake at Bolton - as young defenders do. I've seen Evans making mistakes at Sunderland too. But it's also worth noting he played 4 times in the champions league (including subs) and scored 2 goals in that time. That's not bad at all.
As for speed, he's no slower than Vidic and although Evans is faster, there's not a lot in it.
I was thinking of the Bolton game. I might be wrong though
Evans might not make it either. But he seems a damn sight better suited to the PL than Pique. And he's younger too.
You only get good money for defenders who are seasoned pros or internationals. Rookie central defenders hardly ever generate much cash.
That's the 60m dollar question. So long as we're up against Chelsea's resources, I would have to say it doesn't look very hopeful
It's the right move for United, and the price seems OK. He doesn't have enough pace and mobility to play in the central defence of a team that pushes it's full-backs forward and he's not got the attacking game to turn himself into a united-class full-back or midfielder. If he makes it at Barca our fast forwards will be looking forward to meeting him in serious combat.
Very small chance, the concentration of money at the top and the level of competition has grown to the point where squads are enormous and the odds of a kid getting an extended run in the side due to injuries are rare, we're more likely to play a 451 then a 442 if the choice was between adding Wellbeck upfront to play the latter or one of Hargreaves, Anderson or Fletcher to play the former
No and that's been obvious a couple of years now. Some players might get into the squad(Fletcher/O'Shea/Richardson) but to have a chance of becoming a starter at United today a player must have Ronaldo/Rooney like potential and talent. Like Nani and Anderson.
Agger is a much, much better player than Pique.
As for Hoyte, if Villa pay 5m for him they need their heads examined. But any inflation to his fee could be part-explained by the "English player tax"
Sure, now.
But he certainly wasn't when he first arrived a couple of years ago. Quite a strange argument actually, I wouldn't have expected that from you.
Ronaldo is a much, much better player than everybody else, therefore no one else should ever be sold for anything above £12 mill
Should've swapped him for Messi
A good bit of business I suppose. He is a class player but his lack of pace add to the fact that he isn't a machine in the air like Vidic was going to make things difficult in the Premiership. Hopefully this means Evans will stay.
No Agger was an unproven defender just like Pique when he arrived thats why they are going for a similar price.
That Ronaldo comparison is just silly, Pique has hardly played.
Dos Santos was seemingly available recently. Would have been an interesting swap.
I see no point in hoarding promising youth players who aren't quite promising enough to break into the first team.
Yeah he's good, but he's not good enough. We're well covered even without him.
Decent business, I'm not disappointed
Yeah he's good, but he's not good enough. We're well covered even without him.
Decent business, I'm not disappointed
Nani and Anderson probably wouldn't have played about 30 games each for us last season either though if they had come through our reserves.
The best thing for a kid to do is to get a chance elsewhere, ad then wait for us to get ripped off and spend big money on them. Truth is, we've become one of those clubs.
But they shouldn't be going for the same price if their potential is equal, prices automatically rise when it's one of the best clubs in the world who are selling.
You somehow missed my point. Pogue's argument was that Pique shouldn't be sold for for more than Agger was sold, as Agger is now a much, much better player than Pique.
I therefore translated it onto Ronaldo in order to show the silliness in that claim.
I doubt Vidic was a machine in the air at 21 either. He's going to be good in the air, for sure - just isnt polished in that area yet. Leaps great and scores goals, but a few aerial balls are missed and jumps mistimed - very common for a young defender to make a few mistakes.
Agger was a better player when he signed for Liverpool than Pique is now. Un-proven sure, but he had none of the flaws that have become obvious in Pique's game, both in La Liga and for our reserves (i.e. lack of pace and turning circle of a milk-float)
You lost me with the Ronaldo analogy.
They may well be promising though. We just won't play them enough to fulfil it i doubt. I reckon a young Rooney from 16-18 would not have played ahead of Alan Smith if he were from our system. Smith would have been the 'experienced' safer option.
In the reserves Pique always look unsettled whenever a team would play long balls. Obviously he would come good with age, reminded me a lot of a young Rio, did Pique, which is awesome given how great Rio is. But his lack of pace was always going to be a sticking point in the Premier League.
No he wasn't, at least not in my opinion - and I should know having watched most of Agger's 35 or so matches for Brondby before he moved.
Agger has however made it all work for him and has improved greatly since moving.
Regarding the Ronaldo comment, I was just highlighting the sillyness in you using the current Agger's class with the Agger who moved 2 years ago in relation to Pique and then using that as an argument.
That would have been like you saying that Ben Arfa shouldn't be sold for more than £12 mill because Ronaldo is a much, much better play.
My point is that if he's not so promising that he will get games then we may as well take the money. It does no good to the lad if we won't play him.
I hope theres a buy back clause in there somewhere. I think once he matures he could be the next Rio. His distribution is great, its just his pace that lets him down.
Lack of polish or a lack of the natural aggression that Vidic has in spades? Tough to tell.
Pique reminds me of a young Rio actually. Silky skills but a bit soft when it comes to heading the ball. Rio has got better and better in the air as he has matured. If you're not gonna dominate in the air you need great pace to compensate amd Rio has always been quick as feck. When you've got a central defender who is neither dominant aerially nor quick across the ground, it's a bit of a worry.
Fair point. And he may yet become a decent player. But doubtful he was gonna get enough opportunities to develop his game at United.
It's not just his lack of pace, his aerial ability is also a big doubt. Having a cb without pace and aerial ability is suicide in PL.
I dont agree with that, regardless of potential. Pique has hardly played for us and is a back up who is out of contract. If anything the fee rises for smaller clubs who are dependent on that player and want to get as much for him as they can.
Well, Liverpool's scouts would obviously disagree with you. Hence they paid a Danish record fee for the lad.
I've only seen him since he came to England, to be fair. But it seems to me that he settled very quickly and looked quality from the outset.
Re. me talking about potential. The Scouse scouts obviously saw that Agger had huge potential, and they were right - but the current Agger is much, much better than the Agger Liverpool bought 2 years ago. My point is, would Agger have gone for just 6 mill had he played for Real Madrid when Liverpool bought him? I doubt it.
Just to make something clear: I'm not saying Pique is brilliant, as I don't actually rate him that much, but £4 mill for a hugely rated Spanish talent in a deal between two of the biggest clubs in Europe just seems low to me.
Liked him when he was here but not a bad bit of business if you consider hes in his last year of his contract. We coulda kept him here and played him about the same amount of games as this season and he woulda left on a free.
Dont think he woulda broke the Rio-Vidic partnership in the next few years anyway. Hes more similar to Rio and hes just signed for 5 more years.
On a side note I sold him in my 2nd season to Barca in FM for £12m.
Dont think he woulda broke the Rio-Vidic partnership in the next few years anyway. Hes more similar to Rio and hes just signed for 5 more years.
On a side note I sold him in my 2nd season to Barca in FM for £12m.
Meh, he always goes to Barcelona in football manager so it was inevitable really. 
Don't want to see him go but nobody is going to break up the Rio/Vidic partnership anytime soon. Evans is a quality centre back and will hopefully be on our bench next season. I think he is a better defender than Pique anyway, although Pique is more comfortable with the ball at his feet.
TBH Barca is not exactly the best destination for a young a defender to go and learn his trade. I think he wont get as many starts as he would here next season, and the club stability over there is a lot poorer. Do they even know who is in charge next season?