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VP89

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No they wouldn't cause its shortsighted. You don't burn bridges with club like that especially a club like Sporting who tend to produce alot of young quality talent. You have to have a decent relationship with these clubs. Lets hope that Bruno doesn't sends us to feck off in the last minute and force us to finish the season with this team. With such thin squad we won't make it to top 4, we won't win the Europa league and we'll probably ruin a player or two because we'll be forced to rush them in. That would cost us way more then 10m.
It's not burning bridges. It's just negotiation. If one party is more desperate than another, the other takes to take advantage of the situation. That's not abnormal.

And relax, he will likely be a United player before the window closes.
 

Cliche Guevara

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According to sky we backtracked from our agreed offer because we learnt that Sporting are desperate to sell. Who would do that? Are we such cnuts now? You don't burn bridges with clubs that way. What happens if they produce the next big thing and we're interested in him? Do you think that Sporting would be glad to sell that player to us or would they sell it to anyone but us?
Even I knew in the summer Sporting needed money and were desperate to sell. The whole world did. We’ve even seen the breakdown of how any fee that Sporting receive is split. Nothing has changed, it’s still exactly the same as it was in the summer.

Sporting have massively over-priced the player and we were only brought back to the table as we were told they would deal at a lower fee with a smaller up-front cost.

We haven’t suddenly discovered in the last few days they are desperate to sell. If they were that desperate they’d take our lower offer anyway.
 

DavelinaJolie

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I suppose it depends who you want to believe? Did sporting suddenly raise the price, or Utd suddenly lower their offer?

I think I'm less inclined to believe the Utd side.
 

devilish

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It's not burning bridges. It's just negotiation. If one party is more desperate than another, the other takes to take advantage of the situation. That's not abnormal.

And relax, he will likely be a United player before the window closes.
Negotiations are made between two clubs prior to a fee being agreed. If the fee is agreed, one pulls out only to return with a lesser fee then that's a cnut move. In the situation we're in, its also, a dangerous move as well.
 

crossy1686

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I’m just glad someone had the foresight to realise we were threadbare for most of the season and has been putting the groundwork in to ensure we didn’t go into the last week of the window absolutely fecking desperate for players of quality and refusing to meet the over inflated asking price of clubs that don’t want to give up their prized assets mid way through a competitive season. Because that would be a really bad situation to be in if true...
 

JPRouve

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80m buys you almost any defender in the world, as far as I can tell, and Maguire never looked like a world class defender. We decided it was worth paying a premium for having proven himself in the PL, which I can't argue with. But I think we made him the 2nd most expensive defender of all time because we thought he was a lot better than he was, too. No hindsight from me on that one.
I compared him to Raul Albiol at Madrid, a good player but not that good for a top team.
 

VP89

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Negotiations are made between two clubs prior to a fee being agreed. If the fee is agreed, one pulls out only to return with a lesser fee then that's a cnut move. In the situation we're in, its also, a dangerous move as well.
Not really, the term agreed is frivolous in the tweet. They might have sounded out rough figures in negotiation and changed their mind.
 

Tom Cato

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We don't though. We had CL money last year and made ~20M in profit and after buying Fred and Dalot for ~70M. We already spent a net of 70M this year and were okay with spending another 55-ish in Jan, that too with out the CL money. We'll probably post a loss this year and pretty soon you'd have to borrow to fund player purchases. Lots of (admittedly smaller) clubs went bust that way. I think some amount of financial prudence and long term thinking is good.

I firmly believe that the thing that's preventing us from getting back to the top is the scatter brained recruitment strategy and not the money. Even if we had unlimited money to spend, I don't trust the people running the club to make the right decisions right now.

I don't think firing Ed does much good at this point either. They've learned a lot of hard lessons over the last five years and all we'll do is to bring in another CEO who might have to do it all over again. We seem to have turned a corner transfers wise, so I hope another 2-3 players this summer who can fit in as nicely as Maguire and AwB in the squad is what I'm hoping for.
Having a net spend does not meant the value is lost in the books, its simply moved from Cash reserve to asset. The value remains the same primarily unless a factor increases or decreases the players market value. But primarily the reason we are not doing to post a net loss is because of the adjusted wage structure the club has put in place in the event of CL football. The players wages are reduced to offset the operating loss of CL v EL football, plus the departure of Lukaku and parts of Sanchez's contract helps offset further wage headaches. Our wage expenditure is down -8.8% this year because of this. The thing about a giant club like Manchester United is that we employ some really good accountants that are incredibly good at forecasting. Forecasting is what helps us adjust for any number of scenarios, be it operation reduction, reduction of TV deals, sponsorship, increase in shirt sponsor revenue, what have you. There is nothing "year to year" with Manchester United's financial planning, it's modeled out the next 5 years or even more to ensure the longevity of the company. There are ALWAYS long term plans in a business of this magnitude. That is why no one gets too nervous about a year in the Europa League. There is financial health there sufficient to invest. When the club says that it has a new transfer strategy it certainly means it. Buying younger players that can contribute in 2-3 years is the current model. The club has an ambition of competing for titles next season. This season is all about investing into the right youth and future key components. The season is a professional and financial write-off for future gain. It was always that way to begin with.

A net spend does not mean that the club has lost the net value. The value is still there, in the player. The players value goes on the books as an asset. Net spend simply refers to the balance of players in vs out. Not reduction of operating income.

The club has a operating EBIDTA of £155m to £165m for this fiscal year. Down from £185~m fiscal year 2019, in line with the annual guidance. Total operation income is budgeted to £560-580m. The fiscal year of 2019 had a operating profit of £50 million. MUFC pays out a dividend yearly to our shareholders, primarily the Glazer family. This is how the Glazers earn an income on the club if they are not reducing their A/B shares. In very short, there are no surprises or financial results that are of a concern for us at this stage. The club knew about this last year and our operation expenditure has been adjusted to account for the loss of operation revenue.

EBIDTA is for this who aren't familiar with the term: Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization

Ed Woodward, for all the glorified hate he gets for player recruitment, despite not being the guy that even brings the players names up in the first place, is a fine businessman, and manages to constantly put healthy profits on the table even when we lack CL football, and the club is saddled with the Glazer family's debt. MUFC is still an extremely attractive club, with the new chinese shirt sponsor deal to be finalized, blowing the Chevrolet deal out of the water, and a estimated 1.1 billion global fans according to Kantar.

Whenever I see someone (not you) post that they suspect we are pennypinching because of a Glazer sale.. I'm kinda wondering, do they think the money in the club belong to the Glazer family and they take it with them when the club is sold?
 

Tom Cato

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It is fecking hilarious and terrifying that on 24th January, with 1 week remaining and the squad in the worst state it's been in decades, we have made one signing. A PR/Spin Doctor.

It's very telling about this football club and the future plans they have in store.
Is it? Who do you want us to sign that's available this transfer window except for Bruno Fernandes? Jadon Sancho?
 

red4ever 79

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So what's our plan B. Usually well run clubs have a list of targets for a position. So if we do not get target A, we move onto B. I presume there is a B right lads?
 

Hellboy

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It is fecking hilarious and terrifying that on 24th January, with 1 week remaining and the squad in the worst state it's been in decades, we have made one signing. A PR/Spin Doctor.

It's very telling about this football club and the future plans they have in store.
We don't panic buy :lol:
 

Suv666

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Not that arsed about this tbh he's not worth the cash Sporting are demanding simple as. For that amount of money you get a proven star or some wonderkid, Bruno is neither and there are big question marks on whether he'll be able to adapt to the league, you dont spend that much on a risky buy.
 

Bilbo

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Majority of transfer deals where the clubs don't quickly agree the terms go down to the last 48 hours. It enters the 'who blinks first' area, and it isn't ineptitude from any club its just the way these things go. We need players. Sporting needs cash. Nothing is likely to happen now because both sides want to convince the other that they are comfortable either way. The only chance anybody gets an upper hand before the last 48 hours is if we find an alternative solution or Sporting find an alternative buyer. I still expect this to go through this month because its massively in both the clubs and the players interests to get it done.
 

EireRed_GS

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Does anyone know is there any truth being this story that Joel Glazer pulled the plug because he 'didn't think Fernandes was worth the money' ??

If any truth in that it just shows their ignorance & indifference for the fanbase. Because im pretty sure Joel Glazer wouldn't have even heard of Fernandes up until very recently
 

NoneBmStore

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Does anyone know is there any truth being this story that Joel Glazer pulled the plug because he 'didn't think Fernandes was worth the money' ??

If any truth in that it just shows their ignorance & indifference for the fanbase. Because im pretty sure Joel Glazer wouldn't have even heard of Fernandes up until very recently
How would any of us know? Though I’m sure most people in here would believe it.
The media is selling clicks to jaded United fans who want to read articles about how Glazers/Woodward is to blame
 

Josh 76

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Not that arsed about this tbh he's not worth the cash Sporting are demanding simple as. For that amount of money you get a proven star or some wonderkid, Bruno is neither and there are big question marks on whether he'll be able to adapt to the league, you dont spend that much on a risky buy.
This
 

romufc

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or that amount of money you get a proven star or some wonderkid, Bruno is neither and there are big question marks on whether he'll be able to adapt to the league, you dont spend that much on a risky buy.
Like?
 

El Zoido

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Does anyone know is there any truth being this story that Joel Glazer pulled the plug because he 'didn't think Fernandes was worth the money' ??

If any truth in that it just shows their ignorance & indifference for the fanbase. Because im pretty sure Joel Glazer wouldn't have even heard of Fernandes up until very recently
He watched a compilation on youtube, give him some credit.
 

Josh 76

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Does anyone know is there any truth being this story that Joel Glazer pulled the plug because he 'didn't think Fernandes was worth the money' ??

If any truth in that it just shows their ignorance & indifference for the fanbase. Because im pretty sure Joel Glazer wouldn't have even heard of Fernandes up until very recently
Maybe Poch pulled the plug !
Wishful thinking
 

DBT85

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Does anyone know is there any truth being this story that Joel Glazer pulled the plug because he 'didn't think Fernandes was worth the money' ??

If any truth in that it just shows their ignorance & indifference for the fanbase. Because im pretty sure Joel Glazer wouldn't have even heard of Fernandes up until very recently
It now doesn't really matter if its true or not, it will be parroted around the globe and used as yet another stick to beat them with.
 

Eurotrash

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Majority of transfer deals where the clubs don't quickly agree the terms go down to the last 48 hours. It enters the 'who blinks first' area, and it isn't ineptitude from any club its just the way these things go. We need players. Sporting needs cash. Nothing is likely to happen now because both sides want to convince the other that they are comfortable either way. The only chance anybody gets an upper hand before the last 48 hours is if we find an alternative solution or Sporting find an alternative buyer. I still expect this to go through this month because its massively in both the clubs and the players interests to get it done.
This is the thing though. We must make sure to always have options when entering negotiations.
 

Alabaster Codify7

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Is it? Who do you want us to sign that's available this transfer window except for Bruno Fernandes? Jadon Sancho?

I'm talking more about the PR bloke, not the lack of signings. I was very doubtful we'd sign anyone in January as few teams do, but it's very telling that our only business so far is hiring a spin doctor.

Also, Jadon Sancho would not touch this football club with a bargepole.
 

Tom Cato

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Does anyone know is there any truth being this story that Joel Glazer pulled the plug because he 'didn't think Fernandes was worth the money' ??

If any truth in that it just shows their ignorance & indifference for the fanbase. Because im pretty sure Joel Glazer wouldn't have even heard of Fernandes up until very recently
No that is not true.

The rumor you are referring to does not state that the club pulled the plug on Fernandes due to the current bid, but the 80 million Euro valuation. We are not going to bid 80 million euro for Fernandes, that is an outrageous price.

Sporting Lisbon is currently in the drivers seat for being awarded the most dysfunctional club in the world award.
 

EireRed_GS

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No that is not true.

The rumor you are referring to does not state that the club pulled the plug on Fernandes due to the current bid, but the 80 million Euro valuation. We are not going to bid 80 million euro for Fernandes, that is an outrageous price.

Sporting Lisbon is currently in the drivers seat for being awarded the most dysfunctional club in the world award.
Would love us to still buy him, but I do agree that them raising the price that much is farcical. I think they are well aware of the incompetence of these lads working for us, so from their point of view, i suppose if you dont ask you dont get. Im surprised with the financial predicament Sporting are in that they are chancing it though
 

DBT85

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Awwww poor Glazers
My point was that you can basically make up anything you want about us right now and people will believe it. Even if there is literally no truth in it whatsoever. Just continues to add to the joke that is the club right now.
 

Tom Cato

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I'm talking more about the PR bloke, not the lack of signings. I was very doubtful we'd sign anyone in January as few teams do, but it's very telling that our only business so far is hiring a spin doctor.

Also, Jadon Sancho would not touch this football club with a bargepole.
Wouldn't he?

DDG, Romero,

AWB - Lindelöf - Maguire - Williams - Shaw

McTominay, Pogba Fred

Greenwood, Martial, Rashford, James

That is a very very good team and couple subs when everyone are healthy. Unfortunately right now the key components to that outfit are long term injured and we're having to rely on bare bones options to carry us through. I njuries are costing us the season.

We need recruitment to make the squad more solid and able to ride off injuries. We can't right now but that is why we are targeting players like Sancho and Maddison. This isn't a dysfunctional football club, its a club riddled with injuries that's hurting our performance and stability, right now.
 

Sassy Colin

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Not that arsed about this tbh he's not worth the cash Sporting are demanding simple as. For that amount of money you get a proven star or some wonderkid, Bruno is neither and there are big question marks on whether he'll be able to adapt to the league, you dont spend that much on a risky buy.
You'd rather spunk £100M on Madison?
 

Ikon

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You'd rather spunk £100M on Madison?
Pie in the sky...
No point in even talking about Maddison as he will be a key player for a very good Leicester team, with Champions League football to play.
Zero chance of signing him, so I hope that we aren't ignoring Fernandes for a futile pursuit.
 

Inigo Montoya

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Pie in the sky...
No point in even talking about Maddison as he will be a key player for a very good Leicester team, with Champions League football to play.
Zero chance of signing him, so I hope that we aren't ignoring Fernandes for a futile pursuit.
There isn’t a zero chance of him signing
 

EireRed_GS

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There isn’t a zero chance of him signing
theres always a chance either Maddison or Grealish will be up for a move to United..

But if Ed & the Glazers think €70/80m is a bit much for Fernandes, wait til they try negotiating for one of these two. They're in for a shock. They will prob pull out of them talks on the last day too
 

Bilbo

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This is the thing though. We must make sure to always have options when entering negotiations.
I agree, and maybe we do, but we all know that January is not the time when you're top 5 list are on the market.
 

Ikon

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theres always a chance either Maddison or Grealish will be up for a move to United..
Grealish maybe, because Villa could be relegated, and I'm sure he'd prefer to stay at Premier League level, but with Maddison, the brutal reality is, joining United would be a step down for him.
 

DCP

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Having a net spend does not meant the value is lost in the books, its simply moved from Cash reserve to asset. The value remains the same primarily unless a factor increases or decreases the players market value. But primarily the reason we are not doing to post a net loss is because of the adjusted wage structure the club has put in place in the event of CL football. The players wages are reduced to offset the operating loss of CL v EL football, plus the departure of Lukaku and parts of Sanchez's contract helps offset further wage headaches. Our wage expenditure is down -8.8% this year because of this. The thing about a giant club like Manchester United is that we employ some really good accountants that are incredibly good at forecasting. Forecasting is what helps us adjust for any number of scenarios, be it operation reduction, reduction of TV deals, sponsorship, increase in shirt sponsor revenue, what have you. There is nothing "year to year" with Manchester United's financial planning, it's modeled out the next 5 years or even more to ensure the longevity of the company. There are ALWAYS long term plans in a business of this magnitude. That is why no one gets too nervous about a year in the Europa League. There is financial health there sufficient to invest. When the club says that it has a new transfer strategy it certainly means it. Buying younger players that can contribute in 2-3 years is the current model. The club has an ambition of competing for titles next season. This season is all about investing into the right youth and future key components. The season is a professional and financial write-off for future gain. It was always that way to begin with.

A net spend does not mean that the club has lost the net value. The value is still there, in the player. The players value goes on the books as an asset. Net spend simply refers to the balance of players in vs out. Not reduction of operating income.

The club has a operating EBIDTA of £155m to £165m for this fiscal year. Down from £185~m fiscal year 2019, in line with the annual guidance. Total operation income is budgeted to £560-580m. The fiscal year of 2019 had a operating profit of £50 million. MUFC pays out a dividend yearly to our shareholders, primarily the Glazer family. This is how the Glazers earn an income on the club if they are not reducing their A/B shares. In very short, there are no surprises or financial results that are of a concern for us at this stage. The club knew about this last year and our operation expenditure has been adjusted to account for the loss of operation revenue.

EBIDTA is for this who aren't familiar with the term: Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization

Ed Woodward, for all the glorified hate he gets for player recruitment, despite not being the guy that even brings the players names up in the first place, is a fine businessman, and manages to constantly put healthy profits on the table even when we lack CL football, and the club is saddled with the Glazer family's debt. MUFC is still an extremely attractive club, with the new chinese shirt sponsor deal to be finalized, blowing the Chevrolet deal out of the water, and a estimated 1.1 billion global fans according to Kantar.

Whenever I see someone (not you) post that they suspect we are pennypinching because of a Glazer sale.. I'm kinda wondering, do they think the money in the club belong to the Glazer family and they take it with them when the club is sold?
The answer to your question is no, however reducing operating expenses by lowering net spending will improve EBITDA on paper, making the club potentially more attractive for buyers and it will certainly make a healthier balance sheet, however the deals are structured.

Personally, I think Woodward is pure money when it comes to running the club as a business, there aren't many better around. Having said that, the amount of money wasted in years 2-5 post SAF is insane, the summer of Falcao ruined the club for the short/medium term, especially when then combining it with Sanchez a few years later.
 

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Grealish maybe, because Villa could be relegated, and I'm sure he'd prefer to stay at Premier League level, but with Maddison, the brutal reality is, joining United would be a step down for him.
Also, he's a massively overrated English 'talent', even if he did us a favour and wanted to come, I wouldn't pay any more than for Bruno, who is a goals & assists machine.
 

Kerry Donaghy

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the Maguire money wouldve been better spent elsewhere? I think most (apart from the usual resident hindsight Herberts) would agree he was as safe an investment as they come. Spend the money elsewhere and the squabbling starts all over again.

“ he’s not worth 12m because he has only played in league 1”... “oh, yes he is. He was foty twice running.”
Not a chance everyone was in agreement on this, it had disaster written all over it.

The moment we came out this 'buying British' policy you could see this coming a mile off.

No offence to any England fans, but it's common knowledge all over the world that England internationals are massively overhyped and for some reason, it's accepted that you have to pay a premium for them (no idea why).

So when you factor in that Utd always end up overpaying for players anyway because we have the money it was/is a shambolic policy in my opinion.

Anyone who doesn't think that the £130m we spent on Maguire and Wan Bissaka (because of this hideous buying British policy) could have been better spent is suffering from a serious case of denial.

Its just yet another example of how clueless and out of touch our recruitment policy is.
Whoever is responsible for both transfers in and out and contract negotiations should actually be ashamed of themselves because I don't think they've made a single good call since Ferguson/Gill left.
 

EireRed_GS

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Not a chance everyone was in agreement on this, it had disaster written all over it.

The moment we came out this 'buying British' policy you could see this coming a mile off.

No offence to any England fans, but it's common knowledge all over the world that England internationals are massively overhyped and for some reason, it's accepted that you have to pay a premium for them (no idea why).

So when you factor in that Utd always end up overpaying for players anyway because we have the money it was/is a shambolic policy in my opinion.

Anyone who doesn't think that the £130m we spent on Maguire and Wan Bissaka (because of this hideous buying British policy) could have been better spent is suffering from a serious case of denial.

Its just yet another example of how clueless and out of touch our recruitment policy is.
Whoever is responsible for both transfers in and out and contract negotiations should actually be ashamed of themselves because I don't think they've made a single good call since Ferguson/Gill left.
Im not a fan of this British only b*llshit policy either. AWB is a good player though, i was quite happy we got him, but we did over pay for him.

When it comes to Maguire, no he wasnt the player i wanted Utd to bring in, but he's a pretty decent player. I always thought he was bigged up more than everyone else because he was English. And thats probably still true.

But some people saying Smalling is better.. nah. i dont believe that. Smalling was a very error prone player. Maguire doesnt make anywhere near as much mistakes as Smalling did. I held my breath sometimes when smalling was on the ball, i dont do that with Maguire. Plus he's brought a steadyness and calmness to our back line, when before you were just waiting for them to make a mistake. Improved Lindelof a fair bit too.

And thats coming from someone who agrees we over paid and that hes a bit over rated. But Smalling better? nope

Edit* Apologies, just realised that went way off topic there:nervous:
 
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Drifter

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Don't think this is happening . It would have been sorted long before now if there was anything this.
 
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