Crazy, but genuine question...£1bn spend

[F-Red]

Is this £1bn spend on the actual books or a combination of the club and some third party arrangement like ADUG?

It's a serious question, as the genuine net spend from City is far greater than the publicised numbers.

 

[Adam_S]

It's not just about money. Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs all have far less money than we do and are all performing substantially better. Much as I hate to say it, City have also got a fantastic system set up, have a clear vision of how they want to play and have found a world class manager to execute that style.

United are, I'm afraid, a mess in comparison.

Let's not forget though, United saw off plenty of big money, plastic clubs in their time. Blackburn and Newcastle were once both doing what City are now but Fergie saw them both off in the end. You could argue the same for Jose's first Chelsea incarnation too. The club was run vastly better back in those days though compared to now and that's what the real problem is.

 

[Schneckerl]

Arsenal look so good they are pretty much in the same position as under Wenger. Why has the barometer changed now Wenger has left? They have gone from reaching top 4 is rubbish to reaching top 4 is a success in the space of 6 months, I don’t get it.

What..? They had 63 pts last sesson and are on pace for 76 pts right now.
The baromter last season was not 'reaching top 4 is rubbish', they weren't even close and it would have been a success to qualify for CL.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

What sets City apart is how they can keep buying players over and over for the same positions until they get one that works. The squad depth they have amassed doing that is incredible. If we buy a left winger and he turns out to be a dud, we have to live with it. They just go and buy another one in the next window. If we do buy someone else, we have to add them to the priority list and maybe we buy them next window, maybe in 2 or 3 years time, or whenever the finances work. We just cant match them in throwing money at each and every position at any time they like, and neither can anyone else in the league.

£1bn in one go doesn't really address that even though it would help our squad massively. If we buy £1bn worth of duds we are stuck with them. City would just go and replace the lot.

If that were the case then we would still have Zaha, DiMaria and Depay

 

[SadlerMUFC]

I think we have potential with our existing team and add a few more to strengthen.

I'd like to see Mbappe and Hazard. (I'm only Hazarding a guess here). Both these on the wings would be frightening for a start.
As a striker, Griezmann would kill it.
Van Dyke to strengthen the defence and I think this would be a world beating team.

Griezmann will never be a United player with Mourinho in charge, and if he did buy him, he would put him on the wing. Mourinho likes a big man up front

 

[MrBest]

Arsenal look so good they are pretty much in the same position as under Wenger. Why has the barometer changed now Wenger has left? They have gone from reaching top 4 is rubbish to reaching top 4 is a success in the space of 6 months, I don’t get it.

The wonders a new manager will do for you, especially one that is more in tune with modern faster paced football.

 

[Class of 63]

Refusing to pay agent fees made us lose out on so many players in Sir Alex’s final years. I certainly don’t blame Sir Alex for any of the situation we are in now but I think, much like Wenger, they couldn’t accept what was happening with football agents. We lost out badly to teams who accepted it. In the main City and Chelsea.

In fairness to Man City despite spending like a drunken sailor on transfer fees when they first came into money they stood with United, Liverpool and most of the major clubs in Europe refusing to pay obscene agents fees when wages started spiraling totally out of control, the thinking being that if we are paying your client £100,000+ a week they, and not the buying club should reward the agent for closing the deal, and rightly so, but Chelsea had other ideas......

 

[tomaldinho1]

It is becoming very hard to like football.

This

Actually feels more and more like watching some strangers play footy manager with the cheats enabled

 

[Red_toad]

£1bn is still an insane amount of money, unless you only go for the very best players in the world. You could make a whole new squad with that money, and then some.

Besides it's not really how much you spend, it's how well you spend it.

99 times out 100 the team that spends the most in a league win said league. You can only get so far with players of less ability. Or if you're lucky enough to get a bunch of world class youngster all come through the ranks at the same time, but that happens very rarely.
Scotland, England, France, Italy etc all domestic titles went to the clubs with the most expensive squads. Spain the top 2 spend more than the rest of their league and either one wins the league without fail.

 

[AbduRaheem]

Griezmann will never be a United player with Mourinho in charge, and if he did buy him, he would put him on the wing. Mourinho likes a big man up front

Good point, but what were you thinking? What big men are available nowadays. Not many Drogbas around. There's Cavani? But he's getting old

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

It’s actually not that crazy a question. I expect City will spend the best part of £1bn over the next 5 seasons.

Neymar, Dembele, Isco, De Jong, Mbappe, Messi, Pogba.

Wouldn't be surprised if the above turned out for them over the next 5 seasons.

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Not the amount of money which is the problem, but the plan/strategy.

 

[Josep Dowling]

What..? They had 63 pts last sesson and are on pace for 76 pts right now.
The baromter last season was not 'reaching top 4 is rubbish', they weren't even close and it would have been a success to qualify for CL.

It doesn't matter they are still outside the top 4. Wenger's Arsenal were in a similar position last season i.e not in the top 4 and haven't beaten a top 6 side yet. Like I said the minute Wenger left all of sudden reaching top 4 is a success again, this wasn't enough for Arsenal fans for years and now it defines a good season for them?

 

[Aloysius's Back 3]

Lukaku should never be a 80 mil pound player & even Matic at 40 mil is a significant waste of money.

What we spend money out on is trash - its a mix due to managers buying such players like those above and darmain, schneiderlin etc as well as our own scouts if they are being utilised at all or we are simply going for what the manager wants 24/7?

DoF is the problem & that's not Woodwards fault - get an ex united player in there who understands what the clubs is about and what the fans want other than the success aspects of the game.

 

[SadlerMUFC]

Good point, but what were you thinking? What big men are available nowadays. Not many Drogbas around. There's Cavani? But he's getting old

What I'm thinking? I would love to have a player like Griezmann. Just know that Mourinho wouldn't use him right and will likely still want Arnotovic...

 

[Maticmaker]

The difference in buying players between ourselves and City seems to rest as much on how many shirts they can sell, as well as how they would fit into the team, at least you might gather that from Ed Woodward's decisions, going back to Mata's arrival. The look on Moyes face said it all when Mata arrived, great player, but not in Moyes reckoning I suspect? You might argue similarly for Di Marie, Falcao, great players but were they what we really needed at the time? All these I suspect were Ed's decisions really. Now Sanchez, was he what Mourinho really wanted for Christmas?

Pep seems able to buy players he needs even if he has to have two bites of the cherry before he gets them, also he seems to be able to improve certain players; you could argue Sterling, Stones, Walker, and one or two others have all got even better under his coaching. Is it just the money, or is it he has the trust of the moneymen at City? Certainly price of transfer fee and price of player contracts aren't a problem for City, but they do tend to spend wisely.

Does anybody think that at the present time United could spend a £1B wisely?

 

[Schneckerl]

Like I said the minute Wenger left all of sudden reaching top 4 is a success again, this wasn't enough for Arsenal fans for years and now it defines a good season for them?

After missing out on the Top 4 two years in a row, yes it does. This wasn't all of a sudden, but building up over those seasons. Don't know what's surprising about that it clearly makes perfect sense and the reasons are obvious.

 

[RedDevil@84]

If someone comes to know that we have 1bn with us, every average player will be quoted 100s of millions. Just like how Barca were robbed off the Neymar money

 

[Leftback99]

It probably wouldn't be enough which shows the size of the problem and why Woodward/the Glazers would settle for top 4 every season.

 

[Salus Populi Suprema Lex]

Tweet

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Whilst the Glazers are parasites who have sucked hundred of millions out of the club, we haven't been on a downward spiral since 2005: we reached three Champions League final in four years after that. We've been on a downward spiral since Fergie retired, which left the Glazers without a genius to cover for them.

 

[Offsideagain]

City have spent the large majority of the £1bn since 2008. Guardiola has spent close to £600 million at City on transfers. Factor in wages and agents fees and you can double that. All from a club that made £1.10 m last season in profit but that is only the declared figures.

The Sheik has an i.o.u. on the Club of £1bn which is never mentioned by the Media when they go on and on about the debt on United. We need need to focus on quality rather than so called big names that have mostly all failed at OT. Depay for instance was the most coveted youngster in Europe when we bought him. Another waste of money.

Imagine being the Glazers and Woodward handing out £100’s of millions and watching the dire stuff served up by the team. You’d think twice wouldn’t you?

 

[Igor Drefljak]

Better comparison to Martial and Depay would be Sane, who, when they signed wasn't proven but a similar price (£37M plus addons).

I agree with the Sane transfer.
I actually meant to mention this.

A player like Sane, while young and has potential can be blended into the side.
The expectation is lower and the transition can be smoother for them.

When we buy the likes of Depay and so on, we're expecting them to come straight in and perform, no bedding in period

 

[Bestietom]

1bn should most certainly be enough to buy the players we need, but the question is, who would we get to manage the team. We need to look at the management also.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

SAF thought Aguero would not succeed in the PL. The same with Hazard. If we had a decent team of younger players when he retired we may not have been in this position. He later on became a short term fixer and did not invest properly after Ronaldo left.

Did he actually say this? Seems weird considering we were constantly linked with Aguero for ages and that we were in for Hazard and the supposed reason we pulled out was due to the demands of the agent in fees.

 

[AbduRaheem]

What I'm thinking? I would love to have a player like Griezmann. Just know that Mourinho wouldn't use him right and will likely still want Arnotovic...

Shame really. Are you pro or against Mourinho?

 

[SadlerMUFC]

Shame really. Are you pro or against Mourinho?

I don't think you really have to ask that question do you?

 

[Patrick08]

The problem is city are here to stay and they will improve their squad even more.

The problem is ourselves and our mismanagement not city.

 

[Andycoleno9]

90 mil for Skriniar, 90 mil for Koulibaly, 50 mil for Sandro, 60 mil for some right winger, 150(?) for Icardi. Aprox 450 mil is enough for dream team. And we always can sell for lets say 150 mil. So 300 mil can make us PL champion and CL favourite. What is 300mil these days...
Ah, back to reality and Maguire and Granqvist

 

[Bestietom]

500k a week for a player we did not need and only to stop him going to City, is certainly not good management. We must really look at where we need players to improve the team rather than trying to outdo our noisy neighbours.

Concentrate on getting a balanced team together that can challenge the best. We have 50 scouts out there ffs, and surely they can find us top players.

 

[Nick.]

We'd finish second in the league most likely.

Think about when Madrid were up against Barcelona at their peak a few years ago. The Madrid team were hardly lacking talent. You could have taken a world 11 and handed them to Mourinho and Barca would have dominated most matches against them due to the way the team played with absolute dedication to the tiki-taka system.

We could have Pogba, Kante and Kroos in midfield with Mbappe Neymar and Dembele up front and I think we'd still lose 80% of matches against the current City team because they'd still dominate possession and stifle counter attacks.

Fernandinho and B Silva are not better than Kante or Pogba, whilst Mahrez and Sterling are not as far ahead of Martial and Sanchez as yesterday's performance would indicate, so it's clear that the first 11 isn't the only issue. I don't think Jose could reliably beat Pep's City with even £1b unfortunately.

I agree, we saw last season that it is tactics that can beat City, not just players. If we had Klopp we wouldn't need £1bn.

 

[tedketterman]

It is becoming very hard to like football.

I only watch United games and international tournaments for this reason.

 

[MuFc_1992]

It is becoming very hard to like football.

Why does it make any difference? 20m or 200m it's all the same to me tbh.

 

[Devils11]

1000m to spend :
1) Kimmich (Bayern) RB 100m
2) Alaba (Bayern) LB 100m
3) Koulibaly (Napoli) CB 100m
4) Matthijs De Ligt (Ajax) CB 100m
5) Frenkie De Jong (Ajax) MF 100m
6) Pulisic (Dortmund) MF 100m
7) Isco (R Madrid) MF 100m
8) Griezmann (A Madrid) FW 150m
9) Dybala (Juventus) FW 150m

p/s : Need to get rid Jose or else the above players wont come.

 

[Pexbo]

1000m to spend :
1) Kimmich (Bayern) RB 100m
2) Alaba (Bayern) LB 100m
3) Koulibaly (Napoli) CB 100m
4) Matthijs De Ligt (Ajax) CB 100m
5) Frenkie De Jong (Ajax) MF 100m
6) Pulisic (Dortmund) MF 100m
7) Isco (R Madrid) MF 100m
8) Griezmann (A Madrid) FW 150m
9) Dybala (Juventus) FW 150m

p/s : Need to get rid Jose or else the above players wont come.

Nice £1bn spent there. How does your wage bill look now?

 

[Devils11]

Nice £1bn spent there. How does your wage bill look now?

Doesn't matter when the Saudis take over , they can easily buy 10,000,000 shirts to beat the FFP!

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

With the form when Ole arrived I had to have a laugh at my own post. Forward a few weeks and the question remains....!

 

[Schmeichel=God]

1 billion.... divided by no more than 50 million per signing.... and we have a new squad. Which jesting aside is not light years away from what many of us think we need!

We need to get people early, for cheaper, and not get involved in all this stupidity that is buying the (supposed) world class (castoff) players from clubs that laugh their way to the bank.

We certainly need to work out what our scouts are doing because one cannot say that the return from our recruitment over the last decade has been anything other than not good enough.

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

We need serious surgery, but maybe not a £1bn....

CB - Koulibaly £100m
CB - De Ligt £70m (to beat Barca to him)
LB - Chillwell £40m
RB - Wan Bissaka £50m
CM - Ndidi £50m
CM - Neves £60m
CM - Fernandes £95m
RW - Sancho £100m
CF - Mbappe £200m
CF - Icardi (swap with Lukaku)

The above would be an incredible mix of talent both ready and developing with a good age blend.

There is heaps of dead wood we could shift out....
Rojo, Jones, Darmian, Young, Valencia, Mata, Sanchez, Lukaku.

Martial and Rashford can go back to battling out the LW position. Lingard can try and hold on as cover or be sold.

Pogba gets a season with new talent to see what he is like with the right players around him.

Fred/ McTominay become backups. Herrera can probably go if can't get for right salary.

Smalling backup. Dalot backup. Shaw and Chillwell fight out LB.

De Gea convinced to stay with this investment or otherwise get Oblak and sell De Gea this summer.

Go on Woody...show us what you have got. As crazy as the above sounds I think our longer term value would be better for making this happen. Complete overhaul.

 

[KingMinger22]

£1bn is around the figure you would need.

Consider that Sterling and KDB are worth £200m each. No question.

 

[Raw]

Or how about this, we build a foundation that allows players to express themselves on the pitch and boost our scouting system to bring in potential talents that can be integrated into the squad with ease.

Spending shit loads of money on loads of expensive players in one or two summers isn't going to fix it, it's just papering over the cracks. There is something rotten at the club that needs killing.