Just wondering after reading the comments from Dave Gill on why we passed on Duff. He says Sir Alex and the board decided that he wasn't worth the sum he eventually went for. In my opinion, with us having to go to Stamford Bridge on Nov 30, and with Duff in flying form, whether this was the wisest thing to say and the smartest time to say it? Gives the Irishman a point to prove for sure.
"Damien Duff was not worth 17 million..."
- Thread starter Gazza
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Agreed.
Plus the fact that it's simply not true.
In general, I'm not one to worry about price tags. But if Duff isn't 17 million, how can 18 year-old Ronaldo be 12 million?
And really, considering the prices we've been paying in the last few years, Gill's really not one to be talking about clubs paying over the top. He's just walking into a trap.
Plus the fact that it's simply not true.
In general, I'm not one to worry about price tags. But if Duff isn't 17 million, how can 18 year-old Ronaldo be 12 million?
And really, considering the prices we've been paying in the last few years, Gill's really not one to be talking about clubs paying over the top. He's just walking into a trap.
He'll learn the hard way...
It would have been easy to just give a tossaway answer like "He did not fit into our plans" or "We had other options to pursue". Saying that Duff was not worth it (although as Mr. Wood pointed out considering our transfer record we can't really act as business experts) merely adds an extra incentive for the player when we play there.
I can see Duff giving us a chasing.
I can see Duff giving us a chasing.
Maybe Fergie rates Ronaldo that much.Mr. Wood said:
Ronaldo is a tremendous prospect, though if you believe what you read we could have got him for closer to 8m.
Anyway let's stick to the topic, which is that is was rather foolhardy for Mr Gill to describe Duff as not worth it.
Anyway let's stick to the topic, which is that is was rather foolhardy for Mr Gill to describe Duff as not worth it.
Back to the original point. I don't think Duff has any more or less incentive than say, Seba does. Its a massive game for Chelsea and I think they'll come out with full intensity.
Errr..as if thats true, Duff's an awesome player, maybe slightly one footed but did you see the left footed goal scored against newcastle or whoever it was 
..IMO i think Duff could be worth even more , and i reckon he would've fitted in well with Uniteds style of play.
..IMO i think Duff could be worth even more , and i reckon he would've fitted in well with Uniteds style of play.Maybe Fergie asked Gill to say something like that to wind Duff up?
Manchester United chief executive David Gill has revealed for the first time that the club were interested in signing Damien Duff before he left Blackburn Rovers for Chelsea.
There was plenty of speculation regarding the Republic of Ireland winger and a move to Old Trafford, which gathered pace as the player had seemed particularly interested in a switch to Manchester.
However, Gill has confirmed that United were priced out of a move for Duff by Chelsea's bid to sign the 24-year-old.
"That's exactly right," Gill told Sky Sports News. "The club didn't blow it (the Ronaldinho and Duff deals).
"It takes three people, the buying party, the selling party and the player.
"Ronaldinho, yes, we had numerous discussions with him and PSG but felt, in the end, whilst we made great offers to both parties, he was happy to go to Barcelona where he had friends and colleagues.
"There's similarities with Duff. There was interest but we felt the price paid by Chelsea and the player's terms wasn't the right deal for Manchester United.
"Clearly it was right for Chelsea, but not for Manchester United."
Gill confirmed that talks are ongoing with manager Sir Alex Ferguson over prolonging his illustrious managerial stint with The Red Devils.
"We are in discussions over an extension," he added. "Both parties want to do it and we'll see where it takes us.
"The important thing is he's one of the best, if not the best, managers in European football. We're delighted to have him and he is really enthusiastic and really driving on."
There was plenty of speculation regarding the Republic of Ireland winger and a move to Old Trafford, which gathered pace as the player had seemed particularly interested in a switch to Manchester.
However, Gill has confirmed that United were priced out of a move for Duff by Chelsea's bid to sign the 24-year-old.
"That's exactly right," Gill told Sky Sports News. "The club didn't blow it (the Ronaldinho and Duff deals).
"It takes three people, the buying party, the selling party and the player.
"Ronaldinho, yes, we had numerous discussions with him and PSG but felt, in the end, whilst we made great offers to both parties, he was happy to go to Barcelona where he had friends and colleagues.
"There's similarities with Duff. There was interest but we felt the price paid by Chelsea and the player's terms wasn't the right deal for Manchester United.
"Clearly it was right for Chelsea, but not for Manchester United."
Gill confirmed that talks are ongoing with manager Sir Alex Ferguson over prolonging his illustrious managerial stint with The Red Devils.
"We are in discussions over an extension," he added. "Both parties want to do it and we'll see where it takes us.
"The important thing is he's one of the best, if not the best, managers in European football. We're delighted to have him and he is really enthusiastic and really driving on."
To be fair, at the time, I think even Duff was saying he wasn't worth the price that Blackburn wanted for him.
On paper, I agree that the price looked too high and probably no one other than Chelsea, who has a bottomless pit of money, would have paid the £17 million.
But in reality, if the player ends up doing well, I don't think any of us think about the fee anymore. Even if we had paid £25 million for RVN, which would have been over the going rate at the time, would any of us care about that now? If we had paid £20 million rather than £28 million for Seba, would that have changed the minds of United fans about whether or not he was a good buy? I don't think so. It's all about whether or not the player delivers. And if he does, the price pretty much becomes irrelevant to us.
On paper, I agree that the price looked too high and probably no one other than Chelsea, who has a bottomless pit of money, would have paid the £17 million.
But in reality, if the player ends up doing well, I don't think any of us think about the fee anymore. Even if we had paid £25 million for RVN, which would have been over the going rate at the time, would any of us care about that now? If we had paid £20 million rather than £28 million for Seba, would that have changed the minds of United fans about whether or not he was a good buy? I don't think so. It's all about whether or not the player delivers. And if he does, the price pretty much becomes irrelevant to us.
well said Red15
damien duff will be hurt (and therefore dangerous) by those comments he had his heart set on united and held out for an offer for so long it looked like he'd piss of chelsea...the guy is world class now and when ronaldinho got away we should have bought him and he could be the guy that gives chelsea the edge this season. if anyone saw his performance against spain at the world cup will now this guy is going to be huge and we missed out but being irish im biased after all robbie keane is only worth £500,000 according to united!!.... as for gill after veron and rio and ronaldo (the latter 2 considering the market at that time) are in no position to give out financial advice to anyone
At the time I thought it was a mistake not to pay the money and get him. The only doubt in my mind about him was that he was prone to the odd hamstring injury. You can never know what would have happened but on the evidence so far I still think it was mistake.
yupyaps said:
Hindsight is such a wonderful thing. At the time i would have said that 17 mill for Duff was borderline, and it may not have ended there if Chelsea wanted to get into a bidding war, so i think they really didnt have a choice but pull out. The only thing for me is WHY Gill has said this now? It would have been easier to keep his mouth shut and not say anything...
All I can say is that we paid £28 mill for veron and £30 mil for Rio, and I wouldn't have complained even if we paid £20 mil for Duff. The guy really shouldn't have come out with that .
When we bought those players it was at a time when transfer fees were going up and up, and for "top" players that figure wasnt uncommon. Seba was rated as a worldclass midfielder at Lazio, no one was to know he wouldnt settle in, again more hindsight. However £30mill for Rio beggars belief, but i suppose he had had an excellent world cup campaign and looked like being a top, top player and i suppose that if the transfer market hadnt died on its arse then maybe we wouldnt be so worried about that amount now.lonbwoy said:
I don't understand it either. It may be that SAf doesn't rate Duff as high as we do. He's turned out to be good for chelsea though. How well does Duff get on with Keane? Maybe Keano had a word with the manger about him.lonbwoy said:
Damien Duff looks a better player than Ryan Giggs is currently, IMO Ferguson made a big mistake 
I am sure maybe fergie doesn't rate him that much cos duff would have come to us if we had made a bid even if chelski had put an offer in. Does anyone think blackburn wouldn't have taken something like £15mil if we had put a bid in??, and duff had said he wanted to come to us??.
Duff's premiership form is good now but Giggs knows how to play consistently well throughout a season. He also knows how to play in europe. Duff doesn't have a clue and would be a weak link in the latter CL stages. Give me Giggs any day.Escuchamezz said:Damien Duff looks a better player than Ryan Giggs is currently, IMO Ferguson made a big mistake
Duff doesn't have a clue??, what are u talking about mate, he has been chelsea's best player this season in the PL and CL!!.
I would not be keen to lose Giggs as he has regularly proved what a class act he is, but we could also have gone for Duff who was coming on song at the time he was up for grabs.weRutd&werule said:
Yes, BUT he has played what 12-15 matches for Chelsea? He cannot be compared to Giggsy who has performed well for around 12 seasons. Duffs form for Chelsea is irrelevant, we werent looking to sign him from them, we have to remember his form and reputation at Blackburn. Which was good but worth £17-20 mill then?lonbwoy said:
Even is he scores 3 goals against us I think that we would still say that he was not worth 17 mil. I agree that Duff will make an extra effort to prove Gill wrong, but at the end he can only be bitter and nothing more. The truth is realy that Duff is not worth 17 mil. I don't see how Duff would have given us any additional strength to our squad for that amount of money. Ronaldo on the other hand gives us opptions for the future.
I still hope there will come a time when we see Duff in the red shirt.
Until then, I reckon he'll be vital for Chelsea and will prove worth 17m.
Until then, I reckon he'll be vital for Chelsea and will prove worth 17m.
Which is what I meant in starting the topic - if Fergie deliberately orchestrated this to wind Duff up then imo it will have the opposite affect. If Gill really needed to make the comment I feel he should have waited till after we play at the Bridge.Alek M said:
How many times have you seen people trying too much that gets to his head and at the end he makes begginers mistakes? Take our Diego for example, he tries to make a wonder move every time he touches the ball so he can impress.Gazza said:
Duff usually rises to the occasion, whoever he's playing for.
Call me pessimistic, but I can see Stamford Bridge and Duff fired up on the day.
Call me pessimistic, but I can see Stamford Bridge and Duff fired up on the day.
Wether it's going to be that or they will get a rude awakening that money does not buy championships. I feel it will be the later.Gazza said:Call me pessimistic, but I can see Stamford Bridge and Duff fired up on the day.
I bet Elizabeth would like a "Ruud awakening"Alek M said:
I guess we will have to wait until the 30th of this month to see which way the season is going to develop and whether Duff will be kept quiet or be a thorn in our side.
Gazz will have the better of itGutsy said:I bet Elizabeth would like a "Ruud awakening"
I guess we will have to wait until the 30th of this month to see which way the season is going to develop and whether Duff will be kept quiet or be a thorn in our side.
Ronaldo is worth 12m because his actual value was around 6m for a kid of his talent. The rest because of his talent was compensation to Sporting Lisbon.
Duff on the other hand granted he is good. REALLY good! But 17m? HELL NO!!! He still is not as good as and inform Giggs. Mutu for me would be the guy who would have deserved that tag. But thats the world anways. Opinions opinions
Duff on the other hand granted he is good. REALLY good! But 17m? HELL NO!!! He still is not as good as and inform Giggs. Mutu for me would be the guy who would have deserved that tag. But thats the world anways. Opinions opinions
Am I one of the few who thinks Duff worths 17m?
Well at least it is fair to say for chelsea it definitely worths every penny of it.
Well at least it is fair to say for chelsea it definitely worths every penny of it.
of course duff is worth it he scores goals ,has assists and can beat people... look at blackburn since he left! the guy has been around for a few seasons now and every year gets better, and better look at his performances for ireland and he can consistantly do it against the best.. and yes his best position is wide left but he can play wide right or up top 17 million for duff or 12 million ronaldo and 7 million forlan i know who i'd pay for
Duff is worth it, end of story!!.
I personally don't think he was worth it at the time. The thing is if we bought him where would he have played Giggs would have played LW, we play 1 up front Ruud, and i don't think he can play CM so that ruled him out. Whereas Ronaldo has bags of potential and can play LW,RW and upfront. I know which i prefer.
Duff may not have a celebrity appearance but he is quite clearly one of the best dribblers in England and has a tremendous left foot. Great player. If Chelsea win the league then it will be thanks in part to Duff.
Huge mistake not signing him, He is the best left winger in the world at the moment and he is only going to get better.If he reminds me of anyone it is the great Diego Maradonna,have a look at his last two goals and you will see what I mean.The scary thing is he is only going to get better.I was gutted at the time when we didnt sign him because it was self evident that he was going to become that good,the reason being that he would be playing with much better players.The way he played with Blackburn,with inferior players indicated that he could turn it on under any circumstances.Sorry Fergie but you got it wrong on this one ,big time.