Yeah this is the issue. He's not going to come cheaper than 30 to 35m so we should steer clear. In fact if it's just to bolster the squad we'd be better off signing Ryan Fraser who has just left Bournmouth on a free transfer as squad cover than spending 35m on Brooks. Don't think we're in a position to spend so much on a player who doesn't even get in the first team. The climate has changed due to covid. We've lost over 100m.
David Brooks
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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?
Dwight McNeil is another decent looking player who probably isn't good enough for the first 11 but will cost too much to sit on the bench. We really need to be scouting further afield to pick up some bargains. British players come with a premium.
I would take him at United, But not as a Sancho alternative though.
Robertson went for about 7m.
You're not picking Brooks up on the cheap.
Settle down people. Nobody is suggesting that buying a player like Brooks is an alternative to signing Sancho.
The barrier to signing Sancho is that they are asking silly money for him and all up front by the sound of it.
The barrier to signing Sancho is that they are asking silly money for him and all up front by the sound of it.
His best games have been as a CAM, he can also play from the right but mostly from the left of course.
I see this as more of a Wijnaldum/Ox type signing than a Robertson one. He's a good player who will improve our squad. We need to improve our squad as much as we need to improve our first 11.
Tremble Europe, here comes Brooks.
Okay. Allow me to please inform you that THAT is not how budgets work. Nor finance for that matter.
Transfer money is accounted for well in advance. The amount of money that is made or is approximately going to be made was well known to MUFC when the lockdown started. Their projections will have notified them, and they would have kept aside what we call a "warchest".
Operating income and costs are another cost vertical. If money is being borrowed for that (as every club on planet earth is doing at the moment) then that is reality. But we are not in a poor financial position. It's just that we do not have assets to liquidate or rather we do not want to liquidate assets to pay for that debt. Debts like operating costs will be easy to pay off once business returns considering the amount of money we earn.
Say what you want about Glazers and Ed Woodward, but they are financial geniuses. Glazers run banks (scumbags who know to play the system) and Woodward is in the football economy world, a titan. There is one thing neither can afford despite all the press about money being taken from the club - it is the devaluation of the club. End of the day, they want to increase its value and sell someday. So it is foolish to devalue it for short term gain, they are not doing that either.
Back to the Warchest. This money was already made available months ago and unlike your household wallet, can't just be moved willy nilly for other payments. Unless your house is on fire, which United clearly is not. You do not get into a conversation of 120 million Euros if you thought this was going to happen beforehand.
So rest assured, we have the money. A budgeted amount. Us losing 100 million in operating costs or in quarterly results will have no impact as budgets are made yearly not quarterly. Bankers may not know football, but they know money.
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The kind of smug "we're better than that" comments from people in here are without a doubt the same people who slagged off similar signings Liverpool made, and we all know how that went for them.
You just know he is not good enough. Looks the kind of player we will be looking to move on in a season or two.
If you're talking about McNeil then
He literally played 1 single game in the league in a central position. And just 3 on the right
Hmm not seen too much of this guy if I am honest but if we are looking as potential squad fillers, really like the look of Noel Cantwell at Norwich. Direct, strong with an eye for goal. Different kinds of player maybe
Dwight McNeil is a massive Utd fan as well. Not that it should have any bearing on it mind.
Dwight McNeil is a massive Utd fan as well. Not that it should have any bearing on it mind.
Hahahahahahaha.....What a load of waffle to say practically nothing. And I never said we were being 'destroyed' by covid either did I? Nice addition there though.
I said we were being impacted by it and we clearly are. There's no way on earth we're going to splash 150-200m this window like we don't have a care in the world. No club will bar maybe Chelsea and they have special circumstances.
As for McNeil, he plays left wing/left midfield in a 4-4-2 and already does some defensive work so I would speculate that he could play left wingback in our 5-3-2 / 3-4-1-2 system
Of course that isnt our most used system so even if he was first choice in that role, it would still be more of a squad player role. A sub for Rashford
Of course that isnt our most used system so even if he was first choice in that role, it would still be more of a squad player role. A sub for Rashford
This is the sort of squad quality we need. Would prefer him to the Peaky Blinder.
Yikes. He has talent, but we probably shouldn't be signing a player after such a major injury and long time out. Let him prove himself again first.
Yeah, look at the rating while playing in that central position. I think it was against Palace, he was unplayable in that game.If you're talking about McNeil then
He literally played 1 single game in the league in a central position. And just 3 on the right
Okay but it was 1 single match.
Well I think at best it will be somewhere in between around £30 with premiership prices regardless of them being relegated, we shall see
He has 2 years left on contract. Also player and his agent must be really dumb if they didn't have release clause based on relegation.
Well this is where the transfer fee should be negotiated . I wouldn’t be paying more than £25 million for him anyway.
Projections can change. Missing out the Europa league final just a few days ago potentially cost us £10m+.
If I budget for a new car (transfer) but then have to take a pay cut for an unknown period of time (fans back in stadium) my budget reduces or I don't buy the car until I have more certainty. Obviously more things to consider when buying a player but the basics are the same.
Brooks would be a smart signing if he can maintain fitness.
He can cover both the right wing and the centre to give us more depth, and he would also be a good stop gap on the right should the Sancho transfer fail to materialise until next summer.
Having watched him a number of times live for Wales, I can attest to his ability. Gets past players with relative ease and has a good cross and shot with his left when he cuts in. Very classy player and quite direct too which suits our attack. Just a tad lightweight.
He can cover both the right wing and the centre to give us more depth, and he would also be a good stop gap on the right should the Sancho transfer fail to materialise until next summer.
Having watched him a number of times live for Wales, I can attest to his ability. Gets past players with relative ease and has a good cross and shot with his left when he cuts in. Very classy player and quite direct too which suits our attack. Just a tad lightweight.
Maybe I'm being unfair as I must have watched 10-15 games in total of Bournemouth all season long. I don't even recall him
You just know he is not good enough. Looks the kind of player we will be looking to move on in a season or two.
He’s alright for a sensible fee. Played 9 games last season which must factor into the pricing.
It's obviously not intended as a statement signing, though. I imagine the fee would be somewhere between £20-30m, and he'd be coming in to replace Pereira/Mata as an option from the bench and challenge Greenwood (and James, though he obviously isn't considered a starter). Regardless of whether or not we get Sancho, we need better options from the bench. Not every signing is a Sancho or a Bruno.
That being said, I'm extremely apprehensive about bringing in a player that just missed 11 months through serious injury.
I think if we bring brooks in it will be as a Sancho replacement, presumably with the intention to strengthen other positions such as midfield and CB, in place of spending 120m on Sancho.
Collecting and contextualising rumours from other outlets is their MO. Which they do well. But with all due respect for the work Sport Witness do, this story sounds like they got giddy about having a rare exclusive. It's so short on any details and sounds more like hearsay than anything else.
That's because he was injured for those 10-15 games.
So I take it we’re hoping he’s a grealish alternative and not Sancho?
I’d argue we need a first 11 player in at least two positions - centre back and right wing. So, in this case, Brooks as a Sancho alternative doesn’t make sense.
There is no way we’d buy both.
Probably because he wasn’t playing - he was injured for 11 months.
If there's anything in this story at all, I'd presume it was this. Cheaper, leaving more money for Sancho.
I'd rather have Grealish though.
I think you just said it, if we buy Brooks we won't buy Sancho, more likely we decide to change our goals. We t hen hope we can get Sancho next year, if he doesn't come this year though I just don't see him ever coming to us.
Very on board with this if true. He's a very tidy player and I've liked the look of him for us for ages. Cheaper than Grealish as well.
It’s now or never with Sancho - we won’t get him next season.
Other than some random Manchester United unofficial twitter account I've seen zero evidence this is even worth talking about.
Yeh is there anybody credible at all linking us with him aside from Sportswitness?
Sorry mate, do you really think that Sancho would be available to United next summer, if we can't manage to thrash out a deal this summer, when United are the only buyers..?
As far as Sancho goes, its now or never.