Frenkie de Jong - Part 2 - Chase Harder.

[MikeKing]

I've been seeing a lot of people making out he is the perfect player for us, and after those games against Barca I have to admit he would fit in like a glove in this United team. He has weak points yes, and so do Kessie but I do admire both those guys and either of them would be a more than adequate addition to our team.

I think Frenkie would feel it himself after playing against us that he would do good here, honestly. Hopefully we can make that happen, and I think Ten Haag could get him to play at an even higher level.

FDJ-Casemiro-Fred (in the CL) Replace Fred for Sancho to dominate possession against lesser teams.

Even something like resting Casemiro and not playing McTominay and Fred but instead: Eriksen-FDJ-Sabiltzer would be such a huge improvement next season.

 

[RopersReturn]

Just imagining a Casemiro, Fred, De Jong midfield next season is an incredibly exciting prospect. We would also have so many options of switching play with a fit Erikson back with Sabitzer, and Sancho out on the left and super sub Garnacho plus McTominay in the last quarter of the game to come on as another attacking option.

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

When he needs to step up, he wilts instead.

He's performing well until the game intensifies and everyone goes into hyper mode. Hype mode used to be his arena, and it just isn't anymore; it's just too many games it happens in.

I don't have particular qualms about him coming here, but I don't think he's the player you can put any stock in when the going gets [really] tough. He wants no part of that smoke at precisely the time he should be dominating play.

The 2 bolded sentences don't mesh, your description of him seems like a concern you have about him, which is a particular qualm, I only watched few full games of him this season 2 games against us, WC games vs Senegal & Argentina and probably the Classico before the WC, he looked alright to me, but not impressive, certainly not "85m player we chased all summer" impressive so I kinda agree with your concern about him being anonymous when needed.

 

[florisW]

People talk about FDJ having all the qualities a lot more than FDJ showing he had all these qualities.
Let’s not forget he has been a disappointment for Barca since moving there, I have no idea where fans are getting all these tributes for him from.
I’ll bet any money we aren’t in for him this summer. Not because he doesn’t want to come here but this is a different side now, this team has different characteristics and dynamism than the squad Ten Hag was looking at in the summer.
The man has especially been really poor in Europe for a long time now and they raised so many red flags for me

Sorry mate. Utter nonsense . You seem to have no idea of what you are talking about. Do not believe all the newspapers in spain. Watch his games , then you can draw a conclusion.

 

[florisW]

It was his missus who decided

As it does for 90 procent of the married males

 

[arthurka]

He would improve this team a lot, his press resistance and ways to split the lines is outstanding. Brilliant player if we want to add a player to help out with possession.

 

[NZT-One]

Comparing De Jong to Pogba makes basically 0 sense. FDJ provides actual Casemiro cover (even if it's not his best role) and is probably the best pure 8 available in the world. If you want to get good players they are going to cost a lot, we aren't Brighton. There's also 0 evidence that he would require some outlandish wages (you do realize we pay DDG 400k a week right?)

Seems like you didn't get my point - I compared him to Pogba in terms of needing a certain player around him to really flourish. Apart from that I haven't heard anybody in the last 2-3 years talk about him as the best pure 8. That is crazytalk, he potentially loses his spot at Barcelona when Pedri and Gavi are available because he doesn't seem to offer what Busquets is offering. All this talk about him being the best here or there, it is based on potential that was visible a couple of years ago. And I don't want to picture him as a bad player, surely we can do with him and his qualities but the financial outlay is too big for one player as long as there are other holes in the squad to fill.

And yes, I do realize we pay DDG almost 400k per week which is something, I thought everybody would agree, on being a mistake. But it turns out, some people don't seem to have received the memo and only don't like it because nobody talks about DDG at being the best at anything. But yeah, who cares about Barcelona waisting most of last years summer and just get in and pay stupid amounts for the players they want to get rid to mask their financial mistakes of the last 10 years.

edit: and yes, there isn't any evidence he would want "outlandish" wages except for the outlandish wages he is on RIGHT NOW (as soon as you take his loyalty bonuses into consideration). And while he for sure would be fine to accept a certain decrease to go to rainy Manchester, I would be shocked to see him accepting half of the current one.

 

[croadyman]

He would improve this team a lot, his press resistance and ways to split the lines is outstanding. Brilliant player if we want to add a player to help out with possession.

I said after we beat them on Thurs we should give it one more go at start of summer,however there doesn't seem any sign of him waivering on staying at all so probably wasting our time

 

[next_number_seven]

I said after we beat them on Thurs we should give it one more go at start of summer,however there doesn't seem any sign of him waivering on staying at all so probably wasting our time

I doubt he'll move after winning La Liga and starting every game.
Last summer was our chance.

 

[JPRouve]

There’s a video of him admiring the stadium. Hope we can convince him to come.

He was just checking if ETH wasn't hiding somewhere, ready to snatch him.

 

[croadyman]

I doubt he'll move after winning La Liga and starting every game.
Last summer was our chance.

We couldn't have tried any harder

 

[Rossa]

He’s silky smooth on the ball, but he’s also very mobile and properly fast over distance. Would probably be great in this united side.

 

[The Urban Goose]

Just imagining a Casemiro, Fred, De Jong midfield next season is an incredibly exciting prospect.

Errmmmm.....

 

[Fortitude]

The 2 bolded sentences don't mesh, your description of him seems like a concern you have about him, which is a particular qualm, I only watched few full games of him this season 2 games against us, WC games vs Senegal & Argentina and probably the Classico before the WC, he looked alright to me, but not impressive, certainly not "85m player we chased all summer" impressive so I kinda agree with your concern about him being anonymous when needed.

It means he would just be another player rather than one I’d expect to step up when the going gets tough. If he’s not taking up the majority of transfer budget, it’s a no-brainer as he's better than what we have in that kind of role. If he's a marquee signing for an exorbitant fee, that we give the midfield to, then that lack of character is a concern. For me at least.

 

[Plant0x84]

I doubt he'll move after winning La Liga and starting every game.
Last summer was our chance.

Yup. This is it. Correct.

 

[Plant0x84]

Errmmmm.....

Fred is a phenomenon!

 

[Plant0x84]

We couldn't have tried any harder

That’s the answer then. We agreed a deal with Barca and he simply wasn’t interested

 

[jesperjaap]

Think he is a great player, the guy hardly ever loses the ball even in tight situations. I actually thought he was decent in the first leg against us when the press seemed to criticise him and very good in the second.....but I am not sad we didnt sign him as we wouldnt have signed Casemeiro and forgetting the he doesnt want to come, I actually disagree with many he is now the perfect signing for us and fits like a glove next to Casemeiro.

I think we need more a box to box midfielder, who is sound defensively and also creative....I think though he excels in some he doesnt have all the attributes in his make up that we ideally need now

 

[DrRodo]

Errmmmm.....

Didn't get the news? criticizing Fred stopped being cool two weeks ago

 

[Messier1994]

Didn't get the news? criticizing Fred stopped being cool two weeks ago

Haha, this season is insane in that way. How long ago was it AWB was complete dead wood that we couldn't get rid of fast enough (in my and many other opinions)? 5 weeks?

 

[Erik the Red]

Why are people stating this like it's a fact? For all we know, the owed wages could have been the issue all along. It's all conjecture at this point. The only thing we know as a fact is, both clubs wanted the transfer but the player refused.

The rumour was that he had agreed a package with us, and the two clubs agreed a fee, and the sticking point was between him and Barca, which points at the deferred wages being the issue. For all these posters saying they want to see someone walk to Old Trafford to want to play for the club, would they walk away when someone owes them millions?

 

[Isotope]

That’s the answer then. We agreed a deal with Barca and he simply wasn’t interested

That’s because Barca refused to pay his due if he left. And United were not willing to pay him whatever Barca owed him.

the sums is close to 20m.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/frenkie-de-jong-wages-barcelona-b2135639.html?amp

and also like lord @Brophs said, he’d probably suffer vitamin D deficiency if he moved to Manchester.

 

[Red the Bear]

Depends which Barca bot you ask on here

I've read someplace that they counted on financial windfall of going far in europa and assuming that's true surely it must count for something.

 

[Plant0x84]

That’s because Barca refused to pay his due if he left. And United were not willing to pay him whatever Barca owed him.

the sums is close to 20m.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/frenkie-de-jong-wages-barcelona-b2135639.html?amp

and also like lord @Brophs said, he’d probably suffer vitamin D deficiency if he moved to Manchester.

Yeah I know - damn wages owed figure is seared on my brain since last summer

 

[calodo2003]

We couldn't have tried any harder

Nope. It was epic though.

 

[Plant0x84]

Haha, this season is insane in that way. How long ago was it AWB was complete dead wood that we couldn't get rid of fast enough (in my and many other opinions)? 5 weeks?

To be fair Dalot is the greatest RB in the history of the game… (I’m an Aaron fan)

 

[Plant0x84]

Nope. It was epic though.

Agreed.

 

[CM]

To be fair Dalot is the greatest RB in the history of the game… (I’m an Aaron fan)

Aaron Fan-Bissaka

 

[RopersReturn]

Errmmmm.....

Well yeah that is a bit of a stretch I realise.

 

[Sviken]

Wrong. First there was an article saying we were in talks with him the Christmas before the summer and this was confirmed by Casemiro himself, said he wanted a new challenge. It’s out there, I’m sure you can find out if you google. It seems the plan was both of them. The money was spent on Antony last minute. I suspect we wouldn’t have agreed for him if we’d got Casemiro and DeJong

This is bullshit and I don't know where you're getting your information from. We dilly-dallied on FDJ for months with not a pip about a Casemiro transfer. Then in the last month of the transfer window we went for Rabiot (oh god) and thankfully we didn't accept his ridiculous demands. Then Brighton and Brentford absolutely whooped us which made Glazers go for a panic search. And somewhere at this point Casemiro signaled his agent about his availability with the famous "tell them i'll fix it". There's absolutely zero chance we would have splashed 100 million on both Casemiro and FDJ for the same position since we already brought Eriksen who certainly wasn't going to be a backup to either. It was one or the other and I'm fecking happy we got probably the best DM in the world because even I am surprised at how good Casemiro actually is.

 

[RopersReturn]

He loves Barcelona too much, leave him be.

 

[croadyman]

He’s silky smooth on the ball, but he’s also very mobile and properly fast over distance. Would probably be great in this united side.

Exactly why Erik wants him but not reciprocated

 

[croadyman]

That’s the answer then. We agreed a deal with Barca and he simply wasn’t interested

You do wonder if he snubs so easily with Champions League Football but couldn't offer it

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

If the options of signing midfielder and striker in the summer are the followings:

A) Sign FDJ but can only spend 20m max on striker.
B) Sign Osimhen/Kane but can only sign 0 transfer fees of midfielder.

Which options would you pick?

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

This is bullshit and I don't know where you're getting your information from. We dilly-dallied on FDJ for months with not a pip about a Casemiro transfer. Then in the last month of the transfer window we went for Rabiot (oh god) and thankfully we didn't accept his ridiculous demands. Then Brighton and Brentford absolutely whooped us which made Glazers go for a panic search. And somewhere at this point Casemiro signaled his agent about his availability with the famous "tell them i'll fix it". There's absolutely zero chance we would have splashed 100 million on both Casemiro and FDJ for the same position since we already brought Eriksen who certainly wasn't going to be a backup to either. It was one or the other and I'm fecking happy we got probably the best DM in the world because even I am surprised at how good Casemiro actually is.

It can’t be bullshit because Fred actually said it in interview that he was communicating with Casemiro end of last season regarding the move.

 

[croadyman]

If the options of signing midfielder and striker in the summer are the followings:

A) Sign FDJ but can only spend 20m max on striker.
B) Sign Osimhen/Kane but can only sign 0 transfer fees of midfielder.

Which options would you pick?

Option B

 

[crossy1686]

If the options of signing midfielder and striker in the summer are the followings:

A) Sign FDJ but can only spend 20m max on striker.
B) Sign Osimhen/Kane but can only sign 0 transfer fees of midfielder.

Which options would you pick?

Midfield, every time.

 

[croadyman]

Midfield, every time.

Feel like there is more options there to sign whereas we badly need a top striker

 

[OmarUnited4ever]

It means he would just be another player rather than one I’d expect to step up when the going gets tough. If he’s not taking up the majority of transfer budget, it’s a no-brainer as he's better than what we have in that kind of role. If he's a marquee signing for an exorbitant fee, that we give the midfield to, then that lack of character is a concern. For me at least.

Fair enough, He is obviously better than Fred, Sabitzer & McTominay, and for us Eriksen has been great so I'm not sure if FDJ can be as good, he could but I am not sure, and of course he is nowhere near as good as Casemero (Cas is the best DM in Europe while can't say FDJ is the best CM or one of the best)

 

[crossy1686]

Feel like there is more options there to sign whereas we badly need a top striker

Exactly, we can do another season with just that piece missing and still be fine. Maybe get someone slightly better than Weghorst in who will contribute 15 goals and we should be fine. I’m basing this on the assumption that a better midfield will pitch in with goals also and it won’t have to be the Rashford show every week, although I’m fine with that.