Yeah, there's nothing new to add to the situation really. But for me what it does is, give context to all those people who feel FdJ doesn't want to come, or that we are bidding for a player who doesn't want to come to United.
I guess you're not a United supporter?
you'd think UEFA would step in and do something... but of course they are pretty good at doing sod all.
So he'll end up a City for free?
While the sane among us would take that at face value, many on here would ridicule them for making such a statement and not "moving on from a clearly dead deal"
I think those lot need to revisit Arnold.
That's what good managers do. They make the most of their situation and work around it.
Why? how will that help the situation? if they say they are confident and the transfer fails everybody blames them.
I hadn't seen that as a direct quote. Then, yes, we need to keep plugging away. Would be great to know that they've also spoken to the player but that's a bit too much to expect to be fair to them
Apparently De Jong agreed to be paid most of his 2020/21 wages in a new contract at 2022 onwards so Barca are not obligated to pay if he leaves. The only leverage he has is to simply stay and do nothing and start picking up over 20 million per year. Barca are then forced to either pay him as per his existing contract which is over 20m per year until 2026 or come to some large settlement of all or most of his past wages he agreed to backend to help the club.
We need two midfielders, Frenkie is a clear upgrade on Fred, but we also need a clear upgrade on McT to challenge for the title. However a trio of Frenkie - Bruno - Fred/McT is a solid midfield against most opposition and should be strong enough for a top 4 finish. Which means we can wait on the second midfielder until next season.
The problem is he is not actually owed the money as such.
It’s not about what he brings from a defensive POV. It’s about what he brings in possession, and he’ll cost so much because you can’t really find players who can bring what he offers to a team.
It all sounds like a pretty obvious and logical position. There's no way we'd still be hanging around like a lost puppy, simpering at Fwenkies door if there hadn't been encouragement from FDJ's side, just wouldn't make sense.
I would assume it’s because he’s not strictly due the money at the moment. He gets an increase in salary throughout his contract to cover, and leaving means he won’t see that out. Could be wrong, but that’s the way I’ve read it.
The player won’t have discussed a transfer with us as it’s illegal. What the tweets suggest it that it’s been discussed via his agent and there’s indication it can happen. The agent will have spoken to the player obviously.
But why would they actually do that? There's no good business reason to openly talk about deals that are still in progress, certainly not deals where there are other factors such as deferred wages. Would you talk about it if you were in charge of this? Of course not, it's called keeping your cards close to your chest. Any statements from either side could affect the path forward. People are just impatient.
That's the spirit dude!
When does his new deal kick in? I would have assumed it was 1st July?
This is the way
This is how ETH wants to play us. And if it’s not FDJ then it will be developing someone at the club already. He’s said this. We need to move away from thinking there is no time for buying an alternative, that’s not his plan
Doesn't that fly in the face of what certain posters have been hanging onto though, that FDJ and ETH have been talking regularly? I said a while ago that I suspect a)We obviously want him, b) Barca have told us they will sell if he can be convinced to leave and c)his agent is pushing it slightly because he has a good relationship with us. Basically that the three parties want him to move but he doesn't, and that's the crucial part. I also believe that Barca would be happy to keep if he reduces his wages, but they would simply rather have Bernardo Silva if given the choice. I've seen nothing to suggest they are forcing him out.
Sounds like you've been suckered in by the quality reporting of the Daily Star.
They may well have had a chat on the phone. I think it’s clear that have a relationship. His agent also has a positive relationship with United given the Malacia move.
He's a very niche player. It has been covered quite a bit earlier in the thread, but he's pretty much the epitome of a 'luxury' player in that he wants to occupy areas where he doesn't perform the typical role needed for those areas. He basically wants lots of touches on the ball, he plays deep so the defence has to go through him, he tries to carry the ball forward to then be involved in attacks, but leaves that 'CDM' area empty when he does so. ETH himself has spoke about how difficult it is to fit him into a team.
Frenkie is a rich man's Aaron Ramsey.
Is that the most logical view though? When you look at the wider picture, I'm not so sure. New house, dream club, fiancé who apparently loves it there etc etc. Constant reports from practically every journalist that he'd rather stay. It seems to me that somebody, probably his agent, is trying to ease him out of there. I suspect United have been told by Barca and his agent that they think he will give in eventually, and FDJ has been polite and said he'd consider it if he had to leave.
Which is worrying, isn't it? Especially when we spent 5 years to somehow find a way to bring the best out of Pogba, who was also somewhat of a nightmare to built a team around. One way or the other, we have to bring in a DM as well. Be it parallel to FDJ or instead of him, when things don't work out.
yeah, if this goes through at all, gotta be a deadline day move. I just hope United got someone else line up if he can't come
difference being Ten Hag has got the best out of him previously.
I said myself at the beginning of all this that he could potentially be a Pogba type problem. The only positive, well pretty big positive, is that we have the man that has had him performing before.
How?
what? Aaron Ramsey is a rich man’s Donny. Nothing like De Jong.
