Is it worth trying to keep a player who wants to leave?

[fastwalker]

This is clearly a Paul Pogba inspired thread.

Players wanting to leave football clubs is not new. In the modern game a footballers contract is literally not worth the paper it is written on. When a player wants a move and the club is unwilling to 'play ball' the player simply complains of a phantom injury like Phillipe Coutinho, goes on strike like Thibaut Courtois or as in the case of Paul Pogba, announces that maybe it is time for a 'new challenge'.

But what should a club do when faced with a player who wants away? Should the club sell the player and try and get the best price, like Southampton did with Van Dijk? Or should it supplicate itself and try an convince the player to stay, as reports suggest that United are doing with Pogba?

Is it ever sensible to have a player around a club that you are trying to rebuild who you know is not committed and doesn't really want to be there? Should a club ever pander to the whims of a player, no matter how talented that player is? If they do, what sign does it send to the dressing room or to prospective players that are thinking about coming to that club?

 

[Snow]

I don't think so no. You could do a "we'll let you leave next season" but if a player wants to go you need to cash in.

 

[SaintMuppet]

If not why bother with contracts?

Personally I’d love nothing more than to shove their arses into the reserves for the term of the contract.

Players/agents should never be bigger than clubs, certainly not than ours.

But then the poor slow flakes would cry about slavery

 

[Crashoutcassius]

Just wait and get 75m more like Liverpool did with coutinho etc etc etc

 

[devilish]

No

 

[Sky1981]

Nope. But for the sake of setting an example and our of principles then yes.

Dont feck with us. You sign the contract you honor it. We should make an example of pogba. It may not be financial wise to bench him till his contracts ends or till he sort his shit out. You can ask for a move, but if you do it professionally we'll treat you professionally. If you throw your toys out or down tools then we must show him we too can play dirty.

Short term loose long term gain.

 

[Andersonson]

It's all Depends to be fair.

If a player has done whats asked of him and simply just wants to leave to follow his dream, I think its fair. Ronaldo for example. He never quit playing for us, he went on and did his job even though he wanted to move to Madrid. And Madrid came up With a World Record fee at the time. I think thats fair.

If I were a player who didnt get to play and I want to leave to get more playing time, I think thats fair aswell. The Club must remember you're dealing With humans here. Training every day and not getting any matches can get you depressed. No reason to keep him there then.

Then you have other cases, like Pogba. One of the best paid players in the World, who goes around saying stuff you shouldnt. That should get some sort of punishment. But what kind of punishment? Let him rot on the bench?

When we signed him, we already let the player-power become even stronger, Pogba would make that Place so toxic, so we're best of just getting rid. Same goes for his followers.

 

[Pexbo]

It’s as if we are the only club to hold the contract to a player who would prefer to be elsewhere.

 

[littlepeasoup]

Not if your idea is to build a team around said player, no.

 

[DickDastardly]

feck NO!

You wanna leave? There's the door.

Would you try to "keep" you wife if she was hell bent on leaving your ass? Just because she signed a contract with you?

 

[Lara lhg]

I am all for letting go of Pogba, Lukaku and De Gea. In a perfect world I would also reccoment the shipping-out of Sanchez, Lingard, Jones, Smalling, Matic and Young. The usual suspects. I’ve been supporting United since 1975 when I was seven years old, living in Iceland with a father who was United through and through. Countless trips to Old Trafford. Now I worry about the direction of my beloved club but my love for Man Utd will never die.

 

[Focusmate]

On the question id say no other than some short term reason. Pogba is different though. No one can afford him bar Madrid and Zidane might want him but Perez will play the game and no way he will cough up a Madrid record for a player with Pogba’s baggage. He also really respects Mourinho and will have concerns, and he will play a lowball game only.

Pogba will stay and the challenge will be to keep him focussed and motivated...

 

[Web of Bissaka]

Depends.

"One more season" prison at most. More and the team morale will get worse.

1. to help the club achieve certain objectives, only if the player is that talented. Didn't we hold Ronaldo for one more season and we sure profit from it trophy wise. In the case of Pogba, Ole should hold him for one more season to try sneak into top 4 and maybe won some cups, as he transitioning the squad into a newer team.

2. club to stamp their ground/power, only useful if the player have at least 2 more year contract, both talented and not. Club making statement "just because you publicly said it, no way you're getting it", seriously I don't get this players making lame easy public statement clearly wanting to leave. So veery professional of them. The least decent thing they can do is keep it quiet and request personally and privately to the club wanting to leave, sheesh.

3. additionally, less priority reasons are club may opt to deflect more heat onto the player making him more hateable, or for punishment purposes. Keeping the player around in starting 11 and if he play so bad, the heat will get to him, or to be bench warmer or just in the squad with no game as punishments even worse kicking 'em into the reserve. The heat will definitely build up by both the club and fans directed towards the players wanting to leave. If the player drop their game, well that's all on him, be hated then. If the player making problems behind the scene or on show, then well same thing the heat is on them. If only they could just behave professionally...

4. to get more money, higher transfer fee, this doesn't always work, best bet is only if the player is top rated eg. Pogba, not someone like Darmian. Also, at least 3 remaining year contract works best than 2 remaining years. If the player having a "good" agent will also helps bump up the prices. Club need to set-up a stated high value to interested buyer and be firmly insisting on it, no budging, for this to work.

 

[cyril C]

No, if a player wants to leave for money reason or any personal reason we should not trying to block it, but this doesn't mean we should sell him on the cheap. Take Pogba as example, RM only wants to trade him with Bale who is too old, injury prone and rediculously expensive, apparently wants him to take a wage cut as well (good luck). Nor would Juventus willing to pay big money for him. In short, we can accommodate his wishes as long as we will not come short on the deal, either trade him with a player that we WANT, or pay cash. I would say cash instalment is acceptable if this facilitate the deal.

 

[Class of 63]

In he case of Pogba he's probably still sulking because he was overlooked for the fans and players award at the end of last season, but if he was offered a pay rise and/or the team captaincy he'd say he'd always wanted to stay.

In general if every player that wanted to leave their current club was allowed to leave nobody would be able to put a team out.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

No. They can leave but only if other club can afford the money as per our demand. The demand isn’t silly. Lukaku for £80m and Pogba for £150m or £160m. Not sure how people think it’s unreasonable if we ask for those money for striker who is proven scoring goals, midfielder with 3 years left contract who is named in PFA team .

There are many clubs out there asking crazier money for their players. Inter asked for £55m for Perisic 2 years ago was one of them.

 

[duffer]

Ronaldo and De Gea both wanted out but ended up sticking around for a bit and were your best players.

Hazard wanted out of Chelsea and was our best player.

 

[bosnian_red]

When we're going to finish outside the top 4 anyway? No.

 

[manunited1919]

We can’t just allow him to leave. If we do, other clubs will just unsettle our players anytime we have a good player and we have had a bad season. Real Madrid media tools were suggesting Pogba had to speak out and say he wanted to leave, it’s all a strategy to buy Pogba on the cheap. So all this may not just be coming solely from Pogba, but also from Real Madrid and obviously from Raiola.

If Pogba really wants to leave he should speak out and say he is willing to take a steep paycut in salary. That would allow United to sell him at a fair price of £170m.

 

[AkaAkuma]

Spurs have done a good job in this regard.

I think with 3 years left on his contract we have strength as we have him tied down for his prime years. If he leaves at 29 on a free he has less options than he does now. Alternatively in that time, post his hissy fit, we can try and negotiate better terms.

Imagine where we would have been if we had just said no to Ronaldo.

 

[Mike Phelan's Former Tash]

If a player wants to go, regardless of who he is the club should sell.

It's easy to have a go at Pogba here (I don't think he's blameless) but we don't know what promises were made when he signed. He was probably told United would be competing for the title by now but its a mess isn't it?

I understand where Pogba is coming from if he wants to leave but the players shouldn't have it all their own way. He agreed to the contract and he takes the money so he should be committed to the club.

Signing on fees, loyalty payments and bonuses should be contractually void as soon as a player asks to leave mid contract.

 

[Grande]

Is it worth buying a birthday cake to a player who wants to leave if he doesn’t get a birthday cake?

 

[harms]

feck NO!

You wanna leave? There's the door.

Would you try to "keep" you wife if she was hell bent on leaving your ass? Just because she signed a contract with you?

What a weird analogy.

 

[Bestietom]

No. If a player don't want to be here. Let him off.

 

[fastwalker]

I am all for letting go of Pogba, Lukaku and De Gea. In a perfect world I would also reccoment the shipping-out of Sanchez, Lingard, Jones, Smalling, Matic and Young. The usual suspects. I’ve been supporting United since 1975 when I was seven years old, living in Iceland with a father who was United through and through. Countless trips to Old Trafford. Now I worry about the direction of my beloved club but my love for Man Utd will never die.

Are all those players that you mentioned in the same boat? Pogba and Lukaku have both indicated that they want to go, but I understand that De Gea wants more money and will likely go if he doesn't get it. I remember Roy Keane threatening to leave to Juventus if he didn't get more money and in the end United relented, gave him more money and Keane stayed. I don't think he ever wanted to go, he just wanted more money to stay.

As much as I hate player greed, I would be inclined to negotiate with a player who wanted to stay and used the prospect of leaving as leverage. This is the reality of negotiation. Players will say "club X is prepared to offer me £100,000 a week more, which is double what you are paying me. How much do you really want me to stay?"

That situation is completely different from a player who wants to go, is not prepared to negotiate and wouldn't negotiate however much you offered them to stay.

 

[Bestietom]

Are all those players that you mentioned in the same boat? Pogba and Lukaku have both indicated that they want to go, but I understand that De Gea wants more money and will likely go if he doesn't get it. I remember Roy Keane threatening to leave to Juventus if he didn't get more money and in the end United relented, gave him more money and Keane stayed. I don't think he ever wanted to go, he just wanted more money to stay.
Must try this with my boss on Monday morning.
As much as I hate player greed, I would be inclined to negotiate with a player who wanted to stay and used the prospect of leaving as leverage. This is the reality of negotiation. Players will say "club X is prepared to offer me £100,000 a week more, which is double what you are paying me. How much do you really want me to stay?"

That situation is completely different from a player who wants to go, is not prepared to negotiate and wouldn't negotiate however much you offered them to stay.

 

[TheRedDevil'sAdvocate]

By all means, let them go. But...

a) Make sure there's a plan for the next day. Talk it through with the manager and sort out what is the best course of action if Pogba/De Gea leave. How are we going to replace what they bring to the table? Can the solution be found in the market during this summer window? If not, how much will it jeopardise our top-four chances should we just give in to their demands and decide to just cash in and let them leave? This is called planning and it goes beyond the simple fans' sentimental responseses like "you don't want to play for the club i support , go feck yourself". It's also the kind of planning our board seems incapable of.

b) At this point, we have to admit that, when players of Pogba/DDG's caliber are looking for a way out, it's a bad sign for us. It's not OK simply because we are rich and money's supposedly no issue for us. And no, throwing the kids into the deep end or scouting the land for any talent that might have gone under the radar of all the other clubs isn't going to provide us with a solution to this. It's not even like the Coutinho/Suarez cases who left because they both were offered super wages. We are one of the richest clubs in the world and our wage bill is one of the highest in the world. Yet, the world-class players we already have don' want to be here. What does that say about the probability of us signing the top players we have set our eyes upon? I think that's when the "hungry and hard working" motto that the management tries to promote becomes nothing more than a publicity line that covers the fact that we are steadily descending into mediocrity.

 

[matt10000]

Nope. But for the sake of setting an example and our of principles then yes.

Dont feck with us. You sign the contract you honor it. We should make an example of pogba. It may not be financial wise to bench him till his contracts ends or till he sort his shit out. You can ask for a move, but if you do it professionally we'll treat you professionally. If you throw your toys out or down tools then we must show him we too can play dirty.

Short term loose long term gain.

This is what Mourinho was doing and every cried Mourinho out

 

[Sky1981]

This is what Mourinho was doing and every cried Mourinho out

Sadly 2 wrongs dont make right.

 

[wolvored]

I would say no as if picked he could just stroll around the pitch. The thing is it's Utd's fault for the rapid decline of the playing side of the club. We didn't need a world record pogba with a monstrous wage and an ego the size of an elephant when he was bought. We were struggling to finish regular top 4 not battling to win the title. If we were you wouldn't hear a peep. Now he's had a 20% drop in wages and with his agent, it's was obvious this was going to happen.

 

[BelfastBoy11]

Unfortunately no. If he’s a world beater (a la ronaldo in 2009) then its worth keeping him for a year, but that isn’t the case with Pogba.

We should cash in and invest in players that want to be at the club. Rumours of Christian Eriksen and Tanguy Ndombele, both would be great options.

No one is bigger than the club, if you aren’t all in you should be escorted out.

 

[kouroux]

Honestly there is no straight "yes" or "no" for this. I have seen many examples of various outcomes, it's hard to have a clear answer.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

Honestly there is no straight "yes" or "no" for this.

Agreed.

It depends entirely on whether you can expect the player to be at a reasonable level even if you deny him the desired move.

In Pogba's case there's also the fact that Ole came out a while back and stated an intention to "build around" him. It makes little sense to do that if the player you consider important enough to build around isn't committed to a long(er) term project.

Ronaldo was different. He was a much better/more efficient player for one thing, but more importantly a player you could likely get one more season out of - at world class level - before letting him go.

Incomparable scenarios, as will almost always be the case. Different personalities involved on both the player and manager sides - different challenges ahead for the club.

 

[Member 113277]

If not why bother with contracts?

Personally I’d love nothing more than to shove their arses into the reserves for the term of the contract.

Players/agents should never be bigger than clubs, certainly not than ours.

But then the poor slow flakes would cry about slavery

I understand your feelings, but the problem is that the club has players, but the public company has assets and if the club is not sweating the company's assets for a decent return, the investors will kick up a fuss.

The agents are shrewd businessmen, who know exactly what they are doing.

 

[Bestietom]

If you want to pay a player high wages to walk around the field and not give a damn about winning or losing. Then you can keep hI'm, if not Get Rid.

 

[Camilo]

Absolutely, but there's no need to be immature and nasty about it.

As long as the player has given plenty of notice about their intentions and the club has time to plan ahead I see no issue with letting a player who wants to leave, leave... But if it's an end-of-season "I want to go" request out of the blue, then no. Sure, next summer.

 

[DoomSlayer]

Theoretically, we should never be keeping players that don't want to play for United. However, we are in a very precarious position as a club, our power is diminishing and we cannot allow this to continue further.

If teams are consistently low balling us for the transfer fees we are requiring, the club needs to stand its' ground to all parties involved, including the players and agents. Pogba has 2+1 years left on his contract and he should be made known that unless our valuations are met, he is going nowhere.

If that results in him boycotting the team, not giving a 100% and being a disruptive force in the dressing room, it would show more about his character as a person and as a professional football player. I'd be ready to take a financial hit because image and reputation cannot be bought with money, not in the way that our history and legacy has already built it.

 

[Ikon]

You only want players that are 100% committed to the cause, so there is no point forcing a player to stay, that stance may be slightly different if you can persuade him to stay, as SAF managed to do with Ronaldo.

But in the case of Pogba, if he tells Ole to his face that he wants to go, its best for the club to get rid of him to the highest bidder and reinvest that money by signing 2 or more players that will be fully focused on being a success at United.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

I think maybe we need accept the reality that players don't really give a toss that we're Manchester United - our history isn't as important to them as it is to us. Player care about success and if we fail to achieve, they're going to want out. It's our job to convince them otherwise - we should, in no way, be losing our best players. It'd be disgusting if we let De Gea and Pogba go whilst keeping the likes of Jones and Young.

 

[matt10000]

It'd be disgusting if we let De Gea and Pogba go whilst keeping the likes of Jones and Young.

Not if they don’t want to be here - can’t afford to carry passengers.....although I agree we need better quality than Jones and Young