The club don't have the money, that's how I'm reading it. Too many seasons outside the CL, we just don't have the financial firepower cause ETH pissed £600mil on dross that we are still paying for.
Liam Delap | Official: signed for Chelsea
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Nik (@Rood), Jamie (@Vault Dweller) and Ed (@That'sHernandez) give their end of season awards out! They celebrate the best players, goals and moments of the season (there were some, honestly) and also give out awards for the worst and most disappointing players/moments of the season.
They then discuss all the latest transfer rumours and get into the potential ins and outs this summer at Old Trafford.
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A similar scenario saw Alan Smith, who had previously said he hated man United and would never play for us, desperate to sign for us after getting relegated with Leeds. Nowadays he’d probably stay put
Oh I'm beyond fuming about the money Ten Hag wasted, particularly the summer we could have blown Levy away with offer for Kane. Unfortunately we had already wasted it on Onana, Antony and Hojlund so nothing left to bid.
Not good enough at all. He is not better than Højlund or Zirkzee. Maybe at the same level.
Slightly better than those two, so dumb not signing proven goalscorer. Exactly why Wilcox and Vivell need to be removed from first team signings asap.
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the best in class set their eyes on him.
What proven scorer could we actually get though, we desperately need one but they are in short supply and Utd aren’t anything like as attractive an option as we have been in the past.
Martinez, Mateta, Shick heck even Watkins (yes I know he's going to be 30 in December). I would even take someone like Icardi or Morata alongside him.
I still refuse to believe that we will do same mistake AGAIN.
You buy young players for position where you already have proven solution. Esoecially on striker position. Buying Delap and making him no1 striker is road to disaster.
No way we are that stupid. I know that those days are over but just throw the money on Gyokeres or Osimhen. Proven striker could be difference of making top 4 or not.
You buy young players for position where you already have proven solution. Esoecially on striker position. Buying Delap and making him no1 striker is road to disaster.
No way we are that stupid. I know that those days are over but just throw the money on Gyokeres or Osimhen. Proven striker could be difference of making top 4 or not.
We might get him if we get into the champions league
We’re being dictated to by fecking championship players
Why is that a bad thing?
The lad is ambitious and wants to play at the very highest level.
I'd say it's a really good sign as he's clearly not just motivated by money.
I honestly can't understand why so many people are turning their noses up at Delap?
We'd be very lucky to get him and I think he'll turn out to be a hidden gem.
A lot of people need to face the reality of where we are at in 2025 and stop living in the past. We finished 8th in the league last season and are currently 16th! 16th!!! Yet people still think that we can attract the top players in world football!
It's bollocks. We've always signed the biggest names when we haven't had ucl football.
Casemiro and Pogba didn't care why tf would Delap care ?
They will have far better options! Osimhen is looking for a massive pay day too!
This is EXACTLY the mistake we have made over and over and over again in the post Ferguson years and it hasn't worked.
There is absolutely no guarantee either of them will have better Premier League careers than Delap either. The only difference is they will cost far more!
There are so many experienced heads that are proven goalscorers, ones that would cost less, that we should be prioritising over Delap. Patrik Schick would be a great acquisition.
I get the potential upside with Delap at £30m, and he could go on to be a top striker. But not for us, not now
I get the potential upside with Delap at £30m, and he could go on to be a top striker. But not for us, not now
He is not good enough.
Martinez won't leave Inter, Mateta has hit a hot streak but is no certainty to stay at this level, Schick has only managed 2 20 goal seasons and is both chronically injury prone and approaching 30 and Villa blocked Watkins from leaving for Arsenal and would probably do the same to us. I am right there with you when it comes to frustration but I don't see realistic options that are both available and can be considered any kind of certainty to score goals in the Premier League.
I would far rather we focus on top quality signings through the rest of the squad that we know will improve us and wait another season to go big for a striker when hopefully the right target is available as opposed to overpaying for a risky target and repeating the mistakes of the past. I am not crazy about Delap but I see risks with almost any target and at least as a young English forward he is someone we can use for a year or two and if he does not kick on we ought to be able to recoup the transfer fee when we move him on.
We already tried PL proven upward trajectory with players far better than Delap (like Lukaku) and failed. He is not a special talent to waist 30m on and hope it clicks as a lone signing. CF is the only position that you should not try unproven young players (unless they are generational talents like Rooney).
Then dont waist 30 million and add another Hojlund to the one we already have. I would rather sign David on a free than waist 30m on Delap.
Gyokeres suddenly is though? Despite having a similar career start prior to Sporting?
Best in class clowns you mean
Based on what? He's 22 and scored 12 Premier League goals for a team that was nowhere near ready for Premier League football.
We are making the same mistake again unfortunately and the reason for that I highlighted in club ownership thread.
Napoli apparently are close to a deal with David, I totally agree, I am happy to sign no strikers in this window rather than waste money. We don't have it to waste and we can still significantly strengthen other areas and wait for better options to be available for the striker position in another year if we have to. Short termism will just see us spinning our wheels and going nowhere for the next few years, better to build over a series of windows to an actual plan and only sign players that will raise the level of the squad.
He is going to end up being a good surprise. Big, sometimes reckless but with an edge we are lacking up front.
Funnily enough I don't remember anybody wanting Gyokeres two years ago when he was playing in the Championship for Coventry. Two good seasons in the Portuguese league though and he's definitely the answer though.
We needed to bring in experienced striker too, not saying he couldn't offer something but not as main man
if we sign Delap we should be selling Hojlund, and also trying to find a cheap, experienced striker (maybe some in their 30s). Im not sure who that would be - Jimenez? Dare I say Arnautovic on a free? Try to get Mitrovic on the cheap if he is bored of Saudi?
It's a pretty sad state of affairs when we have to win a trophy in order to:
A: be able to afford a half decent young, relegated, English striker.
B: convince said striker that he might want to join Manchester United.
If we had the money, and if we still had the pull and prestige, we'd no doubt be looking at Gyokeres. It's so sad to see how one greedy, evil American family have destroyed the club.
A: be able to afford a half decent young, relegated, English striker.
B: convince said striker that he might want to join Manchester United.
If we had the money, and if we still had the pull and prestige, we'd no doubt be looking at Gyokeres. It's so sad to see how one greedy, evil American family have destroyed the club.
Darren bent had better numbers in his first premier league season then went to fail at Tottenham. This season proves nothing.
That’s my point though about the lack of proven goalscorers, you’re talking about 15 goal a season players give or take at Premier League level (at their peak) and others who wouldn’t even score that many. Martinez has 12 goals in Serie A this season. Mateta scored 2 league goals in the Premier League recently.
I’m not hugely enthused at the thought of Delap but when the alternatives are 60m for Watkins I think it’s quite easy to see why there is interest in him. There isn’t a huge gulf between likes of Delap and Mateta, it’s feasible Delap could be a better player over next year or two.
What about Delap and Arnautovic (who is coming out of contract) as the experienced one?
Possible smokescreen to keep Chelski off our main target?
Not sure about Arnautovic, the racist stuff made him pretty unpalatable last time we looked at him under ETH. We should have been in for Jiminez back when we got Hojlund, moved for a 5M fee to Fulham in that window and he would have been the ideal veteran to start games and develop someone behind. I have been looking to see if anyone comparable is available in this window for such a bargain price but am coming up empty at the moment.
He had a decent start to the season - but in the second half he’s been quite poor.
I feel teams might have worked out how to defend vs him
I feel teams might have worked out how to defend vs him
Buying Delap without having a real striker is just one more mistake. Why would we do that? Because we seem to be doing mistakes over and over again without learning from it.
We’re not going to be spending big money on 30 year olds, they’ve made that so clear.
Morata has 5 goals and Icardi has 4 in the Turkish League. Mateta has two goals more than Delap in a much better team. Would cost 40-50 million and is six years older with no resale value.
Why on earth would we go for those options over Delap. I think a cheap older striker would be fine with Delap, but we can’t blow 50 million on someone like Mateta.
Also, people need to relax a little. 30m is pennies these days.
Bro is heading for the Championship, but wants to see if we get CL before he can commit. Feck off.
If this guy becomes our only striker signing I don't know what to say. Probably a small improvement on Højlund, but not at all the quality we need.
I'd take Delap if it meant we sign Cunha and Mbeumo too.
Unrealistic I know but yeh...
Unrealistic I know but yeh...
I have a gut feeling that this will be an amazing signing for us. He’s at the age where he could have a major breakthrough. Got lots to like about his game- great workrate, good touch, powerful runner and deadly finisher. Too good an opportunity to pass by
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