Manchester United name John Murtough as Football Director and Darren Fletcher as Technical Director

[Escobar]

Really don’t understand that. He looks a good player who could help the collective but why do we pay top player wages for players who haven’t earned the right ? It as if anyone the Glazers hire is hellbent on making the exact same mistakes.

It is not hard to understand. Chelsea wanted to keep him and offered a bumper contract, so we have to do too to get him.

 

[AndySmith1990]

Wouldn't be too worried about these chaps. They'll be removed from the club within months of Qatar taking over

 

[golden_blunder]

Need someone to identify genuine top talent. We’re just chasing everyone Ten Hag has seen play in the Eredivise, and many of them are fecking average. Guys like Edu are identifying young, hungry and talented players. Ten Hag needs to be kept far away from this shit as possible, clearly his television only has one channel. This is Manchester United. Money and prestige is there to go after the very best. If he wanted to manage a Spurs squad he should have joined them.

Rice, Havertz.. omg what do arsenal scouts and DoF do?

 

[Tarrou]

I think I'm one of the only people who doesn't hate these two

I don't think we have enough information to know if they're doing a good job or not yet

but they've helped us secure ETH, got him most of his targets.. I honestly think if Woody was in charge ETH would have said no

doesn't seem like a bad start tbh, and lets not forget they are still working under the Glazers which must be a nightmare

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Mason Mount is a champions league winning player who has been signed from one of the biggest clubs in European football where he rejected a £200k a week wage. He would've got in excess of £200k a week at whichever club he chose. If the player was from Brighton, then I'd be surprised if we gave him a high salary because Brighton players are on lower wages in comparison to the players at the top clubs. Arsenal are reportedly paying Gabriel Jesus £265k a week after they signed him from Man City. United's problem has been giving players big contracts who haven't shown anything at a high level (EPL/UCL) or were fringe players like Jones and Bailly.

I think that’s fair. At the end of the day we’re signing someone who was heralded as the next fan favourite at Chelsea FC.

I’m quite positive about this signing. From what I understand he’s a player that is fantastic off the ball, pretty quick, intelligent and strong technically. Seems to have a good mentality to boot. While I’d still like to see us sign a tempo-setting midfielder who can dictate and playmaker, I can see amount adding a lot to this team.

Excited to see a team with Mount, Bruno and Antony hounding opponents to win back the ball. If we get in CF who is also an adept pressed, we’d be relentless in this regard.

 

[saivet]

I think I'm one of the only people who doesn't hate these two

I don't think we have enough information to know if they're doing a good job or not yet

but they've helped us secure ETH, got him most of his targets.. I honestly think if Woody was in charge ETH would have said no

doesn't seem like a bad start tbh, and lets not forget they are still working under the Glazers which must be a nightmare

One of the potential issues I see is that targets seem to be dictated by ETH and there's not much of an overall club direction. I think if we look at our transfers, only Casemiro has been a 'club' signing. That might work out to be fine but what value are they then adding?

 

[Matt851]

Mason Mount is a champions league winning player who has been signed from one of the biggest clubs in European football where he rejected a £200k a week wage. He would've got in excess of £200k a week at whichever club he chose. If the player was from Brighton, then I'd be surprised if we gave him a high salary because Brighton players are on lower wages in comparison to the players at the top clubs. Arsenal are reportedly paying Gabriel Jesus £265k a week after they signed him from Man City. United's problem has been giving players big contracts who haven't shown anything at a high level (EPL/UCL) or were fringe players like Jones and Bailly.

But we were the only club in for him at anything like the fee Chelsea accepted. Another club would have paid him the salary we offered if he moved on a free next year but we also paid a significant fee.

He isn't exactly world class and has just come off a completely dud season. He also has limited experience playing as an 8, which is where he seems to fit in to our team so he isn't necessarily going to improve our first team. The salary we are paying really should get us a player that obviously improves our team

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Your "point" discounts everything that Mason Mount has done since he left Vitesse which makes him a sensible signing.

If he had just come off a good 6 months at Vitesse I doubt Ten Hag would be interested. You don't actually have a point is the problem, you have the vague knowledge that Mount once went on loan to Holland for a few months and you're trying to make it fit some view of Ten Hag being a problem for our transfer strategy.

He clearly signed Eriksen because he played for Ajax a decade ago. Not because he was one of the best midfielders in the Prem over the last 10 years, was on a free and just had a brilliant spell at Brentford.

He signed Mount because of 6 months at Vitesse.

Martinez was a huge mistake clearly.

It's all just silly.

If ETH was that basic in his decision making he’d have sprung-forth VDB in the pecking order as he was excellent for him at Ajax. But he’s a multiple league winning manager who understands the development and progress of footballers and how standards / expectations are different at different clubs and leagues. He’s obviously signing Mount because he rates him as a footballer overall and not just off some 6 month spell as a kid.

 

[pascell]

Mason Mount is a champions league winning player who has been signed from one of the biggest clubs in European football where he rejected a £200k a week wage. He would've got in excess of £200k a week at whichever club he chose. If the player was from Brighton, then I'd be surprised if we gave him a high salary because Brighton players are on lower wages in comparison to the players at the top clubs. Arsenal are reportedly paying Gabriel Jesus £265k a week after they signed him from Man City. United's problem has been giving players big contracts who haven't shown anything at a high level (EPL/UCL) or were fringe players like Jones and Bailly.

In excess doesn't mean you jump the gun and offer a deal worth £300k a week, £100k a week more than what Chelsea offered, that's just poor negotiating. We won't learn from previous lessons until we have actual competent people in the right positions.

 

[UnitedSofa]

In excess doesn't mean you jump the gun and offer a deal worth £300k a week, £100k a week more than what Chelsea offered, that's just poor negotiating. We won't learn from previous lessons until we have actual competent people in the right positions.

250k + bonuses

 

[pascell]

250k + bonuses

That's why I said worth, £250k + £50k, still poor negotiating, basically heard he wanted £250k and went straight in with it.

 

[wolvored]

He’d already turned down 200k at Chelsea, why would he join us for less?

That qas what he was on, not new offer.

 

[pascell]

That qas what he was on, not new offer.

He was on £80k.

 

[wolvored]

In that case 175-200k should be fine as an absolute max. Anymore than that and it’s an awful deal imo coupled with the fee.

A player of Mount’s level should not be on elite wages. Let him prove it first, then offer it when earned.

Apparently they offered him a rise to 200k a week and he turned it down, so to come here wasnt for the adventure it was even more money. Greedy bastard, lets hope it turns out well.

 

[Rake]

All contracts reported are without bonuses and additional clauses... Chelsea's offer was not 200k including bonuses.

Also, Matt Law seems extremely butthurt, so he might be inflating things a bit.

 

[Kag]

But we were the only club in for him at anything like the fee Chelsea accepted. Another club would have paid him the salary we offered if he moved on a free next year but we also paid a significant fee.

He isn't exactly world class and has just come off a completely dud season. He also has limited experience playing as an 8, which is where he seems to fit in to our team so he isn't necessarily going to improve our first team. The salary we are paying really should get us a player that obviously improves our team

You don’t know this at all.

 

[wolvored]

I think I'm one of the only people who doesn't hate these two

I don't think we have enough information to know if they're doing a good job or not yet

but they've helped us secure ETH, got him most of his targets.. I honestly think if Woody was in charge ETH would have said no

doesn't seem like a bad start tbh, and lets not forget they are still working under the Glazers which must be a nightmare

I have said the same. We could have any DOF here and it would still be the same shitshow. Every deal has to go back and forth to the leeches and its them who give the yay or nay. Last season should prove that, after being told there was no more money in the kitty and when we lose the first 2 games, they found another load of dosh down the back of the sofa.

 

[VP89]

99% of the people criticising Murtough and Arnold are just doing it for the sake of it. There is little evidence to suggest they are incompetent and the changes they are trying to make from an image perspective when negotiating is almost impossible to do without bumps on the way. For example from S. Luckhurst:

" One club executive told Murtough last year, "You're Manchester United. You've got loads of money." United ended interest in a player, believed to be Benjamin Sesko, after they were quoted almost double the fee RB Leipzig paid to Red Bull Salzburg."

 

[Tarrou]

99% of the people criticising Murtough and Arnold are just doing it for the sake of it. There is little evidence to suggest they are incompetent and the changes they are trying to make from an image perspective when negotiating is almost impossible to do without bumps on the way. For example from S. Luckhurst:

" One club executive told Murtough last year, "You're Manchester United. You've got loads of money." United ended interest in a player, believed to be Benjamin Sesko, after they were quoted almost double the fee RB Leipzig paid to Red Bull Salzburg."

“We can do things in the transfer market that other clubs can only dream of,”

 

[VP89]

“We can do things in the transfer market that other clubs can only dream of,”

^ A great reason why Murtough has an impossible task ahead of him. When you are finally free of an absolute bellend who ruined the image of the club you have to right some wrongs + also move ahead with the plan in accelerated fashion.

He's done a good job so far.

 

[Lecland07]

One of the potential issues I see is that targets seem to be dictated by ETH and there's not much of an overall club direction. I think if we look at our transfers, only Casemiro has been a 'club' signing. That might work out to be fine but what value are they then adding?

This has already been refuted. We were already looking at Martinez before Ten Hag joined.

Weghorst was just loaned to fill a gap. Eriksen was free and a no brainer. De Jong being a target is hardly a shock for Manutd.

The only one you could argue is possibly Antony.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

They've both lost me. Sell them both. And Arnold.

Can we just hire some people who know how to run a football club please

 

[SteveCoppellFan]

It cannot have been easy for these two working under the utter muppets that were Ed Woodward and the Glaziers.

It still baffles me how someone with the career Ed Woodward has had, can make so many horrendous decisions, decisions we are still paying for today.

Just goes to show, the people at the top of United are just a complete bunch of amateurs when it comes to football matters.

The sooner we can move on and start to repair the damage they have caused the better.

 

[Chief123]

One of the potential issues I see is that targets seem to be dictated by ETH and there's not much of an overall club direction. I think if we look at our transfers, only Casemiro has been a 'club' signing. That might work out to be fine but what value are they then adding?

Sometimes the best value you add is going with the opinion of someone who can make a better judgement than you. Something Woodward wasn’t good at.

 

[Offside]

It still baffles me how someone with the career Ed Woodward has had, can make so many horrendous decisions, decisions we are still paying for today.

Not baffling at all. He has a successful career in finance the fact he was clueless at running a football club wasn’t a surprise. I imagine the Glazers thought he did a fantastic job with all the sponsorship deals.

 

[Lecland07]

A couple of months ago:
Go, go Murtough rangers, solving the wage problem crisis at United and showing the doubters up.

Today:
£250k +£50k bonus per week for average Mason Mount, a second consecutive signing which demolishes the purported 'new' wage structure.

Response/explanation:
Why do you care, it's not your money?

Some of you are genuinely bipolar or complete hypocrites.

Firstly, it was only a reported structure. Secondly, it never actually stated what it meant by £200k.

Sense dictates that a fixed £200k gross wage was never going to happen (far too many players get paid more than that these days - we would be shooting ourselves in the foot with that) - I would say it is more likely that this £200k is actually a net figure. This would make sense as it will make sure we never put anyone on the wages Ronaldo was on; it was never actually about the other players.

 

[UnitedSofa]

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[UnitedSofa]

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[Lecland07]

I don't think these two will ever be able to avoid criticism. It was a good transfer window last season, but people say 'but they have a Dutch connection, so must be signed by Ten Hag'. It is not like anyone else as ever heard of the Eredivisie before; it is an incredibly reaching argument. Has anyone ever wondered that it is Murtough who has the Dutch connection? After all, he is the one who wanted Ten Hag.

People moan about no signings, but moan when we do make signings. People moan when we pay large amounts, but praise other teams when they pay massive amounts. People moan when we spend a lot on a player, but then moan why we didn't spend a lot on another player.

In reality, Mount is a great addition to the team. It also is £55m - are people going to complain if we have to pay the £5m when it is requires us winning trophies?

 

[El Jefe]

Very little to suggest that those guys made any real pursuit of Mason Mount. And Klopp ‘settled’ for Macallister months ago by all accounts, the pursuit was no secret.

And that Ten Hag is largely pursuing players who have set foot in the mighty Eredivise, or are Dutch is beyond dispute. There’s no pretending in it. He’s clearly a very good coach, but he’d give himself the best chance of succeeding if he actually went for the top players or at least the top talents. Eriksen is spent, Malacia is rubbish and there are huge question marks around Antony (although I personally have faith there). Mason Mount is better, but surely we can do better than him? Caicedo is, to me, quite evidently a bigger calibre of talent to Mount and someone who will make the difference at the top end of the league. I wish Brighton had loaned him to Holland instead of Belgium!

This is the caf where posters will pretend like they can't see very obvious things, just to belittle others.

I personally like Mount and I'm happy we went for him but there's clearly a pattern of EtH going for players he's familiar with which is exactly what got us poor signings under Jose. Its so obvious too as he's done the same at previous clubs.

At least this season we are being linked with players from a wider net than players EtH has managed or managed against. I guess you could say Onana falls into that category but he's probably the choice target due to price as Costa and Maignan will be really expensive.

After Weghorst, he lost my confidence, he was already on extremely shaky ground with Antony. I love EtH as a coach but we really need to not give our managers too much power in squad building, as mentioned that's how Jose and Ole built unreliable squads.

 

[Rozay]

Rice, Havertz.. omg what do arsenal scouts and DoF do?

Football didn’t start a week ago. Arsenal have assembled a better team by buying and developing players of the right profile and trajectory. They have one of the best young teams in the game.

 

[UnitedSofa]

Football didn’t start a week ago. Arsenal have assembled a better team by buying and developing players of the right profile and trajectory. They have one of the best young teams in the game.

Point is if Murtough/EtH had signed Rice/Havertz/Jorgino the knives would be out and here we are patting Edu on the back for it. It’s fecking tiresome.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

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Shhhh don't post anything that might be perceived as positive, the consensus is to be miserable and refute any improvement in how the club is ran. Even (especially?) in the face of evidence that things are getting better.

 

[golden_blunder]

Football didn’t start a week ago. Arsenal have assembled a better team by buying and developing players of the right profile and trajectory. They have one of the best young teams in the game.

I’m asking for a bit of balance. We’re lauding edu this summer yet he hasn’t done anything different to what United do.. yet at least

 

[saivet]

This has already been refuted. We were already looking at Martinez before Ten Hag joined.

Weghorst was just loaned to fill a gap. Eriksen was free and a no brainer. De Jong being a target is hardly a shock for Manutd.

The only one you could argue is possibly Antony.

I don't doubt we were looking at those players as we'll be looking at loads of players but I think if a different manager was in charge or if ETH wasn't too bothered on the names, I think our transfer activity would have looked very different. The manager should always have an influence on transfers but it looks as though he's the driving force behind them.

Sometimes the best value you add is going with the opinion of someone who can make a better judgement than you. Something Woodward wasn’t good at.

That is true but Woodward's role should have never been to be involved in transfers. Murtough is our football director, so I'd like to think that's a role in which his opinion ultimately his opinion should carry some if not most of the weight.

 

[Rozay]

You're a good poster mate and this doesn't suit you. You contribute towards the football discussion on the forum and I enjoy reading your posts. But I think you're allowing your frustration to cloud your judgement.

Samuel Luckhurst reported that ten Hag wanted Dean Henderson at Ajax but it doesn't look like Henderson is going to get #1 spot.

And Edu and Arteta at Arsenal finished 8th, 8th , 5th in their first three years together. And players like
Pepe (Edu), David Luiz, Willian, Pablo Mari, Tavares, Ben White, Lokonga, Denis Suarez (loan) etc are just some of the duds they signed imo.

And even when Arsenal finished 2nd, the Arsenal youtuber below is still angry at the likes of Edu and Arteta for not getting their #1 target Mason Mount and signing Kai Havertz instead.

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That’s a view. I see no reason why I am obligated to dismiss the reports that Mount has been a POI since Vitesse, and there’s no reason that I am obligated to dismiss it or reference it in addition to other things that suggest at a pattern.

Everyone here is just so fiercely defensive of Erik Ten Hag, which is understandable, however, I just think the fact that I like him shouldn’t obstruct me from pointing out things that concern me.

We’ve gone 60m and 250/300k a week on Mason Mount and I suspect that EVERYONE is suggesting that is a fantastic idea largely on the basis that ‘Ten Hag wants him’. You all watch football, especially English football, if you would have thought that was a terrible idea 3 months ago then I don’t see why people cannot form their own views. This is an England international, not an unseen player from Brazil. It’s Mason Mount. Who apparently now everyone wanted us to sign for our midfield.

As for the wider analysis of Ten Hag in the market, he leaves a bit to be desired for me. I don’t see it as his strength, and that supports reports we had before he joined us. I’m just concerned that we are committing big money to players who won’t have transformative impact on our team. 60m Mount, 85m Antony. You only get a few of those in your team, and we need one or two of them to be the leaders/stars of the team. The difference makers, the Haaland/KDB/Salah/Odegaard etc in the team, and if the few times we get to commit big money (fees/wages) then we need players of that calibre. Admittedly, I wanted us to sign Antony, but fact is the impact has been little.

I love the manager as much as the rest, but would prefer a different approach in the market. And everyone trying to imply that some sort of preference for Dutch, present/former Eredivise players is something randomly cooked up by Rozay is laughable. Sorry to disappoint you as a poster, but you should also know me well enough to know that I don’t really care for consensus posting for the sake of it and will call anything as I happen to see it.

 

[Rozay]

This has already been refuted. We were already looking at Martinez before Ten Hag joined.

Weghorst was just loaned to fill a gap. Eriksen was free and a no brainer. De Jong being a target is hardly a shock for Manutd.

The only one you could argue is possibly Antony.

Being free doesn’t make a player play better. I wish people would stop advocating for everyone out of contract on here.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

It is not hard to understand. Chelsea wanted to keep him and offered a bumper contract, so we have to do too to get him.

I doubt they were that bothered about keeping him given that he was no longer a first choice player there.

 

[UnitedSofa]

I doubt they were that bothered about keeping him given that he was no longer a first choice player there.

Hasn’t he been massively injured this season?

 

[Tom Van Persie]

Rice, Havertz.. omg what do arsenal scouts and DoF do?

Imagine the reaction on here if we spent £105M on Rice and £65M on fecking Havertz.