Matthijs de Ligt / signs for Juventus, lowering their average age to 56

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Mr. Meeseeks

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I'm going to say it but we're getting fleeced by the sounds of it. All year banging on about wanting players that genuinely want to play for us and give their all and we're pushing hard for a 19 year old CB that turned down £250k p/w. Must really want to sign for us!

People are so fickle. Thought we'd have learnt after Sanchez. What's they old saying "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...".
Not really the same situation with De Ligt. Sanchez came here after a full and accomplished career playing for Barca and Arsenal. We gave him what was always going to be the last big contract of his career, and he decided to wind down because he has no incentive to play anymore.

De Ligt is 19 and everyone is expecting him to have a storming career. His incentive to play is to fulfill his potential and get bigger contracts in the future. His performances for us if he were to come here would basically dictate the shape of the rest of his career. If he came here he wont be playing for us, he will be playing for himself to make himself more valuable in future contract negotiations.
 

Solius

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If we sign De Ligt I’ll get MATHHIJ5 tattooed on my arse.

I won’t.
 

Patrick08

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We gave him what was always going to be the last big contract of his career, and he decided to wind down because he has no incentive to play anymore.
Oh come on, he suffered injuries and was rushed back. I still expect him to come good if he is played near the box in a team that moves the ball well and is creative enough .
 

Adnan

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If we could get Ibrahima Konata and De Ligt, our CB partnership would be set for the next 15 years.
Konate is a potentially brilliant player too. But doubt we'd go for two CBs currently. I'd love to see both at the club though.
 

Touseef

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I don’t understand why he would come to us unless it’s either money-driven or we have convinced him of the project going forward. If he is a young player with big ambitions, coming here would be the last thing he should do.
Should we then just shut shop and not go after any of these? I don't understand this attitude at all. It's not like we're a small club without any history or European prestige.

And the potential reasons for him coming (besides money) have been discussed to death. He will be a leader in the club's resurgence, will obviously be first team and have a lot of say in defense, the league values good defenders, he's just seen his national teammate win player of the year (wonder when that last happened at Barcelona), heck even our poty was a defender, and even if he decides to move in 6-7 years, he will be in the prime of his career (he can look at Ronaldo for inspiration here).

Not every player is bought into barca and Madrid and not every teenager thinks of the next career move in terms of whether this is the last move in their career.

I really don't like the crap our so called fans give to the club. It's like they cannot win at all. If we try for de ligt it's an issue as you feel he will not come, if we do not try, it is an issue as the club lacks ambition.

Tell me, were you sure pogba wasn't coming either? Because I'm pretty sure he would've had offers from around the world especially from what you would feel are better clubs.

Sorry if this seemed like getting personal but wanted to vent this out for the crowd who feels we will never get the top talents unless we pay more than competition. Ultimately he may not come but I'll definitely back the club for trying wherever there was an opportunity
 

hn4manunited

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Should we then just shut shop and not go after any of these? I don't understand this attitude at all. It's not like we're a small club without any history or European prestige.

And the potential reasons for him coming (besides money) have been discussed to death. He will be a leader in the club's resurgence, will obviously be first team and have a lot of say in defense, the league values good defenders, he's just seen his national teammate win player of the year (wonder when that last happened at Barcelona), heck even our poty was a defender, and even if he decides to move in 6-7 years, he will be in the prime of his career (he can look at Ronaldo for inspiration here).

Not every player is bought into barca and Madrid and not every teenager thinks of the next career move in terms of whether this is the last move in their career.

I really don't like the crap our so called fans give to the club. It's like they cannot win at all. If we try for de ligt it's an issue as you feel he will not come, if we do not try, it is an issue as the club lacks ambition.

Tell me, were you sure pogba wasn't coming either? Because I'm pretty sure he would've had offers from around the world especially from what you would feel are better clubs.

Sorry if this seemed like getting personal but wanted to vent this out for the crowd who feels we will never get the top talents unless we pay more than competition. Ultimately he may not come but I'll definitely back the club for trying wherever there was an opportunity
I don’t mind you getting a little personal...it doesn’t bother me. We are all fans, not so called fans just because we have an opinion or thought.

The facts that are being reported is exactly that. We are having to pay more than competition for these talents to come here.

The point i’m trying to make is exactly that. We continue to overpay for players who only come here for more money. We do it over and over and over again. If they truly want to come here, they come here without us having to pay more. They obviously wanted to go somewhere else but that somewhere else is not willing to up their price because all of a sudden these players feel that they command more money.
 

Billy Blaggs

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I don’t mind you getting a little personal...it doesn’t bother me. We are all fans, not so called fans just because we have an opinion or thought.

The facts that are being reported is exactly that. We are having to pay more than competition for these talents to come here.

The point i’m trying to make is exactly that. We continue to overpay for players who only come here for more money. We do it over and over and over again. If they truly want to come here, they come here without us having to pay more. They obviously wanted to go somewhere else but that somewhere else is not willing to up their price because all of a sudden these players feel that they command more money.
We have to pay more because we are currently shit. It's not really rocket science.
 

Rafeeq RSA

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Makes me wonder how many players are so willing to come to united while they out of Europe’s not completion then and finishing in 6th. We all human beings here , remember that, it’s not as if footballers all dream about playing for United. You Roy Keane was coming to United if another club offered him double the salary? Not everyone is an Alan Shearer mate.
I’m loyal to my company but if another petrochemical rival offered me double my salary and a beautiful office , I know what I would do.
 
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Womp

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We’re a shit club now?

My lord.
I would say we are. We are a huge club, a great one, yes, but also a shit one. We play shit football and have done for some time now, we are terribly managed and as a result have been rebuilding for about 10 years, spending hundreds of millions in that time and being far worse than we were when we started. We have an outdated approach to how the club is ran too.

That being said, I do agree that we have far more to offer than just money. We are at the very least showing we are desperate to become competitive again with the money we are spending and changes we are making.
 

Adnan

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So, you’re agreeing with me that these talents are coming to a shit team/club because of money?
They come to us because we're a huge club. If money was the only facdtor then i'm sure they'd join Yannick Carrasco in China.
 

DevilAgeIdiot

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I don’t mind you getting a little personal...it doesn’t bother me. We are all fans, not so called fans just because we have an opinion or thought.

The facts that are being reported is exactly that. We are having to pay more than competition for these talents to come here.

The point i’m trying to make is exactly that. We continue to overpay for players who only come here for more money. We do it over and over and over again. If they truly want to come here, they come here without us having to pay more. They obviously wanted to go somewhere else but that somewhere else is not willing to up their price because all of a sudden these players feel that they command more money.
No you've got this one wrong mate, if you don't mind me saying so. You are correct that atm we do indeed have to pay more as we are not in contention for major trophies so naturally we are not as attractive as certain other elite clubs or indeed as we once were. This is simply the nature of exchange, the market, supply and demand if you like.

Now we are lucky enough to be in the position that even though we are currently a bit shite and have been for 6 years, we can still attract the best players in the world precisely because we can pay a little extra for our demand.

It's better to accept where we are at now, rather than clinging on to the past and stroppily expecting that top players will automatically want to play for us for the love of our beautiful club.

In fact this is a fantasy and always has been. Footballers always want the money. How do you think the City project established itself?

So no point in toy throwing and accusing DeLigt of only coming for more money. It's not as black and white as that. If DeLigt does indeed chose us that will be a major endorsement of our rebuild project, making us more attractive to both, top quality hungry young players, Sancho, Bruno e.g. and to our world class players like DeGea and Pogba.

After the last 6 years of tumescent football with defenders like Jones, Smalling and Young trying their best but in reality stinking up the place, why would we not do everything we can to acquire a young gem like De Ligt ?

We need to try to think more holistically and let go of some of the past. We are who we are now and if we can manage a good window we'll not be far off challenging soon enough. De Ligt may very well end up going to Barca but with his skills and leadership quality he is exactly what United need and his signing would undoubtedly be the beginning of something very exciting indeed.
 
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I would say we are. We are a huge club, a great one, yes, but also a shit one. We play shit football and have done for some time now, we are terribly managed and as a result have been rebuilding for about 10 years, spending hundreds of millions in that time and being far worse than we were when we started. We have an outdated approach to how the club is ran too.
Thank God the likes of Pogba, Mourinho, Zlatan et al aren’t that short sighted.

We’re in a shit place, but we’re a great great club. A few crap years doesn’t change that ffs.
 
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SaintMuppet

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We are a great club!!!!

The team is currently a bit shit

Let’s not get carried away with things. Try being my local side Worcester City now that’s sh1t.
 

gajender

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We’re a shit club now?

My lord.
Well some fans have this notion that few years of downturn has completely erased out history and totally demolished our stature ,here is a news flash we are fecking Man United we are still one of the biggest club in the world we may be down but not out and this belief that players play for Barcelona and Madrid for pittance is quite stupid ,nothing we are attempting currently to get out of this mess is new like overpaying for elite talent top teams have always done that you know why because they can.
 

hn4manunited

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I said we're shit. I never said we are a shit club.
If we were in the champions league with a chance to win it might be a different story.

Please don't put words in my mouth.
That’s what I said. We are shit now and run like shit. So, you think we are a great club now?

It doesn’t mean I don’t support this club, I will call us what state we’re in. At least I am a supporter who acknowledges our issues instead of being in denial.
 

hn4manunited

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Thank God the likes of Pogba, Mourinho, Zidane et al aren’t that short sighted.

We’re in a shit place, but we’re a great great club. A few crap years doesn’t change that ffs.
We are in a bad state and run badly. We are a badly run club in its current state. If you don’t agree, you’re in denial.
 

Womp

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Thank God the likes of Pogba, Mourinho, Zidane et al aren’t that short sighted.

We’re in a shit place, but we’re a great great club. A few crap years doesn’t change that ffs.
Except it does. Present us is shit, thus, we are shit. Otherwise we are living in the past, so yes, I agree, we weren't shit in the past. The way the club has functioned and been managed for a while now has been shit though.

Those players weren't short sighted, you're right, but for the most part, all of them have been left disappointed and haven't really had much to write about since joining us (in regards to major honours), because once again, we aren't that good.

Arguably the biggest club in the world, great fanbase, one of the most prestigious clubs of all time, great in the past, but have been terribly mismanaged and are quite shit and have been for a while.

I don't agree with the rest of that post btw, we have far more to offer than just money.
 

hn4manunited

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State of our fans nowadays.
The state of our fans is that they still think the club has a prestige that draws talents to us when we have to overpay. If we have to overpay, that means it’s money that talks.
 

Shakesy

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Ok. I'm game.

He'll come here for 3/4 seasons and go to RM or Barcelona after he "saved" us. He becomes a legend here AND there. It's a win-win for everyone except that guy who got an MDL arse tattoo.

I'll accept this scenario, but I'm not ecstatic about it.

We SHOULD be aiming to buy his soul. :devil:
 

Gasolin

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So, you’re agreeing with me that these talents are coming to a shit team/club because of money?
Since when is Manchester United a shit club? Did I miss something?
Well, shit club or not, if we are betting on De Ligt to be part of rebuilding our club, then so be it, he can be proud about it, and that's all.

Real and Barcelona also paid crazy wages at some time to get players, that's the game.
 
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