The 09/10 transfer window as a whole was dreadful.
Most Disappointing Signings
- Thread starter Loony BoB
- Start date
In today's dire situation, 2013's Fellaini would be very welcomed addition to our squad. He was 26y back then, PL proven, still developing and we were almost rioting.
Imagine the scenes in 2013. if we were linked with below average midfielder and 33y old racist who played in China, having failed at West fecking Ham previously.
Imagine the scenes in 2013. if we were linked with below average midfielder and 33y old racist who played in China, having failed at West fecking Ham previously.
Quite a few didn't like it in the original thread I just found. Not overwhelming but about 30% weren't that impressed when it was announced.
Blowing my mind that I forgot about Fellaini. Heck.
Still remember being hyped at Pogba coming back. Definitely don't get the sense he was an underwhelming signing at the time, obviously with hindsight we know it was fecking horrendous.
I think Antonio Valencia and Owen stood in my mind as being a bit 'meh' due to the loss of Ronaldo.
And Fellaini for obvious reasons.
I think Antonio Valencia and Owen stood in my mind as being a bit 'meh' due to the loss of Ronaldo.
And Fellaini for obvious reasons.
Ah, your always going to get a few. Not sure who the other options being mentioned around then would have been anyway... Paul Robinson? That Irish fella that played for NUFC?
All seems so long ago...
Wow, that was when the signings I may have been most excited about ever, I remember yelling out in excitement when I heard the news.
Djemba Djemba
2022 - 2020 = not 3
Terry Gibson replacing Mark Hughes, Ralph Milne (RIP), Teddy Sheringham replacing Cantona I thought was madness at the time, Silvestre, Djemba-Djemba replacing the ageing Roy Keane was ridiculous - Shane McGowan at 2am with one eye closed could work this out, Alan Smith, Tevez I thought would be a political nightmare due to part ownership, Obertan. Not going to start on a list post 2013.
Fellaini. Signing him as a statement signing going into our first season without Fergie... and I haven't even mention the release clause mess.
Maguire being close 2nd. I felt like we've been lucky when the board refused to sign him for Mou... only for them to sign him in the next window for even more money. Ole was talking about switching to a more proactive style with high line & pressing and you just knew that it wouldn't happen with those signings. Surprisingly, it didn't. With Wan-Bissaka there were at least his tackles and I've seen a bit less of him than of Maguire beforehand.
Owen certainly felt weird but at least he was free. The general idea of replacing peak Cristiano with a bunch of inferior players obviously was a hard pill to swallow. I liked Valencia though (even if that was painfully obvious that he's not replacing Ronaldo).
Maguire being close 2nd. I felt like we've been lucky when the board refused to sign him for Mou... only for them to sign him in the next window for even more money. Ole was talking about switching to a more proactive style with high line & pressing and you just knew that it wouldn't happen with those signings. Surprisingly, it didn't. With Wan-Bissaka there were at least his tackles and I've seen a bit less of him than of Maguire beforehand.
Owen certainly felt weird but at least he was free. The general idea of replacing peak Cristiano with a bunch of inferior players obviously was a hard pill to swallow. I liked Valencia though (even if that was painfully obvious that he's not replacing Ronaldo).
Not really, he'd be a stupid signing that wouldn't fit ten Han & what he's trying to build here, hence, disappointing.
OK fair enough. 3 seasons back.
Shouldn't the question be, which signing were the caf happy with. Very short thread;
At the time....Valencia. We'd just sold Ronaldo for an unprecedented sum and we used it to buy Valencia. Now he went on to be a reasonable professional for the club, but he was not anything like an adequate replacement for Cristiano.
Nothing can top Felliaini in this regard.
I was quite disappointed with Ashley Young as I never really rated him. Same with Valencia although he was good for a while, him being the Ronaldo "replacement" was a serious let down at the time of signing.
Wan Bissaka was another player I was very disappointed when we signed. Never saw anything vaguely resembling a top level player in him and the fee was obscene.
I was quite disappointed with Ashley Young as I never really rated him. Same with Valencia although he was good for a while, him being the Ronaldo "replacement" was a serious let down at the time of signing.
Wan Bissaka was another player I was very disappointed when we signed. Never saw anything vaguely resembling a top level player in him and the fee was obscene.
Fellaini has to win. The big signing for the new manager after being linked with Ronaldo, Bale and Fabregas. And getting him for more than his release clause (it was final day as well right?).
Think getting Owen, Valencia and... Obertan? after losing Ronaldo and Tevez.
Especially as we could have probably had one or both of Sneijder and Robben from Madrid when selling Ronaldo to them. And we were linked with Benzema but ended up getting Owen on a free (after being in a CL final the year before).
(I might have just confused several windows but im sure im remembering correctly).
Think getting Owen, Valencia and... Obertan? after losing Ronaldo and Tevez.
Especially as we could have probably had one or both of Sneijder and Robben from Madrid when selling Ronaldo to them. And we were linked with Benzema but ended up getting Owen on a free (after being in a CL final the year before).
(I might have just confused several windows but im sure im remembering correctly).
Nope, he was finding himself regularly on the bench for Fulham and I am sure they were happy for us to take him of their wage bill, he certainly refound himself under SAF and it was a bargain in hindsight, but at the time there was a clamour on here for Timo Hildebrand, Igor Akinfeev and Sebastien Frey
Is it?
At the time: Sancho, Varane, Sanchez, Di Maria, Schweinsteiger, Schneiderlin, Eriksen, Bruno, Pogba, Martial, Shaw
For some on here: Cristiano, Falcao, Ibrahimovic
Not how I remember it, can't be bothered to go back but if I did I'm sure I'd quite quickly find lots of negatives at the time even before they started playing for us. Of course not everyone but a fair number.
Ahhh Akinfeev, yeah he was the FM darling GK around that time.
I trusted the club to get it right more often then.
Not aware of that …best of my memory most were very keen he signed
It's Arnautovic, even if it doesn't happen.
Just being linked with him is worse than any other signings.
Just being linked with him is worse than any other signings.
That’s true enough. He was seen as a high risk icing-on-the-cake signing. Nobody foresaw both Rooney’s and (especially) RvP’s imminent decline.
The days when we were able to sign nice-to-haves feel like a lifetime ago now.
Arnautovic and Rabiot because of the timing and the state of our squad. Other transfers have been worse but the squad was so much better it didn't matter,
Arnautovic and Rabiot with the current squad, is a disgrace. And yes
Embarrassing.
Arnautovic and Rabiot with the current squad, is a disgrace. And yes
Embarrassing.
Arnautovic - Massive cnut
Rabiot - Massive cnut
Sancho - Overrated English trash (sorry, a spade is a spade)
AWB & Maguire - Same as above
Pogba - Destined to fail from day 1. You don't buy a social media prima donna for a traditional club like United
Rabiot - Massive cnut
Sancho - Overrated English trash (sorry, a spade is a spade)
AWB & Maguire - Same as above
Pogba - Destined to fail from day 1. You don't buy a social media prima donna for a traditional club like United
Yep, first signs of the rot appearing for me.
Kleberson, Djemba-Djemba, and David Bellion. No idea where any of that came from - not that Seba Veron left the biggest shoes to fill, but anyone who was excited about these signings was...unusual.
Timmy Howard wasn't exactly setting the world on fire either. Solid signing, as it turned out.
2003 was a rough summer, until they got that little Portuguese kid in.
Timmy Howard wasn't exactly setting the world on fire either. Solid signing, as it turned out.
2003 was a rough summer, until they got that little Portuguese kid in.
It's Fellaini by an absolute mile
There were some, like Carrick and Valencia (and Obertan, hehe) where the players themselves weren't considered that bad on their own by us fans, but who they supposedly replaced made their signings rather disappointing,
Fellaini is hard to beat, yeah. For me, the Ashley Young signing was very much on the 'meh / oh ffs' side of things...
I was thinking that we used to sign THE best English talents in the league that every team would have liked to sign (Rooney, Ferdinand), and now we sign a pretty good English talent that our rivals won't be too fussed about... turned out to be a somewhat decent signing one might say,
but it left me wondering whether Fergie stopped looking at great players as potential targets (the came RVP mind you...).
Like many others, I was super skeptical regard Maguire and AWB, and I feel like it doesn't take a genius to suspect they won't cut it at the level United aspire to be. My eye for transfers and potential is often crap, so I was actually quite surprised that my gut feeling was accurate here.
Oh and Laurent Blanc for me. Was very well past his best and made the sell of Stam all the more present. Barthez, on the contrary, I was hyped about
Fellaini is hard to beat, yeah. For me, the Ashley Young signing was very much on the 'meh / oh ffs' side of things...
I was thinking that we used to sign THE best English talents in the league that every team would have liked to sign (Rooney, Ferdinand), and now we sign a pretty good English talent that our rivals won't be too fussed about... turned out to be a somewhat decent signing one might say,
but it left me wondering whether Fergie stopped looking at great players as potential targets (the came RVP mind you...).
Like many others, I was super skeptical regard Maguire and AWB, and I feel like it doesn't take a genius to suspect they won't cut it at the level United aspire to be. My eye for transfers and potential is often crap, so I was actually quite surprised that my gut feeling was accurate here.
Oh and Laurent Blanc for me. Was very well past his best and made the sell of Stam all the more present. Barthez, on the contrary, I was hyped about
Nick Powell was an odd one.
But ye, Fellaini and Arnautivic are easily top.
Let's hope Ten Hag is more genius than we think.
But ye, Fellaini and Arnautivic are easily top.
Let's hope Ten Hag is more genius than we think.
Arnautovic when he played for Stoke would have been disappointing, never mind now.
If we buy Arnautovic then its shows how far we have fallen and Utd is failing as an organisation. Don't blame Ten Hag 1%, the board is just repeating and rinsing mistakes of the past. I am raging at even the thought of this player in a UTD shirt.
I seem to remember some thought Quaresma was the bigger talent than Ronaldo, and being frustrated by that signing which is actually not as insane as it may read, Outside of the right foot guy was a proper talent.
Fellaini due to what it indicated, long ball physical play, Maguire bought on hype and MOTD highlights of his funny runs forward, Ashley Young, whose great strength at Villa was being an earlier Grealish and winning free kicks, Owen, enough said.
Mourinho, should never have been allowed near the club.
Fellaini due to what it indicated, long ball physical play, Maguire bought on hype and MOTD highlights of his funny runs forward, Ashley Young, whose great strength at Villa was being an earlier Grealish and winning free kicks, Owen, enough said.
Mourinho, should never have been allowed near the club.
Donny vdB
Traditional club ? We have been nothing but social media focused these last few years.
I was a bit meh when we signed Antonio Valencia
Nope. That was Peter Davenport, who was a decent player but a completely different one to Hughes. Atkinson failed to adapt our style of play to accommodate him, with unsurprising results.
Gibson was also a decent player but was one of Atkinson's final "try anything" desperation signings. He never got a proper chance.
So were lots of people, but he hit the ground running and was accepted as a good signing in his own right pretty quickly; his being a Ronaldo replacement was soon forgotten.