Ruben Neves | Signed for Al Hilal (SA)

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Kostov said:
Absolute bollocks and I don't even know where to start. So if we don't manage to get this world class player in FDJ we will go out there and look for the next one of the same ilk? Which is who exactly? And these significant standard of players who we should only target do they wait on the wings to come and play in the Europa League alongside dogshit quality like McT and Fred?
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Exactly.

I have been baffled by some of the media briefing over the past day. Manchester based journalists saying that United are waiting for De Jong because they can't get players like Rice and Bellingham. :rolleyes:

What makes the club think these players will want to come to Man Utd if we keep finishing 6th, which will be likely unless we strengthen?

When Klopp came in he didn't instantly go for the likes of Thiago. He brought in Milner, Wijnaldum, players who were not Thiago level but who could get them to the place where Thiago level players would join him. United seem to be trying to ignore the fact that's necessary, deluding ourselves into thinking we can just get a top midfielder next season if we don't buy this season. As if failing again this season won't make top players less interested in us.
 
#07 said:
Exactly.


When Klopp came in he didn't instantly go for the likes of Thiago. He brought in Milner, Wijnaldum, players who were not Thiago level but who could get them to the place where Thiago level players would join him. United seem to be trying to ignore the fact that's necessary, deluding ourselves into thinking we can just get a top midfielder next season if we don't buy this season. As if failing again this season won't make top players less interested in us.
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Wasn't Milner signed the summer before Klopp was appointed?
 
the hea said:
Wasn't Milner signed the summer before Klopp was appointed?
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My bad if he was but you get the point.

United can't turn our noses up at players who are better than what we have, just cos we'd like players who are world class.

We are not close to the level where world class players will see us as an attractive destination. So we'd be better off improving to the extent we can, rather than relying on McFred until a top, top player just decides Man Utd is where he wants to go.
 
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When you consider that the world and its dog identified issues of character and attitude in our squad…this guy has it in abundance and is already an upgrade technically on McFred. the only issue would appear to be the price tag.

We need a midfielder though so if FDJ ain’t coming…this guy has to be next on the list. My fear is ETH will try do without in order to get DeJong next season. That won’t work out well.
 
#07 said:
Exactly.

I have been baffled by some of the media briefing over the past day. Manchester based journalists saying that United are waiting for De Jong because they can't get players like Rice and Bellingham. :rolleyes:

What makes the club think these players will want to come to Man Utd if we keep finishing 6th, which will be likely unless we strengthen?

When Klopp came in he didn't instantly go for the likes of Thiago. He brought in Milner, Wijnaldum, players who were not Thiago level but who could get them to the place where Thiago level players would join him. United seem to be trying to ignore the fact that's necessary, deluding ourselves into thinking we can just get a top midfielder next season if we don't buy this season. As if failing again this season won't make top players less interested in us.
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They screwed up the whole summer transfer dealing with the dynamic they implemented, and it reeks of chaos and disorganization. Chase De Jong all summer, without deadline to allow ourselves to go for an alternative for a decent price, going to Ajax overpaying for Martinez and while buying him effectively destroying our chances of getting Antony, who IMO would have been a better investment based on our needs.

And they they have the face to brief bullshit like the Rice and Bell nonsense you mention. Then I look at our fanbase and how many of them actually buy that and I understand their cheap bollocks.
 
Neves, based on what he has shown at Wolves is miles better than McFred. Although I am weary that bigger clubs haven’t come for him. Even if we concede that our scouting department is shit, the rest of the competent or at least ambitious clubs have not shown any interest. So how good a player is he?
 
If we don't sign at least 1 proper cm/dm this season (we need 2 really), while having lost matic and Pogba we might as well bite the hand off anyone offering us Europa League football in 23/24.
 
I think Neves is very good. He might have some limitations but not as many as McTominay has, and it is up to the coaches to design a system that can cover for those. I actually think McFred have some of the attributes Neves might be missing. It would be better if you get FDJ in though, obviously.
 
Lash said:
Well in all fairness, he was just badly advised as a Mendes client going to Wolves. He's a well established Premier League midfielder at 25, he's ready for the next move. Progress doesn't have to be directly linear.
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Progress is also not guaranteed. Sometimes a player isn't as good as the initial hype suggests.
 
#07 said:
My bad if he was but you get the point.

United can't turn our noses up at players who are better than what we have, just cos we'd like players who are world class.

We are not close to the level where world class players will see us as an attractive destination. So we'd be better off improving to the extent we can, rather than relying on McFred until a top, top player just decides Man Utd is where he wants to go.
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The thing is, Wolves will want 65+ million for him, which is something we as a club have to move away from if we want to be successful again.
 
Ruben would be an upgrade on our current options in central midfield. As a fallback option he should not be dismissed.
 
amolbhatia50k said:
Progress is also not guaranteed. Sometimes a player isn't as good as the initial hype suggests.
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Fair point, but he has clearly progressed though since he broke through, he just hasn't played for a big team yet. Probably not helped by their OTT valuation, but there aren't many players like him in the league.
 
I honestly feel this one is getting more and more likely. I think it might start to grow some legs over the next week or so.
 
Marcus said:
We do have a similar player in Eriksen now. Dead ball specialist and pass master. So not sure if we would go for Neves now. Seems different from FDJ if he is to be the alternative?
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Erikson is more a AM, Neves is a 6, someone who dictates play which is not really what Erikson does.
 
I’m not really seeing the De Jong to United thing happening so I guess I’m opening up to this a bit more.

Beggars can’t be choosers type transfer.
 
Wolves will inflact maximum damage.

If we thought paying £29m for Fellaini in the last hours of the window was embarrassing, wait until we're paying three times Neves' value.
 
Baneofthegame said:
The thing is, Wolves will want 65+ million for him, which is something we as a club have to move away from if we want to be successful again.
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This is true. Another reason why United should have put a proper deadline on the De Jong thing. Wolves will smell our desperation and hold out for a big fee. Once again we have let ourselves get deep into the transfer window without sorting ourselves out, handing over all the power to the selling clubs. Murtough madness...
 
#07 said:
This is true. Another reason why United should have put a proper deadline on the De Jong thing. Wolves will smell our desperation and hold out for a big fee. Once again we have let ourselves get deep into the transfer window without sorting ourselves out, handing over all the power to the selling clubs. Murtough madness...
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There's also rumors of him extending his contract, if we take too long we might miss Neves too.
 
We should put a reasonable fee on the table and explore other opportunities. We can't keep working on one option at a time and then being surprised at the inflated fee.
 
He's quite some way off De Jong but still a good player. He's worth £50m probably and we should stick an offer around there on the table and they can take it or leave it. £65+ million is just what this board would do though......
 
This stage of the transfer window is called 'Fellaini' stage. Any one , including Fellaini , will appear like Xavi and Iniesta.
 
You don't need the best midfielders in the world to have a good, functioning midfield. Look at Henderson, good players in a good system will provide what you need, and Neves is a good player that fits the profile of what we need for the system we want to play. Just because he isn't as good as De Jong, or isn't as perfectly suited to the system as him, doesn't mean he can't help to vastly improve our dysfunctional midfield.
 
Conor said:
You don't need the best midfielders in the world to have a good, functioning midfield. Look at Henderson, good players in a good system will provide what you need, and Neves is a good player that fits the profile of what we need for the system we want to play. Just because he isn't as good as De Jong, or isn't as perfectly suited to the system as him, doesn't mean he can't help to vastly improve our dysfunctional midfield.
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Yup. This forum used make fun of Wijnaldum. He did more than expected because he knew what he was doing, thanks to improved communication and set of proper instructions. Silently hoping this will be injected in players heads.

That being said, Ten Hag prefers De Jong over Neves which is logical.
 
Infra-red said:
This is the key point. He's better than all the midfielders we had at the club last season.
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That is the key point I am personally am arguing against. You get a player that's not the one you really want, but once you have them you will stick with them. We aren't buying Neves this summer, then upgrading to an actual top class midfielder in 2 years and selling Neves, we buy Neves, no matter how good or bad he is, we are stuck with him for probably 6 or 7 years and won't by another player in that position.
 
I wouldn't mind him in theory.

But the problem has always been that he'll be overpriced as feck.

It's another Maguire situation waiting to happen and we don't need that.
 
skc_18 said:
This stage of the transfer window is called 'Fellaini' stage. Any one , including Fellaini , will appear like Xavi and Iniesta.
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still almost a month left

Fellaini stage is with about 6 hours to go with Moyes and Woody both scrathing their arses
 
Everyone wants De Jong. Of course, he’s a class player.

What I don’t understand is why people don’t want to add in another quality midfielder in Neves. He’d instantly give us more options in such a depleted area of the squad and he is a good player.
Sadly I think it’s possibly a bit too late to get him now, Wolves will ask for an unreasonable amount.

Resigning myself to a McFred midfield while hoping Eriksen can pull off a deeper role across an entire season and help patch the situation.
 
Is he a Mendes client? If so, there could be a quid pro quo to be made with the Ronaldo situation. He gets Wolves to sell for a reasonable price (£30m-£35m), which he should be able to do since Wolves is pretty much his own personal plaything, and we flog Ronnie for a nominal fee or even mutually agree to terminate his contract.
 
The problem of not getting one or two top players in this window is that our stretch of absence from CL increases by one more year, directly proportional to top players refusing to join us in the upcoming window as well.
At the top end of the PL, there is absolutely no alternative to not strengthening.
 
Chesterlestreet said:
I wouldn't mind him in theory.

But the problem has always been that he'll be overpriced as feck.

It's another Maguire situation waiting to happen and we don't need that.
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Exactly. £30m on a player thats an upgrade but not the end game is fine. £65m on a player that you don't think is good enough for your first team in a year or twos time is insane.

Its not just the waste of money its the wages and the trouble you would have selling them on if it comes to it.
 
Strootman's Finger said:
That is the key point I am personally am arguing against. You get a player that's not the one you really want, but once you have them you will stick with them. We aren't buying Neves this summer, then upgrading to an actual top class midfielder in 2 years and selling Neves, we buy Neves, no matter how good or bad he is, we are stuck with him for probably 6 or 7 years and won't by another player in that position.
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Although I have some sympathy with this way of thinking, it will inevitably lead to another season of McFred (this time without Matic or Pogba to come in from the bench). Our midfield options are so utterly appalling, that it may be necessary to proceed with incremental improvements if a large leap in quality is not possible (eg if De Jong proves unattainable). Neves may not be as good as De Jong, but there's no question that he is better than all of the midfielders currently at the club and our need is so acute that I think we are forced to act. We don't necessarily have to sign Neves, but we do have to sign a midfielder.
 
Strootman's Finger said:
That is the key point I am personally am arguing against. You get a player that's not the one you really want, but once you have them you will stick with them. We aren't buying Neves this summer, then upgrading to an actual top class midfielder in 2 years and selling Neves, we buy Neves, no matter how good or bad he is, we are stuck with him for probably 6 or 7 years and won't by another player in that position.
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You have a point but our midfield options are so limited this doesn't really apply.

We have to recognise that as long as we're outside the CL we're not an appealing prospect. We can target star players only and keep missing out or you gradually improve with shrewd signings that provide a solid base for future stars to join.

We keep putting stars in dysfunctional team's and it doesn't work, they get dragged down so let's work on being consistently good first.
 
Conor said:
You don't need the best midfielders in the world to have a good, functioning midfield. Look at Henderson, good players in a good system will provide what you need, and Neves is a good player that fits the profile of what we need for the system we want to play. Just because he isn't as good as De Jong, or isn't as perfectly suited to the system as him, doesn't mean he can't help to vastly improve our dysfunctional midfield.
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De Jong is not suited to our system at all. Neves/Neves type of player is actually a much better fit for us.
De Jong is a high risk high reward case.
 
Borys said:
De Jong is not suited to our system at all. Neves/Neves type of player is actually a much better fit for us.
De Jong is a high risk high reward case.
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De Jong isn’t suited to Ten Hag’s system? What system are you talking about?
 
SoCross said:
Everyone wants De Jong. Of course, he’s a class player.

What I don’t understand is why people don’t want to add in another quality midfielder in Neves. He’d instantly give us more options in such a depleted area of the squad and he is a good player.
Sadly I think it’s possibly a bit too late to get him now, Wolves will ask for an unreasonable amount.

Resigning myself to a McFred midfield while hoping Eriksen can pull off a deeper role across an entire season and help patch the situation.
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I think Neves is a quality player TBH. Watched a fair bit of Wolves the last couple of seasons and I've always been impressed with his vision and passing. Seems to me he'd function pretty well with a terrier like Fred alongside him.
 
Bebestation said:
I’m not really seeing the De Jong to United thing happening so I guess I’m opening up to this a bit more.

Beggars can’t be choosers type transfer.
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Well said, he is not a great player but he is definitely a good one.

He would be a valuable addition.
 
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