Sadio Mané

[DiceRoller]

The reaction on here is hilarious.

People "embarrassed" at this "Liverpool" signing.

If we sign him and he flops then bring out the negative. For now, if this is true, I have to assume LVG sees something good in him.

Am more interested to know what he sees and how he can improve us.

 

[Ish]

Feel sorry for Soton, but hey, that's how football goes! They just need to continue spending/developing wisely.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Pogue only last week you were saying our football was dire and the light in your life was getting so dark we had you on round the clock watch!

We've been tough to watch for ages. Even against crap opposition in the FA Cup. Last night restored the faith. Especially after (hurrah!) a solid away display. Plus I've decided Memphis is a future superstar. So my "blip" is officially over!

 

[Inigo Montoya]

The reaction on here is hilarious.

People "embarrassed" at this "Liverpool" signing.

If we sign him and he flops then bring out the negative. For now, if this is true, I have to assume LVG sees something good in him.

Am more interested to know what he sees and how he can improve us.

What's embarrassing is how many people think this has substance

 

[Roman Bellic]

Feel sorry for Soton, but hey, that's how football goes! They just need to continue spending/developing wisely.

Which is why they appointed the right manager for this type of situation.

 

[vodrake]

God, it's so embarrassing being a United fan right now

 

[Maxii]

Could be a stroke of genius. Would love to come back to this thread in a year after Pedro flops and Manè scores 30 goals for us . If only...

 

[Inigo Montoya]

God, it's so embarrassing being a United fan right now

Oh bugger off then! It's more a case of having embarrassing fans rather than being embarrassed of whom you support

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

So mane people voting "nay"!

I am guessing this is another case of many on here not having seen him play properly.

He is a great player - I would be more excited about this than Pedro (who was a functional signing, not that exciting)

OMG, just read through a few pages - its worse than I thought - the reactions on here show an embarrassing lack of football knowledge. He's strong, lightning quick, incredibly direct and skillful - defenders hate playing against him.

 

[RedorDead21]

The Pedro stuff was leaked from Spain. It looks like LvG was semi-interested but changed his mind.

The Mane leak seems to have come from United's end. But we're not the type of club that usually does that, as you say. So it begs the question why we've talked to the media now. Either we've suddenly changed our modus operandi or the Mane bid is being used as a negotiating tactic of some sort. There clearly is a positive if that tactic is the one I outlined.

I think the narrative we pulled out is a good one for us to use but I would bet my house that was not the case. This replacement for Di Maria which is always apparently in the background is sure taking a while to surface. Like Blind now at CB after a Ramos chase....chances are there is no alternative for Pedro waiting to sign on the dotted line.

 

[sun_tzu]

If he can score a hat trick in under three minutes he can score 100 a game for us.
Cl etc he can score 500 this season...
Yay we win

 

[Ole90+3]

What's embarrassing is how many people think this has substance

Well there must be something to this for BBC to report it.

It's a good thing either way. I don't think we would brief the journos about a bid for Mane if we weren't in for someone. It may not be Mane.

The reactions in here are ridiculous regardless though. It's like Mane hasn't proved that he is a very useful player in the league.

You can almost guarantee if the guy played for Lyon, the reaction in here would be very different.

At the very least, the guy has a lot of potential and a bag full of pace.

 

[Spoony]

OMG, just read through a few pages - its worse than I thought - the reactions on here show an embarrassing lack of football knowledge. He's strong, lightning quick, incredibly direct and skillful - defenders hate playing against him.

Yeah he's very fast, and we need more pace. I've not seen much of him mind you.

 

[VorZakone]

God, it's so embarrassing being a United fan right now

Why? United just won the first 2 games and has a 99% chance of reaching the CL group stages.

 

[mazhar13]

The thought process of journalists this summer regarding our right wing situation:

• Right winger with pace needed after di Maria sold - check
• Link to Pedro as he's on Barcelona's bench - check
• Man. Utd. declare no interest in Pedro after some time - check
• Link Man. Utd. to another pacey wide player who's somewhat probable - check
• Link to Sadio Mane whose Southampton team's had a bad start - check
• Profit???

Honestly, though, I'm loving how Man. Utd. are quite tight-lipped about their activities in the transfer market. It reminds me of our time under Sir Alex where we wouldn't really reveal our transfer activities to the media.

 

[RedorDead21]

OMG, just read through a few pages - its worse than I thought - the reactions on here show an embarrassing lack of football knowledge. He's strong, lightning quick, incredibly direct and skillful - defenders hate playing against him.

Are you honestly suggesting Mane is on any level comparable to Pedro of barcelona? I say its those on here saying this is like self preservation gone mad!

 

[Pentagruel]

This makes no sense because there is no way Southampton would sell him. I definitely rate Mane but I also don't see him as a sure bet to succeed at a club like United and in that case, he would be in the same boat as the young players already here.

From Southamptons point of view, he and Wanyama are probably their best players who are likely to be next to move on for big fees, but Mane has only been there one season and would never be let go for anything less then an astronomical fee. He is going to be key to Southamptons season and it would be stupid to sell him unless it's ridiculous money. Such a deal would be bad for Southampton and bad for United.

LvG would be rather dumb to make inquiries into such a transfer at this point. But then again, he does have a woeful transfer history throughout his career.

 

[Roman Bellic]

The thought process of journalists this summer regarding our right wing situation:

• Right winger with pace needed after di Maria sold - check
• Link to Pedro as he's on Barcelona's bench - check
• Man. Utd. declare no interest in Pedro after some time - check
• Link Man. Utd. to another pacey wide player who's somewhat probable - check
• Link to Sadio Mane whose Southampton team's had a bad start - check
• Profit???

Honestly, though, I'm loving how Man. Utd. are quite tight-lipped about their activities in the transfer market. It reminds me of our time under Sir Alex where we wouldn't really reveal our transfer activities to the media.

So Woody wasn't on his way to Spain then?

 

[hobbers]

Perhaps, but your illustration clearly stated they were diverting attention from Pedro to Mane which makes no sense as this is even worse seeing as we just got rejected and which shouldn't even be the case because as you say they don't care about criticism.

But that's because your assuming that we're diverting attention to save face, which is almost certainly not the case. If we're diverting attention it's because there's someone else and we don't want anyone finding out yet.

 

[VorZakone]

Wouldn't immediately write off Mané though. Sokratis turned out to be a good CB for Dortmund, Rakitic is currently a class act for Barca (lots of people thought Sevilla was his level), Willian turned out a real good asset for Chelsea etc. He might step up his game at United.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

He is a great player - I would be more excited about this than Pedro (who was a functional signing, not that exciting)

Mane is a very good player, no doubt about it. Pedro is better though, and was better at 23 than Mane is now -- it's not even close tbh.

 

[vodrake]

Oh bugger off then! It's more a case of having embarrassing fans rather than being embarrassed of whom you support

Why? United just won the first 2 games and has a 99% chance of reaching the CL group stages.

Haha, I was just being sarcastic over the number of people who seem to feel genuinely upset that some randomers on the internet may be laughing at their clubs expense over todays events, despite everything positive we have going for us. It reminded me of how "Embarrassed" used to be the Cafs favourite word during the Moyes era.

Sorry, probably not the right time and place to have a fake meltdown.

 

[sullydnl]

So mane people voting "nay"!

I am guessing this is another case of many on here not having seen him play properly.

He is a great player - I would be more excited about this than Pedro (who was a functional signing, not that exciting)

I've seen plenty of Mane and I'm sure others have too. He plays for Southampton after all, not some obscure team in a league none of us ever watch.

Mane has talent and pace, obviously, but is very inconsistent and nowhere near as good as Pedro right now. I've seen nothing to suggest Mane is ready to make the step up just yet, he still has a lot of developing to do. Whereas Pedro would have walked straight into our side. They're really not comparable as is, one is the finished article while the other is all potential.

 

[mazhar13]

So Woody wasn't on his way to Spain then?

He may have been just to check on Pedro's situation to see if he's actually available, but I don't think van Gaal was ever really keen on him. I'm led to believe it was Woodward trying to set a good price on Pedro once the papers came out with stories about Pedro wanting to leave and telling van Gaal about this option. I don't really think van Gaal was ever keen on Pedro, and he's not someone who'll meddle with the background transfer activity, including pricing players, unlike Sir Alex.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Yeah he's very fast, and we need more pace. I've not seen much of him mind you.

Took him a while to adapt to the Premier League but post Xmas last season:

16 starts (4 sub)
9 goals
3 assists

Not bad for an attacking mid

 

[Croftona7]

Saints fan at work said he thinks Mane is their best player at present.

I've never specifically consciously looked out for him before but he does seem to be involved in most of what they do which is good.

Not a big name player but just have to trust the manager and his assessment.

But it's probably all b#ll#cks anyway just like 99% of what we read via social media.

Look how many people on twitter are already saying we bid last week and are considering following it up, when this morning nobody had said a frickin word about him, if that's not evidence that nobody really knows anything then I don't know what is!

 

[Classical Mechanic]

10 goals in 35 appearances in the league last year, his first season in the league and only 22 years old. Navas for City scored 0 in 35 appearances, supposedly in the prime of his career at 28 then. He would be fine as a squad player and has potential for improvement too.

 

[Woodenlung]

I think we're in full on "oh shit, scramble" mode with this one.something has obviously gone wrong this transfer window if we're going after Sadio Mane with less than two weeks left.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Are you honestly suggesting Mane is on any level comparable to Pedro of barcelona? I say its those on here saying this is like self preservation gone mad!

Well Pedro has declined in recent years whereas Mane is on the way up. Easy to look good as a super sub for Barca

 

[Seveneric]

Are United back to being the jewish kid on Christmas?

 

[lem8sh]

This is a signing that could go either way. Better to reserve judgement until/if he plays for us.

 

[Hed Zitin]

Smokescreen . That's over thinking it.

 

[RedorDead21]

Took him a while to adapt to the Premier League but post Xmas last season:

16 starts (4 sub)
9 goals
3 assists

Not bad for an attacking mid

Yet move across to the what transfers we need and for the past 5 months an attacking mid wasn't a priority. We have Mata playing wide right. We have Depay looking like he could be a great for us. We have Rooney looking way off his best. We have no CBs on the bench for a CL qualifier. We have a goalkeeping issue that needs resolution. Yet we are linked with Pedro, rightfully or wrongfully and everyone loses sight of what we actually needs and convinces themselves without him we are a lesser outfit. I'd say his signing would be one to far in this window. I mean that in respect of we need others. A Huge overhaul of players in like Pedro in this window would probably send us backwards. I like the guy, but he just would not be any kind of game changer for us this season IMO. Give us a CB of note or a striker please.

 

[prarek]

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[Roman Bellic]

But that's because your assuming that we're diverting attention to save face, which is almost certainly not the case. If we're diverting attention it's because there's someone else and we don't want anyone finding out yet.

The thing is i don't think we are diverting any attention at all, and if that's the intention then we really aren't doing a good job, why divert attention from a player we have actively been chasing for 4 weeks and opted not to sign to a player who is clearly not for sale and probably not even good enough to sign for United? All part of a master plan to sign another player who is still unknown to the media.

What a load of bull if true.

 

[sallycinnamin]

Will he be the Mane striker?

- Chelsea's offer forced a decision on Pedro that we'd stalled on for over a month, LVG decided he didn't want him
- Scramble in the media to find out who the real target is
- Leak Mane interest to divert attention

That is what is happening here.

Better than the Bourne Identity shame his name wasn't Jason Mane.

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Yet move across to the what transfers we need and for the past 5 months an attacking mid wasn't a priority. We have Mata playing wide right. We have Depay looking like he could be a great for us. We have Rooney looking way off his best. We have no CBs on the bench for a CL qualifier. We have a goalkeeping issue that needs resolution. Yet we are linked with Pedro, rightfully or wrongfully and everyone loses sight of what we actually needs and convinces themselves without him we are a lesser outfit. I'd say his signing would be one to far in this window. I mean that in respect of we need others. A Huge overhaul of players in like Pedro in this window would probably send us backwards. I like the guy, but he just would not be any kind of game changer for us this season IMO. Give us a CB of note or a striker please.

Agree we need a striker, but we also need more pace behind it. Mane can play anywhere across the line, he may be the elusive 'second striker' that LVG craves. Or may be a smokescreen.

 

[forevrared]

In a strange way, I think this could actually be the level of player we should be targeting (unless we're replacing Rooney).

I'm very happy with Depay and Mata in the advanced positions and Schneiderlin and Carrick/Schweinsteiger in the two midfield spots. Depending on the opponent and situation, that leaves one central spot for Januzaj, Herrera, Wilson, Hernandez, Perreria and so on. Signing Pedro probably would have pushed Mata back central exclusively and put an even bigger logjam there and likely spelled the end of Herrera.

Mane would fit the system and seems capable of getting a lot better. He's also a bit like Memphis in the very little I've seen of him where he could fill several different roles in our attack. And he's fast as shit.

I dunno. Maybe it's wishful thinking.

 

[Lennon7]

So who's the secret signing in the process LVG talked about a few weeks back then? I really do despair with him sometimes. He's reportedly turned down/halted the signings of many quality players over the past couple of years.

 

[Roman Bellic]

He may have been just to check on Pedro's situation to see if he's actually available, but I don't think van Gaal was ever really keen on him. I'm led to believe it was Woodward trying to set a good price on Pedro once the papers came out with stories about Pedro wanting to leave and telling van Gaal about this option. I don't really think van Gaal was ever keen on Pedro, and he's not someone who'll meddle with the background transfer activity, including pricing players, unlike Sir Alex.

Why would he need to travel all the way to check on the availability of a player who has a buyout clause, same player who has agreed personal terms with us ? LVG also stated that he was looking to sign a player who fits Pedro's description.