Its hard to do meaningful business in January. The kind of player who will improve us significantly, would see us as a step up and who's club is willing to sell is pretty rare.
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
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Seems to have been the case with the recruitment in general for a while now - they don't seem interested in pursuing alternative targets.Why does the club have such a hard-on for James Maddison ?
He's a decent player but come on surely there's more fish in the sea.
Surely we should have an A, B, C, D option for every target?
The recruitment department seems fascinated with the A target (in this case Maddison) to the point where no one else will do.
Just speculation but maybe we've been given word the player is open to coming to United.Why does the club have such a hard-on for James Maddison ?
He's a decent player but come on surely there's more fish in the sea.
Of course it, but we shouldn't have been left in this situation. I agree if the quality is there in the summer, go for it, but you worry that we will again be screwed over, when more clubs come in for the players we really need.
The problem with being given the word a player wants to come here and then pursuing them is that lately players know they can bat their eyelashes at us and get a nice fat payrise from their current club, and we dont seem to get wise to this at all...
I think the logical thing to do is go big now and try and rescue this season, because if we miss out on the CL, we'll be even further behind the rest when it comes to attracting talent in the summer. I really worry how grim it'll be for us getting top talent, it's hard enough right now with plenty still to play for.
So panic buy.
That's another problem. That they think just because we are Manchester United players will fall over themselves to be part of the Ole Project. The top players and players with ambition and who have an international career to think about want CL football. The want the exposure it gives them.
Why is it hard? at the moment quite alot of players will improve us.
No club is going to advertise a players sell because they want the most they can get. If a club says players are for sell, paying clubs will not offer much.
It is not my job to find this out, there are many at United who are paid to do this, and are not doing so. They are failing at their job.
It was clear at the end of August we needed CM's and everyone knows Pogba wants to leave so why not identify a player get a deal agreed before January.
To answer your question, at the end of the window we will see which players have moved and how many could have improved our team.
I didn't say that. Go big for our targets, we've clearly got them. I'm not saying throw money at any old idiot in desperation.
But having said that, if there was ever a team in need of a panic buy, its us, our squad is horrific, smart panic buys or loan moves could help us.
It is difficult if the players we really want are still in the CL/EL or are challenging for titles in their present clubs. The owners of those clubs are not going to sell and infuriate their own fans. Also it is a Euros year so many players are wanting to be chosen for their countries squad, that is why it should have been sorted last summer in a none tournament year.
Yep. Think we could play the "We're Man Utd, plus he's a shit ton of cash" card when Jose was here and before then, but now we've had far too many mediocre years, and our current setup just looks so underwhelming, I'm not sure it washes with the top players now, there's too many other options that are appealing. Plenty of cash rich teams more likely to play in the CL and fight for trophies than us now, who simply look more promising.
But going big on our key targets now won't mean much because they just aren't available or won't join mid season, so you'd think. No point giving Leicester an extra £20-30m for a January topping for Maddison and Sancho I wonder if he even wants us anymore. Who else?
Because there’s not a single CDM/CM or CAM out there in the world of football that would drastically improve on the shit we have playing in the first team, it has to be from the team 15 points above us in the PL.
They must think footballers don't take note of what is happening here and don't watch games and are not tactically aware about what we are doing wrong. They will watch Ole's interviews. Would he fill you with confidence? Footballers are far more astute now.
I also think if they aren't coached properly it really won't matter who we buy.
This craic about us not being attractive and it being hard to attract or obtain our targets. Surely we just need to broaden the net. Identify the players that sign for a Wolves or a Leicester and look amazing in 6 months and just cut out the middle man. We're not the elite destination we used to be but we're still more attractive than almost everyone else.
I'm sure they won't move, but I personally would rather pay over the odds to get them in hypothetically now, than watch them go elsewhere in the summer. I don't think we're in a position to wait, unless we've got contracts already signed by them in blood saying they're joining later on.
This is of course what we should be doing, its something we should have been doing for years. Yet we don't, which just makes you question the scouts and board that none of this talent is spotted and signed before its too late.
No doubt, but why would they come to United mid season? Our form is all over the place. The current manager may not still be in place by the end of the season. Players might not even rate Ole in general and feel it would be a bad move to join now.
I am sure they have identified loads of options but that doesn't mean we can force any of those players to join. I mean the money in the PL means that no single club needs to sell to balance the books. So Leicester might only sell if they receive an extraordinary offer and Madison agitates for a move. Is it sensible to offer, say, 120 mil for Madison in this window and agree to pay him the highest wages at the club?
We will for sure and I hope we have some signings but i will say that players might be a lot more willing to join Liverpool or City in January because of where the club are in footballing terms and who is managing them.
We're looking for a quick fix, if any player joins and fails to fit in before the end of the season they'll be thrown under the bus. Look at Fred. Even Maguire is being called a bad investment.
I accept we cannot sign the big players like Maddison in January and most fans would accept that. But to suggest that there are no players who would improve this team is not acceptable. Be it a Euro year, that is only for European players, what about the rest?
In the Summer the same lame excuses will come out.
"Players concentrating on Euros and will make decision after"
"Players just finished Euros and on holiday"
"Playing in the AFCON cup"
It is the same old story every year.
Bottom line is actually, if Manutd want a player, they should be doing their homework and getting it done without a fuss.
This seems to be the case and I think its a good approach in principle, but the more important questions is are we going after the right players?
I would love Maddison here. Great technical ability, has an decent engine on him and has everything to prove. Got that cocky attitude too. Sign him as far is I'm concerned.
I feel like the club think it makes them seem less desperate? But this whole "if we can't get our first choice we'll sign no one" not only just hurts the team, it makes us look disorganised and badly prepared that we have so few options.
To sign a big player in January, you need to work on the transfer at least a few months before.(in our case, years lol)
You don't suddenly wake up on the first of January and start phoning agents to sort out the transfer.
You don't suddenly wake up on the first of January and start phoning agents to sort out the transfer.
Of course, so you'd hope we'd have done that, but pretty much all noise suggests we're doing nowt, sadly.
Excuses have started
Signing big players in Jan is always tough and you more than likely will overpay. I think we should try and get a few loans just purely for depth.
My impression is that the only transfer we were working on for January was Haaland. I hope I m wrong
Does anyone really care about overpaying if it means we get the player? Chances are if we don't, by the summer we've got no chance of getting them anyway.
Yep I think so too. Now it'll be no one, even with all these injuries, which is so unbelievably negligent.
Somebody needs to tell Ed.
Money. Ambition.
Players sign for clubs for two reasons, they think they can play at a higher level and challenge.
A player thinks moving might be a step up.
Players of decent quality move all the time, I am not saying go and sign Messi or Mane.
Look at how teams conduct business, Liverpool, City, Madrid, Leicester. Without much fuss, the agent and the club have conversations, personal terms are almost agreed and the buying club know roughly how much a player will cost, pay the money and it is complete. You do not force a player to join, you sound them out.
I am sure you will accept that our targets are not Modric, Kroos, Thiago, Messi where we want them because they fit in our team. Scouts and the staff would have seen what players under that bracket will be suitable for United.
Clearly, most fans know Maddison is not possible in Jan because of how Leicester are playing and their league position, so they would have sounded the player in advance of 1st Jan. So why have him as an option in the first place knowing you cannot sign him? surely you look at other targets?
Well this might be the case if they actually want to sign someone. Surely a player like say Bruno Fernandes would be like Manutd I am sorry I would rather play for City or Liverpool even they are not after him?
How do you think teams like Leicester, Spurs, Everton sign players because they hardly compete and still get players?
These excuses need to stop, we are only fooling ourselves.
Jan is tough because we over pay?
What difference is it to overpay by £10/20m in Jan than the summer?
We over pay regardless of the month the transfer window is in?
Fred - Summer signing over paid
Maguire - Summer signing over paid
AWB - summer signing overpaid
I rather overpay now, get the player in and take it from there than wait till the summer and go through this again.
Could you do me a favour and break down our scouting setup and department please? Some names and ins and outs of what they do would be fabulous, thank you!
@romufc I'm not disagreeing with any of your points per se, I just think the mismanagement of the club has put us in a position where the kind of player who will instantly improve us is less likely to want to join. I hope to be proven wrong and we still have plenty of time to get deals done.
No shit. We'd be lucky if he wants to come at all. But theres a million levels between Lingard, Mata and Maddison way above so we should easily to able to bring in one of the others.
Good point. We're going to overpay for players regardless of when we sign them. Even regardless of their contract status - Young had a year on his contract and we paid £18 million for him.
January is as good a time as any to waste our cash
It is the same every year for the last 5 years. January windows are pointless for us it seems
I don't like overpaying purely because of the fact it just adds more pressure on the player to perform instantly. Not something we need right now.
Agreed, we need quality players and they will look at Manutd in the current state and say no thanks. I am fine where I am.
We just have to believe that it is possible because Liverpool signed Mane and them prior to being the force they are.
Obviously this means we are not going to sign an established player, it will be a player who can become better.
That's not just in January, we will have the same issue in the summer as well?
So if we are going to sign a player like that, I would rather give him the 6 months to settle in so next season we are okay.
Would you agree that whatever signing we make will be for next season albeit adding numbers for this season?
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