We don't know how to sell players

honirelandboy

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Look we gave players like Lingard, Mata, Jones, Baileym Andreas, williams new contracts. And decent contracts at that, why would they leave.
 

SWE-Chucky

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I still can't believe that we are holding on with a player like Jones, it feels like his last game was 5 years ago and he is cashing good money every week when though Maguire, Lindelöf, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Mengi are all before him in picking order. Sell him for 5m to West Brom or a similar team, get some cash and get rid of his wage.

Matas contract is also a mysterious.

Why do we have 5 goalkeepers? De Gea, Henderson, Bishop, Grant and Heaton? Bishop went on loan and Grant and Heaton will probably not play one minute this season if both De Gea and Henderson stays at the club and are healthy.

We have so many offensive players for the top 4 positions but only 3 real C(d)Ms for the 2 spots behind in Mctominey, Fred and Matic, i know Pogba plays there but that is such a waste of his ability and talent.

Up front we have Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani, Martial, Bruno, Pogba, Mata, Amad, Pellestri, Sancho, James. 11 players.

Our team is very unbalanced.
 

Jam

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I still can't believe that we are holding on with a player like Jones, it feels like his last game was 5 years ago and he is cashing good money every week when though Maguire, Lindelöf, Bailly, Tuanzebe, Mengi are all before him in picking order. Sell him for 5m to West Brom or a similar team, get some cash and get rid of his wage.
Who is going to pay money for Jones, and who is going to pay him anything close to what he is earning to make him want to leave?

I agree his increasing contract renewals have been a mystery, but there’s a reason we can’t sell him. He shouldn’t have this current contract but he does and no one is going to want to take that burden on.

Matas contract is also a mysterious.
He’s a cracking personality, a good influence on the squad’s atmosphere. Fully believe he’ll be doing his coaching badges this season. He’s still a tidy player and will do what is asked of him when required in dead rubbers, albeit he doesn’t have the legs for games of any importance.

Why do we have 5 goalkeepers? De Gea, Henderson, Bishop, Grant and Heaton? Bishop went on loan and Grant and Heaton will probably not play one minute this season if both De Gea and Henderson stays at the club and are healthy.
We’ve been absolutely spoilt with goal keeper talent recently. But somethings got to give with De Gea and Hendo - I can see De Gea leaving but again who is going to pay him £350k a week? We simply aren’t able to sell him.

Grant is a coach essentially, but I believe because he hasn’t got his badges yet he can’t be employed as a “coach” so on paper he’s a player. Bishop will be out on loan and Heaton will be our back up keeper (third choice pending De Gea leaving).

We have so many offensive players for the top 4 positions but only 3 real C(d)Ms for the 2 spots behind in Mctominey, Fred and Matic, i know Pogba plays there but that is such a waste of his ability and talent.
I agree, we need a proper DM to come in.

Matic is another one whose role is quasi-coach/part time player. Brings experience and professionalism to the atmosphere of the squad and likely will be doing his coaching badges. And again can come in when we need to rest players in the less important games.


Up front we have Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani, Martial, Bruno, Pogba, Mata, Amad, Pellestri, Sancho, James. 11 players.

Our team is very unbalanced.
That’s 11 players for 5 positions. Of which Mata doesn’t really play anymore, Pogba could be leaving, Pellestri will go on loan, and Amad is young and inexperienced.
 

Chairman Steve

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I think sometimes we leave it a little too late when trying to sell some of our youth players with potential. It probably clashes with our ethos of giving youth a chance. It’s just that we give our youth a bit too many chances that the price on them goes down and it’s a hard sell after that, plus on top of that, we’re one of the biggest clubs in the world and we automatically pay high wages.

We need to try and master what Liverpool have been doing the past few years, make a call on youth players early and then sell them for big money, like Liverpool fleeced Bournemouth for Jordan Ibe and more recently Sheff Utd for Brewster. £25m for a striker who could not score all season.
 

Polar

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Who is going to pay money for Jones, and who is going to pay him anything close to what he is earning to make him want to leave?

I agree his increasing contract renewals have been a mystery, but there’s a reason we can’t sell him. He shouldn’t have this current contract but he does and no one is going to want to take that burden on.



He’s a cracking personality, a good influence on the squad’s atmosphere. Fully believe he’ll be doing his coaching badges this season. He’s still a tidy player and will do what is asked of him when required in dead rubbers, albeit he doesn’t have the legs for games of any importance.



We’ve been absolutely spoilt with goal keeper talent recently. But somethings got to give with De Gea and Hendo - I can see De Gea leaving but again who is going to pay him £350k a week? We simply aren’t able to sell him.

Grant is a coach essentially, but I believe because he hasn’t got his badges yet he can’t be employed as a “coach” so on paper he’s a player. Bishop will be out on loan and Heaton will be our back up keeper (third choice pending De Gea leaving).



I agree, we need a proper DM to come in.

Matic is another one whose role is quasi-coach/part time player. Brings experience and professionalism to the atmosphere of the squad and likely will be doing his coaching badges. And again can come in when we need to rest players in the less important games.
That’s 11 players for 5 positions. Of which Mata doesn’t really play anymore, Pogba could be leaving, Pellestri will go on loan, and Amad is young and inexperienced.
Big happy family - who takes care of each other :D
 

Commentary

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The outgoings have been absolutely abysmal and frustrating. (As well as the over lucrative long contracts that make them unsellable)

I hope, at least Jesse Lingard gets sold.

But crickets around Daniel James, United should be cashing in on him.

They can't even seem to get loan deals out the door. They screwed up Henderson, he should have played another year at Sheffield.

I thought Brandon Williams was going to go out the door to Southhampton?

I am assuming Andreas Pereira will be gone by August or back on loan, but I imagine Phil Jones is unsellable at this point.
 

Andycoleno9

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Time for sell Williams, James and Tuanzebe is now. While their price is good. What we will do; put them on bench and play them then and there.
Lingard; i don't know how hard can be to sell him? Just lower demand a little and at least 3 or 4 PL clubs will come with offer.
 

Andycoleno9

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Ole wants to keep Lingard because he "showed good attitude", Jones as 5th defender, James is "useful", young(ish) players despite how good or bad they are (Williams and Tuanzebe) are only considered for loan.

It is not just about fees and wages. We are just too reluctant to get rid of players. Looking at Chelsea sales this year; i bet that we would not sell any of those players.
 

Stacks

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Ole wants to keep Lingard because he "showed good attitude", Jones as 5th defender, James is "useful", young(ish) players despite how good or bad they are (Williams and Tuanzebe) are only considered for loan.

It is not just about fees and wages. We are just too reluctant to get rid of players. Looking at Chelsea sales this year; i bet that we would not sell any of those players.
Agreed. We are the worst. It started ok with Ole but the past 2 windows have been a struggle. We are not ruthless enough so our squad always depreciates once first teamers are off because we keep these dudes
 

TheGame

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The squad is very bloated right now. Players like Mata and Lingard on the bench today and this prevents us getting some young up and coming players getting first team experience. Have to agree that our selling is abysmal.
 

MadMike

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It's terrible really.
  1. Jones and Bailly should be gone by now. Why did we give Bailly a new contract in April if we knew we'd be in the market for a CB (Varane) only 3 months later. Then sent Tuanzebe on loan. Bonkers.
  2. Mata should have been moved on to a non-playing role or be moved on to another club to finish his career.
  3. We should sell Lingard to the highest bidder however high that bid is. He's a sub costing £5.2m a year in salaries who'll walk for free next year. Selling him even for £10m means we save £15m. One season of sub appearances is not worth £15m to us.
  4. Matic's 3-year contract last summer was a mistake. It should have been 2+1 at best.
  5. Pogba should have been made an offer early on this summer with a deadline to agree to a deal. If not accepted, he should have been put on the market. If he didn't want to move and decided to run down his contract then Dan James should have been sold this summer as he's neither good enough nor will he get enough minutes with the arrival of Sancho and Pogba still playing on the left. Especially from October onwards when Rashford's back too.
  6. Van Der Beek should have been sold this summer before he loses further value. We bought him for £40m and he's behind Lingard and Matic in the pecking order. He could have fetched £20-£25m.
Very very poor all this. We could have made space for Tuanzebe as 4th CB ahead of Bailly. We could have made space for Elanga and Amad ahead of James and Mata. We would have saved money and we wouldn't lose any quality. We would also generate enough money to buy at least one and (if Pogba got sold) maybe even two good CMs to replace Matic and provide competition to McFred.

But we're now likely to lose Pogba and Lingard on a free while VDB just sits there depreciating in value not getting minutes and Mata, Matic, Jones and Bailly stay here till 2023 just collecting salaries. Depressing.
 

Josep Dowling

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It's terrible really.
  1. Jones and Bailly should be gone by now. Why did we give Bailly a new contract in April if we knew we'd be in the market for a CB (Varane) only 3 months later. Then sent Tuanzebe on loan. Bonkers.
  2. Mata should have been moved on to a non-playing role or be moved on to another club to finish his career.
  3. We should sell Lingard to the highest bidder however high that bid is. He's a sub costing £5.2m a year in salaries who'll walk for free next year. Selling him even for £10m means we save £15m. One season of sub appearances is not worth £15m to us.
  4. Matic's 3-year contract last summer was a mistake. It should have been 2+1 at best.
  5. Pogba should have been made an offer early on this summer with a deadline to agree to a deal. If not accepted, he should have been put on the market. If he didn't want to move and decided to run down his contract then Dan James should have been sold this summer as he's neither good enough nor will he get enough minutes with the arrival of Sancho and Pogba still playing on the left. Especially from October onwards when Rashford's back too.
  6. Van Der Beek should have been sold this summer before he loses further value. We bought him for £40m and he's behind Lingard and Matic in the pecking order. He could have fetched £20-£25m.
Very very poor all this. We could have made space for Tuanzebe as 4th CB ahead of Bailly. We could have made space for Elanga and Amad ahead of James and Mata. We would have saved money and we wouldn't lose any quality. We would also generate enough money to buy at least one and (if Pogba got sold) maybe even two good CMs to replace Matic and provide competition to McFred.

But we're now likely to lose Pogba and Lingard on a free while VDB just sits there depreciating in value not getting minutes and Mata, Matic, Jones and Bailly stay here till 2023 just collecting salaries. Depressing.
This. It’s like the club ignore the wages of these players. Why do we even need Lingard? I would take a free transfer just to remove his wages off the bill but he does have value. £20m is being banded about but even half that is better than having another player who won’t play for us.

Pereira going Brazil with an option to buy of £20m to a club that has no money. What’s the point? He’s going to be 25 soon and not going to make it at United.
 

#07

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If Shaqiri was a United player, he would have gone out on loan after having his contract renewed to 'protect his value.' The club briefing that as a full international and silverware winning player they were after no less than £30-40m. :lol:
 

Andycoleno9

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I will repeat what i said on other thread; this summer showed why we struggle in this. Because we think that every player has future in this club.
We don't even consider selling young players. We send them only on loan. I get it; we think that one of them will be new Greenwood or Rashford but that is why we have coaches who need to evaluate and say; this player has future, this player maybe has future and this doesn't have. No need to give new contracts to every one of them and keep them.
We don't sell first team players (who have good value) who can be upgraded. Hendo, Fred, McT, Bailly, VDB, Martial....they are all players who are good but for who we can get good fee and invest that in better players.
And best part; squad/backup players. Lingard, James, Pereira, Dalot...we still want to keep them because "they are useful" despite the fact that their value will drop.

And yes, we demand too much for certain players.
 

Mickson

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This. It’s like the club ignore the wages of these players. Why do we even need Lingard? I would take a free transfer just to remove his wages off the bill but he does have value. £20m is being banded about but even half that is better than having another player who won’t play for us.

Pereira going Brazil with an option to buy of £20m to a club that has no money. What’s the point? He’s going to be 25 soon and not going to make it at United.
Actually, he turns 26 in January. But I agree in general, we are awful at selling. Also, we are too nice. Lingard "wants to fight for his place" with all respect for Lingard, and I love him and his fire for United, but he should be sold regardless of what he wants.
 

Nytram Shakes

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You can only sell players people want to buy. I'm sure we could get rid of a number of the players labeled as 'deadwood' on this forum on loan but that's about it.
 

Ish

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We pay our squad fillers way too much money, meaning the buying clubs might be able to afford the transfer fee, but can’t afford the wages. So unless we compromise on our fee or the player compromises on his wage, it’s a no-go.

So the real issue is the money we pay as wages, and not necessarily what we demand as a transfer fee IMO. And we seem to not want to compromise on transfer fees and instead keep offering renewals to players at risk of leaving for a free to protect their value.
 

Danish Wizard

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The problem is the high wages the players get in United. No one want to take those huge salaries.
But it's a huge issue and problem, as it stops the signing of new players + the introduction of young talents. We have a huge squad with way to many players not good enough.
 

Giggsy13

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If Shaqiri is going for €11 million then the club is being ridiculous with their reported £25 to £30 million price tag for Lingard. £15 million for Lingard is reasonable. Just shift him out, so we can reinvest in a CDM.
 

Welbeckham

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We should start by letting our fringe players’ contracts run out. Don’t renew a player who is never gonna be a permanent starter for us or a senior player who anyone wouldn’t want to sign for a 20+m£ right now. It’s the only way we can solve this thing in the long run.

Jones, Bailly, Pereira, Dalot, Lingard, Tuanzebe, De Gea, Mata, Matic and James are players who we should not (have) give(n) new contracts to. We should try to sell not 100% hopeless cases like James, Tuanzebe, Chong and Dalot right now, even Donny and Williams. For below 10 million or anything, because that’s a start. Even if we lack squad depth, having players our manager clearly doesn’t trust is unnecessary.
 

Bertie Wooster

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We clearly don't get the same prices for our squad players, and academy products who don't make it here, as clubs like Liverpool, Chelsea and City have been doing.

Perhaps it's the people trying to negotiate the sales, perhaps it's the excessive wages they're on, maybe a combination of both or some other reason. I don't know. But it's definitely a fact that we're not getting the transfer fees in for unwanted players that the other top PL clubs are doing.

It's something that we definitely need to improve upon. We're very much improving on our choice of incoming signings, and our ability to attract them; but we still need to improve our ability to sell unwanted players.
 

dave1956

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Could it also be that at least some of these players being on we assume very good contracts do not want to leave. If they wish to stay and see out their contracts then the club is in a very difficult position.
 

Utd77

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Utds problem is the fact they have too many high earners who simply will not entertain a wage drop elsewhere, unless its an offer from China as was the case with Fellaini.

The salaries of even Utds fringe players are most likely prohibitive for many clubs.
 

croadyman

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Utds problem is the fact they have too many high earners who simply will not entertain a wage drop elsewhere, unless its an offer from China as was the case with Fellaini.

The salaries of even Utds fringe players are most likely prohibitive for many clubs.
Nailed it
 

sp_107

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It's terrible really.
  1. Jones and Bailly should be gone by now. Why did we give Bailly a new contract in April if we knew we'd be in the market for a CB (Varane) only 3 months later. Then sent Tuanzebe on loan. Bonkers.
  2. Mata should have been moved on to a non-playing role or be moved on to another club to finish his career.
  3. We should sell Lingard to the highest bidder however high that bid is. He's a sub costing £5.2m a year in salaries who'll walk for free next year. Selling him even for £10m means we save £15m. One season of sub appearances is not worth £15m to us.
  4. Matic's 3-year contract last summer was a mistake. It should have been 2+1 at best.
  5. Pogba should have been made an offer early on this summer with a deadline to agree to a deal. If not accepted, he should have been put on the market. If he didn't want to move and decided to run down his contract then Dan James should have been sold this summer as he's neither good enough nor will he get enough minutes with the arrival of Sancho and Pogba still playing on the left. Especially from October onwards when Rashford's back too.
  6. Van Der Beek should have been sold this summer before he loses further value. We bought him for £40m and he's behind Lingard and Matic in the pecking order. He could have fetched £20-£25m.
Very very poor all this. We could have made space for Tuanzebe as 4th CB ahead of Bailly. We could have made space for Elanga and Amad ahead of James and Mata. We would have saved money and we wouldn't lose any quality. We would also generate enough money to buy at least one and (if Pogba got sold) maybe even two good CMs to replace Matic and provide competition to McFred.

But we're now likely to lose Pogba and Lingard on a free while VDB just sits there depreciating in value not getting minutes and Mata, Matic, Jones and Bailly stay here till 2023 just collecting salaries. Depressing.
Bit harsh on Van Beek but I agree with most of the things you mentioned. We are facing consequnces for our last few years mistake like renewing players on high salaries who are not good for us or signing bad players

Not easy to get rid of them on that kind of salaries but hope we learn from the mistakes and address this issue in near future.
 

arthurka

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Every player on at least 120K we can't move these players for any money at all. It's really ridiculous how badly this is handled. Fecking Lingard on 150k, Pereira on 75K even Williams was supposed to earn around 70K on his new contract after a handful of solid games. We really really suck at this Martial on 250K really just boggles the mind.
 

JustCoco

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The issue isn’t that we don’t know how to sell. We do.
The Club is greedy and expect high fees for deadwood.

they simply refuse to see the longterm benefit financially of clearing up the wage bill.
 

R'hllor

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Being unable to sell players or having no idea how, comes as result of a greed and inability to actually let players go when their contract is at the end. We had chance to release Jones, Matic and few others on a free and get them of the wage bill, we did the opposite. Offer them new improved contracts or if not improved, then around that area and get stuck with them.

Would understand if we would do Chelsea and earn money via loans but we aint capable even to do that properly. Also there is this thing where when they offer a new contract, it is already to late for it and they doing that because they wanna milk contract on lower wages to the last bloody day until they reach a point where to much time has passed and suddenly player holds all the cards and power *around deep in 4th out of 5 year deal.
 

JustCoco

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Being unable to sell players or having no idea how, comes as result of a greed and inability to actually let players go when their contract is at the end. We had chance to release Jones, Matic and few others on a free and get them of the wage bill, we did the opposite. Offer them new improved contracts or if not improved, then around that area and get stuck with them.

Would understand if we would do Chelsea and earn money via loans but we aint capable even to do that properly. Also there is this thing where when they offer a new contract, it is already to late for it and they doing that because they wanna milk contract on lower wages to the last bloody day until they reach a point where to much time has passed and suddenly player holds all the cards and power *around deep in 4th out of 5 year deal.

Exactly.

The club likes renewing the contracts of deadwood, refusing to let players leave for nothing, but then don’t renew contracts for players we want to keep i.e Hererra or at this point Pogba.
 

EdinburghDevil

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No doubt that some of the players were given contracts that were too long and on too much money.

There aren't many clubs in a position to fork out for transfer fees at present. Due to playing behind close doors for 18 months and likely lose of other non-match day revenue clubs are clearly feeling the pinch. Who is going to take a punt on Phil Jones, even at like £5m or half that even when you have a very limited transfre budget. You are aswell taking a punt on a young, promising defender on loan if you are in the Championship.

Premier League teams are only able to spend money due to the large TV revenues and even then, not many PL clubs are spending big money this window.
 

JJ12

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We’ve only just figured out how to buy players.

One thing at a time.
 

oz insomniac

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There seems to be an element of managing the balance sheet in extending rather useless players,if they remain on the books then there is no loss attributed to their value. if the value of say Jones is £25 million on the balance sheet, then selling him for less seems to result in a balance sheet deficit, by continuing to pay him, any loss if deferred.

This may not be how it works, but feels that Woody and the reporting could have a bearing on shifting players, interesting but disappointing if it is.