Bastian Schweinsteiger.
He was going to control our midfield and take us out of the slump and on to some positivity.
He was going to control our midfield and take us out of the slump and on to some positivity.
Which United signing excited you the most before they played?
- Thread starter golden_blunder
- Start date
Really? That felt like a bit of a punt to me at the time.
Andy Cole by far, there was such a buzz around that signing.
Veron, by far the one who excited me most. Was sure he'd be a superstar for us. Rooney and Di Maria was huge as well. oooh and Ronaldinho!
If it was before they stepped onto the field for us then Rooney:
If it was as soon as they got their first touch on the pitch then Ronaldo.
I was even excited when we signed Saha after watching him for Fulham.
If it was as soon as they got their first touch on the pitch then Ronaldo.
I was even excited when we signed Saha after watching him for Fulham.
After not signig a proper midfielder for what felt like decades to Schmidfield in a day
I think Diallo to some extent. For the rest, we had been watching them play for other teams so had rough idea what to expect. Diallo is such an unknown.
Sanchez. He was quick, direct, and scored plenty of goals before. I always found his explanation for what happened weird. He basically said he was close to joining City then United made a better offer and he thought it was ''a good opportunity'' for him but after the first training session he allegedly wanted to leave and seems like he never put a big effort. The strangest part was that when Mourinho was fired and Ole arrived, Sanchez just told Ole he wanted to go.
Di Maria, Zlatan, Basti and Pogba. Di Maria should still be our RW, but he bottled it.
It's always exciting when we buy a striker because he's the one who will put us ahead in games...win us games
Cole. Finally we got hold of a live wire no.9. A couple of weeks before he joined he looked unattainable! impossible.
thought we were getting Collymore or Ferdinand.
Pogba. The hype was too much. But I fell for it..That Stormzy video...man, it was a social media dream.
I thought he would be our Steven Gerrard, our driving force, that leader in midfield. How wrong was I!
Rooney. The fecking beast of a kid. Legend
Cantona. WTF! Not only had we finally bought a Centre Forward we got Leeds' supposedly best player? No fecking way man! Couldnt wait/believe it
Cole. Finally we got hold of a live wire no.9. A couple of weeks before he joined he looked unattainable! impossible.
thought we were getting Collymore or Ferdinand.
Pogba. The hype was too much. But I fell for it..That Stormzy video...man, it was a social media dream.
I thought he would be our Steven Gerrard, our driving force, that leader in midfield. How wrong was I!
Rooney. The fecking beast of a kid. Legend
Cantona. WTF! Not only had we finally bought a Centre Forward we got Leeds' supposedly best player? No fecking way man! Couldnt wait/believe it
RVP, Falcao, Zlatan, Pogba, Sanchez.
rooney
rvp
veron
pogba
di maria
rvp
veron
pogba
di maria
Rooney, after that EC I had high hopes. Mr Wayne grabbed a hattrick on his debut. Perfection! Simple as.
The King. Denis that is!
Wayne Rooney for me as well, by a significant margin too. The hype around him in the early to mid 2000s as the “next big thing” was quite pronounced, and he seemed to effortlessly go from strength to strength — while shattering all sorts of records: best player of the U-17 EUROs, youngest goal scorer in the Premier League, youngest goal scorer for England, youngest goal scorer in EURO history and a real wrecking ball in Portugal up until his injury in the quarter-finals, a certainty to finish in the Ballon D'Or Top 10 at age 18/19, et cetera.
While I had obviously enjoyed watching all the great United players in the years preceding that signing, Rooney was apparently different at the time because of his frightening Fenômeno-lite potential — a bit inconsistent in the league, but seemed to have a genuine chance to win a Ballon D'Or and become the best player in the world with United (something that hadn't happened in close to 50 years). Also, the timing was nigh perfect, and the prospect of him linking up with an emergent Ronaldo (who had a really good EURO in his own right after a promising 2003 campaign) was totally mouth-watering!
In the years to follow, only the signing of seemingly generation-defining teenage prodigies like Messi (after the 2006 U-20 World Cup), Neymar (after the 2011 Copa Libertadores), Mbappé (after that season with Monaco) could have approximated or surpassed those excitement levels — that didn't happen obviously, so Rooney stands alone at the apex.
While I had obviously enjoyed watching all the great United players in the years preceding that signing, Rooney was apparently different at the time because of his frightening Fenômeno-lite potential — a bit inconsistent in the league, but seemed to have a genuine chance to win a Ballon D'Or and become the best player in the world with United (something that hadn't happened in close to 50 years). Also, the timing was nigh perfect, and the prospect of him linking up with an emergent Ronaldo (who had a really good EURO in his own right after a promising 2003 campaign) was totally mouth-watering!
In the years to follow, only the signing of seemingly generation-defining teenage prodigies like Messi (after the 2006 U-20 World Cup), Neymar (after the 2011 Copa Libertadores), Mbappé (after that season with Monaco) could have approximated or surpassed those excitement levels — that didn't happen obviously, so Rooney stands alone at the apex.
Rooney easily. He had an unbelievable euro 2004. We probably would of won it if he didn't get injured, and then he scores a hat trick on his debut for us. Probably the best teenage footballer I've seen.
It ended up not happening obviously, but Ronaldinho was the one for me. I remember after we were seriously linked, watching him light up the Confederations Cup on TV with my Mum and Dad. Brazil were terrible, I think...but Ronaldinho was Ronaldinho.
We went on a holiday to Ireland after that, and I literally signed up for a library card (or begged my Mum to) in this tiny little Irish town so that I could use their internet to check for the latest Ronaldinho news (on PlanetFootball as I recall). Every day of that holiday, I was in the library at some point.
Was absolutely gutted beyond belief when the Barca Presidential stuff started happening, and half their candidates were promising Dinho.
The other one was Ronaldo. Again, I can vividly remember watching the Sporting friendly with my Mum and Dad. I remember my Mum and I going crazy at some of his dribbles - and my Mum saying we should sign him (scouting job anyone?). That one panned out a lot better than Ronaldinho.
We went on a holiday to Ireland after that, and I literally signed up for a library card (or begged my Mum to) in this tiny little Irish town so that I could use their internet to check for the latest Ronaldinho news (on PlanetFootball as I recall). Every day of that holiday, I was in the library at some point.
Was absolutely gutted beyond belief when the Barca Presidential stuff started happening, and half their candidates were promising Dinho.
The other one was Ronaldo. Again, I can vividly remember watching the Sporting friendly with my Mum and Dad. I remember my Mum and I going crazy at some of his dribbles - and my Mum saying we should sign him (scouting job anyone?). That one panned out a lot better than Ronaldinho.
RVP
Mata
Sanchez
Tevez
Oh and Carrick actually. We signed him and everyone in the club were saying he was the final piece of the puzzle, transition over.
Seemed they were right.
Mata
Sanchez
Tevez
Oh and Carrick actually. We signed him and everyone in the club were saying he was the final piece of the puzzle, transition over.
Seemed they were right.
As you say, loads to choose from but one that hasn't been mentioned that I was really excited about at the time was Cryuff.
I really thought Berbatov was going to take us to a new level.
Also, bizarrely, Chicarito after we signed him out of the complete blue, then he was ace at the World Cup.
More recently, I really thought Di Maria was the answer. Bugger.
Also, bizarrely, Chicarito after we signed him out of the complete blue, then he was ace at the World Cup.
More recently, I really thought Di Maria was the answer. Bugger.
Really?
I was slightly excited about that one, a fancy Dutch winger, son of one of the greats. Then he did the Cryuff turn in the charity shield match.. oohhh. Then barring a few goals he was a bit underwhelming really
You must have had some very detailed knowledge of players from other countries and some kind of fantastic sky tv deal to get excited about two complete unknowns before they played for us
Rooney without a doubt.
Evra played a CL final before joining us.You must have had some very detailed knowledge of players from other countries and some kind of fantastic sky tv deal to get excited about two complete unknowns before they played for us
Yeh the excitement definitely plummeted once I'd actually seen him play
Tim Howard is another I was excited about too. But largely down to the fact I was desperate for a decent keeper at the time!
The first one I remember being hyped about was Wayne Rooney.
Every day it was in the newspaper and then he was going to sign for other clubs and then xyz and the morning he signed, I woke up for work, saw that morning's paper and was so hyped for the entire day!
Every day it was in the newspaper and then he was going to sign for other clubs and then xyz and the morning he signed, I woke up for work, saw that morning's paper and was so hyped for the entire day!
Rooney was probably "the one". Watching him as a 16-18 year old I was convinced he was going to be the best attacker in the world and was so exciting to watch. And for a lot of his early career for us that was true. After that, Nani and Anderson - they were very very highly rated and I think Ando had just come off the back of the young player of the year award. Again, both were fantastic for us early on. Then I'd have to say Berbatov, he was I felt the natural heir to Cantona and is still the most technically gifted player that I've seen play for us. Sadly, it just didn't work out. I've got to mention RvP and Tevez too.
Kagawa and Pogba. I got a pretty bad track-record in other words
Kagawa because we hadn't signed a creative midfielder for what felt like ages. He was fecking awesome in Germany, so I thought we had gotten ourselves a real gem. I remember being so disappointed when we didn't get Özil in 2010, so this felt like a pretty good "redemption" from our board/scouts/whatever.
Pogba because I thought it was impossible to get him. That type of player always end up in Real, Barca, PSG or City. It gave me some hope, basically. When Zlatan joined as well it was hard to not get excited.
Kagawa because we hadn't signed a creative midfielder for what felt like ages. He was fecking awesome in Germany, so I thought we had gotten ourselves a real gem. I remember being so disappointed when we didn't get Özil in 2010, so this felt like a pretty good "redemption" from our board/scouts/whatever.
Pogba because I thought it was impossible to get him. That type of player always end up in Real, Barca, PSG or City. It gave me some hope, basically. When Zlatan joined as well it was hard to not get excited.
I was super excited about Tevez - same with Pogba. Oh, and Mata. Really thought he would turn it around for us and Moyes.
Contrary to the theme of the thread I was super confused and disappointed - as an 11-year-old - when we signed van der Sar. Why sign a 34/35-year-old man from Fulham of all places? I couldn't get my young head around it
Contrary to the theme of the thread I was super confused and disappointed - as an 11-year-old - when we signed van der Sar. Why sign a 34/35-year-old man from Fulham of all places? I couldn't get my young head around it
RvP by a mile. My last case of being a "fanboy" too.
Not a signing I know but I remember hearing and reading about this young lad Giggs for ages before his debut. I went to this game which was home to Everton and which Fergie's son Darren was also making one of his first appearances.
The game wasn't a classic, we lost 2-0 and when I got home my dad asked me about Giggs. I replied that he didnt shine but I liked the look of young Ferguson.
I am reminded of this conversation quite often when me and dad talk about football.
The game wasn't a classic, we lost 2-0 and when I got home my dad asked me about Giggs. I replied that he didnt shine but I liked the look of young Ferguson.
I am reminded of this conversation quite often when me and dad talk about football.
Rooney. I still vividly remember sitting on my bed listening to talk sport discuss his transfer request.
You can still find a Rooney watch post on the BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/everton/3924091.stm
You can still find a Rooney watch post on the BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/e/everton/3924091.stm
Keane. Especially after being really worried he’d be off to Blackburn. Best signing in our history.
Signing Cantona from Leeds when they were champions and he was their best player blew my mind at the time and I was buzzing to watch him play for us.
Signing Rooney in 2004 was the closest thing to signing Cantona I’ve ever felt but this was also signing what looked like the next best player in the world based on Euro 2004 and best yet he was already England’s golden boy, he may not have hit Ronaldo or Messi levels but he was a top five in the world player consistently for a good period of time.
Signing Andy Cole was a massive buzz for me personally as I thought he was only behind Shearer as the best English striker around and I thought alongside Cantona he’d be immense, he may not have hit the heights immediately but he went on to score so many massive goals for us and some trophy winning ones.
Signing Rooney in 2004 was the closest thing to signing Cantona I’ve ever felt but this was also signing what looked like the next best player in the world based on Euro 2004 and best yet he was already England’s golden boy, he may not have hit Ronaldo or Messi levels but he was a top five in the world player consistently for a good period of time.
Signing Andy Cole was a massive buzz for me personally as I thought he was only behind Shearer as the best English striker around and I thought alongside Cantona he’d be immense, he may not have hit the heights immediately but he went on to score so many massive goals for us and some trophy winning ones.
Thought Di Maria was coming to us to be a top 5 player in the world but instead ended up with a pathetic, cowardly excuse for a footballer. Had high hopes for Sanchez as well. I’ll be honest I did think Morgan Schneiderlin would be the midfielder we’d been missing since Keane...
Rooney would be the obvious answer. Saha was also an exciting signing, considering the way he played against us earlier in the season. And obviously Van Persie was another that I'm sure we were all excited about.
However, my pick would be Van Der Sar. We'd gone through a few turbulent years after Schmeichel and I had a feeling that Edwin was going to do well for us. Got off to a great start as well.
To a lesser extent, I was also excited to see Park. He was great for that PSV side who just about missed out on the Champions League final, losing on away goals against Milan the season before Park's move.
Finally, the most recent would be Amad. Still looking forward to his Old Trafford debut. Got a feeling he does well tomorrow if he plays.
However, my pick would be Van Der Sar. We'd gone through a few turbulent years after Schmeichel and I had a feeling that Edwin was going to do well for us. Got off to a great start as well.
To a lesser extent, I was also excited to see Park. He was great for that PSV side who just about missed out on the Champions League final, losing on away goals against Milan the season before Park's move.
Finally, the most recent would be Amad. Still looking forward to his Old Trafford debut. Got a feeling he does well tomorrow if he plays.
Di Maria. He was so fun to watch the season before as a makeshift CM for that Real side.
Depay is a really good shout too, I think everyone just assumed he was gonna be another young Ronaldo type winger cutting in and smashing them, and then he looked amazing in preseason too Although I still say his performance against Midtjylland is one of the best performances of the last decade for a United player. One of those nights where every trick and thing he tried was working.
Depay is a really good shout too, I think everyone just assumed he was gonna be another young Ronaldo type winger cutting in and smashing them, and then he looked amazing in preseason too
Although I still say his performance against Midtjylland is one of the best performances of the last decade for a United player. One of those nights where every trick and thing he tried was working.Bastian probably for me - I thought he was going to be able to crank it out until he was 35+
The other one, that nobody else has mentioned, is Kagawa - I was incredibly excited when we signed him
The other one, that nobody else has mentioned, is Kagawa - I was incredibly excited when we signed him
Anderson Nani Tevez Kagawa
Andy Cole was a buzz because it was totally out of the blue. Rooney of course, and I honestly was thrilled when we signed Michael Owen. Always wanted to see him in a United shirt.