Why do Utd not use the free transfer market?

dinostar77

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We seldomly use free transfer market. Karl Darlow aside. Christen Eriksen (2022) was our last. Before that it was Cavani and Ibrahimovic.

If money was going to be this tight this summer. When why didn't Utd plan ahead and try to exploit the free transfer market to make up for the shortfall?

It's good enough a strategy for Real Madrid to use, so why not us? There are plenty on here who thought Utd should have signed Danny Wellbeck and James Gardner this summer. Them being ex Utd players aside. Both would have been free agents this summer as their contracts at their respective clubs were winding down.

So why didn't we approach them in January? Asking them not to sign a new deal with their current clubs? We would have had a experienced backup for Sesko for free minus signing on fee. We would have strengthened our midfield with a £60mil PL midfielder for free. That money we saved could have been used to be more aggressive in the market by going after Lewis Hall for example earlier. Before Newcastle sold a load of players and no longer needed to sell.

Or addressing another area on the pitch that needs fixing.

As a bonus, signing someone like Gardner would have given other players who didn't or won't quite make it at Utd a glimmer of hope that they could come back. If James Gardner can do it, so can I etc

The Real Madrid strategy of speaking to a players agent and getting the player to wind down their contract isn't illegal. Ok there's a huge difference between Utd and Madrid at present.

At worst if it doesn't work out with your free transfer you can always sell them on for a profit. As long as you do your homework and ensure there would be a market for that player if it didn't work out. I.e. do they have skillset that can be utilized in PL at another club? Are they Spanish and therefore could be of interest to Spanish clubs etc.

We seem to have a reluctance or is it lack of vision or planning ? In exploiting the free transfer market. Question is why? Especially when we are trying to play catch-up with one hand tied behind our back (£1.2 billion pounds of debt).
 
Because they'd actually have to pay wages. No value in the free market.
 
Welbeck and Garner were never available for free this summer. Both players had a +1 option on their contracts which were taken by their clubs.
 
Impulse said:
Welbeck and Garner were never available for free this summer. Both players had a +1 option on their contracts which were taken by their clubs.
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Gardner was out of contract this summer as explained by The Independent

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/james-garner-new-contract-everton-b2906689.html

As for Wellbeck, there was an option for a 12 month extension that triggered in March 2026. If it wasn't triggered he would have been a free transfer this summer.
 
You saying why didn’t we induce or pressure Garner into not signing a contract extension in January, has as much factual basis as me saying that we pressured Garner not to sign an extension and to sign with us on a free instead, but he declined because the promise of a starting role at Everton was more attractive to him than being a rotation option at United.

Both statements are based on zero factual basis. You don’t know what we did or did not do. So you aren’t sure if you are upset we didn’t do it, or upset we weren’t successful at it. Neither of us has any clue what the club had tried to do, and clearly the media have almost as little a clue.

As for Welbeck, he had an appearance triggered 12 month extension. So unless you are advocating for him refusing to play so he didn’t trigger the extension, which is the sort of unethical stuff that I would not be proud of, I am not sure those are the best two examples to make your point.

Generally speaking, Real have been the one club very successful at it because they are the one club that is bigger than every other club. And a club for which players are willing to take the risk of running their contracts down and leaving for free for. Yes the financial upside can be much greater for the player but it is not without considerable risk in the event of injury, and often comes with a lot of vitriol from fans who despise players for doing such things. I’d wager many players don’t fancy creating such animosity amongst fans that once supported them.

We aren’t the only club who doesn’t really use the market in the way Real does. Hardly anyone does. It’s kind of like saying why don’t we just spend as much as City? It’s not rooted in reality, as we operate in different worlds.
 
Guerriero or Zinchenko available on free at LB, not forgetting Benzema as a backup striker too
 
We should sign free players when they have less than 1 year left on their contracts. Not when they completely lack match fitness and the season has started.
 
dinostar77 said:
We seldomly use free transfer market. Karl Darlow aside. Christen Eriksen (2022) was our last. Before that it was Cavani and Ibrahimovic.

If money was going to be this tight this summer. When why didn't Utd plan ahead and try to exploit the free transfer market to make up for the shortfall?

It's good enough a strategy for Real Madrid to use, so why not us? There are plenty on here who thought Utd should have signed Danny Wellbeck and James Gardner this summer. Them being ex Utd players aside. Both would have been free agents this summer as their contracts at their respective clubs were winding down.

So why didn't we approach them in January? Asking them not to sign a new deal with their current clubs? We would have had a experienced backup for Sesko for free minus signing on fee. We would have strengthened our midfield with a £60mil PL midfielder for free. That money we saved could have been used to be more aggressive in the market by going after Lewis Hall for example earlier. Before Newcastle sold a load of players and no longer needed to sell.

Or addressing another area on the pitch that needs fixing.

As a bonus, signing someone like Gardner would have given other players who didn't or won't quite make it at Utd a glimmer of hope that they could come back. If James Gardner can do it, so can I etc

The Real Madrid strategy of speaking to a players agent and getting the player to wind down their contract isn't illegal. Ok there's a huge difference between Utd and Madrid at present.

At worst if it doesn't work out with your free transfer you can always sell them on for a profit. As long as you do your homework and ensure there would be a market for that player if it didn't work out. I.e. do they have skillset that can be utilized in PL at another club? Are they Spanish and therefore could be of interest to Spanish clubs etc.

We seem to have a reluctance or is it lack of vision or planning ? In exploiting the free transfer market. Question is why? Especially when we are trying to play catch-up with one hand tied behind our back (£1.2 billion pounds of debt).
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No one actually signed ‘pre contracts’, but it’s clearly easier for Real to target players from the PL, than it is for PL clubs to do so. So not a fair comparison.

It’s a risk for players to run down their contracts, and clubs have multiple targets and change their minds all the time.

It’s not a valid strategy.
 
793070568_2926578634386955_205249255447329693_n.png



Almost a third of this bunch used to play for us...
 
Alaba can play left back correct...?
But then again the Turkish window is still open, so maybe best to wait
 
Because it’s not actually that cheap. You need to shell out a hefty signing on fee + most of these players will have very little resale value, and in some cases wages are way beyond what we would be willing to pay.
 
We did try but as soon as we called him Gardner he said no.
 
Chicharo said:
793070568_2926578634386955_205249255447329693_n.png



Almost a third of this bunch used to play for us...
Click to expand...
So many spoilt players in this list, ruined by high wages that outmatch their performances. They might money grab for a contract or two but eventually clubs wisen up.

On the pitch probably only Benzema and Zinchenko could add some value to us, on a one season performance related contract. However we probably wouldn't give them the required wages to sign them. There may have been much better free agents earlier in the summer but that list has little relevance to our situation.
 
As they are PL players we could only negotiate with them from June as their contracts expire in July. Obviously shady business goes on, but that is what the actual rules state. If the player was abroad we could negotiate from January.
 
simonhch said:
You saying why didn’t we induce or pressure Garner into not signing a contract extension in January, has as much factual basis as me saying that we pressured Garner not to sign an extension and to sign with us on a free instead, but he declined because the promise of a starting role at Everton was more attractive to him than being a rotation option at United.

Both statements are based on zero factual basis. You don’t know what we did or did not do. So you aren’t sure if you are upset we didn’t do it, or upset we weren’t successful at it. Neither of us has any clue what the club had tried to do, and clearly the media have almost as little a clue.

As for Welbeck, he had an appearance triggered 12 month extension. So unless you are advocating for him refusing to play so he didn’t trigger the extension, which is the sort of unethical stuff that I would not be proud of, I am not sure those are the best two examples to make your point.

Generally speaking, Real have been the one club very successful at it because they are the one club that is bigger than every other club. And a club for which players are willing to take the risk of running their contracts down and leaving for free for. Yes the financial upside can be much greater for the player but it is not without considerable risk in the event of injury, and often comes with a lot of vitriol from fans who despise players for doing such things. I’d wager many players don’t fancy creating such animosity amongst fans that once supported them.

We aren’t the only club who doesn’t really use the market in the way Real does. Hardly anyone does. It’s kind of like saying why don’t we just spend as much as City? It’s not rooted in reality, as we operate in different worlds.
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Garner and Welbeck may not be exact samples for the free market, but it’s a fair question to ask why don’t we use it more often. Sully March for example is currently a free agent. Not everyone’s cup of tea but a good crosser of the ball
 
Harry Wilson was a decent freebie this summer, would have made a good squaddie. Excellent last season. Tielemans should have been a freebie 3 years ago, he already looked quality before he went to Villa. Senesi would have been worth a go but didn´t want to head north.

It isn´t such a bad strategy to fill up some squad positions with free transfers and others with juniors. Save the kitty for bigger signings.
 
Overhaul FC said:
So many spoilt players in this list, ruined by high wages that outmatch their performances. They might money grab for a contract or two but eventually clubs wisen up.

On the pitch probably only Benzema and Zinchenko could add some value to us, on a one season performance related contract. However we probably wouldn't give them the required wages to sign them. There may have been much better free agents earlier in the summer but that list has little relevance to our situation.
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Yeah the wages would have been the sticking point, well also the age in case of Benzema too
 
Why don’t we use the free transfer market?

We just signed Karl Darlow. On a free transfer. Yes but not including him.
 
TheReligion said:
Why don’t we use the free transfer market?

We just signed Karl Darlow. On a free transfer. Yes but not including him.
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I don't understand not going for a Guerriero or Zinchenko at LB. Apparently Alaba knees are shot and Carvajal lost pace so get not touching those two. I would love the idea of Benzema for a year but then wages would be prohibitive
 
It has baffled me too.

Our transfer department has been too inflexible and dogmatic.

the cantona and ibrahomivic transfers won't have occured if it happens in 2026.

we should notice that the free transfer market is a very low risk one. offering players like zinchenko, alaba and Carvajal a short contract is worth the risk given our lack of depth at FB
 
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I look at the current list of available players and not surprisingly, it has so many players who played for us previously - Sancho, Martial, Malacia, Pogba, Brandon Williams, Zaha - all below the age of 35. To think many of this lot once formed the core of our team is terrifying.
 
bringbackbebe said:
I look at the current list of available players and not surprisingly, it has so many players who played for us previously - Sancho, Martial, Malacia, Pogba, Brandon Williams, Zaha - all below the age of 35. To think many of this lot once formed the core of our team is terrifying.
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Also Tuanzebe
 
Brandon Williams should have had a decent career. Completely destroyed it with his lifestyle choices.
 
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