Wot, no transfers?

[KingMinger22]

First part: I hope you are right, but I'm sceptical.

As for City my point is they would spend £40m on a squad option. They have signed the likes of Bernado Silva £45m, Laporte £58m, Sane £45m, Gundogan £25m, plus wages for all. All of which were squad players when bought, this is why they have strength in depth. They are likely to add mahrez this summer and he wont be a guaranteed starter.

Our unwillingness to deploy this kind of approach is why we have resigned fellaini.

Let’s get a good first 11 before we worry about strength in depth.

We are about 4 players away from that even.

I do not think United will be able to sign the sort of players that would allow us to go up a level or two this summer. I am not necessarily blaming the club for this as the market is tough.

I still do not understand why we didn’t try and sign Neymar. The figures still looked reasonable from a business perspective. He’s more of a supernova than a superstar and would have brought some glamour back to the “brand”.

 

[An Irish Red]

I'm convinced that we'll sign a centre back and leave it at that, which simply isn't enough. We wont win the league with this attack.

We need big changes and I just don't see it happening.

 

[Paxi]

Think we will see a CB and Mandzukic come in. Ideally I'd have loved another LB and RW but hey ho... feck sorting our shit out...

 

[Judas]

We'd be potentially giving up the title before kicking a ball if we only bring in a CB.

 

[Gambit]

Calm down you Muppet, we just signed the best third GK in the world yesterday
Don't think we will be seeing any action till the WC ends.

Screw you I'm off to find any spurious Bale link online to satiate my hunger!

 

[maximus419]

Let’s get a good first 11 before we worry about strength in depth.

We are about 4 players away from that even.

I do not think United will be able to sign the sort of players that would allow us to go up a level or two this summer. I am not necessarily blaming the club for this as the market is tough.

I still do not understand why we didn’t try and sign Neymar. The figures still looked reasonable from a business perspective. He’s more of a supernova than a superstar and would have brought some glamour back to the “brand”.

We are able to, because if you look at some of the players being bought by other lesser clubs than us in terms of revenue etc, then we absolutely can spend huge. The problem is our owners. They still want to take money out of the club for themselves and so long as we accomplish the minimum expectations, such as top 4 to guarantee CL and do relatively well in cup competitions and have 1 or 2 highly marketable players, then that is enough for them.

The problem is Mourinho will not see out this season if we don't get what he wants though. The other problem as well is, the less we seem likely to compete for a PL or CL title, the harder it becomes to attract the calibres of player you need to win those trophies. We are playing a dangerous game if we do not aim to be the best again. We are running the risk of going the same way as Liverpool, changing manager frequently, never able to compete with our main rivals for the best players.

I know there is still 5 weeks to go before the window shuts, but for me this summer is vital to back Mourinho. It really is his last chance at a title shout and after a world cup year some of our rivals are going to struggle with players involved at the latter stages, us included. So it really is vital to get the players Mourinho wants this summer and if it doesn't work, then we change policy and go back to investing in youth and maybe suffer a few years in the wilderness, and hope we get back to the roots of doing things the United way.

 

[Sandikan]

Patience people. We're still in the world cup, hardly any signings have been made, and it'll all blow up in a week's time or so. There's always one transfer that sets the ball rolling, and it's bound to be Madrid related this time, with Ronaldo and Bale uncertain, and talk of Neymar.

 

[whatwha]

We'd be potentially giving up the title before kicking a ball if we only bring in a CB.

Pretty much. The weeks remaining of the transfer window after the WC will reveal a lot about Mourinho's ambition and faith for the upcoming season. Whether we're aiming to excel or just "do good enough". And Woodward's willingness to back him fully or not.

 

[Jezpeza]

Pretty much. The weeks remaining of the transfer window after the WC will reveal a lot about Mourinho's ambition and faith for the upcoming season. Whether we're aiming to excel or just "do good enough". And Woodward's willingness to back him fully or not.

I agree with both comments. Without some serious investment in key areas we are not going to close up that huge gap to city. So if we only sign a CB we are conceding the title. Don't think our spending is done yet but will be eagerly awaiting to see the combination of who we sign, their calibre( youth prospects or first team level starters) and the amount of signings. For example we could probably do with signing two class wing backs and a center half but will we? And I also have a growing feeling that Woodward is in the middle of board and manager to control spending to a level where we hit the league positions and champions league whilst also maintining a healthy return for the owners and huge sponsorship deals, so on that point I think actually the board and Wooodward are content with us doing 'good enough'. I mean, I saw an article saying Juventus want 53 mil for Sandro. Is that that much? Some of city's defenders cost that much, Stones, Walker, Mendy, Laporte is a 200 odd million back four. If we line up with young, Valencia, smalling and jones like the cup final we have to be joking about having a go at winning the title

 

[Luke1995]

Mahrez to City and Buffon to PSG are the biggest stories so far. For Buffon, it would be quite a challenge to adapt to a new environment and league at 40 years old and still play 50+ games a season.

 

[devilish]

As predicted the new transfer window deadline restrictions will work against the EPL clubs. Foreign sellers will hold the EPL clubs to ransom knowing that if United cant meet their price then they can always sell their talent to Real, Barcelona or Bayern later on. As usual the small fry who thrive merely because they play bigger and more popular clubs on a nearly week to week basis had won the day and we're suffering the consequences of it.

If you ask me, there should have been a compromise with the EPL issuing two separate transfer deadlines one for the internal transfers and one for players coming from abroad. There again, I doubt the small fry will agree to that as it make them vulnerable. United will issue a take it or leave it bid for lets say Maguire only to turn for lets say Romagnoli after the internal transfer deadline has passed.

In my opinion we look set for a disappointing transfer window. We might end up signing another one or two decent players but that won't be enough to compete against Shitty and might even strip us from second place. In the long term we might turn things around. Ribalta seem to have brought the Juventus transfer strategy with him, were United aim for shrewd signings in targeted positions as opposed to the big name signings/sure bets. Whether we've got the patience to wait is a different matter altogether. We're a financial juggernaut not some club who has to be careful to make ends meet.

 

[Charles Miller]

My english is not that good and i was trying for days to avoid asking this but i just can't: should not be - "Why no transfers" in the title? How is "What no transfers" a phrase? Legit question.

 

[Sassy Colin]

My english is not that good and i was trying for days to avoid asking this but i just can't: should not be - "Why no transfers" in the title? How is "What no transfers" a phrase? Legit question.

Is that better?

Spoiler: See here

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=w...bsofcAhWJKsAKHbWzB-kQ_AUIESgB&biw=376&bih=540

 

[Jezpeza]

Just looking at the gossip this morning and they reckon we have agreed terms with Sandro over a 53m move and want to sign Shaqiri for 12m. How would people feel about that? Does he represent good value for money as a right wing option? Was iffy at Stoke but looked good at the World Cup? Thoughts?

 

[GBBQ]

Just looking at the gossip this morning and they reckon we have agreed terms with Sandro over a 53m move and want to sign Shaqiri for 12m. How would people feel about that? Does he represent good value for money as a right wing option? Was iffy at Stoke but looked good at the World Cup? Thoughts?

I don't think Shaqiri has the discipline to make it at a big club. If he's signed as an option from the bench then he might be a good impact sub but can't see him nailing down a starting place on the right wing

 

[dannyrhinos89]

Just looking at the gossip this morning and they reckon we have agreed terms with Sandro over a 53m move and want to sign Shaqiri for 12m. How would people feel about that? Does he represent good value for money as a right wing option? Was iffy at Stoke but looked good at the World Cup? Thoughts?

Shaqiri for 12 million is a no brainier, he isn’t still relatively young so The risk is minimal and he would slot into the empty RW position. He has decent stats for a team that’s just been relegated so Maybe with better players he can raise his game up a level or 2.

Think he’s liverpool bound though.

 

[RetroStu]

We'd be potentially giving up the title before kicking a ball if we only bring in a CB.

Even if we bought Ronaldo, we would be giving up the title without 2 or 3 good editions as well. Thats just how far we are behind IMO.

 

[Judas]

I agree, and that's before we talk about our tactical approach which is already a massive hinderance.

 

[ROFLUTION]

Something tells me we're looking at Thomas Müller. Fairly available player, right wing/forward backup, hard worker.

 

[RedTillI'mDead]

We are able to, because if you look at some of the players being bought by other lesser clubs than us in terms of revenue etc, then we absolutely can spend huge. The problem is our owners. They still want to take money out of the club for themselves and so long as we accomplish the minimum expectations, such as top 4 to guarantee CL and do relatively well in cup competitions and have 1 or 2 highly marketable players, then that is enough for them.

The problem is Mourinho will not see out this season if we don't get what he wants though. The other problem as well is, the less we seem likely to compete for a PL or CL title, the harder it becomes to attract the calibres of player you need to win those trophies. We are playing a dangerous game if we do not aim to be the best again. We are running the risk of going the same way as Liverpool, changing manager frequently, never able to compete with our main rivals for the best players.

I know there is still 5 weeks to go before the window shuts, but for me this summer is vital to back Mourinho. It really is his last chance at a title shout and after a world cup year some of our rivals are going to struggle with players involved at the latter stages, us included. So it really is vital to get the players Mourinho wants this summer and if it doesn't work, then we change policy and go back to investing in youth and maybe suffer a few years in the wilderness, and hope we get back to the roots of doing things the United way.

Im not sure I agree with your sentiment. Our owners have brought a lot in from a hugely succesful commercial team.

And Sanchez isnt a signing you make just to get top 4. He has little resale value given his age and significant wages. We also didn't need the signing.

This tells me we want to compete for the Premiership, but within sensible limits.

No point spending £1bn if another team was willing to spend £2bn. Keeping up with the Jones just pushes the bar up

 

[RetroStu]

Something tells me we're looking at Thomas Müller. Fairly available player, right wing/forward backup, hard worker.

I'd rather Muller than that donkey Willian.

 

[Lennon7]

I'd rather Muller than that donkey Willian.

Nah. Willian’s what we need, Müller could go either way here.

Neither would be my first choice, though. I miss the days where we’d sign an unknown player and they’d turn out to be exactly what we need, because we used to have functional, highly skilled scouts.

 

[stevoc]

Just looking at the gossip this morning and they reckon we have agreed terms with Sandro over a 53m move and want to sign Shaqiri for 12m. How would people feel about that? Does he represent good value for money as a right wing option? Was iffy at Stoke but looked good at the World Cup? Thoughts?

Severely underwhelmed any right winger is better than no right winger i guess. Shaqiri is a good player but not good enough to be first choice at United.

So much for the £250m warchest for a squad overhaul that was being reported towards the end of the season. Looks like it's turned into a £100m battle box.

 

[Sassy Colin]

Nah. Willian’s what we need, Müller could go either way here.

Neither would be my first choice, though. I miss the days where we’d sign an unknown player and they’d turn out to be exactly what we need, because we used to have functional, highly skilled scouts.

When was that then?

 

[Kush]

Severely underwhelmed any right winger is better than no right winger i guess. Shaqiri is a good player but not good enough to be first choice at United.

So much for the £250m warchest for a squad overhaul that was being reported towards the end of the season. Looks like it's turned into a £100m battle box.

£250m figure was just nonsense in the newspapers. We haven't spent more than £150m in any transfer window, to think we'll break that record by £100m was wishful thinking at best.

Also we've spent £70m already on Fred and Dalot. If rumors about Alex Sandro are true that would take our spending around £120m leaving room for another £30-40m signing which would likely be a new CB. We should also keep in mind we're struggling to get rid of the players who are not good enough for us in Blind, Darmian, Shaw etc which makes the task only harder.

 

[red_de_pologne]

I'd rather see Mata/Martial starting on right wing than Shaqiri

 

[Murray3007]

Only thing I could think would be the players we are after are at the world cup, if we wanted say Bale, Sandro, Tierney, surely we could have got them by now. which is prob some truth in the likes of Willian or Alderweirld. going to be a big 4/5 weeks for Jose at United, as gets this wrong I would imagine it will be his last season here.

 

[Lennon7]

When was that then?

We’ve always signed big names but I mean the smaller names are the ones that we’ve done well with. Now you’ve mentioned it I’m struggling to think but it just feels like in the past we’ve not just gone for the shirt sellers to solve our problems and it’s paid dividends.

Could be a load of pish, to be honest. I’m just sick of us being linked with players like Bale, Ronaldo, Müller, Chelsea players, Arsenal players etc. Glad we signed Fred and Dalot this time round.

 

[sunama]

.... going to be a big 4/5 weeks for Jose at United, as gets this wrong I would imagine it will be his last season here.

Correct.
I remember when LVG went into his 2nd season, having sold our experienced attackers, to ensure that Rooney had no competition.
Martial came in, but he performed above expectations and filled in the gap.
That basically cost him the pint he needed to get 4th place and save his job.

I feel that this Summer will be similar for Jose. If he gets it wrong....he's gone!

 

[Sassy Colin]

We’ve always signed big names but I mean the smaller names are the ones that we’ve done well with. Now you’ve mentioned it I’m struggling to think but it just feels like in the past we’ve not just gone for the short sellers to solve our problems and it’s paid dividends.

Could be a load of pish, to be honest. I’m just sick of us being linked with players like Bale, Ronaldo, Müller, Chelsea players, Arsenal players etc. Glad we signed Fred and Dalot this time round.

 

[stevoc]

£250m figure was just nonsense in the newspapers. We haven't spent more than £150m in any transfer window, to think we'll break that record by £100m was wishful thinking at best.

Also we've spent £70m already on Fred and Dalot. If rumors about Alex Sandro are true that would take our spending around £120m leaving room for another £30-40m signing which would likely be a new CB. We should also keep in mind we're struggling to get rid of the players who are not good enough for us in Blind, Darmian, Shaw etc which makes the task only harder.

Obviously it's media bollocks they won't know how much United are going to spend, but based on what Mourinho has been saying about the squad needing reinforcement they probably like most people expected a big window this year to recruit quality in key areas.

Not by a huge amount but in Van Gaal and Mourinhos first summer windows i'm pretty sure both spent more than £150m, not a lot more granted. United should be able to spend £200m+ comfortably

I'd rather see Mata/Martial starting on right wing than Shaqiri

I think most fans have had their fill of Mata on the right wing. Personally i don't want to ever see him waddling up and down the wing ever again and i like Mata. I would even prefer Young on the right wing over Mata.

 

[Kemizee]

Let us all be honest with ourselves; We are not genuinely competing for the title in the upcoming season never mind winning it.

Didn't Mourinho say last year he wanted 4 signings and if the club got him the fourth(Perisic), he would be extremely satisfied and that is exactly what happened with Matic, Lindelof & Lukaku(even though we all knew they would not suffice) and what was the result? City cruising with a massive gap to the title.

He said not too long ago that he is not expecting a lot of changes to the squad and that he is probably looking at 2-3 max. He means it and it's not one for the cameras or like some say, said to "prevent clubs from knowing our budget". That is what will happen.

We all know we will not win the league. Why?
Because the likes of Jones, Smalling, Fellaini, Young, Valenica, Lingard, Rashford, Martial etc who are not good enough are still here and will play key roles yet again in what will be a culmination of frustrations, abuses, rants from pundits and fans alike.

We can complain all we want but Mourinho is not gonna be as ruthless as Pep is and ship them out.

Don't set yourselves up for any dissapointments. Deal with the reality. We will likely be in the race for 2nd-4th and you can quote me on this when the season ends.

 

[sunama]

I miss the days where we’d sign an unknown player and they’d turn out to be exactly what we need, because we used to have functional, highly skilled scouts.

When was that then?

Ronny Jonson, was a good example.
Or how about Solkjaer?
Or Vidic?
Or how about Ronaldo? I hadn't heard of him until we signed him.

I'm sure that there are others.

 

[sunama]

Even if we bought Ronaldo, we would be giving up the title without 2 or 3 good editions as well. Thats just how far we are behind IMO.

Ronaldo is no ordinary player is capable of lifting the team beyond what they are capable of, had he not been present. That's what you expect of a Galactico class player.
We are not being linked with him, though. Juvenuts are the only club who seem to be interested him.

 

[Cee90]

Transfers will happen, just have some patience.

 

[Raw]

Ronny Jonson, was a good example.
Or how about Solkjaer?
Or Vidic?
Or how about Ronaldo? I hadn't heard of him until we signed him.

I'm sure that there are others.

I think Chicharito was the last successful hidden gem signing we made.

 

[FlawlessThaw]

Ronny Jonson, was a good example.
Or how about Solkjaer?
Or Vidic?
Or how about Ronaldo? I hadn't heard of him until we signed him.

I'm sure that there are others.

Wouldn’t happen now in the twitter era. Plus it’s so easy to find out who the good players are. Heck I don’t know how many pages we had of the fact that we had a scout at Alf inge haaland’s son’s match. These things are a lot more publicised now.

Having said all that Dalot comes close to a signing as described.

 

[sunama]

Patience people. We're still in the world cup, hardly any signings have been made, and it'll all blow up in a week's time or so. There's always one transfer that sets the ball rolling, and it's bound to be Madrid related this time, with Ronaldo and Bale uncertain, and talk of Neymar.

Neymar isn't moving anywhere. Veratti tried to leave last season and look how that turned out.

And regarding patience - our issue is that we are not being strongly linked to anybody. Sure, we have mild links with many players, but no really strong links. The Sandro transfer seems to be going the same way as Perisic (last season) and this does worry me.

I don't want Jose complaining after the season starts, that he wanted to buy 4 players for the first team and only got 1-2. Give Jose what he wants, so that he can't make any excuses, once the season starts.

 

[Brightonian]

I'm quite happy with our business so far. Buying success never works, you want to make a few well-thought-out additions where they're needed each summer and an occasional splurge on a star if the right one becomes available every two or three years à la Pogba. One more signing of a Fred-esque stature in the game would do me, maybe another lower key one too. Ideally a right winger and/or left back. Main thing is to keep working on getting the best out of our existing players, which Mourinho has only managed to do inconsistently.

The only big names who are actually available are old, horribly overpriced and wouldn't fit into our set-up.

 

[GaryLifo]

While I do understand the feelings that people have that no more major signings would mean we couldn't win the league, I also think that it's perfectly feasible that the current United squad could win the title next season. The squad is relatively young and the majority have now played under Jose for two seasons. I'd argue our midfield of Matic, Fred and Pogba compares with any other in the league. Lukaku, Sanchez, Rashford, Martial and Lingard are hardly a bad collection of attacking players either.

There are also no guarantees that City do as well as they did last season. They are yet to retain a league title and thus far tend to drop their level after winning the league. They got a lot of late winners last season which was worth a good 10 points to them. Players like Silva and Aguero who they relied on hugely are another year older and could begin to drop off.

People are seemingly terrified of Liverpool but Salah might not quite hit the same level and it's possible that the two new midfielders they have signed are not the world beaters people think once they hit English football.

I've said this before, but historically, title winning sides in the premier league have frequently stepped up from a poor or average previous season and without making seven summer signings. United can do this and more of our fans should recognise it in my opinion.

Please do not reply with 'yeah but there's no way City get worse' as I get that you already think this.