I just find the whole thing a bit bizarre. Yes there was interest, the biggest was from Spurs. They actually offered 10mil Euro 7 weeks ago. That has been outed by his agent since he signed for Utd. They would have sold for 20mil Euro but Spurs said NO THANKS! For it to suddenly rise to £36 mil (plus) - is quite incredible. He might turn out to be good, but let's be honest his stats in a very weak league are poor for a CF. Especially a 36 mil 'gamble'. But Utd can afford it, the biggest gripe from an outsider about this transfer is now clubs will be expecting BIG money for any kid that a scout likes the look of. PL clubs are going to continually get shafted. #blameutd How football has changed, ey?
Every transfer could be a potential flop. Maybe Smith prefers to enjoy the facts Martial is an unknown and a typical United signing. I for one hope this lad costs us 58million.
Chelsea reportedly bid £40million. Barcelona were reported as wanting him when their transfer ban is over. Most of us have never heard if him because we are not football scouts, managers or experts. I guarantee nobody here watches French football bar perhaps an isolated game. The fact we don't know who he is means **** all.
The main reason no one watches French football is because the standard is piss poor. So 1 in 5 in a piss poor league is I'm afraid piss poor
Well ofcourse every transfer could be a potential flop but that's daft logic. You mitigate the chances of that based on prior achievement and experience of the player you're buying.
I agree it's piss poor but theres a long list of quality youngsters who come from that league. Far more than come from Premier League for one.
Sure... Except none of that matters. Well unless you have a crystal ball (I'm going to go ahead and say you dont). This transfer is no different to the Rooney, Ronaldo, Anderson and Nani buys. We took a chance and paid big money for inexperience and potential. None were anywhere near their peak and came with big price tags. Let's maybe give the lad time eh? Instead of writing him off and complaining about the transfer fee.
That's a double edged argument. The reason we don't have any decent youngsters coming through is because they're all working in Macdonalds because all these young European/South American ****ers come over! The population of this country suggests strongly we need to get back to grass roots.
Great that we have role models like Sterling then, who throes a strop to force a move. Or the reports of city's youngster's who had never played a minute of pro football walk round like gangstas thinking they have made it. Maybe the young foreign lads just want it more. Want to be footballer s for the love of the game. Not the case with most young English lads is it? Its the attitudes of the English football set up and those involved that cause issues. Not foreign players.
Well ofcourse it matters. Are you honestly saying that a player's prior achievements and experience "does not matter"??? You believe that? So by that logic buying this kid has the same probability of success as buying Lionel Messi? I am giving the lad a chance I've not written him off And I've never once complained about the transfer fee
Absolutely this. Going by UIRs logic our new michael hector could be the next rio ferdinand. A gem that everyone missed. If i was a betting man though i would say he wasnt
Then again, Chelsea were prepared to pay £40 for John Stones. I don't think he's worth more than half of that amount.
I agree. I don't see what the fuss is all about. Every time I watch him play he seems to have a stinker
But he's not talking about the price. He's not mentioned it. Stones potential is backed up by his past performances and the fact he really is a potential talent. Look you cant have it both ways. You cant on the one hand say the price doesnt matter when talking about Martial, and then throw price at someone who made no mention of it when talking about another player.
That is why I said for a United purchase I do NOT think of the price. Here on this thread, some are arguing on the basis of price saying he is a good player but he is overpriced. Others are saying or insisting that they are not worried about price but about the ability to cut it in the premiership. And you all get yourselves tangled up in your arguments. For me, I take for granted that Woodward will pay WELL over the odds for any player. So I look at the player without looking at the price. If he is improving the squad then he is great buy. And the fact that spurs, Arsenal, Barcelona PSG Chelsea were after him means that he is not an average player. The speculation that spurs refused £20m deal was rubbish and only rehashed by others. L'Equipe the French newspaper interviewed the Monaco chairman who said he had told every of these chasing clubs that he was not for sale even though they had offered up to £30-35m. United came and offered £36m but with the incentive of Monaco benefitting from his development from added bonuses. Of course he is a gamble. But he is a great gamble.
I'm never said the price doesn't matter. I've actually been consistent in saying that the price matters and the market is generally nuts right now. As for Stones, I don't see how you cab suggest that his performance backs up being worth £40m. You're not consistent there! Stones is in the same league as Martial. As a matter of fact, Martials has competed in champions league, Stones has not. If you take a relative view, Stones is as known in France as Martial is known in England. In the end, the price for both are stupid.
Bloody hell can't we all agree to that fact? I think no one in his right mind can argue otherwise. But for United it is great buy to me at least.
Nobody's tying themselves up in knots though. Bobby made a simple point about how their new signing is a complete unknown and could turn out to be Rio Ferdinand but he wouldnt bet on it. He didnt mention the price. I've said similar. Once again no mention of price. So someone then throwing in Stones for 40m is neither here nor there. The only argument against Bobby would be to say that he's got no potential or is an unknown. Neither of which imo is true but nevertheless would be a fair argument.