BBC has RA personally calling his Oligarch mate and offering more than Spurs for Willian. Now if that doesn't get the Spuds spitting chips ,what will?? It will be getting a bit crowded in the midfielders dressing rooms if that comes off!!! Can it be true, or is RA being coached by Jose on how to take the piss ????
I've heard this rumour too CP! We've been linked to a fair few in the close season and he might be just another one! Would be nice if we did beat Spuds to the signature, though , if it is true!
Do we really need another attacking midfielder though! Jose has lost his mind. HRH Custard made a joke on the Utd board that we are signing him as Mata's replacement as we are using Mata in the Rooney deal. A joke, yes, but unless Mourinho has gone completely nuts, Custard may be inadvertently right! I can see no other reason for him wanting to further pack such a saturated midfield
Alternately it could be Jose's way of eeking out the Bale departure leaving the Spuds in limbo?................its so Jose
I'd be surprised if anyone at Chelsea seriously saw us as a threat to them...I think you are getting Willian so you can use Mata as bait to get Rooney
Looks that way. Rooneys goals/assists stats may be better than Mata's on a games played basis, but Rooney is not replacing Mata on the pitch as they are positionally different. Rooney will be replacing the stats of Torres/Ba - a good thing. The bad thing is losing the stats of Mata. Hazard/Oscar/KDB will need to step up to the plate, as I have my doubts on William's consistency.
As I said in another thread, the biggest thing wont necessarily be losing the stats of Mata, but Man Utd GETTING the stats of Mata. Mata has managed to make Torres look decent before with his assists.....imagine him supplying a real striker in RVP. If we give Mata to Utd, it doesnt matter if we get 9 Rooneys, Utd will have completed their jigsaw.
Maybe a price worth paying if we complete our own jigsaw in the process... Jose would not be so in for Rooney if he didn't have a game plan for him
Interestingly none of the papers have used the Willian story as a basis for the Mata thing. Perhaps we are putting 2+2 and getting 5? Not sure where Willian fits in unless we move on someone like Moses or drop Oscar deeper though?? On another note, hope Lukaku starts v United.
A guy I know who is usually savvy with all of this says the story originated from Sky, who have made it up to fiddle their SkyBet odds. Who knows.
This. Surely we can't be willing to give up Mata for anyone that is currently on the radar - certainly not Rooney. I agree with other comments, in that Mata would significantly improve United, and I'd hate to see him link up with RVP! I'd also like to see Lukaku start. With the pacey & tricky midfield behind him, I would like to think that their back 4 will be nicely worn down in that 1st hour. Then, potentially freshen 1 or 2 of the midfield, swap Lukaku for Torres and we should have all the space we need against a tired defence. Easy really!!!
So RA never gives interviews and all of a sudden the press know who he's calling on the phone. Yes right.
The only sense I can make of the potential move for Willian is if Victor Moses leaves. I've said many times before that we need two quality players for each position in the squad. So as we play 3 behind the front man; we need 6 (Hazard, Mata, Oscar, DeBruyne, Schurrle and Willian/Moses) players in the squad who can play there. However; the problem would be keeping the 6 happy! Over to you Jose...
Meh. Not sure what to think really. If true, great we've pulled one over them, not so great that I have a feeling we've pulled them over only to take a bullet for them. Time will tell.
Wouldn't say that, we could do with another experienced CB. new LB, bob to box type midfielder, left winger and a striker if Rooney leaves. Looking at you guys from a neutral all you need is Rooney up top and maybe a CB and your all set.