Transfer Rumours Let's ignore the big ****ing elephant and blame the latest manager, again. Are we nearly there yet?

[Christiansmith]

A report from the Express:

United were interested in a move for Benfica striker Darwin Nunez but there was simply no desire to become embroiled in a bidding war with Liverpool.

Furthermore, the club denied that a meeting had taken place with super-agent Jorge Mendes regarding his client as they continued to monitor the situation from afar.

There's a sense that United were never prepared to enter the running given the numbers involved and instead, they're focused on other targets.

Slowly but surely, United's vision is becoming clear with Frenkie de Jong still considered to be their top target​

I was pleased to read that as I thought it would be senseless getting into pointless bidding wars. There are plenty of great players out there and we should not be wasting time playing games of attempting to win one over rivals. Frenkie de Jong is the one that I would love to see as we need to build from the back and the midfield. Also need to break the unholy union of McFred somehow. That is more of a priority for the team than fighting for an out and out striker at this moment in time.

some reports are not overhyped. Too few IMO.

 

[Treble]

Anyone a little concerned that we still haven't got a deal agreed?

Apparently the top bods have only just met to decide on whether to go for Ajax player Antony.

I only say this because the likes of City, Livpl, Spuds, Arsenal have all got some business done, and I would've thought we would've been preparing for the summer earlier? I really hope we're not going to fck around in another transfer window and end up signing unsuitable ****e a week before deadline day.

 

[cytrax]

Anyone a little concerned that we still haven't got a deal agreed?

Apparently the top bods have only just met to decide on whether to go for Ajax player Antony.

I only say this because the likes of City, Livpl, Spuds, Arsenal have all got some business done, and I would've thought we would've been preparing for the summer earlier? I really hope we're not going to fck around in another transfer window and end up signing unsuitable ****e a week before deadline day.

Given the shtshow that we have had, we should been signing the players early. Again, we are forever paralyzed at executing and I can’t get my head around it. It’s really stupid as it turns every move into gossip that then invites others to join in.

It’s like we haven’t learned anything in the last year. Just mind numbing!!

 

[Chief]

We have got a new manager, which will inevitably delay this.

Or should we have stuck to the approach of the manager being given new players, as per Woodward?

I think not.

 

[cytrax]

We have got a new manager, which will inevitably delay this.

Or should we have stuck to the approach of the manager being given new players, as per Woodward?

I think not.

But we’ve had the new manager for two months. I am hoping that we will tie up some of the signings very early. The longer the wait, the more likely the adverse scenario as the media run circus with our options.

I saw £100m being mentioned for Nkuku today as an option for Arsenal and I almost laughed! If we want him, we should have tied that up below gossips creep in. And these new players from other leagues that have never performed in the PL surely shouldn’t be costing as much. But that’s another topic!

 

[Chief]

He's not been manager for four weeks yet?

He started actual work on May 20th, or thereabouts.

All the other teams mentioned had managers already in position.

Arsenal aren't paying £100 million for anyone, ever, by the way. That's just what it is, utter bollocks.

Wouldn't worry about it, what's the point?

 

[Treble]

I would've thought a number of possible targets would've been lined up before TH started at the very least.

And some of those may even have been forwarded to him before formally starting the role for him to consider so that when he arrived he hit the ground running.

 

[Chief]

If we've signed no one by August I'll be bothered.

It being June 13th, I'm not yet a minute.

Targets are pretty much well known; de Jong, Timber, Torres, Anthony.

Not sure if Nkunku actually comes into the equation but, should we sign Anthony, the likes of Rashford will have to move centrally to get a game up front.

I can't really see more than four signings this window tbh, it's not realistic.

 

[Chief]

I would've thought a number of possible targets would've been lined up before TH started at the very least.

And some of those may even have been forwarded to him before formally starting the role for him to consider so that when he arrived he hit the ground running.

Surely the new manager is the one who identifies target's?

Have we not learned from Woodward years?

 

[Treble]

Yep 4 signings looks likely to be the max. 2 in defence, 1 mf and 1 forward.

 

[Chief]

Yep 4 signings looks likely to be the max. 2 in defence, 1 mf and 1 forward.

I think it would have been a massive mistake pursuing the likes of Haaland and Nunez, by throwing silly wages at them.

Got to do this first window almost quietly. Cut our cloth accordingly, not pretend we're immediately going for the league or anything stupid.

Haaland also looks a massive ****, he'd be very, very difficult to like.

 

[Treble]

Surely the new manager is the one who identifies target's?

Have we not learned from Woodward years?

I thought the new way was the manager identifies the position and the DOF gives a selection of possible targets. Manager decides which one (usually a 1st then 2nd choice) for said position and then the club go for it.

That's how I understood modern way it's being done at other clubs but could be wrong.

 

[Treble]

I think it would have been a massive mistake pursuing the likes of Haaland and Nunez, by throwing silly wages at them.

Got to do this first window almost quietly. Cut our cloth accordingly, not pretend we're immediately going for the league or anything stupid.

Haaland also looks a massive ****, he'd be very, very difficult to like.

Agree no way we should be throwing silly money for big names or those that appear flavour of the month atm. From what I've read United had a limit of 70m for Nunez and they wanted 100m.

 

[Chief]

Well considering we'd just sacked more or less the entire scouting team we'd not have any targets to offer.

With a new manager and team in place, it's not a worry we've not yet actually signed anyone.

It's not the same at City or Liverpool, two complete squads in need of a little tweak here and there. Which they've now done.

Spurs have brought in a freebie and Arsenal have spent £3 million.

Have Chelsea signed anyone? Not sure who I've missed.

 

[cytrax]

But Chief, we have more problems than any of those teams that you’ve mentioned. We’ve also had an interim manager for half a year which means we should have identified weakness in that period and have a plan in place before a new manager fully takes over. We also knew that Ten Hag would be manager as far back April with the board knowing fit much longer.

I’m also with Treble in that I was of the opinion that we are no longer going to be solely reliant on a Manager being fully responsible for bringing in players that he wants. It becomes more of a shared responsibility with the Director of football. This is not to say that the manager is not vital in the process of recruiting but the process is simplified by quickly identifying plan A and B, then executing accordingly and not letting things become so protracted.

If we don’t get something done in the next week or so, or at very least before preseason, the pressure to get something done will start kicking in as we become desperate and we know how that generally ends. Let’s hope we are no longer using Woodward’s playbook in the transfer market but I’m still waiting to see proof of that.

 

[Christiansmith]

I am rather nervous that we have yet done any transfers. Of all the so called top teams we are most in need of those. Whilst the likes of City and RS could afford not to do any, for us this is simply untenable to start the new season with a very depleted squad. Reminds me a bit of the Moyes season when we were associated with almost every player available and finished with Fellaini at the last minute.

 

[Christiansmith]

Talking about bringing the best suitable players to the club…

It’s not being wise after the event. I’ve said a few times during the season that we still should go for that CL place if at all possible. Because some players at the top of their game still value it and not having it is a massive disincentive for many. So it proved. Many players have already declared that they are not considering a transfer of the club because of that issue. We’ll then get players who value playing for Utd for its name and historical reputation. And we all know what type of players it’s brought us . The likes of Depay who thought that they’ve done it and stopped working.

Oh well, we’ll just have to get on with it. All so depressingly avoidable though

 

[Chief]

The only thing I'm disappointed with so far is that Spurs seem to have snapped up Bissouma, and we didn't even enquire.

But then, our scouting was ****e so they'd probably never heard of him, which is why they were all sacked.

I'm genuinely stunned you all think we'd have signed a bunch of players a couple of weeks into close season, what with all the internationals also going on currently.


Ah well, may as well give up now. It's absolutely catastrophic. All Rangnick's fault, obvs.

 

[cytrax]

Even the fact that we are getting rid of the scouting team at the end of the season is a bit very foolish. We’ve been a mess for a long while in recruiting players and we had a unique opportunity to look deeply into that way earlier in the session given the precarious situation we’ve been in since the turn of the year. So for me, that’s definitely not an excuse. But rather shows how the club is always caught flat footed when it comes to a time to make a decision. It’s become endemic!

Given our unique position of a horrible season, we should have absolutely have closed some business by now.

But we shall see how things work out before preseason. We can’t go into that with a depleted squad!

 

[cytrax]

Another example, if we are indeed buying any of Ajax players, it shouldn’t take four fkin weeks to work out a deal. That is the place where we have the best leverage at the moment but we still can’t seem to do anything outside of gossip pages. For every drip, the harder the negotiations become with the seller holding an upper hand.

Hopefully something happens in the next few week at most.