15 Jan 2014 21:29:13
Hey guys,

So I have not posted for a while but if you remember I was the one who was adamant from back in March 2013 that Bale was our number one target last summer. Now as a lot of developments have happened since SAF retirement I thought to share my two cents on our transfer policy.

Before Moyes' take over on July first, the club had (under Gill) agreed deals for Matic and Garay with Benfica while Bale and his entourage had appeared interested in a switch to United. All of this was negotiated basically under the reign of Ferguson who was also resigned to losing Rooney. Yet, as it is our policy to have the manager have the last word on all transfers the club essentially held off on Matic and Garay deals. Interestingly, Moyes did not sanction the deals with Benfica as he had his own targets in mind. Bale, on the other hand, remained our number one target and we did everything possible (even agreeing to pay the player and the club more than Real) but were unable to sign him as Bale apparently was hoping to work under Ferguson and with SAF gone he had essentially already made up his mind and chosen Real. We all know the abysmal state of affairs as Woodward and Moyes scrambled to put some signings together.


As far as this window and the next is concerned things are very different. We actually have a strategy as Moyes has been in the hot-seat long enough to develop a transfer policy with back-up plans, a list of first-choice, second choice, etc. targets.

As it should be no surprise, a lot of ground work must be done prior to the official transfer season to wrap up deals. We are essentially doing a lot of work now for the summer where the club hope to do at least a majority of their signings before the world cup. Now to our targets.

Moyes has identified that our squad is need of at least one CB, one LB, two CMs, and a Winger.

As for defense our main target is Mangala who Moyes loves and whose agent Mendes has an ongoing relationship with us. ofcourse this is one for the summer. also, he is quite expensive at around 35-40 mil euros and city are also very keen but money is not an issue for us this time around. the important thing is getting the player to want to come here. Rio's contract will certainly not be renewed and he is touted as his replacement. Moyes hopes to hold on to Vidic for one more season given his experience. He also rates Jones and Smalling very highly. If he does pull this one off we would most likely be looking at mangela jones partnership next season. (personally I have reservations on this one) our other defensive target if this doesn't pan out is Mats Hummels whom I prefer although that is also by no means easy for Barca seem very interested.

as far as lb, everyone knows that we have proposed a loan with option to buy to Real for Coentrao and the player himself is very interested but Real are playing hardball. if this deal is to go through it has to happen in January. we spoke with Southampton about shaw but they made clear that they would not even listen to offers until the summer. Baines is not a target anymore. If we don't get Coentrao in now then our first choice lb for the summer would be Shaw for whom we have to go head to head with chelsea. Moyes wants to hold on to Evra and let go of buttner but it seems that Evra is dead certain on ending his career in France. this is why signing an lb has been an urgent issue for us not as some fans think because Evra is passed his prime or because Moyes doesn't rate him.

As for the winger, Moyes' number one choice is Reus who the club actually think they have a good shot at in the summer. We are willing to pay his release clause which kicks in then. I'm sure there are back-ups to Reus but they haven't been seriously discussed yet which suggests the high level of interest we have in Reus. Young is certain to leave in this area and probably also Nani. the problem with Nani is we want to recoup some serious cash for him at least 18 million. With the world cup coming up, Nani is being given a chance to recover his game back at Sporting. He is expendable but not at any cost. Moyes hopes to include him in his offers for his earmarked CMs.

Finally to our most pressing area of concern, the midfield.

Most of the midfield targets we have are ones for the summer. Chief among them is Gundogan who we have liked for quite some time from back in summer of 2012. Although, Dortmund have not lost hope He seems set to leave Dortmund in the summer, with his destination entire unclear at the moment. Here we are competing with Real Madrid. He wants champions League football and our current state is not attractive to him yet he also has reservations about the midfield traffic at Real. On the other hand if he is signed Real will be looking to offload Khedira who is in our list although not high on our list by any means.

The other primary target we have is Vidal. Moyes has held talks with Juve who have agreed to listen to our offer in the Summer. We also prefer to include Nani in this deal in the summer to bring the price down and for some reason Juve seem to be interested in Nani although they rate him closer to the 10 million than 20 that is our valuation. Again suffice it to say it is not at all certain how everything will turn out here. so another first choice target is Koke of Atl. Madrid. He is another target for the summer. and the player seems to be interested in a move in the summer so he might be our most likely of the three at around 30 million. So Ideally our midfield next year can boast Vidal-Koke, Koke-Gundogan, or Gundogan-Vidal partnership.
Further down the list, We are also trying to sound out Pogba although I don't see this as happening given our history with his agent. If vidal and Gundogan don't pan out, the next name down the list is William Carvalho of Sporting who is a yaya toure type player. He is not a first choice at the moment but if we fail in our other targets he is a good fall back option. We have a better chance than others to get him given our relationship with Sporting. Moreover, if we loan Nani to Sporting we will insist on a first buy option for Carvalho.
This is the reason Moyes is very hesitant to fill out a spot right now but with Anderson gone to Fiorentina, we might if we can replace him with someone this month. The names for January are not very extensive as the player cannot be cup-tied. the most likely candidate is Ever Banega of Valencia. the player himself is keen on a switch but Valencia are having a transition of their own with a likely takeover and so its hard to agree a deal. Rakitic name was also in the frame but this is looking more and more unlikely by the day. We have not bid for Everton Ribeira. We are also not in for Marchisio or Veratti. I have not heard anything about an interest in Matuidi. There is some indication that we have agreed to Anderson deal with someone already in the bag. I find it unlikely that deal will be allowed to go through with no immediate replacement. so as soon as that is confirmed, we can hopefully expect to see some activity.

All in all, while I do hope that we get someone like Banega in this window for that is certainly an improvement on what we have, I am confident our transfers in the summer will have fans excited again.

Hope this is helpful,
Art

1.) 15 Jan 2014
An interesting read Art, I do hope we can get some of the targets mentioned

2.) 15 Jan 2014
Art, that is very well written and a good read. However, there are two possibilities : a) this is little more than a combined summary of widely reported media stories dressed up as fact, or b) you are David Moyes.
I really hope is the later

3.) 15 Jan 2014
Even if that is all bs it has got me feeling a little more optimistic.

4.) 15 Jan 2014
A good post from someone who knows what he is talking about even if its guess work I think there is a lot of truth to most if not all.

5.) 15 Jan 2014
Nice post, how have you got this information? Is it your opinion?

6.) 16 Jan 2014
I agree with sweaty b! This is little more than all the rumours on here, made into one post!

7.) 16 Jan 2014
If we wanted to offload nani why would he get a 5 year contract?

8.) 16 Jan 2014
Well that's what we want to hear, I just hope you're right.

9.) 16 Jan 2014
Andy, to increase his re-sale value.

10.) 16 Jan 2014
Nani is not worth more than £10m!

11.) 17 Jan 2014
I hope so betty swollocks, so frustrating all these transfer rumors, fergie would of added 2 to 3 players if he stayed on, even worse watching city go for every trophy possible