01 Sep 2015 19:52:16
Ed002 when or if you ever get chance could you do us a summary of this transfer window and possibly let us know which players we were defenitly interested in doing a deal for be quite interested in seeing if the so called top journalists do have any idea about the club thanks in advance

{Ed002's Note - (1) Martial - a lot is expected of him, Guy Hillion had Chelsea in there talking about him when they were discussing loans with Monaco and they would have gone to €20M - probably a fair price and certainly their limit. Manchester United has paid well over the odds for him. (2) Schneiderlin - a very good player who will be fine. (3) Depay is a real talent but it is yet to be seen if Depay is really ready for a full season in England. Might be a year too early. (4) Darmain was of interest to MU last summer and would have moved to Chelsea as a replacement for Ivanovic if he had left this summer. Plenty of interest from the leading clubs in Europe - excellent buy although far from first choice at MU. (5) I think Schweinsteiger was a dumb move - he should have chosen options he had in the United States. (6) Romero is nothing special - journeyman goalkeeper and not a long-term solution. De Gea staying fouled up those plans and the whole matter should have been dealt with earlier. (7) Centre Back - putting aside the kiddie I know nothing of, this was probably the real mistake of the summer. Starting out looking for one and possibly even two centre backs and getting nothing was probably disappointing for many. Hummels was the primary although unrealistic target. There was a simple obtainable solution with Garay and Kongolo that could have been completed very early on. Even as a last minute buy, the affordable Nkoulou was being touted around.

So a couple of risky buys, overspending and one pretty dumb buy - plus failing to address the CB issue. Probably not a bad summer if you are realistic.}

1.) 02 Sep 2015
02 Sep 2015 09:02:42
Many thanks to Ed002 for her overall assessment of transfer activity this summer. Is there any chance, please, of commenting more about the striker situation, which worries me almost as much ss CB? Was Martial really the only/first choice and what about the departures of Van Persie, Hernandez, Facoa, Henriquez (not forgetting loan of Januzai) before only a single replacement striker was signed?
Red Setter

{Ed002's Note - You have to keep in mind that you are talking about fringe players and players who did not play a lot of games. MU still has options going forward.

But others were looked at (and they decided to go elsewhere or no effort was made): Aleksandar Mitrović (went to Newcastle), Santos' Gabriel Barbosa (was never going to happen), Cavani (not at that price given his age and his wages), Benzema (never pushed by MU), Ings (went to Liverpool but would probably not been viable), Mandzukic (whilst his agent said there was interest I very much doubt it), Muller (was never a viable option), Bakkali (interest dropped), Kenedy (tried very hard but was never going to move anywhere but London).}

2.) 02 Sep 2015
02 Sep 2015 09:55:19
Thank you so much Ed002 for detailed evaluation of United transfer window - really appreciated. Overall a success I think - maybe LvG wasn't determined enough to bring in CB because of Blind's performances and having Rojo, Jones and McNair in reserve.

Thank you also to all the other Eds for your consistent hard work and patience when dealing with the paranoia of us football fans desperate for any news. This is an amazing site (would love to know readership stats!) and we're lucky to have it. I'm a constant daily visitor and look forward to hearing how United will win the league in the next couple of years (though think City will be hard to catch this year! Maybe we're battling for second!)

3.) 03 Sep 2015
03 Sep 2015 18:35:11
Hi Ed002, good to have you back, i'm going to disagree with you on the Schweinsteiger transfer. While his best days maybe behind him, he looks like a natural leader and knows how to win, something that the current squad, I believe, lacks. He already seems to be organising the team on the pitch and encouraging the youngsters and I think he is someone who the rest of the squad will look up to. I think this leadership and experience will be invaluable next year as we fight it out for a Champions League place and hopefully a cup.

{Ed002's Note - So you think he is worth more than £15M a year in wages? Those sorts of wages you could build a team of has beens and great leaders.}

4.) 04 Sep 2015
04 Sep 2015 20:23:38
£15 million a year, do you think he needs a PA to stock his fridge and choose his clothes.