28 May 2014 11:36:07
Please tell me I'm not the only one really worried about the shaw deal. This should have been wrapped up 2 weeks ago. It's embarrassing, other clubs sign players in the space of days and we take forever! Why is this? I've seen some people say the club doesn't want to be held to ransom, if Southampton want between 30-35 million just pay it. In today's market you have to expect to be asked to pay these prices. I'm really worried we won't end up with any new players, mainly because off late we have been really poor in the transfer market! I personally think we should get a director of football in and give ed his old job back.

1.) 28 May 2014
EW has his old job still plus his new one. If he screws up this summer I have no doubt that MU will look for someone else to look after player recruitment.

2.) 28 May 2014
Not so sure I agree with just handing over between 30 and 35 million for an 18 year old left back

3.) 28 May 2014
It's the norm now. United have become an embarrassment in there transfer dealings.

4.) 28 May 2014
Bilko, why is it coming out of your pocket? Would you prefer Luke Shaw or £30m-£35m off of the debt in bond buybacks?

5.) 28 May 2014
I would be far more concerned about paying £24m for a 30 year old CB (Miranda).

6.) 28 May 2014
This is getting out of hand. Shaw is ridiculously overpriced, and not as good as some left backs we could be targeting.

Ricardo Rodriguez, Alex Sandro and Leyvin Kurzawa are superior players, while Moreno and Kolascniac are just as talented. They do not get as much hype because they don't live in England, and don't have the tabloids following their every move.

Not to mention the window has not even opened yet, and he is with the England squad on international duty.

7.) 28 May 2014
Mick1, careful mate. Like Shaw is the only left back in the world. £30m for an 18 year old is a bargain.

8.) 28 May 2014
Mick, first of all the three you have mentioned above are all 3-5 years older than Shaw, Shaw who has already proved he is EPL standard and Shaw who is willing to join MU.

"Not to mention the window has not even opened yet, and he is with the England squad on international duty"

Completely irrelevant of course simply because negotiations have been taking place now for well over a month and deals can be agreed before the window is open, not sure why it matters that he's on international duty? I don't see your point?

9.) 28 May 2014
Yes I think he is overpriced because he is English but tbh I would prefer we got English and kept an English feel to the team rather than be like city with spot the English

10.) 28 May 2014
Betty, that's irrelevant. MU have identified Shaw as being the LB that they want and wasted weeks on him. It will be another embarrassing blow for the club if they mess this up and of course Ed Woodward is the man who is in charge of such matters.

11.) 28 May 2014
So by your reasoning Syd, if Southampton came back and said we want 40m and Shaw said he wanted 150 grand a week the club should just say fair enough and pay up

12.) 28 May 2014
No Bilko, but the amount Southampton have wanted has not changed and Shaw's personal terms would have already been agreed in principle beforehand. MU have a figure which Southampton will accept and we have spent weeks trying to get it down. EW decides what we are willing to pay, but clearly he thinks he can earn some Glazer brownie points by knocking them down, Luke Shaw could have agreed to join us in April if we just paid what Southampton want. I am not saying we should do this in every transfer, but this is an important player as this is a player the club badly want.

13.) 28 May 2014
28 May 2014 14:06:41
I like Shaw and I think he will be an outstanding player, but there comes a point where you have to say he becomes too expensive.

Would you for example prefer to sign Shaw and for go signing a second midfielder or a winger as we don't have the money to pay 35m for Shaw and still have enough to sign all the needed players?

Or would you rather sign Rodriguez for 15m and have the 20m needed to sign a second midfielder or winger?

14.) 28 May 2014
Imo shaw will be the best lb in the world for a number of years, I think he is an exceptional young player.
He could also be in the first team for 10 years so 30 mill spread over 10 years is good business much better than spending 20 on robben for example when u only get 3 years for the price

15.) 28 May 2014
Syd, they might be older, but they are also better players. Shaw is the most over rated player in the country bar Rooney imo.

He is a young, promising, potentially world class player, but there are slightly older players who are already arguably world class. They are more experienced, and not as expensive.

And the " they are older " argument is hardly pejorative. Kroos for example is older than Veratti, and I'd rather have him.

The only thing Shaw has going for him when compared to the continental talents is that he is premier league proven. But so is Fellaini. Mata was not premier league proven when he joined chelsea, neither was Silva.

All I'm saying is, even if we miss out on Luke Shaw, there are other, arguably better, alternatives out there.

And it's completely plausible that the deal for Shaw is hitting a rough patch ( I guess it probably is ) but people are starting to get all testy despite the fact that the window has not even opened yet, and there are better alternatives out there, is intriguing.

Others are freaking out about us not getting Kroos or Fabregas, but there are so many other alternatives who would in all likelihood be much better fits it's unreal. We have no idea what is going on behind the scenes.

I would personally rather have Witsel than fabregas, because one is a near world class box to box midfielder, the other a highly talented attacking midfielder who has been disappointing for 3 seasons now.

The over reactions over the slightest tweet or express rumor is unreal. Just wait and see and stop moaning over every single unreliable rumor.

16.) 28 May 2014
Syd, how would personal terms have already been agreed? MU would need to agree the fee first for Southampton to give MU permission to talk to THEIR played. You are distorting the facts to support your argument.

17.) 28 May 2014
Shappy, there are more than enough funds to buy Shaw and other players this summer. Especially now it looks like we will not be spending mass amounts on the likes of Cesc and Reus. So I don't think your theory applies here mate. Not this summer anyhow.

18.) 28 May 2014
"Syd, they might be older, but they are also better players."

That's my point Mick. How good will Shaw be in 3-5 year's time?

They are currently better players, just like currently Reus is better than Adnan.

But none of this is relevant. The club want Shaw, not Sandro etc.

19.) 28 May 2014
Betty, via his agent Shaw would be aware roughly of what MU have offered him salary wise. Obviously if/when a deal is agreed with Southampton, then Shaw will sit down himself and iron out all of the details and officially agree personal terms.

20.) 28 May 2014
28 May 2014 15:06:31
Syd realistically we need a LB one or two CBs, at least two midfielders and at least one winger maybe two that's potentially 7 players maybe more. We can't afford to spend 30m+ on all of them and there will be a budget.

Shaw has huge potential and has played well for a player of his age. But there are several players in the Premier league who are currently better left backs atm. He could fullfill his potential but he may stagnate. How many youngsters have we seen come though our academy who looked like they could be world beaters but they never made it?

Yes Shaw has played well this season but based on his current level of performance is he worth 35m? No.

He may improve but then he might not, its a very important time in his development, a move to a big club for a huge fee may put too much pressure on him.

Also I don't agree with this its okay to over spend on him as he'll be our LB for the next 10-12 years, will he be given a 12 year contract? No so he'll more than likely be our LB for the next 5 years he may stay longer but he could move before that also. let's no just assume that if we sign a young player then they wilk want to spend all their career with us, maybe he'll want to move abroad at some point, maybe he'll want to play for his boyhood club or maybe he might have a falling out with our manager and want to leave.

I'm not saying he isn't a good player but he currently isn't worth 35m and he may not ever be worth 35m its a gamble.

Wouldn't it he better to gamble 15m on a player who is currently better and has a similar amount of potential?

I'm also with Mick I would much rather sign Witsel over Fabregas or Kroos both of whom i'm not sure how they fit into van Gaals teams compared with the other players we have.

21.) 28 May 2014
Personally I don't have a problem paying this money for a quality left back who will potentially play 10+ years.£3m a year see reasonable to me.
My issue comes with the penny pinching on one player and the paying over the odds for another. Down the years we have lost out on plenty of top quality and when you consider what itwould have cost to keep pogba it is criminal to then go the other way and pay crazy money to others (Rooney for example as good as he is)

22.) 28 May 2014
What bothers me is not the fact that we're unwilling to pay £30m or £35m for a young lb. it's that the club continually seems to think that the transfer market will suddenly start working the way they want it to. We are always chasing players when it is common knowledge that their current clubs are looking for huge, inflated fees: Fellaini and Baines last season, Hazard and Moura the summer before, and Shaw this time round.

The club pursues this players despite having no intention of matching their clubs' values, and then acts as if this is somehow surprising. The market is what it is, and some players, especially EPL players, are going to have inflated values. But there are, as Mick points out, plenty of other options. The question is, why does the club invest so much time and energy into chasing these players if they feel the valuation is too high in the first place?

Yes we would like Shaw, but if we're unwilling to match the valuation, then move on to someone else.

23.) 28 May 2014
Shappy, I agree we cannot spend £30m+ on 7 players, but we can spend it on Shaw.

24.) 28 May 2014
28 May 2014 16:18:39
Danny we can't just pay whatever the selling club wants, if we did that then these clubs will just keep asking for higher and higher fees. If Southampton want 35m for Shaw and we just pay it, then when we want to sign another player then their club may ask for 40m or 50m or 60m at some point we have to say enough is enough and we won't pay what they ask for.

25.) 28 May 2014
Shaw would earn 100k a week and that would be considerably more than Adnan. He is younger and in no way better than Adnan. Y

26.) 28 May 2014
That would create a real problem with our pay structure now and in the future. Shaw may well turn out to be a great player but the fee and wage amount is far to excessive.

27.) 28 May 2014
The point Shappy is that the club has set out its stall that it is after world class players and are willing to compete at the top end of the market. Inflated fees are the hall mark of the top end of the market, and only clubs willing to pay those fees will have any success at the top end.

The problem with United is that they seem to pursue top end players without any willingness to pay top end prices, and that means we are chasing our tails for most of the transfer window. It's not a case of the club saying enough is enough, it seems to be a case of the club continually being told in advance what different clubs value their best players at, and still bring surprised when they don't lower their valuations to suit our purposes.

The reality is that this summer unless we spend the substantial amount of money required to buy a few top players, we will struggle to get back into the top 4 next year. The owners have to decide if they are willing to make the investment required to get us back on track because our current position is a direct consequence of their penny pinching.

28.) 28 May 2014
Flint, who says Shaw would earn £100k a week?

29.) 28 May 2014
Danny, I agree there but the money is just part of it. A part that does not bother me as much as some others.

I don't mind the club overspending for certain players, especially young local talented lads who might play for us for years. Us, as supporters, are not really in the loop when it comes to the club's finances, and his price does not seem that big of a problem given how much money we generate. We arguably over paid for De Gea ( who was as expensive as Neuer ) and for Jones ( I still believe he will become an absolute legend at the club ) but when it pays off, the price seems irrelevant.

I don't think Rodriguez would cost significantly less. He is a great player, playing for a big club with history in a big league, whose financial situation is relatively stable. There's no way we'd get him for less than 25 mils.

Kurzawa would end up costing just as much as Shaw, if not more, since he is playing for a club with limitless financial backing.

What bothers me the most is the over reaction on here because we seem to have " failed " to get him especially since the window has yet to open. There are other alternatives, and failure to get Luke Shaw is in no way a bad reflection of our pull as a club.

Barcelona failed to get Luiz, Real Madrid failed to get Aguero/ Falcao. And yet they have the biggest pull in the world.

Getting a player requires both clubs and the players himself to be willing to make a deal. There are so many variables, and all clubs fail to get most of their primary targets. As long as the club manages to address the issues in the team, it is of no importance how many times they fail to do so.

It's just the over reaction that's a bit annoying. The possibilities for strengthening are practically endless, so are the reasons for which a deal might fall through.

Woodward is already being slaughtered on here for his failings this summer despite the fact that the window not being opened yet, and the manager still on international duty.

We have failed to get Neuer in the past, but the fall back option turned out to be quite alright, didn't it?
We failed to get Shearer and we got Cantona instead.

All in all, no need to panic or get worried just yet, there is still plenty of time to sort out what we need in the squad.

30.) 28 May 2014
"Woodward is already being slaughtered on here for his failings this summer despite the fact that the window not being opened yet, and the manager still on international duty."

That's not true. I have clearly said that if he messes up this summer like last summer, then he will be pulled off player acquisitions and so he should be. We cannot afford any screw ups this summer.

31.) 28 May 2014
"Getting a player requires both clubs and the players himself to be willing to make a deal. There are so many variables, and all clubs fail to get most of their primary targets. As long as the club manages to address the issues in the team, it is of no importance how many times they fail to do so."

You mean address the issues like EW did last summer? Good one Mick.

There isn't many variables in this case. All we needed to do was offer Southampton an acceptable amount, at least that was the case before Friday. Now after dragging our feet for weeks we will have Chelsea to compete with.

32.) 28 May 2014
Sydney! Are you Peter Kenyon?

33.) 28 May 2014
28 May 2014 19:48:52
Syd you forget what Ed02 has said. He said that Chelsea had asked to be kept in the loop of any developments involving Luke Shaw. That means if Southampton were to accept any fee lower than the one they quoted Chelsea back in January then Southampton would let Chelsea know and they could in theory agree to match that fee.

So unless we just paid the fee Chelsea that Chelsea wouldn't pay then there was always a chance that Chelsea could get involved.

The only reason we fear Chelsea getting involved is because Shaw is a boyhood Chelsea fan and we know if given a choice he will choose them over us.

Chelsea were supposedly quoted 35m so unless we are prepared to pay that then maybe we should look else where as we are likely to end up competing with Chelsea in a long drawn out pursuit which we will ultimately lose.

34.) 28 May 2014
SouthRed, Peter Kenyon, now that's a man who can get deals done. Shame he's a judas.

Shappy, exactly, which is my point. We have had weeks to get a deal done, we have dragged our feet and now Chelsea are in the loop as of Friday. If we had got the deal done Chelsea wouldn't be an issue now. But like Danny said, all this time wasted on Shaw, we could have went for someone who could have been bought weeks ago. Instead we waste weeks, actually months negotiating and it looks like we have fluffed it. We cannot waste so much time on transfers Shaps, we have a lot of building to do this summer.

35.) 28 May 2014
Sydney

Let me guess so if shaw signs then you will obviously have a different story to tell and how woodward heeded your warnings and people annoyance at the club and dropped his pants and signed him right :) Some of you guys are unbelievable.

Every team out there needs to buy players and last time I checked with the exception of PSG no one has done anything of note.

36.) 28 May 2014
If MU sign Shaw then it's irrelevant isn't it? Duh!

37.) 28 May 2014
Syd, you're right when you say the two clubs and the player have to agree. In Shaw's case, if United pay what Southampton want, then it only leaves one party to make the decision and that is Shaw himself. I can't see him rejecting us, so if we pay what Southampton are asking, then the deal will go through.
The stumbling block are United. If we pay the asking price, then he'll come.