02 Aug 2019 11:08:38
Is Maguire a 'club signing' or has Ole said 'I must have him no matter what? ' I just can't beleive with the figures being talked about that the club is backing Ole to the extent of an 80 Mill CB who is probably worth sonething in the 50 mill range. If we are prepared to spend that much on Maguire then why not on Koulibaly, Umtiti or Dias etc? This smells like a club signing, justlike Sanchez was. A name that will shift a few shirts and Ed can say we are sticking to our tradition of buying the best of British blah blah. I just can't see Ole rating him to this extent.
On the other hand we have Bruno Fernandes. He eptomises everything that Ole has said he wants in the team. Movement, technique and quick forward passing. I beleive he is exactly the kind of player Ole wants in his midfield with Pogba and McTominay. Yet we seem to be dragging our heels on this deal. Around 60 mill will get him and yet, a week to go and nothing. So is this a case of the club not backing the manager again? Are they regretting giving Ole the job and are reverting to type. AWB looks a great buy and James looks exciting. But they do fit the 'club identity' of young and British. So those were signings the club was happy to make and get social media buzzing nice and early.
I'm very sceltical. Not many have left and not many have come in. The same people are running the transfers as the last 6 seasons and this summer feels very similar. I hope I am wrong and we get 3 new faces through the door and a few out by the end of August but I will not hold my breath and that is down to experience of the last few years.

1.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 11:38:22
I think that this summer is symptomatic of the club’s failure to assemble a component and cohesive transfer strategy.

At the start of the summer the club had 4 clear targets: the two already signed, and Maguire and Fernandes. In addition, players needed to be moved on and decisions needed to be made regarding Pogba and Lukaku.

The issue is how we have approached these transfers. We have made insulting lowball offers for Fernandes, testing the patients of Sporting, and have um and awed about Maguire’s valuation. This means that the two transfers Ole wanted done before we went on tour are still up in the air.

In turn, we have placed ridiculous fees on our own players. Take Lukaku. A player who doesn’t fit with the manager’s approach, wants to leave, and has interested clubs. The player could have been sold to Inter for about £5m-£10m less than what we paid. This is sensible business for a player the club doesn’t want to keep. But we don’t do sensible. Then we have Pogba. A disruptive influence that has wanted to leave for over a year. What does the club do? Places a silly price on him that no one will pay.

So we have a transfer team that thinks we should make low offers for players that other clubs don’t want to sell, but thinks we should not accept a slightly lower fee for a player we don’t even want to keep.

We have been absolute crap at recruitment for years, and still think we are one of the big players in European football rather than a club in danger of drifting further and further away.

2.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 11:50:00
I think Eddie has just forgotten to turn the fax machine on, as soon as he finds the on switch, transfers will be flooding through.

3.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 12:38:59
So your slating us for not paying other clubs over inflated prices but then slate us for over inflating our prices. Contradictory.

4.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 12:43:10
The club doesn't sign players to sell shirts. They make virtually nothing from shirt sales. It may be in the kit sponsors' interests for player turnover but if the club was signing players to please the them, they would probably be dictating someone with more widespread international recognition than Maguire.

The past 6 years have demonstrated incompetence in the market, it's true, and Ed002 has not been complimentary about Woodward and his team, but let's wait another week before we pour the vitriol.

5.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 12:21:46
I work in IT support, someone get me up to manchester, I might be the most important addition to the staff in years. I'll show EW how to work the fax machine, and teach him about this wonderful new invention called "E-mail". Once he's up to speed, the transfers will start rolling in.

He doesn't seem too bright though, teaching him how to turn on the fax machine might take the rest of the window.

6.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 12:24:17
Danny Pughnited - Why should we sell Lukaku for 10-15 million pounds less than what we value him at especially to Inter when 2 seasons ago they wanted 40-45 million pounds for a 30 year old winger.
We get our pants taken down by just about every club that we deal with because of who we are and the amount of money we have. clubs just take the piss out of us now.
Another thing is how do you know Bruno was one of the 4 targets? If he was surely we would of made an offer by now? There has never been an official approach or offer according to Sporting.
The club would have surely acted on it by now but they haven't and Spurs are now in the driving seat.

7.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 12:57:36
No Mort. i'm slating the fact that if its a club signing, then we will splash the cash but if its a plqyer the manager actually wants, the purse strings are pulled tight.

8.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 12:59:31
The club want to sell Lukaku, and the player wants to leave. The sensible thing is to take a £5-10m loss rather than keeping an unwanted player on massive wages. But yeah, we’ll really show Inter by hanging onto a player with no future at the club, whose value will only decrease, that’ll teach em.

We know that Fernandes is one of the primary targets because Ed002 has told us on multiple occasions.

9.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 13:00:13
Come on Danny Inter initially proposed a ridiculous loan deal and then bid around £54m, that's at least £20m less than we paid for him. Lukaku may not necessarily fit Ole's style but the blokes a proven goal scorer. You don't even get Full backs for £50m theses days. If you look from a different perspective aren't Inter guilty of doing exactly what your accusing Utd of? He's supposedly their No1 transfer target a player their manager desperately wants and a player they've identified as being able to significantly improve their team. Utd are a rich Club they know full well they've got no chance of getting him for such a derisory fee and what other International proven goal scorer could they sign for £54m? He's under contact and at only 26 entering his peak years. He's Belgium's all time record goal scorer, why are we always so keen to undervalue our players but then criticise the Club when they sell players on the cheap.

I actually think your being a touch disingenuous when you say Utd don't want him. Lukaku may fallen behind Rashford in the pecking order but I still think Ole would be happy to keep him. He wants out because he's no longer first choice but competition should be expected at big Clubs and he should raise to the challenge rather than running away. He needs to get himself fit, work harder, improve his touch and prove he belongs in the team.

Even off the bench or playing a supporting role Lukaku will get us at least 15 league goals. Many of us would be happy to see him leave but he's still our most prolific goal scorer. These players come at a premium and I think the Club are absolutely correct at sticking to their valuation. Even if he doesn't move he'll still be a very important player in our squad.

In my opinion if we get Maguire over the line and end up keeping Lukaku and Pogba it will have been a decent window. We'll have addressed the problem positions at CB and RB and our defence on paper will look much stronger. I warned at the start of the window about re-building too quickly and whilst another CM and RW would have been nice theses positions can be addressed in other windows.

10.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 13:08:49
Great post DLIB.

11.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 13:31:58
That's the whole thing about our transfer business, theirs no consistency, the last 6 years since Gill left and fergie, we have overpaid on transfers, overpaid player's, now we are told we are close to signing players but can't agree fees, afraid to overpay, how long are we after fernandes, maguire,
For a huge club that side of the club is a shambles.
We have 4 managers in the last 6 years, and down to bad buys and stupid contracts managers are getting blamed given the road.
Ole told us a few months ago some of these players won't play for united again, yet the only player who put in a good shift is gone herrera.
We will have our new players in early ole said,
Ole your heading down the same road as the last few managers.
And I've read on here preseason is brilliant under ole, rubbish, they are friendlies.
Where will we be at if pogba and lukkaku who want out start tooting round the pitch like they have done.
Get in a dof cause that Woodward is a business man not a football man,

12.) 02 Aug 2019
02 Aug 2019 13:47:23
Sensible talk there DLIB. Finger crossed we get Maguire.