Manchester United Banter Archive October 28 2013

28 Oct 2013 22:45:34
Are we actually going to sign anybody in January?we badly need a creative cm.id love to see Barkley arrive but it will never happen.is Herrera the only realistic target?he is good but seems to have taken a big dip in form?also seems moyes still wants baines.great player but is he really worth it at that price?i seriously hope moyes and united sort out there transfer dealings(if any. ) early in January.
Nobody wants to see a repeat of the summers farce.what do you make of the style of play moyes is trying to implement?am I wrong in saying he wants fast, attractive, fluid football and keeping pressure on the opposition?thoughts?thanks guys

As fans I don't think it is any of our business to ask if so and so is worth the fee? At the end of the day, what does it matter to us how much we spend on someone? We should just be glad that we bring players in.

I think the best centre midfielder for United to realistically sign is borja valero. His passing stats are incredibly high. Only few players like xavi and iniesta have better passing stats. He has passing stats that are close to our best passer carrick. 86% accuracy in his passing. Carrick has 88%, I'd love united to sign him

I would not consider it a big deal. All the rumours affected him just like Iker Muniain last season. He was linked with us and Barcelona and any young player would have his head turned by such teams.

29 Oct 2013 10:00:21
Well you can forget about signing Ander Herrera now, Woodward has said that the club ended their interest in the player once it became clear that Bilbao would only sell at the full buy out price and not a penny less. So I wouldn't expect us to go back in for him again.

The player i've been most impressed with so far this season is Miralem Pjanic at AS Roma. He has been a key player in Romas amazing start to the season. He has been threatening to fullfil his potential for a few years but it looks like the penny has dropped this season. He has amazing vision and reading of the game, is a great passer of the ball, and likes to drive forward from the middle of the park. He also is quite handy at set pieces. He would certainly add more pace and energy to our midfield as well as attacking intent. {Ed002's Note -

Something about the Herrera bid doesn't sit right with me.

We knew, from the minute we started talking to Bilbao, how much they wanted for him.

Yet at the last minute, we decided we didn't want to pay that. Don't know whether we were hoping to get him on the cheap at the last minute, or if it was just a smokescreen to make it look like we were bidding for a quality CM'er. Who knows.

As for Pjanic, we'd need to convince him to leave the club that's currently flying high at the top of Serie A. And convince that team to sell him - don't think it would happen.

29 Oct 2013 12:37:14
Red_sky, Pjanic has supposedly been rufusing a contract extension. And his contract us supposed up in the summer, so he should be available at a fair price in january and if he is refusing a new deal then maybe he doesn't need persuading to leave Roma. {Ed002's Note - You have been misinformed. His contract is not up in the summer.}

His contract is up in 18 months shappy, either way he's a tremendous player who we should be looking at, he's brilliant across the board and looks like a cheaper version of Hamsik

Can anyone name any successful players who played in italy and came over to the prem in the last ten years? Look at that roma lad spurs just spent 30m on. Veron, Aqualani, Giacherrini, Balotelli, Robinho, Jokavij.theres a reason there are a lack of former Serie A players in the prem.

Ha, Jovetic not Jokavic, getting my tennis stars and my city flops mixed up.

29 Oct 2013 15:10:56
Cheers chaps, I read somewhere that his contract was up in the summer but its obviously wrong. Either way he should be a player we should be looking at for either January or the summer.

29 Oct 2013 17:16:01
Sorry Shappy but I think he's just the latest fad player we have been linked with.

I know I might be pushing it a bit here, but Thierry Henry came from juventus, Patrick viera came over from Italy, Dennis bergkamp from inter, Zola from Parma, crespo did ok at Chelsea as did mutu before his cocaine issues, dimatteo was not too bad as was desailly. I think it is wrong to say players from Italy can't make it in the prem. you just need to pick the right players.

I really feel like pushing my luck today. I know I have totally ignored the 10 year aspect of your question anon, but Carlo cudicini did alright at Chelsea, as did vialli and Ruud Gullit, Paolo Di Canio and diamanti were ok at west ham, Benito carbon did not look out of place and ravanelli was ok at boro. Taribo west did a job at derby. Italian players can cope in the premiership, unfortunately most of their better players prefer to stay in Italy, like de Rossi, marchissio chiallini etc. a few years ago people said Spanish players could not cope with the premiership as it was too physical and it was too cold for brazilians. Both have been proved wrong.

Huggy I know you didn't mean it like that but made me laugh at taribo west being Italian. I imagine there isn't anybody on here who has played championship manager that hasn't signed him on a free!

28 Oct 2013 17:18:01
Rumours of Baines and Lewandowski moves seem to be the most prominent at the moment. Baines for £15 million and Lewandowski for £7 million. Now I know that we have an abundance of strikers, but surely there is always room for another world class player, especially with RVP getting older and the uncertainty over Rooney. It is important for older players to be managed carefully and to be honest, we don't have a world class replacement for RVP in the squad so in my opinion, Lewandowski would be a brilliant addition. Nothing needs to be said about Baines as he for me is a must now. The other interesting one I read was about De Rossi - I know that we tried for him, but it would be brilliant if we could go back in there for him either in January or at the end of the season.

What are your thoughts on these three players guys?

Didn't we hear all that in the summer as well?

I can see Coentrao in January and well, who knows about the summer.

As great as De Rossi is I don't think he is what we need, we need pace in the middle.

Gundogan would be my first choice.

28 Oct 2013 18:11:53
I like Baines but I think we would end up paying too much and I don't think he wants the move enough. I think there are other options that we will go for. I think we would only sign Lewandowski if either Rooney or van Persie leaves, which I think one of them will in the summer. Lastly de Rossi I think would flop. I'm wary of signing players from Italy especially ones who have spent their career there. I think he would struggle to cope with the pace of the game and is too old to adapt. I think we would be better off going for players that are younger and we can build a team around instead of expensive short term fixes we would have to replace in a couple if years.

I agree, De Rossi could flop but he would give that much needed drive to the midfield. I think the most likely outcome, and the ed suggests this is that we will try again for Herrera. Whether or not we can add Baines & Lewandowski to that though is another matter. If Lewandowski is going for £7 million then we quite simply have to go for him. It would be the bargain of the century.

Lewandowski would be really good for us if we lose either Rooney or RvP.I'm not sure he could do so well without so many creative players behind him like he enjoys in Dortmund, but I guess we would play Kagawa behind him who he knows well.

I agree on Baines with you, he's a must for us now, even if he's getting older.I reckon he would be very good for us short term for about 2 years.

On the De Rossi rumours, imo we are crying out for a fast, mobile and creative cm atm.De Rossi wouldn't be the solution to all our problems.Besides, he's already 30, don't you think we already have enough old players in the squad?

Lewandowski is moving to Bayern and any speculation about us or any other clubs is just agent talk to improve his deal or push through the transfer in January.

Baines would do well for us, but I can't see us paying over the odds for another Everton player. De Rossi won't be leaving now, and after spending so much money on Fellaini he is not the type of midfielder we need. Fellaini was bought to bring drive to the midfield, if he isn't up to that task Moyes is at fault. But what we really need is a player who can move the ball quickly from midfield to attack, De Rossi is certainly not that type of player.

Regardless, I agree with Moon. Maybe a loan signing in January and possibly a below value bid for a midfielder but nothing else. {Ed002's Note - There is absolutely no agreement for him to move to Bayern Munich.}

Lewi is off to bayern, what has changed? Zilch, nudda thing. Pep says he doesn't want lewi now, Dortmund panic and sell him in jan for 7m and we look foolish again.
Come on fresh!
Baines would be great, but I agree with MrE, we would end up paying to much, although I could see a deal including one of buttner or Fabio going other direction.
My ideal targets would be, subotic, Baines, Herrera and gundogan.
Maybe its just a dream :-( {Ed002's Note - There is absolutely no agreement for him to move to Bayern Munich.}

What's all this £7m nonsense? I couldn't care what amount of time Lew had left on his contract, I would pay £20m. Personally I think he will end up at BM, but I wouldn't rule out Chelsea.

I honestly think for Lewandowski to come to OT a number of things would need to happen. Firstly at least one of our strikers would have to leave, I would have to assume Hernandez. Even then we'd be left with a a bit of a conundrum, how do Rooney, RvP and Lewandowski fit into the same team? I can't see RvP dropping into the hole, he'd have to play along side Lewandowski IMO. and where does that leave Rooney? In a two man midfield? Out wide? I just can't see it to be honest.

As brilliant as both Lewandowski and RvP are, I wouldn't say they're the most flexible strikers. If Lewandowski comes. Rooney leaves I'd have to imagine. To be honest though, I agree with Sydney, I think he'll end up at Chelsea.

I actually hope we don't move for Baines, he's only a few years younger than Evra and really he'd only be a stop gap. Moving for Coentrao makes so much more sense. he's got a lot more pace than Baines and would really help us if we moved to a 3 man midfield.

What about Lew to RM? They only have Benzema at the moment and there has been questions over his future. Unless RM are more interested in Aguero.

I honestly think Aguero will be the best galactico, whether Bale lasts as one remains to be seen. I think we have a shot with Lewandowski.

But bayern are the favourites for his signature though ain't they ed? Hasn't even lewi himself said he expects a deal to Munich to be done by the summer and maybe in January? {Ed002's Note - I have spent the past 6 months explaining the situation with him. He is keen on moving to Bayern Munich - in the same way as most of the Gillingham team would love to join Manchester United - but will they?}

Why would these players want to play for a mid table club.

Lol mark, really? U really wanna go there already?
#terrible-banter

Rumour has it Gardiola doesn't want Lewi no idea if its right but since the rumour Lewi has said he isn't nailed on for BM

Mark, congrats for the performance this season. I'm sure you guys would secure your place in Europa league eventually. It's all down to your key man Henderson and has proved this season again why you guys going on and on about. 9 games 0 goal 0 assist. Looks on par with Young. played 4 games and 1 assist. Btw, we are happy for you to have a sneaky bid on Young this Jan. No hard feeling mate.