16 Jul 2013 21:11:39
Ok, I really have no idea if there is anything to this, but I'll share it anyway.

I have just heard from a friend that Utd are not really after Fabregas at all, but that this is a smokescreen. Apparently Barca have been looking at Bilbao's Ander Herrera as a backup, the Fabregas bid has been made to focus their attention there while Utd swoop for Herrera. However Herrera will not be the main midfield signing, but more of a squad improvement. He and Cleverly will be the main depth in midfield behind Carrick and a mystery signing.

Now this sounds like some wild conclusion jumping to me, but I haven't even seen Herrera play in over a year so I don't really know. Perhaps someone who knows more about Spanish football could shed some light?

Thorne

1.) 16 Jul 2013
I remember we were interested in him about 2 seasons ago? Along with supposedly half the rest of the Bibao team! Weren't we supposed to be heavily interested in Oscar de Marcos too?

I'm just thinking IF there is meant to be a prolific midfield signing, who could it be? Modric? Can't think who else would be a realistic target.

Ozwald

2.) 16 Jul 2013
After I posted this I called my friend back to check this as it sounds a nit far-fetched.

He is adamant this is real, andhe expanded his earlier comments, saying that the idea of the Fabregas bid is to get Barca making public statements about Fabregas being important etc so that Herrera realizes he'll be warming the bench at Barca, and accepts our offer instead. Not sure that would work, but I have seen stranger things happen.

Thorne

3.) 17 Jul 2013
Why do people keep thinking clubs make bids too distract from there real targets and what selling team would never want to get one of there players into a bidding war between two of the biggest teams in the world

4.) 17 Jul 2013
At first I thought u meant Héctor Herrera who moved to Porto, who we were linked to a few month back.
KevDarko

5.) 17 Jul 2013
That makes some sense but on the other hand it will make the fans and the player himself think that UTD have had to accept second best.

Stew4d

6.) 17 Jul 2013
So what your saying is that Barca want him. Then you say that Barca want him as a back up to Cesc but they want us to buy him instead. That makes total logic lol

Melwing28

7.) 17 Jul 2013
I think this kind off really shows what's going on the background with teams like Manchester United these days because our budget seems to always be quite tight compared to other big clubs, and we now resort to using fake interest in Fabregas to buy a player who was targeted as a signing for Barcelona. So to be honest I don't know much of Herrera so I don't know maybe he's a young future star or like already in his 20's and playing well but needs I move to a bigger club to progress in his career, so that's why Manchester United want to baffle Barcelona into keeping focus on fabregas and then swoop in for Herrera in the back while Barca are busy with keeping Fabregas.

Thoughts?

8.) 17 Jul 2013
I did say it sounded a bit far-fetched!

I don't have "insider knowlege" that some claim to have or anything, but I heard something which I hadn't seen on here, so I thought I'd share it. As I said I haven't seen him play in over a year (last time I saw him it was Martinez I was watching for, as I still thought we might get him), but I thought someone more knowledgeable about Spanish football might know more.

-stew4d

Not necessarily, if we were bidding for him at the same time. Anyway, people think the management are going after impossible targets so they can say there is no value etc. This is a model of reason by comparison.

-melwing

No, I mean Barca and utd both want him as backup, but utd want Barca to publicly back Fabregas so Herrera feels he's better off coming here.

Thorne

9.) 17 Jul 2013
This is not aimed at the OP but the people that believe it.

There have been some crazy comments on here recently, the worse coming from those that believe United bid for players to 'trick' fans into buying season tickets. What planet are you on? We have a season ticket waiting list and could sell out OT twice over most games, whether we sign anyone or not.

And now we're making bids which are meant to trick one of the best clubs in the world so they don't go for another of our targets? Haha, how gullible do you have to be, to believe these things? Ask yourself, would you rather have Fabregas or Harrera? Yes, Moyes' answer will be exactly the same. What do you think will happen if Barca accept the first bid? Do you think we will turn around and say "sorry, we were just using this bid as a cover up, thanks but no thanks"? Of course there is genuine interest in Fabregas, we've put our money where our mouth is, bid for the creative midfielder EVERYONE agrees we need, but the nay-sayers still try to turn that into a negative. It's not a cover up, it's the first step of negotiations and the reason it's been announced is because the club has been floated and these things have to be made public. Note - the same reason we should know we did NOT bid for Thiago, did NOT bid for Strootman and have NOT yet bid for Garay.

Wazza

10.) 17 Jul 2013
We really couldn't sell Old Trafford out for most games. We struggle to sell out for every game now as the Police figures showed last season.

11.) 17 Jul 2013
FYI:

I asked about Barca being interested in Herrera over on the Barca page. According to the ed who answered, Herrera was being looked at but interest was put on hold as Fabregas seems to have thought Herrera was being lined up to replace him. This may have been what triggered Utd's bid.

When I asked if Herrera was likely to be the main target if Fabregas does leave, the same ed said it looks likely.

Thorne

12.) 17 Jul 2013
Man utd are intrested in him. End of story no smoke screen.