Manchester United Banter

11 Jul 2026 19:13:19
The internet is a weird and sometimes wonderful place.

I always think, during transfer windows particularly, how the loudest voices are often the ones you should listen to the least.

If what you say has value, then you don't need to drown out the crowd by shouting it.

The opinions of Manchester United fanbase typically change every few minutes or so.

The same fans who are moaning about signing players like Andrey Santos are the same ones who moaned about the club always going for the big name, obvious target and being bent over for the transfer fee.

Now the club is no longer doing that, in fact they are doing exactly what those fans wanted, but now it is the wrong thing yet again. Now those fans want us to go for the "cream of the crop", and to spend big on fancy shiny names, despite that being the wrong thing according to those same fans in recent transfer windows.

Of course the problem is trying to find the logic in what they are saying.

There isn't any, because their opinions aren't based on logic but are based on emotion.

They are unhappy, so everything and everyone is wrong and they will shout that to anyone who'll listen (and even at those who aren't).

I've tried to be consistent in what I say. I prefer when United sign EPL proven players, where possible. I prefer it when United sign younger players who are looking to step up and prove themselves at the highest level.

I'd have been happy with Elliot Anderson, with Mateus Fernandes, and I'm happy with Andrey Santos. All fit that criteria.

I'll be happy if we sign Carlos Baleba, or Joao Gomes. To be honest I'm happy with most signings, but then I'm a pretty cheerful person, an optimist.

Some of who we sign won't work out as we hope, others will work out better. No one gets everything 100% right, so I try not to hold anyone to that standard.

Let's just see how things shake out before we start judging the signings.

11 Jul 2026 09:28:05
Somebody make it stop!

11 Jul 2026 14:32:34
Nah, speed it all up. It's good entertainment!

10 Jul 2026 23:07:53
Spare a thought for Lammens. Big error in the biggest game of his career and on the biggest stage in the world. It must have been so hard to come in for Courtois so late in the game.

I had this nasty feeling that it might not be the debut he would have hoped for. The sad thing is that Courtois himself hardly managed to hold on to a shot all night, but Senne will get the blame.

11 Jul 2026 07:42:05
I'm sure he'll get over it. Quality keeper. And like you said, Courtois was hardly solid.

11 Jul 2026 14:28:30
He's getting slaughtered in most of the Belgian press.

After all the plaudits of last season, this could prove a pivotal examination of his strength of character.

He is still pretty young for a keeper, but he certainly gave the impression of being a calm and collected person. Not overreacting to good or bad last season.

Think he will come through it O.K.

10 Jul 2026 09:40:45
Our new attitude towards signings builds on something positive for the future. Maybe it will go some way to reducing the united tax that gets slapped on every purchase. If we no longer pursue just individual targets with a blank cheque then teams will be less reluctant to place absurd price tags on the players we enquire about. The huge mark up on players we have pursued in the past is something I believe we have all moaned about. I guess the same can be said for wages. It gets thrown around that we shouldn't care about the finances, to an extent i agree. but there is also not a bottomless pool of coins to pull from.

Personally I find our dealings positive. Yeah I'd have liked a Rice or an Anderson, they are great players. But I disagree that buying them at the cost of improving say 3 other positions is the way to go. There are too many areas within our squad that are in need of attention.

Cas was a warrior and had a very good head on his shoulders, that knack for scoring when it was needed is irreplaceable. But he was lacking in other areas, Potentially bringing in other players with the pace and energy Cas didn't have will free up other players to play to their strengths and not just cover for his weakness.

What I always find fascinating is how much players sell for after only being bought a couple seasons before, the mark up on the like of Anderson is huge. Yet I bet the same people who say we should have bought him at any cost, wouldn't have touched him 2 years ago.

10 Jul 2026 10:13:07
I wonder, if you go back a couple of years, whether anyone even mentioned Anderson as someone we should buy. Newcastle sold him for £35m. Had we bought him then, what would have been the comments? And then, would he have got the opportunity to establish himself and grow with Casemiro in the team? So much of the success of transfers is timing. Kind of like relationships in general. If only you had met him/her 2 years later when you were in a much better position, or 2 years earlier before you were committed to the wrong person.



We've been buying too many players too early or too late, and getting skinned in the process. The new management team's approach may work out, or it may not, but let's hope we're now on track to start getting the timing and pricing right. If this window's successful, then the club is going to start making good profits again and maybe be in a position next summer to splash out on a true longer term signature signing.

10 Jul 2026 11:32:28
Newname

I have said we need to look at Scott and Kroupi. They seem to me the right direction to go in.

10 Jul 2026 11:44:24
Liverpool revenue $729m, Man Utd $692m.

Liverpool wage bill $428m, Man Utd $313m. With Liverpool's inflated figure maybe $50m by title-winning bonuses, and Utds minimised by lack of league position and Europe.

Casemiro, a top earner, just left the wage structure.

Why are fans still talking about saving wages and increasing profits? We need to build a team that can compete. Can we just focus on getting the right players, and maybe this amazing management team we all seem to be happy to have can manage the finances to accomplish that?

Wages should not now be a problem.

We are back in UCL, and the financial constraints are changing this year, which helps us.

Money should be fine, especially if we just buy the right players and stay successful. Whoever the club decide that is. Bad signings create the problem.

10 Jul 2026 11:46:37
I saw a rumour today that we are looking at Kone, although I would personally prefer Scott.

10 Jul 2026 11:47:27
I guess because we have such high debt and still owe so much in transfer fees.

10 Jul 2026 12:19:52
Dodgy. Liverpool have virtually no bank debt which means very low interest payments and in 2025/6 they will have slightly widened the income gap from your figures. According to Sportrac, the actual payrolls, net of amortization costs, were not wildly different. £176m at Liverpool, £163m at United. Our excessive interest payments are costing us the equivalent of Salah and VVD's wages combined.

Yes, United now have plenty of room from a UEFA FFP point of view, which allows 70% of revenues to be used for squad cost, which is why I don't believe this window is in any way done for us.

We have room to make a couple more significant purchases. So, let's wait until September 1st before making any snap judgments. Even then, we will need to give the new players a chance to settle in and prove themselves before we crucify them, the head coach, and the management team. It's imperative for the club to impose a successful structure first. There's more than a decade of financial and football mismanagement to unravel.

10 Jul 2026 17:05:18
Redman, both are good players. But you need to realise that if they don't do what you think they should, it does not mean they are wrong. We all have our favourites, and players we think will do well, but if we don't sign them, please resist the temptation to post on them regularly. We see so many posts from posters telling us 'I was right about this, that or the other', but very few posts on when we're wrong, and there is much more than those examples.



If a player signs elsewhere and does well, it's not even a solid indication that they would have done well with us.
I know your form, and if we don't sign Krupi and he does well elsewhere, you will remind everyone at every given opportunity. Regardless of whether the player would have wanted to come to us in the 1st place. 🤣🤣

10 Jul 2026 18:42:19
TW

We pay a lot of money to decision makers in senior positions to get it right. They need to do that, and if we are sat in 2 years saying we messed up, then it needs to cost them their jobs. That simple.

10 Jul 2026 02:45:30
Assuming Ederson and Santos go through, we will have acquired 2 midfielders whose wages combined will probably be about 1/3rd of Casemiro's. Neither of them is likely to be able to replace Cas's scoring ability but it's quite likely that both of them will be able to cover more ground faster from a defensive point of view. We'll have to wait and see whether they can elevate us. Will they end up being shrewd buys or will they turn out to be McFred? (Of course the Mc part of McFred is now someone many regret selling, even though he came in for endless criticism while at United).

I think we'll bring in one more midfielder over the next 7 weeks and we should have plenty room for at least 3 more decent acquisitions.

Plus I expect us to sell Vitek, maybe get a sell on fee from Greenwood, and hopefully get Rashford off the books. Whether we can find a home for Zirkzee remains to be seen.

It's an interesting time to follow United. Clearly the new management team are not into acquiring aging galacticos, players who are only at United for the money, or overpriced speculative long shots. They did a good job last summer so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt for now. In the end football is a team game where success relies on the team being greater than the sum of its parts. b.

10 Jul 2026 09:47:57
Both Ederson and Santos look like they could be shrewd buys, giving us squad depth with good upside. Both have been well scouted by the club/Vivell over the past couple of years, so these are not knee-jerk, reactionary buys, which should give us positivity that they can be successful.

At some point early, the so-called ITK's suggested we would be looking at bringing in 3 midfielders, a £30m/£50m and £80m.... Whether this is true, or will bear out, we have to a degree hit the first 2 prices.

So if we get the £80m by the end we would have massively improved this part of the team.

As you say, outgoings will be key. Rashford, hopefully, will bring a good value in, Greenwood, with the sell on, and Vitek (if we sell, please add buy back/future sell on %), should bring in £10m.

We are doing things differently. To a degree, this is all happening behind the scenes until deals are closed. This is what we have been calling out for, so have to let it play out now.

10 Jul 2026 16:05:26
Ederson is not signed yet. It seems delays from medical are impacting.