Manchester United banter 8

27 May 2026 16:25:42
Ederson is looking pretty nailed on at the moment, we've been linked with him for a couple years now, so we have clearly rated him for a long time. I wouldn't have him as first choice, possibly not even in top 5, but I would expect there will be more glamorous signings later in the window. Given we are obviously looking to sign at least two midfielders, probably 3 if Ugarte leaves, it would be almost impossible to sign three top names in that position.

Personally, I would be ecstatic with Anderson, Fernandes, and Tchouameni, but that would probably cost £230-240 million, and would therefore severely limit our ability to improve several other areas this summer. Not to mention, that might actually disrupt the harmony within the squad, which seems really strong at the moment, since they would all expect to start most matches.

There are probably several among us that are not that excited with Ederson, given we have been linked with players like Anderson and Tonali all season, but I would be very content with Ederson, Fernandes, and Baleba for around £150-160 million, leaving enough cash for signings at left back, left wing, and hopefully either centre back, centre forward, or both.

I also think it makes sense to make at least one signing midfield as early as possible, since it leaves us in a stronger position to negotiate for other targets later in the window, which could easily save us paying an extra £10-20 million across various deals.

27 May 2026 16:16:02
Seems to be a lot in news about Barcelona wanting Anthony Gordon. Weird really, they don't want to pay a good price for Rashford but are willing to pay probably more for Gordon.

If all true and Gordon does end up at Barca, surely that means Rashford will be sent back to United.

Wonder where he will be off next, as I don't see him wanting to be back playing for United.

I just hope they try and get some money for him rather than another loan for him to walk on a free later on.

Shame really, on his day he can be very good.

27 May 2026 16:29:57
*Ed's feel free to delete my last post as same as this post from fall guy*

Fallguy, I literally just posted the same thing, what a strange situation Rashford is in. I wonder what he makes of it all. Hope there is another club prepared to sign him. Maybe Villa might look at him?

27 May 2026 17:47:19
For £25m ish, he could be a good signing for somebody. Assuming he significantly drops his wage demands.

Problem, though, he clearly wants Barca. If they don't want him, anybody else would be second choice, and there's a chance they end up with a sulky Rashford.



Read quite a few comments from Barca fans today. They don't want Gordon. But mostly agree that Rashford isn't great either.

27 May 2026 20:09:07
Cue another loan with them covering his wages. That's exactly the deal they want and we'll be backed into a corner by Rashford and have to accept later in the window. It's heading that way, sadly.

27 May 2026 21:12:31
Tim, it's a tough one. No point in him staying there. He started less than half their games without Gordon there, so maybe struggling to get into double figures for league starts next season. But, as I said above, I'm not sure he's that bothered about playing.

27 May 2026 22:10:25
I agree, Ken, but just think Barca are being clever about this, knowing Rashford's preference. Just getting his wages off the books would help, but a fee would be even better. Tbh, I'm not sure Rashford is that bothered about anything.

Other than a 3/4 month purple patch before the last World Cup, he's been average in output, world class in ego. That spell got him his current contract, and he seems quite content with that.

27 May 2026 16:11:25
{Ed's Note - Ed001 has posted a new article entitled, Matchday 38 - Quick Round Up

27 May 2026 14:11:02
All talk about midfield obviously, Anderson probably gone to City, so are looking at 4 now, Ederson, Fernandes, Tonali and Baleba. I can't see us buying 3 with Kobbie already there. Two would be great, who are your preferences?

27 May 2026 14:52:19
2 if Ugarte stays, 3 if he goes.

I think we will sign Ederson pretty soon, because it's an easy deal to do (1 year left) and he is not going to the World Cup (so will be available for pre season).

In all likelihood, all our main targets, apart from Tonali, will be at the World Cup, and realistically won't be entertaining transfer talks until mid to late July.



The club must be thinking to get at least 1 midfield signing over the line early, because if we get into late July, early August without a midfielder, it could get quite embarrassing and lead to panic buys.

27 May 2026 15:11:22
Surely can't even be a debate. If Ugarte goes, I said from day 1 it was very poor and got dogs abuse for saying such a thing. That's turned out well.
We certainly need a striker and a CB and a GK, so lots to do that's for sure.



We can't be going into a season with 1 striker who even lacks experience, poor CBs and only 1 GK. That would be ridiculous.

27 May 2026 15:34:15
Mate, do you read the other posts before you post your own comment? You know, you can just comment on existing threads, right?

27 May 2026 15:12:17
I don't know much about ederson in all honesty. Do people rate him? Eds?

{Ed001's Note - he was a very good player a couple of seasons ago, I haven't seen him play since then but he should be a massive upgrade on Ugarte. He is an aggressive ball winner, but decent on the ball too. Or was anyway.}

27 May 2026 17:40:59
Thanks Ed. Feels like an Ugarte replacement too to me when we move him on.

I'm sure we'll in for 1-2 more midfielders. Lots of movement possible - Rodri, Enzo, Anderson, any number of Madrid players.

27 May 2026 18:53:23
AJH, I understand your point on people commenting on existing threads, but the fact remains, once they go off the first page, they rarely get commented on. I've tried many a time, but if it's even near the bottom of the first page, it is too far of a scroll for people these days. ?

27 May 2026 22:09:03
Jim, it's literally the thread below!

27 May 2026 13:43:49
We should put in a bid for Enzo Fernandez after buying Mateus. I'd look forward to the commentators saying Fernandez to Fernadez, on to Fernandez, back to Fernadez etc.

Seriously though, with Chelsea having no European football, and having made record losses in the last few years, they're going to have to trim their playing staff, so expect quite a few sales. On the other hand, like us this year, with far fewer games to play and a new manager, I expect they will be a lot more competitive in the league in 26/7. Is there anyone on their team you would want? One of the problems of amortizing over longer periods is that the book value reduces more slowly and a player whose market value is on the decline is even harder to sell without making a loss. One way or another you pay the price.

On the midfield question: if City keep Rodri does that mean they are less likely to sign Anderson, or is Anderson intended as a replacement for Stones? Does keeping Rodri make them less prone to being forced to meet Forest's exorbitant asking price?

It's going to be an interesting summer.

Clearly, from United's point of view, this management team intends to get out ahead of the melee. I've always been a vociferous opponent of the Glazers, and Ratcliffe is no angel, but I do think his arrival has completely refocused the club in the right direction. It would have been great to get rid of the Glazers but it wasn't an option. No one could force them to sell the whole club, and they didn't need to. Most likely, with their reported investments in land surrounding OT, and potential development projects, they had good retain a controlling interest. They got into football, but their primary business was always real estate.

27 May 2026 07:39:01
{Ed's Note - MK Scouser has posted a new article entitled, Slot, Reijnen and a Summer of Big Calls

27 May 2026 07:21:06
So, it seems as if Ederson (£35m) and Mateus Fernandes (£55m) will be two of our midfield signings, but who will be the big one to finish off our new quartet with Mainoo?

Anderson: the 'plug in and go' option. PL ready and will only get better. Does the dirty work AND the creative work. Him and Mainoo would have to work out a defined way of dovetailing between 6 and 8, though. Ideally, both are 8s.

Tchouameni: the only physical beast mentioned. Casemiro's work from set pieces will be sorely missed and Tchouameni is the only one likely to help replace that to some extent. Also will sit as the 6, allowing Mainoo to express himself the most.

Tonali: my least favourite option. Yes he's physical and covers ground, but I have serious concerns about his attitude and have a feeling he'd be pushing for a move away in a year or so. Avoid.

Baleba: the one I think will happen. In fact, I think a deal may already be drafted. So much potential, both defensively and when driving with the ball, but his decision making needs drastic improvement. I also worry about him aerially. If it is him or Anderson coming in then Maguire and Sesko will be our only physical units in both boxes.

Wishlist in order:
1. Anderson
2. Tchouameni
3. Baleba
4. Tonali

Likelihood in order:
1. Baleba
2. Tonali
3. Anderson
4. Tchouameni

Who would you all go for and why?

27 May 2026 08:50:49
You do know Anderson lost possession on average 17 times per game last season. Shocking stat. His decision making is a lot worse than Balebas in that regard.
Tonali is the best player on that list imo.

27 May 2026 09:31:42
Ken, I'm surprised you say that. I'm not convinced by Tonali. He seems really good at times, but Newcastle seem to exhibit so little control even with him and Guimaeres. Something just doesn't add up. When I see him, I see very little short pass, controlled execution. That might be how Newcastle play, but it's a concern for me.

27 May 2026 10:40:51
I agree with Ken, Tonali is top of that pile. I think Anderson will become the better player, but, for the here and now, that's my preference. Anderson is probably second, Tchoumani, then Baleba.

Baleba is low down purely due to the season he has had. Statistically he is probably the best at actually breaking up play, which is what we lose with Casemiro departing.

27 May 2026 11:33:41
The one thing I'm extremely happy with is that United have clearly decided on their targets and are moving to make them a reality.

Years have gone by, and Casemiro is a perfect example of this, where we have panic-bought when maybe our targets were not attainable. Sometimes I'm not sure that the club really knew that they weren't attainable, and it led to us panicking and overspending.

What I'm seeing and feeling is that the club are calm; they have their targets, what fits the club both on the field and off it, and are moving to those targets.



So, however we rank the above players, imo all are upgrades on what we have, and if we keep building and moving towards a more solid squad, it will make Michael Carrick's job easier. It also means, in years moving forward, we will be able to hone in on single, big-money targets.

Right now, there are still many gaps to fill, but I think the club proved last season that they are capable of doing it in a very sensible way.

27 May 2026 12:01:28
I agree, Downsie, in that I think Baleba will be the one and I think he would be a much better player than this season showed.

27 May 2026 12:50:29
Anderson is the best option.

27 May 2026 14:20:44
I would have Bruno G & Tonali, then an experienced CB with pace, and an experienced starting striker with pace, plus we seriously need another GK who is able to push Lammens for a starting place.

Anything more than that would be unbelievable.

No way we can go into the season with 1 inexperienced striker, 1 goalkeeper and poor CBs if we only buy midfielders.

27 May 2026 06:38:03
Once it was “no value in the market”, now despite saying we want “best in class”, we are now “unwilling to overpay”.
I get it, we don’t want to be in a bidding war for Anderson. However, we tried that with last year's intake and paid what the clubs wanted in the end.


Anderson is the stand out player, if he isn’t in the shirt next season then I think it’s a mistake. No doubt people will say it’s too much but are likely to be the same ones saying it’s not our money.

27 May 2026 07:18:02
Red Man,

Egikdt, u agree with you. I think he wants City.

27 May 2026 07:42:52
MH

I know. If he wants City, ok, he may underestimate us.

However, we have had, what, 25 years of excuses under the Glazers. The latest "unwilling to overpay" just annoys me to hear. Why not just say "protect our dividends".

27 May 2026 08:59:28
What's your reliable source for this story, Red Man.
I've read the same article, you don't mention that he gave the ball away 17 times per game last season on average. You berate Bruno for giving it away less.
There were several stories this morning. Another saying we are calling him continuously, trying to convince him to join, but you don't quote that as it doesn't show bias against the ownership.
You are so transparent, we can see through your bias.
You have no idea what's true, so you quote random stories but don't quote the random stories that say the opposite.


You are biased and have a completely biased view, everybody here can see it.
Every single respectable news outlet is reporting that answers on has agreed terms with City. If that's the case, we need to move on. Let him go there and give the ball away 17 times a game in a position much deeper where you didn't like Bruno giving it away. Perhaps him losing possession so often in bad areas is why Forest struggled so much this season.

27 May 2026 09:01:22
How can you say you know he wants City, but also say it’s a mistake from us if we don’t get him? How much would you be willing to pay for him then?! City go in at £100M. He wants them. What do we offer? £110, £120, £150M?! For a player who doesn’t want to come to us? Then his wages?

We’ve spent over a decade getting mugged off by clubs, players and agents, and I think there is still an element of that that we are trying to undo. Everyone on here, I suspect, wants Anderson as the number 1 signing, but sometimes it’s just unrealistic. I don’t think we paid what Wolves or Brentford wanted last year for Cunha and Mbuemo.

I think we did better, and I believe at the time reports of their valuation and what we paid were different in our favour.

What we all don’t know for sure at the moment is whether we have a chance or not of getting Anderson. It’s only reports that he wants City; I don’t believe anything concrete from his side has come out stating this?! We also don’t know his feelings on United, and whether Guardiola leaving changes things for him. If there’s a chance and United say they won’t match the offer, then fair enough, we can be critical. If there is no chance of getting him, then you’re creating something out of nothing.

27 May 2026 09:31:17
Bruno in CM gave it away in dangerous areas. Anderson passed his audition at OT with flying colours. Superb player.

If he wants City that's fine, but what I rail about is the language around it as explained.

Yes, I am totally biased against the Glazers. I made absolutely no secret of it, even when people on here told me they were ok. I understand the financial implications, and understood it at the time they arrived and said so.

Poor things have had to do without dividends for a couple of years. I also am not impressed with Ratcliffe for enabling the Glazers to stay. So yes, Glazers out, Ratcliffe out.

If he wants City, say so, walk away, but don't give us a new saying "unwilling to overpay".

27 May 2026 12:25:14
Red Man, you and we all have been in the game for a long time, so we know that teams don't pay what they are asked to. You forget that some reports say that City only wants to pay 80 million, instead of Forest's 105 million asking price. It's negotiations, you can't just go and pay what they want.

City don't pay, and sometimes walk away from deals if the price is too big and not fair, like with Maguire.
Furthermore, we will always have the "unwilling to overpay" excuse for players that reportedly prefer other teams, to save face.

27 May 2026 13:06:22
RedMan, the challenge, especially for a club like United, is that you don't want to publicly go around saying we wanted X but he chose to go to Y. Better to say we wanted X, but under certain conditions which didn't work out.

27 May 2026 13:42:15
The club have said nothing. No comment at all, but you still quote like they have said something when they haven't.
Auditions are more than 1 game long, don't be so knee-jerk. The fact that he averages losing possession 17 times in a game can't be lost on you.

More than Bruno when he was playing deeper. So, please compare apples with apples, and stop extracting bits that suit you.
I like Anderson a lot, but there are 2 sides to every story, we can't just stamp our feet and talk about only 1 of those sides.

27 May 2026 17:52:00
TW,
Someone is feeding lines to the press.

I will talk about what the owners have done, we watched City buy players like Aguero whilst saying no value in the market. We saw what replaced Ronaldo when they got their £80m to hold up the financial accounts.

If a football decision was made because of someone losing the ball, that's one thing. However, we all know United decisions are not made on that alone, and I do think this overpay rubbish is an underlying issue. Rice went to Arsenal, where were we?

There are two sides to every story, the football side and the financial one.



AM2,
I understand the dynamics and am acutely aware of how to negotiate. Yes, there are challenges, but spinning it as they have done for a long time should be seen straight through.

Heaven,
Agree, but on Maguire I wonder if City played us a bit. Yes, I understand negotiations and have that in my skill set, yet did we not end up paying what clubs wanted for MBueno, Sesko and Cunha anyway? Just wasted weeks.

27 May 2026 21:18:34
Redman there are reports from Romano or whatever he calls himself that's we have been pestering Anderson to sign continously calling him. But you don't like that story so don't mention it. Who is feeding those lines. Time to stop making assumptions because they suit you.
I think Anderson is top target but if we can't convince him then so be it we need to move on.

Its a much better story from the club that we opted out instead of saying he chose city. Your bias as you say and will find fault with everything they do or don't do. Its hard to have a proper discussion when you live in your own echo chamber.

27 May 2026 21:23:00
Our owners, Redman, are one of the biggest spenders. It's not what they spend, it's who they spend it on. When Arsenal paid 95m for Rice, we were busy spending on Eth's love children, like Onana and the other little twerp on the left wing. So it's not a lack of spending, it's a lack of spending wisely.
Hopefully your ego will let you admit that.

27 May 2026 21:47:25
TW

Not getting into a deep discussion on our owners at this time of evening. Look at the costs of the debt & the debt still remaining, and the issues it causes us. Over a billion in costs. That could have gone towards building a stadium.

More difficult to borrow with existing debt.

No excuse for what they have done, none.

If Anderson doesn't want us, then I agree, move on. However, let's not give out the messaging that is out there.

27 May 2026 22:46:35
Red Man, even if you end up paying what they asked (Mpuemo, for example), you have to negotiate and not be taken for granted. Sometimes you will lower the price, sometimes you simply wont, but as you know, you must negotiate and I think you disagree because you are biased.
I dont think money will be a problem if Eliot chooses us, we will negotiate and find a solution with Forest.

But until he chooses us, we must save face, saying that we cant pay the price. The only way we cant compete with City is if they give him double our wages, but I dont think thats the case.

28 May 2026 06:51:59
Heaven

Negotiations are part of my business skill set, so I understand. SAF wasn't able to pay the price because of Glazernomics; they said there was no value in the market. Now we can't pay the price, and it's unwilling to overpay. Can't pay, don't want to pay, because dividends and profit are at stake, which drives these things.



I would be surprised if he hasn't made his mind up already, and City are waiting to see the price drop. I want to be his first choice, but top players like that have choices.

28 May 2026 12:59:05
I don't think it's about dividends. I think it's a strategic decision by Beralda. At City they used to buy players at a 60-70 million rate, so if, in 2 years' time, the transfers didn't work, they could sell. City could make a lot of 60 million transfers instead of fewer 100 million.
Of course you understand negotiations, but the problem is you think it's all about dividends if we don't pay the asking price for a player. What if we don't, but then go and pay more, as a sum, for other players and spend, say, 300+ million? At the end of the day, you forget that we are the biggest spenders, and that doesn't suit your opinion about only caring about dividends and not spending.

And, of course, the problem is that if you overpay once or twice, then you will always overpay and go back to the period we paid the biggest transfer fee for a defender that cost 20 million, Maguire.

27 May 2026 05:30:20
Not mentioned at all - but the football played for Mbuemo's goal was out of this world. What a move. Beautiful team goal.

27 May 2026 06:46:46
It was a lovely second goal, Eric, one of the more beautiful to watch and one we don't score often.

27 May 2026 03:33:57
Someone asked me about the Bruno/Keane issue this morning and what I thought etc.

Make no mistake, Keane has misquoted Bruno and should apologise.

Some great points in the threads below.

I've grown up watching Keane, read the books, maybe even played the game a bit like him as a result. I have enjoyed him as a pundit, but it is getting a bit predictable these days.

Bruno, as I've said, has dragged us through some dark times, very different times to what Keane was skipper for.

But one thing I said to my mate when asked who was the more rounded skipper, one moment came to mind.


Juventus, Semi-final, Keane getting booked.

Without any hesitation, Keane took the booking. I have my doubts on whether Bruno would take the card knowing he would miss the final (if they progressed). So I guess I can understand where some of the comments from Keane are coming from.

I still love Bruno and would not want him to leave now he is back in his 10 position. But I think as a better skipper, Keane nudges it. But that doesn't give him free reign to be an ass about it to future skippers.

27 May 2026 13:15:50
At this point, I find Keane an incredibly boring pundit and man. He's not entertaining. He can't analyze a game, and I really don't know why anyone listens to a word he says.