Manchester United Rumours Archive August 23 2012

23 Aug 2012 23:26:44
I know we are all very disappointed in the teams performance on Monday night against Everton but I can honestly say that I truely believe we are only one signing away from having a really good team. That signing has to be a very good ball winning midfielder as our weakness is how easy our midfield is dominated. I would love to see De Rossi but i fear he may be City bound. The good thing is that we will now see if Cleverly is all that we are told he is or just hype. Monday bothered me as he always played the safe ball and never beat a player. People on this site know my opinion on Rooney but does anyone not agree with me that if we could have got some silly money for him in the summer we could have spent it on a quality midfielder. There is a young lad at Juventus I like the look of he is called Paul something but he is strong and athletic with a great engine he is definitely going to be a world class player. I wish we could get hold of him, Oh wait a minute! I AM KLOOT

I read somewhere that Rooney was worth 55 mill pounds. I say sell sell lol. Sell Nani for 20 to 25 million and with 40 million of new money that would give us 130 million to go shopping.

We could have Munian, Martinez, Ghaitan, Kagawa and Falcao, plus all the young guys who we have bought for the future and the rest of the team can stay as is. Now tell me if there is a team in Europe who would not pooh their pants looking at this line up.

Ahhh fantasy league and back to reality.

Shahram

I think De Rossi has confirmed that he is going nowhere at this current time. With that said, there is no way Manchester United would ever meet the kind of transfer fee Roma would be after.

I do agree with you however that one midfielder and our team would be extrememly good and Rooney is in danger of becoming the next Nani is his form doesn;t start to consistantly imporve (I beleive it will, Rooney has always had hhot and cold streaks.)
As for Pogba, still has yet to proove a single thing to me.

MDJ

We need to make our move for Witsel. It appears we are the only team in for him right now, and next summer, the big guns will have him in their sights. How many times have we sat here talking about how we could have gotten this player and that player before everyone else even took an interest? The coast is clear for Witsel, we have to make the move and overpay slightly if we need to.

G.A.G.U.S

Totally agree on Rooney, living on his reputation, never done it consistently or stood up in the big games. AJH

Sell Rooney, no way. He can't win every game single handed, but he has carried the team at times. He has been our main creative spark for years, he drives the team on when they waiver mentally, he scores a lot of goals, and you'll have to go a long way to find a forward more willing to work for his team.

Rooney pretty much epitomises the energetic, determined, attacking football that SAF likes his team to play. The kind of football that attracted so many of us to following united in the first place, despite what other fans say, a lot (I'd like to think most) of us came to support united because of the way they play football, not because they won trophies (and I'm not trying to suggest you are one of the glory hunters btw).

Thorne

As a long time admirer of Rooney, I'm saddened by his decline. His touch towards the end of last season was poor and got worse at the Euros. Against Wigan it showed no improvement. What's happened to those surging runs, his accuracy in passing? He should be at the peak of his career but seems to me to be a mere shadow of the Rooney of just two seasons ago.

Rooney is overrated and goes missing in big games. If you look at euros he is great against lesser teams and average or poor in big games. The slow starter theory is bs imo

Behave!! Everyone is talking a load of dross. Yes, I was really disappointed by some of Rooneys passing and play in general in the second half of the season but his goals won a lot of games for us. We relied too much on Rooney to do something, hence the signing of Kagawa/Van Persie how can anyone say he did nothing in big games. He's scored numerous vital goals against our main rivals in matches against City, Chelsea, Arsenal and was the only player that looked a threat and scored in the CL final against Barca. Can a player not have a bad 6 months and still score approx 20 goals. You all need your heads checking! How many players will come to a club like Man United a give you a return like that

I wrote a post after the Everton game which didnt get on, it was far more detailed that this. But basically Rooney is past it, he is dead wood and too much goes through him which is why we rarely get many chances or score many against the good teams. He has never performed consistantly and he takes forever to get his sharpness back after a tiny knock. He should be sold ASAP as he will be going down in value (RVP will replace him as main attacker) and he will lose even more match fitness and look worse. Plus I think it will release more of our players to be more creative rather than always looking for the Rooney ball. I have loved seeing Rooney's name on the team sheet, but now I hope he isnt on it, shame but I think those that think he is some sort of superstar need to look at his performances. It's not too difficult to get a few goals playing upfront for Utd, don't let the stats and his tracking back mask his poor distiribution and general poor play.

Sween

Rooneys class simple as that and him and rvp will form one hell of a partnership. It was the first game of the season! Sometimes think its just about signing new players for some fans. Ave abit of faith in what we got!

23 Aug 2012 21:06:07
Read an interesting rumour on yesterday that said United had a 30m offer for Lewandowski turned down before they signed RVP. Not saying it is true but if we were willing to pay 30 but paid 24 for RVP wouldn't there be 6 left 3.9 of which went towards Buttner? I'm not sure if we have a set amount to spend this window would make sense if we offered 5m for Dembele but if the offer for Witsel is true could mean Fergie is being straight up. When he said if the right player becomes available we will go for them. Still think Nani should be moved on while he has some value and a replacement brought in before the window closes. Thoughts anyone, Eds

Darren-Bermuda

Nani has two years left on his contract , either we extend it or sell him in the next week or face a loss on his value. I would have liked Muniain but I watched an interesting game last night where Isco looked a very decent prospect but that was only a very brief view. I am sure he has been more thoroughly scouted.

We have to strengthen CM , I cannot believe anyone thinks another season of Scholes in midfield will be anywhere near good enough

Red Man

Didn't the article say 30m euro (24m pound)

30 mil euros for lewondowski no 30mil sterling , rvp was 24mil sterling

That's such a ridiculous statement!
Even if that is true and we had a bid turned down does not mean that the 'change' from RVP is for spending , what a childish way of viewing money.

Why is it a childish way of viewing money mr.noname? We were reportedly after Moura for around the same amount and I may have misread the article. I was refering to the limit on the funds that we were rumoured to have for the summer. At least do some research before you post ignorant things. If we had 40 m (rumoured) spent 12 on Kagawa 3 on Powell 15+ on RVP 4 on Buttner and Henriquez not sure on the price wouldn't you say what we have left to spend is 40m - what we've spent+player sales? Hows about next time you leave a name

Darren-Bermuda

According to reports in Germany, Manchester United made a £30m bid for Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski, which was rejected by the Bundesliga champions, before turning their attentions to Robin van Persie.

Sorry for cut and paste as this what I read.

Darren-Bermuda

Honestly, Why move on Nani? He's one of the best players we have, despite his inconsistency.

We would have to get at least 25-30m for him and even then we'd have to stump up another 10-15m to afford anyone good enough to replace him.

That 10-15m could be used towards bringing in a cm, hell we could probably get someone like Dembele for less than that.

Thorne

Nani complete tosh i say sell then go raid wenger for the ox

Nani is awful we would be lucky to get £15mil for him in my opinion and that value is only going to diminish. Best option would be to part exchange him for Goetze next season if we can't flog him in the next few days or winter window.

Sween

23 Aug 2012 20:33:24
Apparently wolves are planning a 1.2 million bid for Robbie Brady maybe he is surplus to requirements after the signing of Büttner?

Caolán.

Brady is a left-winger, the manager had no intention of him ever being the LB, it was pretty cruel getting the kid's hopes up in all honesty. We were always going to sign a LB. We were short on LB's for the tour, if Evra had went Brady wouldn't have traveled, it would have been Blackett. I like Brady, but think he would bring in some decent cash. Perhaps even £2m and we need to make space and balance the books so why not?

Sydney!

Syd he gave an interview where he said the manager told him he would be a left back.

Caolán.

Sydney! How do you know that the manager has/had no intention of playing him at left back? Puerly supposition on your part.

J - Stand

23 Aug 2012 08:17:47
Do any of the ed#s know if we have shown any recent interest in M'Vila or Ezequiel Cirigliano?

thanks
Oxred {Ed002's Note - Zenit, Spurs, Inter Milan, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Manchester City, Bayern Munich and Juventus have all shown a determined interest in M'Vila in the past and perhaps PSG and Barcelona will become interested as well. However, he was there for the taking of Arsenal should they make an offer that is acceptable to Rennes but his recent issues with his National coach has made Arsenal think again. Spurs have an offer on the table.

Manchester United, Manchester City and Genoa have enquired after Ezequiel Cirigliano but Napoli are pushing to complete a transfer and seem a likely destination.}

Thanks ed02

oxred

21 Aug 2012 18:05:45
Ed/s,especially Ed 002-Thankyou for an amazing job,1st time poster but read it regularly.Just wanted to know what do you think is the situation with Cavani and Jovetic?.How come their teams havent been flooded with offers for these two?.Very very good players.Thanks. {Ed002's Note - There has been plenty of interest in Jovetic but he will likely stay at Fiorentina. Three clubs have shown interest in Cavani and Chelsea remain in talks.}

23 Aug 2012 01:58:25
I have never said this before, and it'll certainly be a very long time before I say it in another circumstance, but I really believe Fergie regrets not dishing out the dosh on Eden Hazard, he was a smasher in the Ligue 1, and he is well on his way to being a smasher in the Premier League.

If you compare 17 to 17, Nani is some way off Hazard.

Such a shame we wouldn't go near the wages/agent fees.

MPez

Apparantly Hazard had agreed terms with us/City and Chelsea but his preference was Chelsea, Oh well, his loss....
HERBIE

Not saying hes not going to be a great player but lets wait to see how he performs over the whole season and not 2 games against wigan and reading.

phil

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it wasn't the money.

We agreed a fee, agreed personal terms, but he choose Chelski over us. Probably chose them because he thought he'd have less competition for his place or because they'd just won the champions league, although he may also have wanted to play with a couple of future belgian internationals in Bruyne and Lukaku. Playing regularly with your future international team mates could be a big persuader for some players.

Whatever his actual reason for choosing them, you can't complain that we wouldn't meet cost or anything like happened with Moura, because we did.

Thorne

Ed002, did say he was always going to join Chelsea. I am not sure we could have signed him regardless of salary and agent fees.

Sydney!

Hazard has certainly started his EPL career incredibly well and will develop into a fantastic player who exceeds Nani's level I'm sure.

RedDevil19

I thought united offered hazard more wages.......i dont think wages or fees were the issue.....i think all 3 x parties had agreed some kind of terms and it just boiled down to what club the player fancied playing for......city offered the highest wages so it certainly wasn't money swaying by any means.......

some player he is though but to compare him with messi is laughable, he isnt 50% the player messi is and he never will be!!

he'll still be up there though as a world beater but certainly cant see him being one of the greatest ever players the world will have seen......id rate him on the same kind of level as david silva personally......

i know this might sound biased but i personally believe kagawa is a better all rounded player than him, and we got him for a hell of a lot less!

Robbo

Correct. Regardless of what anyone says. 5 assists already, he's clearly already had a huge impact on the Chelsea team.

They're going to be hard to beat this year.

Joe

Spot on Mpez. The £5m or whatever it was in agents fees that we baulked at seems very small beer now.

I do think when Chelsea won the European Cup they went into the drivers seat for his signature but we had reportedly agreed a fee with Lille and I'd understood his wages weren't the issue but the agents fee was.

Have said for a long time we need a sh1t-hot negotiator in our transfer dealings:

Hazard - wont pay agents fee
Moura - deal agreed and gazzumped by PSG at last minute
Van Persie - offered £10m initially and paid £24m !!

The above is notwithstanding we look to have a great bargain in £12m for Kagawa however he too was in his last year of his contract and critically wanted to come to United.

I think both Moura and Hazard are more mercenaries (not blaming for that btw - just stating the facts). However with a bit more dosh thrown into their deals a bit quicker we could have secured their services.

Halesini

I think it's a pretty good indicator Phil. 3 assists, 2 penalties won and man of the match in both games. That prob more times than Nani will get man of the match this season

Why would fergie be unhappy? Its been clear throughout his 25 years at the helm he has only wanted players who want to play for the badge, represent our great history with pride. Not just play for their bank balance. I believe this is the same with sneijder last year. Giggs and scholes and co. were never the best paid even though they were world class, they played for the jersey. A dying breed, this is why im glad Welbeck has signed, in a world driven by money and agents we have to hold on to a few mancs who will wear our famous shirt with pride

GALWAY RED

Thornes got it bang on. Terms were agreed with us.
Remember at the time Hazard even tweeted Manchester as his destination in the week before the CL final.

Then Drogbas header changed it all as without CL football he wouldnt have signed for Chelsea.

Thems the breaks. We move on

It's the second game of the season!!!Lets see what you think of Hazard after his second season, he may well prove to be a world beater, but how many of us were singing the praises of Hernandez after the first season.

Although I've got to admit to a littleness premature giddiness over Kagawa after only 1 game and a couple of friendly's in pre-season.

J - Stand

Exactly MPez. I made no secret of the fact that I wanted Hazard at the club above anyone else. I think we've missed out on a real star with this one. He is just going to get better IMO.

TK-Red

I have to question the long-term value of a player who supposedly oinly signed for chelsea because they managed to get into the Champions League for the following year.

With that said, yeah, he looks like a really special talent who is ideal for the EPL and just like Ronaldo, he gets hit, he gets up and he keeps going at teams.

But, I'd rather have Kagawa.

MDJ

I do not doubt his ability, but 6m for agent fees? Seriously, if a player desires a lot can happen, Jordi Alba and Fabregas for Barca, Khadira, Ozil for Real. And it is very important to want to come to a big club like us. Because it is stiff competition.
For 7m We got Powell and Henriquez. I would say no to such greedy agent.

Red Samurai

He is very good, but let's wait and see how they perform against the likes of city and us with a caveat that we have a squad that is semi fit and free of injuries. I think he will kill us if we have scholes and carrick with his pace and ability to turn. Hope we have someone in the middle of the pitch that can match his speed.

Did u people actually watch that first chelsea match...hazard done nothin he made a run that made the penno and the ball through for the second yeah this is what teams want key players but he looked average he done feck all else... then he got subbed and sly sports give him man of the match because of an assist now hes this and that....ha ha....i highly recommend u people watch the game again...

I'll say it again.

Money was not a factor in our failure to sign Hazard.

We agreed ALL the fees, it was purely down to the players decision. I know some of you don't like to admit that a player might choose another team over us for non-financial reasons but it happens. Get over it.

Thorne {Ed002's Note - What makes you think there was a fee agreed with Lille?}

Poster above - watched the match or not, he won it for them. And then did the same again for chelsea 4 days later. Don't give a sh1t what else he did if he is that effective when he does finally do something. He is known for drifting in and out of games, only when he's out he if effective

23 Aug 2012 00:29:58
The talk coming out of both Manchester clubs is a swap for Nani and Johnson plus cash. I would welcome that move.

Your having a laugh? nani is 50 times better then johnson

Dont think so, i am not a fan of Nani and would have loved to have seen him sold last summer and thought he would have been sold this year due his inconsistency/selfishness, and after what i seen on monday night i see nothing to alter my opinion, HOWEVER, i would still regard him as well above johnson who i think is rubbish and very very overrated.

No he really isn't ! I have tried and tried to give nani chance after chance but let's face it he's pants 2 good games in 10 is not inconsistent it's just not good enough! I kno other people have their opinions and that's just mine and no I'm not basing my opinion on just the everton game and for those who say he obviously class look at when he plays for Portugal look how well andy carrol plays for England .

Johnson is shyte a lazy sod

Pardoe

Johnson is garbage.

Sydney!

Seriously??

Johnsons average day at the office is no better than Nani's, and his best days are no where near as good.

It's true that he's more consistent, but how is consistently above average better than usually above average with some days of real brilliance?

Johnson is a good player, but even most of our "squad" players are better than good.

If we sell Nani, we'd better be replacing him with someone a lot better than Johnson.

Thorne

I would swap nani for boris johnson
johndenton

I'm better than Nani!

I fail to understand the love affair 50% of United fans have with him. But each to their own. Its all about opinions etc etc.

Johnson can improve with a decent run in a team and has shown some class play for City.

Nani has the very occassional world class piece of skill but its lost in his all round poor play and teriibly inconsistent performances.

I would take Johnson as a straight swap for Nani as in all honesty rate City's current player much higher.

Nani may go on to be a great player for someone else. However sometimes you just have to accept that certain players just wont turn it on for us. Remember Forlan (pronounced Forlorn). He was a god awful player for United and looked hapless yet he goes onto Villareal and becomes a great striker! C'est la vie.

Exit doors should have opened for Nani a long time ago.

Halesini

And thats all they'll stay.......Rumours!

If this rumour is true, I'll carry Nani over to Eastlands myself. I'll also show him how to take a corner on the way.

Andrew B

Both useless in my opinion, will not add anything to the squad. I pray we sell nani for anything over 20 mill. I think there is aboout 20 guys from primera league that you can pick up that would put him to shame with 20 mill or less.

Two most overrated players on united Rooney and Nani.

Johnson?
The greedy, poor decision making, overly tricky winger Johnson?

Id rather have Nani's inconsistencies than Johnsons.

Terrible rumour.

RedMist