Manchester United Rumours Archive August 30 2012

30 Aug 2012 18:03:32
Is henriquez signed yet?

Caolán.

It's been the longest medical in history.

I think its just been left till deadline day to announce just to make the fans happy with a deadline day transfer even though its been agreed for weeks.

Andy B

30 Aug 2012 21:58:41
So the night before the window shuts, it feels like Christmas eve when you don't think anyone has bought you a present.

I see there are many who think we will win the league. In my opinion with our present midfield we are looking at third unless something happens tomorrow. In the CL I feel we will get out of the group but go out against the first top class opposition with a decent midfield that we face. SAF is known to perform miracles with an ordinary squad especially last season and we have improved but not in two key areas. If I had to guess I would say the FA Cup may be our best chance.

There again tomorrow night I may find Malcolm has delivered two presents and the confidence will flow through me and all other supporters. It was great in 2008 when we knew how good we were, now that confidence in the team is not there.

Let us see who can be realistic, where do you really believe we will finish with the present midfield?

Red Man

Second or first, 2 way battle between the Manchester clubs again.

-JakeW

We will finish top as we have a stronger squad this summer. I have absolutely no doubt that we will win the league, it's challenging on all four fronts that I am concerned about. A midfielder would relieve that pressure somewhat.

I have to ask Red Man, what has uncle Malcolm got to do with this one? The manager has had plenty to spend in the past two summers, it's him who will be to blame if a midfielder isn't signed. Him and his stubbornness.

Sydney!

Syd lets see how much we recoup by 11pm tonight before we confirm saf had plenty to spend,if nani dissapears will we have a replacement ready ? if that happens and we dont do anything our net spend this summer will be about 15 million not in the same league as europes elite.

You have no doubt sydney,thats quite ridiculous fella,we may well do it but it isnt without doubt,city are stronger than us of that there is no doubt,they will have a fit and raring to go tevez for a full season the rest have had a season to gel,we ran them close last season but i believe we had some luck in quite a few games,there is also the chavs who look stronger,lets wait and see but i unlike you have my doubts we can do it.
Mick the red fireman.

I think we should still finish top two. Citeh where stronger than us last season despite the close run, but we have strengthened a lot more than them.

Chelsea have strengthened, especially with Hazard, but lost Drogba, so the overall improvement is less than it could have been.

I've been saying it all summer about the defence, it was one of the reasons I didn't want us to go for Modric or RVP, as I thought the money would be better spent on a combative midfielder who could win the ball, pass it around and generally help control the midfield.

However, while I still think we need someone like that, Fletch appears to be on his way back sooner than expected, and he can plug that weakness if he gets back to form and fitness.

Other than that weakness, our midfield is pretty damn good. Clevs looks like he is turning into a really good player, Ando needs consistency and to stay fit, but can be one of the best in the league on his day (if he doesn't finally step it up this season, I'm certain he'll be sold). Carrick is playing better again after being a bit unreliable for a while, season before last and the one before that. Scholes and Giggs are damn good so long as we don't over-rely on them.

Over all, we've strenghtened more than our direct competitors, and even if there is still a hole in midfield, Fletch may fix that soon and we're still strong anyway.

Remember also that the games we've struggled most in since Fletch went out have been against bigger teams with strong midfields. Over the course of the season we can still win the league by doing better against the smaller teams than our rivals do, even if we struggle against the big teams themselves. We could lose both matches to City and both to chelsea and still win the league by picking up more points against the small teams.

Thorne

Sydney

We have strengthened but not in the key central midfield area, nor have we dealt with the profligate Nani. It is not squad players we need but a top quality midfielder and someone who can come in from the left.

We have been underfunded since Ronaldo left , our net spend less than Stoke at one point. This summer Chelsea have made a statement in the market to go alongside Citys in the las few years. All the while we have not spent on the central midfield. If Spurs get Moutinho to go with Dembele they will also have a better midfield than us, the Scousers with Sahin and Allen is better let alone City and Chelsea.

So Sydney are you really telling me that SAF, who has in Keane, Robson, Ince, Scholes, had some of the best central premier league players will be happy with our CM now? Why is there talk that we have to sell Nani , not to buy the necessary replacement but to balance he books?

I knw SAF is stubborn, but if he had money why would he nt strengthen the area that is patently obvious as needing resource.

I find it strange that you are moving the blame from the owners to SAF completely. I think there may be a bit of stubbornness but SAF has been underfunded over a long period. Before anyone quotes £40m this summer take a look at our competitors and our spending pales in comparison.

If you are right and it is SAF stubbornness then this is his moment of truth, get this wrong and fail this season then he needs to retire at the end of the season or he will come under pressure to reign. If you take big decisions then you are accountable big style

Red Man

Sorry Red Man, but Allen and Sahin do not make a better midfield than we have!

They are both very good, but Allen is not at our level yet, Clevs is better. If Fletch comes back to fitness and form quickly, he will fix the midfield problem and we will have one of the strongest midfields in the premiership again. I still agree we need to buy a powerfull midfielder who can bully and still has good passing, but even without Fletch our midfield is a lot better than many of you give it credit for.

Oh, and the Nani talk is all coming from the whingers who want rid of him. They keep coming up with different reasons, but they are the ones putting out the rumours, which have no basis in reality.

If theres no basis to the nani rumours why is it in the papers and we havent offered him a new contract ? and to the unamed poster fletch was decent but only average before he got ill if he comes back he isnt the answer,and if you seriously think we have a good midfield you must watch a different team than i do.
johndenton

Net spend is irrelevant in terms of having funds to spend. The manager has had a minimum of £50m to spend this summer and if a midfielder doesn't come in then it's down to him.

Sydney!

Red Man, you are talking nonsense once again. Where we have strengthened this summer is down to the manager, not the owners. You talk about net spends yet you have no clue about our net spends. You choose to believe that our club's accounts are not accurate. I mean, how stupid is that? Factual figures from our accounts that have been made public at Companies House and you do not believe they are accurate. Instead you will go along with figures from a media outlet because it makes your point sound better, even though inaccurate.

Now you are using Nani as a pawn in your propaganda to say the owners want the books balanced. This very same player that you have been moaning about as being inconsistent for the best part of two years. Could the manager agree with you? Of course you will rather believe the owners are forcing the manager to sell as it again suits your argument better. Ours spending compared to City and Chelsea will always be lower, we are self sufficient for crying out loud and they are being bankrolled by billionaires. I am shocked that a man of your age and a man working in finance cannot get his head around this. They will outspend us which isn't surprising to most of us, but is still surprising to you.

The club have spent well this summer. I am disappointed that we never bought a midfielder, but that was down to the manager, not the owners. I am not protecting the owner, just using my common sense and trying to remain impartial. We have spent £50m this summer and it's not the Glazers who have told the manager where to spend it. That is 100% down to the manager as HE chooses what positions to strengthen.

Sydney!

Red Man

Why is everything so suspicious to you? The club have spent the best part of 50 million and like syd said it's the manager's decisions where to strengthen, not the Glazers. If Nani is sold it's because the manager wants him gone. No one likes the owners, but they are not at fault here.

Andrew

Hey Sid, can u post link to company house? Would like to have a look at it.

Thank
Martin

Johndenton are youserious?

Fletch has probably been the best player in our midfield for a few years. When it comes to hassling the opposition midfield and making thier life difficult there are very few better.

Thorne

We have only spent what we got for ronny 3 years ago.
johndenton

Sydney

The simple fact is that our midfield is not at an acceptable level. You spent much of summer reassuring everyone a midfielder that we need would come in and the money would be available. Well 6 hours to go and Gill is sat on his hands from what we can see.

The clubs profit and loss are not reported anywhere so going by the Manchester Evening News our owners had spent £80m over 7 years.

If it is the manager that is refusing to strengthen the CM and that is still the case at 23.01 tonight then we must question the manager.

Red Man

Andrew

I merely look at the state of our midfield and the lack of purchase in that area. I want Nani out but whilst we have bought players, we are left wanting in midfield both centrally and in Nanis position. We can all , or nearly all, see it but our manager a hugely experienced one, supposedly cannot see it.

The club have spent money and I am not unhappy with what we have bought but am unhappy with what we have not bought.

Red Man

You cannot argue with the club's accounts Red Man, it's the same accounts that is used by Andy Green and even Duncan Drasdo for their propaganda. £16m (net) is undisputed by them, it's undisputed by them because it's factual figures. As it stands now (ex Nani situation) the net spend under the Glazers is £19m+ per a season.

I am disappointed that we never signed a midfielder yet again, but the manager has spent £50m this summer and if we haven't bought a midfielder it can only be HIS fault. You can use the Glazer bashing propaganda as much as you want, but the manager has spent over £100m in two seasons and has opted against signing a midfielder. That is the manager's decision, not the owners. Surely you can see that? But I won't hold my breath.

Sydney!

Sydney

The profit and loss which would give clarity on spending not the balance sheet are not released to anyone. If you or anyone else can produce them then I would be fascinated.

When Moutinho was available last night for £22m where were we?

It could be SAFs fault but I tend to think he is working under a strict budget. You also forget the financial impact it would have had going out in the group stage of the CL last season. We may not know the truth unless SAF writes a book!

Red Man

30 Aug 2012 20:41:48
Is there any chance of a late bid for Victor Wanyama? Young, solid in defence or midfield & could provide the silly dance goal celebration that we've sorely missed since the sale of Lee Sharpe ;)

Red Spark {Ed007's Note - Arsenal had a £7 million bid turned down for him today.}

It will be very unlikely as he would be cup tied for champions league as he played for celtic

We'd only need to get through the group stage before he became eligible to play again though wouldn't he?

Definitely worth a cheeky bid of 8 mil & a few cases of Buckfast at least ;)

Red Spark

30 Aug 2012 20:52:36
I wish Berbatov would hurry up and sign for Fulham as we can't have any transfer movement until he leaves. Hopefully a deadline deal may materialise.

As for out CL group, I'm very happy with it, we won't let last year happen again, we simply took our foot off the gas. Also, why the reaction to City's group? They will still get through it as they are better than Dortmund and Ajax.

RedDevil19

Waste of posting space . Do you know how long it takes to adapt to winning a prem title and then competing against a European style where teams are champions of their own league and know how to keep the ball. Ajax pass the ball with ease and Dortmund are still very strong. Dillusional comment ! Not saying city wont qualify but its no sure bet. You need to increase your football knowledge to know C/L is no cert in any group ! CINDY

I'd put any money on City getting through...my opinion.

RedDevil19

30 Aug 2012 20:24:32
If berbatov leaves does anybody know if anyone will take the number 9 shirt?

Mr

Doubt anyone will change numbers now after what happened at Arsenal when Bendtner changed

RedKnight

Hopefully Welbeck.

Ozwald

I was thinking RVP but i bet fergie gives it to wellbeck i hope either hernandez or RVP!

I can't see RVP staying in the #20 shirt for too long.

I hope RVP as I believe no 20 was badly thought out. Utd have quietly gone about their business since SAF has taken over and humility in victory has been the watchword. Never needed to shout because actions have spoken louder than words. Unfortunately I am cynical and I believe his marketing men have told him to take no 20 because of the clawback he will receive from shirt sales in the event of title no 20 coming our way!

30 Aug 2012 19:34:19
Nani is going nowhere. Obviously Berbatov is off to Fulham. Great to see him staying in the premiership. Any news regarding Macheda or Bebe.

Safe to say there will be no more players coming in to Old Trafford. Im happy with Kagawa, Powell, Henriquez, Buttner and Van Persie.

Dylan

30 Aug 2012 19:29:34
Excellent piece of business SAF...sell a player to a club who instead could have been used as a bargaining chip for a player we really need. Never mind the tactics on the pitch, what the hell is going on off of it? We bid 5 million for Dembele a few weeks ago and now we sell Fulham Berba. Surely we could have upped our bid to 7/8 million plus Berba, almost definitely would have gotten the missing piece to our puzzle.

This is the first time i've been truly angry with the club in a long time. Now we have another season of relaying on players who just can't cut it in the center of the park. Yaya, Dembele, Cabaye, Lampard, Fellaini, Gerrard and Arteta will p**s through us. I don't even want to consider what will happen if and when we get through the CL group stages. I try not to moan on this site because there's generally enough of that to go around, but this was too much for me!

Kagawa and RVP were excellent signings, even more so now considering Rooney's injury. Buttner, Powell and Henriquez are unknown quantities and won't impact the first team until at least Christmas, it at all. Our transfer tactics continue to confuse and frustrate me!

Andy!

Have you not seen the last few seasons , midfield isn't as bad as you're making out , who's to say kagawa won't turn into a new scholes and cleverly with a injury free full season won't be class? Really not that bad is it

Dustbin

Catch a grip andy i rem watching a fully fit anderson rip gerrard a new a**hole in a match chill out and enjoy the season your getting to hung up on fifa signings and missing the point what supporting a team is all about

cantona's legal team

I agree, its odd that Berbs wasnt involved in the dealings with Dembele, could it of been a bluff, did we really want him?

Or maybe Berbastrop only expressed interest in Fulham in the last few days, or vica versa.

But i agree, like i said, gutted we havnt got a centre mid in yet, I even wish we still had Gibson!

Cban

Couldn't agree more. Spurs take what seems like ten minutes to sign a player we could have done with, and whom we allegedly bid for, yet we haven't bought anyone similar for three years. It wasn't a problem for them to pay the asking price, so what were we doing bidding £5M? That's just insulting.

My thoughts exactly! We want Dembele, they want Berbs. It's not rocket science! You know it's bad when the likes of Newcastle and Spurs have stronger midfields than us.

Boyley

'lampard will piss through us'? Haha you are the worst type of united fan. Comments like that are embarrassing for our great club.pissed through us last season did they , or did we marginally lose the league on goal difference. YOU ARE A WINGING LITTLE GLORY HUNTER!!

You're always angry with United Andy.
We've bought well this summer.
Can't believe you see such little quality within our squad.
Fergies been winning trophies for long enough to expect a little faith from us fans.
Just because he hasn't signed one of your flavours of the month, you're throwing the towel in?
Regardless of how much those players "piss through us" (!?) we still beat all those players in the league last year. Having a player that can, erm, "piss through" opposition midfields is not the only way to play.

Have a little faith.

RedMist

You are being overly harsh on our midfield, Cleverley has looked excellent recently and Carrick was great last year, having them in centre mid is hardly bad, it is the depth of the squad that is the problem, with doubts over Fletch and Scholes' age we don't have any decent cover. I agree we needed Dembele, but is not the end of the world, have faith in Fergie, he knows his squad better than anyone and is the best manager in history, he knows what he is doing

We need to decide what we're doing. we allow transfers to drag on, and that's exactly how we lost out on Lucas Moura. This deal was a real slap in the face for the fans- Even after Spurs had a fee accepted, Moussa would have come to United because we can offer him WAY more than Spurs can. This club angers and frustrates me sometimes!

Our midfield hasn't been pissed on for years. Last year we lacked creativity. We only look weak when we dont have Carrick in the middle of the park (Carrick haters won't agree!). I am really positive about this season and some of you need to BELIEVE!

Carl

Steady on Andy! Take a chill pill! You just said that Fat Frank Lampard and Stevey Geriatrard would pis5 right through us! Might want to rethink that one ;)

DodgyBanter

We have a player who will run through defences, scare the midfield and find holes to make chances. We have a player who is young, strong, hungry and talented. If he had been fit for the start of the season we wouldn't be having the "we need a strong midfielder" crisis-debate. His name is Phil Jones, and in the next 3 years he will be a world beater in the "legend" category.. Relax everyone. PJ will be made into a midfielder and all this stress will be looked back on and laughed about.

Agreed, boyley. Frustrating!
PauloMelys

Wtf are yous talking about we lost the title last year on goal difference with injurys to cleverly and anderson for most of the season. we've added kagawa(who i think will be signing of the season)powell, henriquiez? a lb cover and possible return of fletcher and your saying spurs and newcastle have a better midfield? not too long ago people where looking us to sign demba ba but 4fs fergie went and signed rvp lol if only us supporters where in charge..in fergie we trust
cantona's legal team

I am some what disappointed with not getting a class midfield general
kag and van persie are good signings
as are the others hopefully.
cleverly could be the man (injury probs)
as is anders to fill that gap scholes and giggs are well sad to say old and to finish of
im not that optimistic for this season but i hope i am wrong but having said that come on the reds

What a load of complete rubbish. If we wanted Dembele we would have signed him 2 months ago and paid his 15 million get out clause. Fergie doesn't rate him highly enough which is clear to see. He clearly believes Fletcher will be back and has faith in Carrick and Cleverley. Anderson will get one more season to prove his worth and scholes and giggs can still do a job and cover in there if not start. All those names without mentioning our promising youth cm petruci and tunaclife and the fact Kagawa can easily play cm when Rooney's back fit. I just mentioned 9 possible cm's and left out Powell so there's 10! In case you haven't noticed Football matches are won by putting the ball in the net and although cm is important Fergie obviously believes scoring goals and carrying a goal threat (van persie and Kagawa) is what we needed. Fergie has won us title after title so i know who i trust. Some people need to get a grip and remember it's not football manager he's playing and he's playing with real money which the glazers may or may not have. Fergie will know when and if the need arises for a cm. That may be next season if things don't work or we may not need one at all but he we do need one he will be world class and not just good like Dembele!!

K-Stand

30 Aug 2012 17:56:48
Still no henriquez announcement so my conspiracy theory is still alive until 11pm friday. ed's, sydney any news on when this will happen?. By all accounts the deal is done. Bookedredmole

Wasn't he at our under 21's game against spurs? i was pretty sure SAF, cleverly and angelo henriquez were present
G-Rav

30 Aug 2012 17:39:29
Our group is as follows;
Manchester united
Galatasary
Braga
Cluj

I think this is a good group for us we know turkey is a hard place to go hopefully we will finish top, could be worse city have got Ajax and Madrid , as long as we finish top I will be happy ;)

Anon

I guess it is a great opportunity to learn if the squad has really learnt from last year.

MDJ

Plus Dortmund. They are f'cked.

Hopefully the players and SAF will be looking at our group and thinking it could be tricky.
Last season everyone expected us to p*ss all over our group and we ended up on Channel 5 on a Thursday night.

30 Aug 2012 14:09:53
Does anyone know if there is still any interest in Steven Defour, I know he's been at Porto a year now (transferred around the same time as Witsel) so if theres a chance with Witsel is there a chance for Defour? and can this be the reason there was no real effort to get Dembele or is SAF banking that Fletcher being close to coming back into the first team?

TotenRed

I hope either defour moutinhio or witsel come ! But glazers might be all spent out

B

Fergie shouldn't be waiting on fletcher,he's been out long enough.i wonder sometimes with fergie whether sentimentality is creeping into his management,joeyored

Once again... The interest in Defour is largely spin from his agent. United followed Defour a little when he was younger. When he suffered his ankle injury, Defour's agent asked Fergie to write him a get well soon letter to perk his spirits up. Fergie did. Defour's agent paraded it everywhere in public as evidence United wanted to buy Defour. Bridges burnt, methinks.

Anyway, he's not as good as Cleverley, Kagawa or Carrick.

DarkLard08

Why would we wait for fletcher he is decent enough but not the class of player that can dictate a game. If we sold our squad how many players would Madrid or Barca come in for thats how u rate a team. Vidic is the only player there that would be wanted by either of them. Says exactly how poor our team is now

30 Aug 2012 14:32:44
AVB and Sly Sports has confirmed that Joao Moutinho will cost around £25mil.... Get your wallet out Malcolm!

Pure class and would bolster the ranks in the centre of the park.

I cant believe this transfer hasnt happened sooner - just what we need?

He'd be a brilliant signing, still doesn't solve the need for a powerhouse, but if we can fill the team with brilliantly technical players then we might not lose the ball as much which would be good.

RedDevil19

That will be superb but wont happen. Fergie sees no value! So we'll carry on with Cleverley scholes carrick and the fat Brazilian.

£25m ?that's so cheap for us,i guess we'll buy him next season for £35m plus from spurs. transfer is finished for us mate.

ferdcoast

Personally I think he's better than Modic and would have Arsenal's new boy Carzorla in his back pocket!

Never gonna happen though!

30 Aug 2012 13:14:55
Berba is undergoing a medical at Fulham.

30 Aug 2012 10:01:01
just looking at the pots for the champions league draw later on. There are some potentially very nasty combo's that could happen. Saying that i'd like to see us get something challenging as we seem to respond better. Last year we all looked at the group we had and thought piece of cake. And look what happened, we didn't take it seriously and neither did the management and we got taught a lesson. Something more difficult this time around should make us raise our game and take it serious. Obviously there remain concerns about the midfield so hopefully we avoid the potential suicide group but i'd take a group with one hard team and a couple of average but possible tough places to go. Hopefully not all east europe though. I do have a feeling we'll get our old friends Gala though. Mort

Real Madrid
Man City
PSG
Dortmund

Sydney!

That was pretty close Sydney haha!

29 Aug 2012 10:09:28
Ed002; Any idea if that is us done for the window? Seemed we were still interested in bringing in a CM with Dembele, Witsel etc being mentioned, seems to have all gone quiet?

Any names or clarification that we are in talks would be brilliant, thanks!

rpc {Ed002's Note - I think probably not. As you say, interest remains in CM.}