Manchester United Rumours Archive January 03 2011

03 Jan 2011 21:50:40
Manchester United Rumours
What do you describe Fletcher, Carrick and Anderson as?

Reason I ask is that I don't believe they have contributed heavily with assists or goals and are often described on here as DM's.

So if we buy another DM what are you doing with the three above? For me you would only buy another DM if you decided none of the above were good enough for the role. If you buy a DM , for me you would need to sell one of the above and still would not have resolved the midfield.

Nani scores his share but Valencia doesn't so I believe we need a CM who can link, create and contribute by scoring.

One other point is your continuing love affair with Sanchez (anyone else noticed) . So we would have Nani, Valencia, Park, Obertan, Sanchez, Morrison, Cleverley, Welbeck all challenging for the same positions. Something has to give. Am not against Sanchez as I havent seen enough of him but you describe him as able to play all over the place. In my opinion we need a natural left footed player rather than another jack of all trades master of none.

Red Man

@If we bought another DM, why do we have to sell one of Carrick, Ando or Fletcher? One word "ROTATION" As for the love affair, like i said, he is very likely to sign for us, there is plenty of evidence to back it up anyway, albeit circumstantial. can i ask What is the love affair with Bale? At least Sanchez has a chance of joining United.

What would we do with all of these wingers? Well for starters Welbeck is a striker, Cleverley, Sanchez & Morrison can all play in the middle. Park is 30 and as much as i love the man, i think he will leave within the next couple of years. I would stick with four quality wingers Toni, Nani, Cleverley & Sanchez and i would rotate them religiously. I would use Morrison in Anderson's position and rotate them pair when Scholes retires. Welbeck, Hernandez, Rooney & Berbatov are our strikers. Pogba & Carrick would rotate, Rodwell & Fletcher would rotate. Fabio & Evra would rotate, Rafael & Brown would rotate, as would Rio & Smalling.

Players like Obertan, Bebe, O'Shea etc would remain squad players and if they don't like it then they would have to find a new club. If you class Sanchez as a jack of all trades but a master of none then maybe you should watch him? Hes a jack of all trades and a master of two or three. I do like Bale but i believe he will be at Spurs for many years to come. I would rather spend 15m on Sanchez than 35m for Bale.

What do you think Ed? Bale (35m) or Sanchez (15m)?

Sydney!
{Editor's note - Sanchez would be the player I would sign}

03 Jan 2011 20:20:51
Manchester United Rumours
I have no concrete information on this but when I was thinking about it it came to me that Kaka to United in a loan deal actually makes sense.

We have been looking at two CAMs, in Javier Pastore (Argentina) of Palermo and Marek Hamsik (Slovakia) of Napoli, for some time now. If we were to get such a quality. CAM in the form of Kaka on a 6 month loan deal then it would give is the chance to see if our style of play works with a CAM and if it does then we shall try to get Pastore or Hamsik, with my guess being Hamsik.

I think we will get Kaka on loan, depending on how he plays in Real Madrids match tonight on SS3, with the option to buy at the end of the season but we will not take that opportunity and sign another Attacking Midfield player, if it works out with Kaka.

Does this make any sense to you Ed? I would appreciate your input on this.

MPez {ed's note - I would think it made sense if Kaka wasn't coming back from a long injury lay-off. It will take him months to get back to form.}

03 Jan 2011 19:25:38
Manchester United Rumours
MANUTD
Sampdoria have signed Kiko Machada on 5 months load deal OFFICIAL

heard it here first
REDSTER

03 Jan 2011 16:51:11
Manchester United Rumours
Hey Sydney, you are probably right it's just I swear The Times mentioned it after we loaned him out

I reckon they'll be one £5-£10m signing in Jan on top of Lindegaard- no insider knowledge- just that Fergie normally says we gonna do nothing and make one surprise move.

Keep up the good work guys

Tortoise8

@Mats Moller joins us in three weeks time, he is 15 years old and something very very special, United have guaranteed him a professional contract on his 17th birthday, this is the first time United have agreed to this. What does that tell you?

I have a feeling we may bring in one or two youth players, Andrigo or Munoz maybe?

Sydney!

03 Jan 2011 16:18:16
Manchester United Rumours
@ mr no name. .why would the glazers not sell to a middle eastern co?? u say we don't need to sign anyone cause we have scholes coming back. hes not gettin any younger n will more than likely pick up more injuries. hargreaves coming back?? when do u expect that to happen n can u honestly see him playin a big part in our run in. .he lasted a couple of mins in his comeback game. .owen?? not exactly reliable with injuries either is he?? valencia out all season best comeback date for him is end of feb early march. .then it will take him weeks to get match fit if he doesn't suffer another injury which is likely after been out for so long. .united prob won't sign anyone this jan but i don't get ur reasoning r logic for not signing someone. . . .Red Knight

@Hi mate, i have been hearing that Valencia is 2-3 weeks away from returning to full training, and will be fit ready to play mid to late February, by the end of March barring muscle injuries he should be back to his old self, so he should play in the last 8-10 Premiership games at full pace & strength. He would be very useful then mate, imagine the tired defenders legs having to cope with Valencia's fresh legs?

What a boost Ed hey?

Sydney!

{Editor's Note: February 5 is the target; and a real boost.}

03 Jan 2011 15:51:12
Manchester United Rumours
First off, the Man Utd v Stoke game isn't on Sky nor ESPN, at least in England it isn't.

Also, @Tortoise8, if that is the case, then that's some good detective skills! However, I'm not entirely sure that this rule exists. Ed, do you know about this so-called loan rule?

Rudderpost {ed's note - the rules, as far as I am aware, only pertain to how many players are on loan TO a club.}

03 Jan 2011 14:34:46
Manchester United Rumours
Is the stoke game on ESPN tommorow?

03 Jan 2011 14:34:34
Manchester United Rumours
In reply to:

Mpez

I completely agree with you! The reason this being so is that if Fergie were going to look at the Valencia team they would be playing he wouldve took Phelan with him, obviously not the goalkeeping coach.
It makes complete sense, and in my opinion I believe there is a deal already in place with Athletico Madrid to take DeGea to Old Trafford in the summer, I don't know if anybody remembers but Guillem Balague said, on Live TV, that Manchester United have activated DeGea's release clause in his contract. I believe the deal is for the summer as United want to give Lindegaard some playing time before the proper No1 comes in, and also so DeGea can get some more experience against the likes of Barca, Real and Valencia etc.
I personally expect DeGea to sign in the summer.
Any thoughts to add Ed? That is if you have any on this matter.

MPez {ed's note - I have always thought De Gea was likely to join United, Eric Steele watching him just confirmed it for me.}

Mpez, Yes exactely this is what i posted a while back about us activating his buy out clause, from what ive been told he's our first choice and we've activated his buy out clause this of course doesn't mean we'll 100% get him but at the moment were the only club to have showed that much interest, the only other club that might possibly show an interest is Arsenal but im told its unlikely Wenger wants to spend 17 million on a keeper that has a year and a halfs first team experience under his belt. In my honest opinion he will be ours in the summer but if De Gea gets the new agent that he's supposed to get, then he will definately be ours if he were to stick with the same agent or get another agent similar, then it will make the deal that little bit harder. As it stands at the moment the only way we won't get De Gea in the summer is if the player himself doesn't want to join us, as Atletico our power less to our buy out clause bid unless De Gea were to sign a new contract with a bigger buy out clause in it that is. Stekelenburg is our number two choice if we cannot get De Gea, and Stekelnburg will be even easier to get.

United Till I Die 1987

03 Jan 2011 13:59:52
Manchester United Rumours
It seems that Macheda is going to go on loan to Sampdoria, which is interesting. I would have preferred him to go to a club in the EPL like West Brom where he could get used to the fast pace and other characteristics of our league, rather than Serie A.

What do you Ed, along with anyone else think about this?

Rudderpost {ed's note - it seems a strange decision unless Fergie is thinking of selling him.}

03 Jan 2011 13:45:27
Manchester United Rumours
INS

lindergaard ( Done)
Kaka ( loan )
Adler ( summer)
Diarra ( January)
sanchez (Summer)
OUTS

macheda ( loan)
Gibson
nevile (retired)
Hargreaves (retired)
Van der sar (retired)

03 Jan 2011 13:16:56
Manchester United Rumours
Looks like I was wrong about Macheda. . . Bad day at the office!
*Welcome to Salford*

03 Jan 2011 12:48:58
Manchester United Rumours
In answer to Eire Red's question regarding N'Zogbia:"But tell me this, why would wigan sell their best player when they are currently in a relegation battle? It would be a mad decision by their board to loose such an asset in return for a young striker who has potential but not yet proven".

I thought I explained the benefits for both United and Wigan. But if you think about it, Wigan would retain Cleverley, gain Macheda and have money available to do some business in Jan.
N'Zogbia wants to go and would do a job for United even in the short-term, so ask yourself a question: would you want someone who wants out in your team when the going gets tough towards the end of the season?

Some significant news by the same source regarding the potential Qatar buy-out which goes something like this.

The Glazer's will officially sell United in the summer of 2012 to the Qatar royal family.
This has been coming for a long time, as Qatar were very confident of their 2022 World Cup bid.
To smooth the deal (as far as I am aware)
All profits generated by the club from now until 2012 will go to the Glazer family. Qatar have funded the PIK's buy-out allowing the Glazer's to increase profitability.
Qatar will fund a significant transfer war chest for SAF to replace Giggs, Scholes, Neville etc this summer, but credit for this investment will go to the Glazer's. (Reference David Gill's insistance that the Glazer's have always made money available to spend)
You will find that United will bring out another new 1st and 2nd strip next year even though the current kit was only introduced this year. This will bump up turnover in the Glazer's last year.
The 2011 United/Barcelona pre-season bash is due to Qatar's involvement in both clubs.

Qatar wish to comply quickly with Uefa's financial fair play charter, so that United are financially self sufficient, however they will present United with a "gift" by developing OT to a capacity of around 95,000. When the work is complete (they know the development is not straightforward but it will happen), they will adjust the ticket price structure to encourage capacity crowds. This is seen as a way of winning over any doubters.
They have already planned to introduce a green and gold away strip for the 2012/13 campaign.

United's number 7 shirt has been earmarked for the transfer of a global superstar shortly after the take-over in 2012.

On the back of Qatar's 2022 world cup bid they consider United as the perfect vehicle to raise the profile of Qatar as a football nation.

They are also very sensitive to the potential negatives, and have monitored City with interest. As a consequence you will not see any banners at OT thanking the Qatar RF "bile enducing" and there will be no "big I am proclamations" like the Tevez welcome to Manchester poster (to confirm, both quotes are from my source and not United I might add). You will not hear any United official disrespecting other great clubs like the "they have no bottle" as observed by a senior City official in relation to AC Milan.

Lastly, I know nothing about American football but here goes:
The Glazer's sporting interests will concentrate on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Apparantly they have a young exciting crop of players, and the Glazer's believe they are worth investing in to challenge the New England Patriots. (I hope this makes sense)They want Tampa Bay to be a real force in the coming years as the NFL is set to increase the number of teams with one or even two frachises awarded outside of the US in the next 5-10 years. They see a massive return in terms of global revenues if this happens.

I don't know anything more. All I can say is I believe my source is reliable, but time will tell.

03 Jan 2011 11:46:53
Manchester United Rumours
A lot of movement on the Sanchez front. It seems he has made his decision, and thankfully its United. United have also assured him but he might stay there till the end of the season. No official bid though, but the deal is as good as done.
Secondly, Macheda will be loaned out to one of the 3 clubs who are reportedly interested, viz. Lazio, Wigan and Everton. Only Lazio have made an official inquiry. However, SAF wants him to stay in England. Looks like he is in no mood to let go of the Italian and Kiko seems to be a part of his future squad. Between Everton and Wigan (both haven't made an official inquiry yet), SAF has a big decision to make: He has very good relationships with the Wigan hierarchy and another advantage is that Cleverly is there too. He would want the two to play together (Cleverly is a regular there). AND NO. . WE HAVE NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER IN N'ZOGBIA. . that is not why we might let Kiko go there. . even if the Cleverly factor is neglected, Kiko will definitely get more game time and would be one of the main players at Wigan.
Everton though cannot guarantee that. They might let him start in a number of games but their style of play is prominently dominated by their midfield and hence that might not provide Kiko the desired learning experience. So, that might be a problem.
However, with Everton, theres always an advantage that we might extract from them- Rodwell. . if the loan deal can serve any purpose in making that move easier, SAF would definitely choose Everton over the other two.
On to the GKs: Lindegaard is in but that is certainly not where we'll stop. Despite the recent statement made by SAF, that United would go for an experienced keeper, both DeGea and Asenjo are top on our list followed by Adler and Stekelenburg in that order.
Moving on, Gibson won't be sold, certainly not yet. He would be loaned out either in January or in the summer. SAF is willing to stick with him for another 1 and a half year or so. Buying Shawcross back is another option that is increasingly becoming a possibility now with Rio's fitness and match form declining steadily. M. Diouf's future at United is uncertain and SAF might be willing to cash on him. Carrick won't be sold.


SCOUTING REPORT (Outside England):

The other options in the midfield being "MONITORED" now are (in terms of priority 1-highest, 2 and 3):
1. Jovetic, Defour, Pastore, Martinez, Hazard, Hamsik, Pjanic.
2. Marin, Kroos, Mario G??tze, Lewis Holtby, Milan Badelj, Vidal.
3. Costa, Marco Reus, Rakitic, Franco Zuculini, Ilkay Gundoganl, Lulinha, Antoine Griezmann.

The interest in Ganso, though prominent in the past, has cooled down. Jovetic is one of SAF's favourite players (and whose progress he has personally been interested in), the only thing that has stopped him from being a Red Devil is the injury that he suffered back in the summer.

As far as strikers are concerned, only two are being "MONITORED" (can't blame them cause we have so many strikers in the squad right now and many are coming up through the academy). These are Hulk and Zarrate. Personally I don't see us making a move for either of 'em until we sell some of our present strikers.

Amongst the new youngsters at United, I'm really excited about Mats D?¶lhi Moller.
Following are some of the other youngsters who have caught SAF's eyes: Federico Carraro, Lucas Piazon, Alessandro De Vitis, , Roberto Firminio, Simone Sini, Rafael Alcantara, Oriol Romeu, Stephan El Shaarawi, Funes Mori, Vincenzo Camilleri, Peniel Kokou Mlapa, Jose Rodolfo Pires Ribiero (a.k.a. Dodo- we have first option on him to sign him for 8mil), Maxime Lestienne, Daniel Villalva, Sead Hajrovic.

-NPrak

03 Jan 2011 11:11:25
Manchester United Rumours
O'shea and Evans will be leaving the club, been going out in hale for the last few weeks and they are always out, drinking, getting smashed, so im not surprised evans poor performances

03 Jan 2011 10:07:17
Manchester United Rumours
How can SAF and Mike Phelan be watching N'Zogbia yesterday if he was suspended?

The Cleverly story makes more sense. .

Ed - What do you think?

{editor: your right N'Zogbia was suspended. It does seem that they could have been monitoring Cleverly's progress.}

03 Jan 2011 03:16:41
Manchester United Rumours
In reply to:

United Till I Die 1987

I completely agree with you! The reason this being so is that if Fergie were going to look at the Valencia team they would be playing he wouldve took Phelan with him, obviously not the goalkeeping coach.
It makes complete sense, and in my opinion I believe there is a deal already in place with Athletico Madrid to take DeGea to Old Trafford in the summer, I don't know if anybody remembers but Guillem Balague said, on Live TV, that Manchester United have activated DeGea's release clause in his contract. I believe the deal is for the summer as United want to give Lindegaard some playing time before the proper No1 comes in, and also so DeGea can get some more experience against the likes of Barca, Real and Valencia etc.
I personally expect DeGea to sign in the summer.
Any thoughts to add Ed? That is if you have any on this matter.

MPez {ed's note - I have always thought De Gea was likely to join United, Eric Steele watching him just confirmed it for me.}

03 Jan 2011 01:31:56
Manchester United Rumours
I have contacts with thee club who have informed me that Maarten Stekelenberg is currently in talks with the club over a possible move in the summer . The deal could be announced within the next few months if all goes well . The Dutch shot stopper is seen as the ideal replacement for the retiring Edwin Van Der Sar

Mr Cool

03 Jan 2011 01:17:06
Manchester United Rumours
*Welcome to Salford*

@Agree with much of what you said mate, but silly money would be spent on Buffon, not smart money. Van Der Sar is in a fitter and much healthier shape than Buffon, he is injury prone and will be finished within a couple of years. Adler is smart money though.

Sydney!

03 Jan 2011 00:56:56
Manchester United Rumours
@Hey Ed, with Chelsea taking a chance on Cech at 22, is it beyond the realms that we could sign De Gea as our number one at 20? Chelsea certainly do not regret it do they?

Sydney! {ed's note - I don't see any reason to worry about his age, he is good enough, that should be what matters.}

03 Jan 2011 00:21:30
Manchester United Rumours
January Players In: Anders Lindegard: £3m, Thomas Cleverley: Recall.

January Players Out: Jonny Evans: Loan,
Darron Gibson: Loan.

Summer Players Out: Garry Neville: Retiring, Edwin VDSar: Retiring, Owen Hargo: Released, Michael Owen: Released, Tom Kuszczak: £5m, Mame Diouf: £5m.

Summer Players In: David de Gea: £17m, Jack Rodwell: £17m