Manchester United Talk/Gossip/Rumours - 2013/14

Keep calm and remember

Moyes out!!!!!!

New thread rules.

1. Nani shall now be censored. His name will appear as N*** as not to offend anyone and will be referred to as the N word.

2. Thiago was like so yesterday. Get over it like.

3. More pictures of Wags need to be posted. Serious lack of glamour in here.

Steve Round is a yes man minus the shorts.

Just reading on the SSN app that Hazard fella is saying Rooney would be a great signing for Chelsea. If he signs for Chelsea I want his spanish look a like Juan Mata coming the other way.

Just thinking since Arsenal have the option to match any bid by Man Utd, are Utd forcing Arsenals hand over Fellani?

IvySlayer wrote: »

Just thinking since Arsenal have the option to match any bid by Man Utd, are Utd forcing Arsenals hand over Fellani?

That's a good shout. There's also a suggestion that Barca are willing sellers and it was they in fact who leaked the bid, in an effort to flush out more offers. In fairness I can't think of a genuine reason why Utd would publicise their interest and risk competing with the oil rich clubs.

IvySlayer wrote: »

Just thinking since Arsenal have the option to match any bid by Man Utd, are Utd forcing Arsenals hand over Fellani?

SoulTrader wrote: »

That's a good shout. There's also a suggestion that Barca are willing sellers and it was they in fact who leaked the bid, in an effort to flush out more offers. In fairness I can't think of a genuine reason why Utd would publicise their interest and risk competing with the oil rich clubs.

This Yahoo! Eurosport article asks Are Manchester United serious about signing Fabregas?

Just spent the last 20 minutes going through the last few pages of the old thread and the amount of posters who obviously can't put 1+1 together, wow. I'm not saying that to belittle people, but there is critiscm being banded around for what is obvious transfer business. I want to try address some of these points below. And it's not only based on my insight, mostly on stuff I was reading yesterday from long standing people in the game, but also if anyone read some football autobiographies they would well know how transfers work.


Why are we bidding for Cesc Fabragas, now that Thiago is gone, why not before?
The answer to this is pretty obvious I would have thought, Thiago wasn't a main target. Early on in the summer, we were linked with an interest in Fabragas, and that was discussed at length. I imagine, that United went to open up initial dialogue with Barcalona in a fashion that regularly happens relating to transfers.

I imagine at this juncture, or possibly completely outside of this, United were alerted to a buy out clause in a up and coming CM that was highly rated. From here you can assume that discussions took place with the club, and possibly the players agent and this is when the comments about Thiago wanting to move away from Barca for World Cup chances, came from.

Why are we throwing a big bid on Cesc, yet couldnt wrap up the Thiago deal?
I don't think Thiago was a main target. We were obviously highlighted to the fact he had a low buyout clause and was interested in a move. But we are talking about a player completely unproven at any level bar under-age international tournaments. There was probably an assessment made and we did have interest. But we probably have our main transfers outlined early on, this was a brucey bonus that if it came through fine, if it didn't thats also fine.

It is confirmed now that we met the evaluation of the player and provided a substantial package, he held out to go to Bayern, most likely through word of his agent who is related to Pep. Job done, it's finished, I don't see what more United could have done

Why would Fabragas want to move, he just said he loves it there?!?!
He also said a month before his transfer TO Barcalona, that he loved Arsenal, and feels more love in Highbury and the Emirates then sometimes he gets in his own home. He praised the club and his passion for the jersey, a month later was gone.

A similar vain coming out now. But we need to remember players are stupidly well advised. Fabregas has alot of get outs in relation to this scenario. If Barca keep flatline rejecting the offers made, he knows he is valued. This gives him some grounds to solicit for a more integral role in the starting XI, in his preferred role. It gives him the comfort of knowing his valued, so perhaps deploys patience knowing his time will come. He may be cheeky as ****, and look into a new contractual improvement sighting if he is so important to the club, he wants that reflected in his contract.

If Barcalona do accept a big, this signals to Fabregas that is not valued at the club. That he won't become integral and he will not get into his favoured position. He will be able to negotiate really good terms sighting that he doesnt want to leave ( even though, he knows he has too at this point). He also gets to leave the club, publicly stating that he didnt want to move, but the club accepted the offer so what can he do ( therefore keeping some affiliation with the Spanish fans)

23 million? We would never get him for that, United dont know what they are doing!
They know exactly what they are doing. A low figure is throwing around the ballpark. You know, I know, and United know that 23 million will never get accepted. What is critical, is what Barca come back and say.

If Barca flatline state the player is not for sale, United will up their ante and test their resolve again. And possibly a third time, to ensure the player is definitely not for sale.

However, if Barca were to come back and state that the initial offer does not meet the clubs evaluation, this would indicate that Barcalona are open to selling the player. And you can be sure, this will get leaked to the press, and inevitbly to the player involved. See the point above, for how this plays into the advantage of United.

So you see while everyones knows that 23mill is not going to sign the player, it's a low ballpark figure to gauge the first response for Barca.

Is this risky for Cesc in a WC shopping window season?
I think it could be exactly what he needs. Cesc was bought by Barcalona, to come home to replace Xavi. It is unfortunate that for Farbegas, Xavi recovered fitness and form and started playing out of his skin. Fabregas is at his best in a CM position tieing up the play from the back to the front, while joining in on the attack. Since joining Barcalona he has been used in just about every position bar his own, and this has hampered his Spanish breakthrough, only being deployed in obscure positions. He is a world class player, hence why he plays in such odd positions, he is sometimes too good to leave out.

I think he needs to look at the Barca situation, and the benefits he has gotten since going there. He has gone out of position and if anything, regressed slightly. A move to the English Champions would put him centre stage in his favoured position, playing for a team competing for the league title and hopefully European progress. Doing what he can do, and helping the team achieve glory, would be hard to overlook on behalf of the Spanish coach.

Fabregas does play alot for Barca in fairness, but in an obscure role that wasn't his strength at Arsenal. Is he happy to keep doing this, at 26 years of age. Has he gone on to a higher level then when he was at Arsenal? I don't think so...



Hopefully some people find this somewhat useful, I've been reading alot of footie books over the years and the **** you learn about transfers is just incredible.

In a nutshell though, I think Moyes has specific targets, and he is going to go after them. While Thiago looked like a good buy, I don't think he was a target, and was simply just a punt. It's entirely plausible, that we found out about the Thiago status during initial discussions, about Fabregas.