Manchester United Thread 25/26 - Teamtalk/Transfers/Gossip Mod Note in OP 26.09.24

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122361775#Comment_122361775

Can definitely picture Lindelof sipping an espresso in Milan / somewhere else in Italy down the line.

Maguire would be a much trickier one as you say. I can't see a move abroad and there would have to be a bit of face saving / spin involved in the transfer. Villa, Newcastle, Everton, or Leicester maybe are the few that would come to mind.

FourFourRED

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122361854#Comment_122361854

I saw him having a coffee in Manchester airport once. Didn’t seem to be enjoying it, so you could be onto something there 😁

All_in_Flynn

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122361204#Comment_122361204

One of my best mates is a big Everton fan. He has been raving about him for a good while now. I have only really watched him in a couple of games myself so I haven't seen enough of him to give a solid view on him but he does look like he has a lot of what you want in a modern defender. He's very comfortable on the ball and can pass off both feet.

The concern I have is that he is clearly more comfortable on the left side of defence. We must be certain that one of Maguire or Lindelof are going.

waywill1966

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122361858#Comment_122361858

Probably didn't have that gorgeous wife of his, with him!

y0ssar1an22

donny's farewell message:

Dear Manchester United family. Today is a memorable day as my adventure at the club comes to an end. I want to thank you all for your support throughout the years. From the moment we arrived at Manchester United, we felt extremely welcome and we are grateful for that. Thank you to everyone at the club for making us feel at home. A special thanks to all the fans that made these years unforgettable. Besides the football, the birth of our two children here ensures that Manchester will always have a special place in our hearts. Good luck to everybody, we’ll meet again👹❤️

FourFourRED

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122361961#Comment_122361961

Haha she was with him actually. This was after a game before the international break. Place was full of players heading away. Big Sam was there as well probably off to Benidorm 😁

fergiesfolly

Donny had two kids while at the club!

No wonder he looked off the pace. Poor sod was knackered.

DrPhilG

Gutted it never worked out for Donny. He looked like a great signing at the time but has turned out to be one of the biggest flops ever.

billyhead

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362122#Comment_122362122

He did. We had to beat of Madrid to get him.

Prefab Sprouter

Really disappointed that DVB didnt work out. But no transfer is a certainty. Another example: when we signed Veron, we were signing a world class talent. Unfortunately we never saw it on a consistent level. Veron was no flop the way DVB but it just shows that every transfer has an element of risk attached. And every club has similar instances of signings that didnt justify the hype, for various reasons.

JRant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122361279#Comment_122361279

He looks solid because he's playing in a Sean Dyche team that aren't exactly known for holding a high line or playing out from the back. I honestly don't get what the appeal is with him.

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362348#Comment_122362348

Tall, quick, young, CB, comfortable on both feet but left footed (in itself a trait that is looked for). Yeah, its a mystery alright!

JRant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362367#Comment_122362367

You can add unproven, goes to ground to quickly, picks up a lot of yellow cards, and doesn't move out of defence with the ball a lot.

I'm not saying he's a bad player but the figures being thrown around are nuts for a player like him. Even the 45 + 5 we've already bid is way over the top.

scottser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362348#Comment_122362348

I'm sure Branthwaite can perform in a defence that plays a higher line. It's not like he's a one-trick pony. But as you say, the money being quoted is too high, especially his wages (I've read 180k per week in places). He should be on no more than 100k basic with lots of incentives built in.

JRant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362434#Comment_122362434

I'm not because he hasn't shown it and plays in a team that are far more compact and play a deeper line. He might be able to play in a higher line but he's going to make a lot of mistakes while learning on the job. I haven't seen anything from him that shows he can read the game at a high enough level to be able to play a higher line.

waywill1966

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362010#Comment_122362010

Phew,check out the latest pics in the mirror! Not sure if im allowed to post the link here!

El Gato De Negocios

Donny may well have flourished had he ended up with Madrid. It was clear OGS didn't fancy him and he had little over 500 minutes in 19 PL games in season 1 with us. Players coming from the ED have generally struggled to adapt, Licha and RVN the exceptions so Spain may have been kinder to him. Wish him well anyway and it's good to get his wages off the books. Hopefully a few more of the passengers follow him before the window closes.

Iseedeadpixels

Ethan Williams has signed a pro contract today.

Edit : Whoops wrong Ethan Vid

DrPhilG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362906#Comment_122362906

Encouraged that he's gone, we have tried and failed to shift him a few times so this seems like a decent bit of business in the circumstances. Sell him cheap as chips but a number of sensible top ups based on appearances.

The deal with Marseille (please let it survive) sounded good too. €30m, 50% of his next transfer fee, plus according to one report I saw the option to "buy" additional % of the sell on fee later if we chose to.

INEOS will be judged nearly as much by who and how they sell as who and how they buy.

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362412#Comment_122362412

And imo those are all coachable aspects - and the club are very much looking at his base abilities (can be improved) and his physical traits (huge, fast, left footed) and that is why he stands out. If he was 5 inches shorter and a few kms a second slower I don't think we go for him, based on his general play as is.

You can coach play, to a degree, you can't coach those physical traits.

Not sure I actually agree with that way of looking at things, but I certainly think there is an element of young player judgement coming in from the NFL where the athleticism of the player is given a huge priority, over the elements of the game that can be taught.

Mitch Connor

Played a higher line in Holland for PSV.
Played a higher line in underage football.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362455#Comment_122362455

NITRO95

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363042#Comment_122363042

I'm sure the English National underage teams aren't sitting in a low block either

JRant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363034#Comment_122363034

I'm not really disagreeing here with you. There's a lot of sense to what you are saying. My own opinion is that paying over 50 million for a player that raw when he has so much work to do on his actual defending seems crazy to me.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122362346#Comment_122362346

Massively disappointed myself as I think he is a really likeable character, and while not world class, he's a very decent and intelligent footballer.

Without sounding like a broken record, I worry for Donny-esque signings (players who like to play creative, possession-based football) like Zirkzee. The "United Way" still hangs over us... advance the ball forward as soon as possible, counter attacking, etc. just doesn't suit these players who like to drop into space and play the ball around.

I hope we figure out what football we are going to play fairly soon because signing players like Donny, Eriksen, Mount (to an extent), and Zirkzee is pointless if we keep going the way we have been.

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363294#Comment_122363294

Enter: Jason Wilcox.

Or at least thats supposed to be his responsibility.

IMO Zirkzee actually points to more sense in this respect. The way he plays will compliment the goal scoring styles of rashford and Bruno, imo.

VDB was an odd one cause his best position (in theory) was number 10, swapping inside right. Number 10 where Bruno is, and then Sancho didn't work out on the right so we didn't have that positional swap either. He very much seems like he was 'midfielder available' rather than fitting an actual profile. I think Mitten mentioned when he asked Phelan (i think) he was seen as a second striker by the staff, not a mf.

DM_7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363328#Comment_122363328

Is Mason Mount Donny 2.0 then?

Not a central midfielder, not a wide player and not going to get ahead of Bruno.

Iseedeadpixels

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363482#Comment_122363482

Not staying fit either.

Iseedeadpixels

https://www.manutd.com/en/news/detail/charlie-mcneill-completes-move-to-sheffield-wednesday

Had high hopes for him but he didn't kick on as expected, hope he does well.

PARlance

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363328#Comment_122363328

I do recall that Donny was a bit of a "because he's available" transfer, I think Ole may have even said as much recently.

I'm willing to give the new regime a clean slate and hopefully it does prove to be a good signing. It's just hard to let go of the previous bad ones and it's hard to have too much faith in ETH making them click.

Mitch Connor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363746#Comment_122363746

My issue is EtH still retaining his contractual veto, its a red flag/worry for me. But I certainly hope Wilcox and Vivel in particular will keep us on a sane track transfer wise.