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

keeponhurling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123713995#Comment_123713995

if keeping Shaw and Mount fit is crucial, we truly are f*cked

FourFourRED

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714482#Comment_123714482

They would be needed with Maz, Amad, Baleba (if signed) and Mbeumo gone though.

Ninthlife

Donnarumma would be a serious upgrade, the guy is a monster and at 26 his best years are ahead of him..I would really hope that the board at least explore the idea.

Garnacho saying its Chelsea or he'll not play football for 6 or 12mths...

StringerBell

Donnarumma is a bit over hyped I find. Him being an upgrade on Onana is hardly a massive selling point - he isn't great on crossed, he isn't good with his feet, he is well capable of a clanger, for the financial investment I'd have hoped a better fit for the league could be found. Still if we can get him on loan for the year I'd be up for it, makes it less risky and it looks like a situation we may be able to exploit as PSG have already signed his replacement and it looks like his time is up.

If there's real character issues there though just pass.

JRant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714594#Comment_123714594

If he's saying he won't play for 6-12 months isn't he in breach of contract? As much as the club have a duty of care to look after the player with facilities and coaching, the player has to make themselves available to play even if they aren't getting picked.

scottser

I sincerely hope to **** we are working on signing another CM if Baleba doesn't happen.

And jaysus, Garnacho what on earth are you thinking? Publicly declaring that you'll effectively go on strike if you don't get a move to Chelsea? He couldn't be that utterly fuckwitted, could he?

y0ssar1an22

garnacho the vaper.

i'm very surprised how he has acted this summer with a world cup around the corner. he only wants chelsea, but wont be a regular starter. it makes no sense.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-14989131/Man-United-outcast-Alejandro-Garnacho-appears-clutch-VAPE-getting-new-tattoo-two-years-fans-caught-deleted-Instagram-post.html

Ninthlife

Donnarummas two weak points are crosses and distribution..Onana was bought cos of his distribution and all he does is blem it into touch and his other issues are well disussed.

What Donnarumma does have is what you want in a GK, a very good shot stopper, not bad at penalties, big presence and at 26 has 10yrs experience playing 1st team football, Champions League winner, European Championship winner with Italy.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714708#Comment_123714708

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714702#Comment_123714702

I'd say it's more the fact he has no issue staying at United even though he knows the club won't play him. Basically saying sell me or you'll be stuck with a player you don't want around the club. Not that he'll stay and refuse to play.

bucketybuck

Donnarumma is red flag central, to the point that I will be very disappointed if the club ignore them all.

26, a monster, entering his prime, yet his club don't want to keep him? Haven't we learned to be wary about players like that?

Notoriously mercenary, will want huge money, haven't we learned to be wary about players like that?

Weaknesses are crosses and distribution? That sounds familiar, didn't we need to replace that guy?

We are still miles of a title challenge, which means we still have time to wait for the right keeper, so just do that instead of repeating the mistakes of the past yet again.

Seattle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714702#Comment_123714702

I don't know where that poster saw that info but Garnacho is in no position to make threats. He has a contract until 2028 and possibly a +1 option for the club.

IncognitoMan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714733#Comment_123714733

For our system I don't think the keeper needs to be as strong on the ball as what we were looking for 2/3 years ago when Onana came in.

We played with 2 CBs then and the idea was meant to be (or so I believe) that in the first instance in possesion Onana could be truseted basically be the central player on the ball and our 2 CBs would push wider and let the full backs in turn press futher up the pitch earlier on. We wanted to have 3 on the ball and the keeper to be capable of being the main man.

Now we play with 3 CBs so in theory the keeper has an extra man closer to him in most phases of play you would expect for the keeper to have the ball at his feet. An extra man means he should nearly always have more options for a pass out and be less likely to get "caught" on the ball.

Outside of that Donnarumma is far far better at the fundmentals of being a keeper. He's not perfect. Very few keepers are.
But he is overall undoubtedly one of the best keepers and capable of being a match winner on his own almost.

That goal against Forrest where the player runs through our defense and Onana basically sits down on the ground and lets him score. That sort of stuff doesn't happen. Years later I still can't work out what Onana was actually trying to do that day…

billyhead

Garnacho mouthing off again devaluing his market value. What a cnut.

FourFourRED

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714782#Comment_123714782

Agree. It’s better to wait for the right one rather than jumping at the first big name to become available, especially when a big club are happy to let him go. The club will know that anyway. Baleba coming in should be the priority.

15 league games last season where we didn’t score a goal. That’s the big reason why we ended up in 15th place. Onana cost us points but nothing like not having a midfield to control games and forwards to score goals did. With a better team will come less opposition shots at goal and less chances for Onana to make a hash of games. He needs to be replaced but we can take probably take one more season of him.

kyleman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714849#Comment_123714849

I genuinely thought Amorim handled the situation after the final poorly and threw Garnacho under the bus but Garnacho has proved Amorim totally correct especially with his behaviour since then.

Ninthlife

https://twitter.com/UnitedStandMUFC/status/1954980359143072205?t=5rv1YKhIwSePxhSXqNB5Zg&s=19

heres the tweet re Garnacho

Ninthlife

On Donnarumma...is he a mercenary?

Broke into AC Milan team and moved to PSG..AC Milan werent offering what he thought he was worth so he ran his contract down.

His wages at PSG is €12m a year so 250k a week which is 216k pounds so not as astronomical as even I thought.

Why PSG are ditching him I dont know, maybe its his distribution issue but he was 1st choice all season so not as if he was acting the boll*x like some players we are familiar with

pjohnson

Donnarumma's main weaknessess aren't his actual goalkeeping making him a massive upgrade on the incumbent who's biggest weakness (out of his many) is he doesn't know the basics of being goalkeeper.

I think most people have copped now that playmaking/foot skills isn't the main attribute a goalkeeper needs.

~Rebel~

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714966#Comment_123714966

That 250k a week was his contract from four years ago, which was pretty massive then, and I'm guessing he wants a new one in line with todays top earners.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714966#Comment_123714966

He wants a pay rise and PSG aren't willing to match it so he's not willing to sign a new deal for the wages they offered. But have also seen somewhere that those wages are for after tax.

PSG also bought him when they were throwing money at everyone and with the changes that have been made moving certain primadona players on maybe he's now falling into that category. That PSG don't want to pay him the money and would rather bring someone in who wants to be at PSG rather than keep a player whose interested in the big wages.

pjohnson

If Donnarumma wants a wage that breaks our new structure tell him tough shít. Give him a contract within our new structure, take it or leave it.

We'd be stupid not to try. If that doesn't work try to snap up Lammens and sell Onana anyway.

johnnyryan89

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714943#Comment_123714943

And he's only telling the truth. If United and Chelsea don't do a deal he'll be stuck here doing nothing until January or next summer. If Amorim was to try bring him back into the team the same people upset by words that might not have come out of his mouth and maybe it's just how Fabrizio worded things, would be freaking out saying stick him in the reserves he shouldn't be brought back into the squad.

And with that why should the reserves be stuck with him. If he's a bad influence for the senior dressing room why would you want that in the reserves dressing room. Plus you're also taking minutes off players that you want at the club.

So it's either the two clubs do a deal or he gets the Sancho treatment and is told stay away ie he doesn't play football for 6 or 12 months.

larchielads

is this Beleba guy all that and a packet of crisps or is he def gonna be????

FourFourRED

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123714966#Comment_123714966

They are happy to let him go because he’s on high wages, they don’t want to pay him more with a new contract and they can get a decent fee for him now. Otherwise they lose him for nothing next year.

They probably believe that Chevalier is a better player to have for the next few years and probably don’t have any fear of him being number one this season. He’s off the back of a very good season with Lille. Ligue 1 goalkeeper of the year - 11 clean sheets and very good stats in saving more goals than expected.

An issue here is that what most fans of PL clubs tend to see is Donnarumma (or others) making world class saves in some Champions League games and won’t see anything else and then an opinion is formed. I watched the CL final and was very excited when Onana was announced and on reflection it’s a foolish trap to fall into.
For the most part, none of us are seeing the league games where mistakes are made or poor goalkeeping is on show. So things like “massive upgrade” gets thrown around easily and we get giddy.

The reality is, we don’t have any big Champions League games to play. We have 38 league games to play (Donnarumma has played 25 & 24 league games in the last 2 seasons) and these are where he would need to be very reliable to live up to the expectations. The scrutiny he would be under will be like nothing he’s ever experienced at club level. These are the games we will be watching closely and having an emotional connection with - and when it goes wrong, which it almost definitely will at times, the frustration will be enormous because of how high the expectations are of such a big name player.

If the football people at United are actually considering him, this is what they need to be thinking about (among other things like attitude, wages, his agency etc). Can he adapt to the differences of the PL and actually perform consistently at the level we’re looking to be at over the next 3 years or so. I don’t think any of us really know.

El Gato De Negocios

I fear fans desperation to ship out Onana is clouding their judgement of Donnaruma. He's one of the biggest names in the world in his position and entering his prime years as a keeper and nobody is interested in him even at a cut price deal. What did PSG spend on their new keeper, £40m or so? The PSG model has moved away from Big names and he is one of the last remaining from their Galactico endeavours, avoid imo as a purchase. I would however chance him on loan for the season and cover his wages, let him earn his spot.

FourFourRED

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123715111#Comment_123715111

The problem there is that a loan won’t happen when his contact is expiring next summer. Not when PSG have a chance of getting a fee from Chelsea or City. Not without an obligation to buy which defeats the purpose of using a loan to see if he’s good enough.

If you’re taking him now, you have to have your due diligence done.

NITRO95

With regards to a new GK I think some of you are chasing a unicorn. There's no perfect GK even the very best have flaws. Donnarumma is absolutely an upgrade on Onana, I don't even understand the argument against that. If his attitude is right, he wants to play for us and his wage demands aren't outrageous then I'd be all over him. Onana can't be as bad this season as he was last, I hope, but the possibility of getting Gigi Donnarumma for less than £30m is one of those market opportunities we've heard executives talk about. We have to take advantage of this

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123715093#Comment_123715093

Ah now, I dont think you can question him holding up to scrutiny/pressure. He became AC Milan #1 at 16 and Italy #1 at 19 when Buffon retired. Hes obviously made of strong stuff whatever about his technical faults I dont think mentality is a problem.

Robson99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123715252#Comment_123715252

Exactly. Can someone tell me the perfect GK we should sign ? Because I don't see him. If Donnarumma ticks the items you outlined then we should be all over it. Rather have tried and it not work out than to be looking at him succeed elsewhere

caviardreams

Poor Garnacho will get a wake up call when he is soon warming the bench and "not playing" for Chelsea soon enough hopefully!