Manchester United Thread 25/26 - Teamtalk/Transfers/Gossip Mod Note in OP 12.02.26

Like we just don't know what city do behind the scenes, how much they pay for players, hoe much they pay clubs, how much they play owners.

We have all the charges, the leaks, and them refusing to cooperate with the people who are investigating.

The club is insanely rich and the owners don't care about it making money or being profitable unlike 99% of clubs, it's very easy to run a club that way if you have all the money to spend, players wants to leave on high wages pay him off or take back whatever payments he is getting elsewhere.

Obviously not all of this is proven yet, may well never be, but I'm not sure why a club who gives no reason to trust what it is doing financially can be applause for how it's run. The saying their is no smoke with out fire doesn't apply to city it's more there is no fire without fire.

Recently Nick Harris a journo said city were putting pressure on his bosses to intimidate him or get him fired over what he wrote so God only knows how much of this is going on behind the scenes as well we don't hear about.

The club is absolutely rotten to the core and it's absolutely wild to me it's not talked about more

I still don't think that means Yoro was a bad signing, but it's fair enough to think the money should have been spent strengthening other positions. I think Cunha and Mbeumo were good signings, but the club would have been better off buying just one, and instead using the money to buy a CMF.

No I don't have a good feeling either but you never know I guess,.but **** knows what kind of pressure then can put on behind the scenes.

Would absolutely love to see them relegated to the back of beyond.

Not sure if it will do much to the credibility of the league beyond a small percentage, I'm sure it'll just get brushed under the carpet, none of the broadcasters will touch it, maybe that changes if they are found guilty but I wouldn't be holding my breath I guess

I've been very impressed with Yoro, even despite his recent poor run of form. He's been great considering his age.

But I completely agree, and said it from the moment we signed him, he was a terrible signing. An egotistical signing by the new "football guys", spunking 60m on a teenage CB with a year left on his contract just so we got in ahead of Madrid. We needed that money spent on other areas of more priority as you've pointed out.

In today's polarized world, a lot of people don't really get how you can be impressed with a signing and still think that the signing was a really poor one.

Sesko was a really poor signing as well. He's a player who I think will become a very good CF in time, but we just went and repeated the Hojlund mistake. I think the football guys have a lot to answer for with that one, we needed a proven PL striker.

They have made a fair few good signings, Cunha and Mbeumo are great signings imo, I'm just not sure how they placed so much emphasis on the PL Proven aspect when signing those and disregarded it when signing Sesko.

Hojund had one half decent season before we signed him, first season he was really a first team starter, he still only scored 9 goals and we spent a fortune on him.

Sesko has been a first team striker now for 3 seasons scoring double figures in those 3 season (13,14, 16).

We had to sign a striker this summer because hojund was so bad last season in all parts of his game, but we were well down the pecking order, Liverpool signed isak and Etikhie, arsenal signed Gyokeres, Newcastle signed Woltermade and Wissa, Chelsea signed Pedro and delap.

That's the striker market right there maybe throw in Watkins if we stumped up the cash and going off the season the only player who you'd really want is probably etithke.

When you look at the market and where we are in it sesko was about our best bet

Aware of the differences in experience between the two. However, that doesn't change the fact that both Hojlund and Sesko were too young and too inexperienced to be thrown into the pressure pot that is being United's only striker.

If Sesko was a 'best bet', then maybe it was worth not betting and waiting until you're not gambling (as much).

Amorim, and even Sesko himself, were telling us that he wasn't PL ready as soon as he was signed… not sure how it's even much of a debate. He was a poor signing in the context that we needed someone who was ready.

There'll always be "well, we couldn't get x,y,z stories", however there's always other ways to do business. Watkins was the signing for us imo, it made too much sense.

Sesko didn't start the season due to him not having a pre season, he got shite for not taking a peno against grimbsy but he was suffering from cramp it turned out which shows he wasn't up to full fitness.

If you want to base him being a poor signing based off that go right ahead.

I would have liked Watkins for sure and if it could have been done for a reasonable fee then it would have been great, but maybe we have learned our lessons over spending huge money on 29 + year olds

Yep I will say I’ve seen a couple of small things from Sesko in the last few games which gives me a glimmer of hope, so fingers crossed.
There is something about him I’m just not sure about. He makes the game look hard when he has the ball. He’s clearly athletic but doesn’t seem to use it very well most of the time. Just looking at Ekitike tonight - not that he was fantastic, but just the intensity of everything he does. The aggression, the quickness, the directness. It’s like a different sport to watching Sesko at times.

At this juncture, I’m not hopeful but will give it until end of season.

One year left in summer. Palace will likely still hold pretty firm but he’s exactly the type of player we need to rotate with Sesko rather than lumping the full burden on a kid again.

Yep, 100% agree. Stylistically the successful version of Sesko looks very like (a less freakish) Halaand. I’m confident in his finishing. That will come. The main part that concerns me is - that thing that Haaland does with remarkable frequency where he pulls onto the shoulder. Accelerates just as the ball is played, intentionally gets his body onto the defender early and bursts by them, often totally destabilising them in the process. I’ve not seen at all from Sesko.

Given his clear size, speed (although this doesn’t appear as elite as I thought) and strength I expected to see lots of those movements, but he just doesn’t seem to use his physical tools very effectively. Not sure I can remember him bullying a defender in behind even once. That’s quite a natural/intuitive thing that’s hard to develop in your 20s.

I wasn't trying to put words in your mouth I thought That's what you were talking about I don't really see where sesko is saying he isn't ready in that statement though. And I'm not watching the whole video to see what the manger may or may not have said.

I'll leave it there as this doesn't seem like a productive conversation for either of us.

Decent results tonight from our perspective Liverpool, Palace, Sunderland all dropping points same as Brentford and Spurs to maintain a bit of a distance.

Halfway point 3 points off 4th level points with 5th. If we can stay in contention by time our first team players return we have given ourselves a decent chance of CL football or Europa at the least

I dont see the club getting in a player in Jan to fill in until they'll be going for their no 1 targets in the summer. I'd like to think those days of having a player on the bench on big wages is probably over forcthe foreseeable future. As much as a Neves/Gallagher type signing would fill the gaps in the middle i just think the club have moved on from that thinking. I think the gaps in the middle will likely remain there until the summer

you would love if the board sat RA down and say play the young lads and a back four and if you do well we will renew your contract in the summer. I thought fletcher was alright when he went in center mid. looked lively. The game passed metato by unfortunately. The team's reluctance to ball a trough ball into Sesko was embarrassing, casemiro getting the ball taken off him from behind and dalot not following the ball into the net were in my view salable offences and hopefully both are gone in the summer.

This is some joke. Taking photos with the players on the pitch before kick off.…