Half Time Transfer Window Report : Are We On Track?

This summer has certainly seen the most intriguing transfer window in the 6 years since Sir Alex Ferguson left to spend more time with his prize winning horses.

The greatest manager of the premier league era has cast a huge shadow over our club, and after several false dawns it looks like we’re on the verge of a real attempt at root and branch reform of the squad.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is clearly looking to emulate the approach of his mentor Sir Alex, and it’s a bold, brave move - although no one can be sure if it’s going to actually work.

Going for a clear profile of young, hungry, emerging British players who have bags of potential but are not the finished product, is a good way to get around the lack of value in the market, with huge fees being slapped on bang average who are the finished product.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

The club has just announced the signing of Crystal Palace defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka on a five year deal for £50 million. 

Wan-Bissaka is 21 years old, English, and was named the club’s best player last season - he’s set to get £80,000 a week at United. Coming in as a right back as a replacement for Antonio Valencia, he should help to bring some solidity to our defence, which has been suspect for years.

Now all we need is at least one centre back, and there has been an ongoing negotiations for Harry Maguire, with United making a £40 million bid that doesn’t come up to Leicester’s £65 million valuation. 

City are also in the running, and with a better squad and Champion’s League football, they are sadly in a much better position to get the player.

Daniel James 

Daniel James was the first big signing by any club during the summer, and he is another young player that can give hope to fans after a dismal season. Also 21 years old, he has learned under the tutelage of Ryan Giggs as a Welsh player, and comes to us from Swansea. 

The winger is again, not the finished product, but has lots of potential, and could grow into the type of exciting player that goes past defenders, with the ball at his feet.

Attracting a fee of £15 million with add ons likely to take it to £30 million, he’s one of the cheaper signings we’ll be making, but yet again, he only has 33 first team appearances to his name. 

Wan Bissaka will be the most expensive signing history to have less than 50 first team appearances to his name. These are players that could become great, but right now they are all potential.

Player Sales

With 2 signings under our belt it looks like there are a handful still to go, and two possible sales - Lukaku and Pogba. The latter have been rumoured for some time, with Lukaku publically coming out and making overtures to Inter, and disrespecting us in the process. 

I think a lot of fans wouldn’t be sad to see him go, despite the fact he’s a decent back up striker. As Gary Neville said last season, there are several players who look like they don’t want to be at United, and their attitude has been a massive drag on the performance of the team.

Pogba is the main culprit when it comes to this type of negative attitude, a player who has incredibly talented, but divides opinion. 

Some think he’s more interested in his haircut and instagram following than playing, and certainly his form has been inconsistent. He’s not the player United hoped they had spent £89 million on.

He has produced great performances for France, and in Italy, but he needs more quality players around him to thrive in that free role, and perhaps cashing in on both him and Lukaku is the best answer for the team and the individuals involved. 

We can hope to raise around £150 million or more from their sales, and this should help to fund the 4 to 5 more players that we need to make a real impact on the first team.

Next On The Agenda

Summer is always a time for paper talk and speculation about transfers, and we’re right slap bang in the middle of the window, with a lot still to be decided.

Bruno Fernandes is a player that does look to be a likely arrival, with the major bookmakers offering incredibly narrow odds on the Portuguese player to arrive from Sporting Lisbon. 

With Ander Herrera no longer at the club, and Pogba possibly on his way, midfield reinforcements are definitely needed, and the 24 year old player definitely fits the bill for what is needed. 

Scoring 31 goals from midfield is no mean feat, and with Liverpool apparently ruling themselves out, it looks more and more likely he’ll sign soon.

Transfer Roundup: De Ligt Snub, Pogba Sale, Fernandes Bid, Wan Bissaka & More

So, this summer is turning out to be eventful one at Old Trafford. With a long list of names rumoured to be targets, rumours of bids, and players leaving, there's a lot going on.

Matthijs De Ligt is one name who won't be joining. The Ajax defender would be a great addition to the defensive line at United, but it seems he is being strongly linked with moves to either PSG or Juventus, who are both able to offer Champion's League football. Sky Sports is reporting that the player is off to Juve, with a bid of around £60 or £70 million to cover the sale.

Meanwhile, the MEN is reporting that Solskjaer has requested that Paul Pogba is sold. This makes sense as the player himself has publicly commented on the possibility of leaving in recent days, and the money his sale could bring in is suggested to be around £130 million to £150 million, which would pay for some of reinforcements needed this summer.

It looks like the transfer of Wan Bissaka from Crystal Palace is still strong possibility, with just the details to be worked out. With United currently underbidding, it's rumoured to require £45 million to prize the player away.

Various midfielders are being linked with United to fill the gap left by the departure of Herrera, and the apparently impending departure of Pogba. One name in the mix is Christian Eriksen. The Spurs player is also being linked with Real, but Portuguese publication O Jogo is reporting that the Danish player could be on his way to Old Trafford.

French Midfielder Moussa Dembele is said to have agreed terms with United - but the player himself has come out and publicly said he will be at Lyon next season. The 22 year old Lyon player fits the profile of the type of young player Solskjaer is seeking to build a new team.

One of the big challenges for United this summer is holding onto David De Gea, probably the most player is the team has, especially now that Paul Pogba looks to be on his way. He has been offered an improved salary of £350,000, in order to bring him closer to top earner Alexis Sanchez, and retain his services.

Despite a drop in form at the end of last season, he remains one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and a critical component in United building a team capable of producing a title challenge.

Finally, Bruno Fernandes' agent is said to be on his way to the UK to discuss terms for the midfielder to join United. The Sporting Lisbon star is being linked to both Manchester and Tottenham, but appears to be edging closer to moving north. 

Fan Channel Roundup: United Stand & Full Time Devils

So, one of the major sources of great content about Man United comes from the fan channels.

The United Stand

The United Stand can be found at http://theunitedstand.com/

Their Youtube Channel can be found at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMmVPVb0BwSIOWVeDwlPocQ

Their latest videos include transfer news on the big transfers of the summer, like this one:

Full Time Devils

The Full Time Devils fan channel is a source of some fantastic content from Adam McKola, Steve Howson, and several other of their highly knowledgeable and talented vloggers / commentators.

They can be found at https://www.youtube.com/user/FullTimeDevils

Here are a couple of their more recent videos on player transfers for Fernandes, and the possible lineup for the 2019/20

Transfer Roundup: Pogba to Real, Adrien Rabiot, de Ligt, Felix and More

So, we're now well into silly season this summer, and it's a depressing time for United fans. With City winning the league, and last night, Liverpool winning the European Cup for the 6th time last night, it's a major blow to experience two of our biggest rivals winning the two biggest trophies in club football.

And while the transfer window is always a game of cat and mouse, we can only hope and pray that the board actually squeeze the trigger and get some of the signings they have been linked with.

Van Gaal on Woodward

Louis Van Gaal has given the world a piece of his mind on the impact of Ed Woodward at United, and Man United fans might well agree.

At Bayern, the people in charge are football men. I always appreciated that,” he said, in the Express.

“At Manchester United, on the other hand, Ed Woodward was installed as CEO — somebody with zero understanding of football who was previously an investment banker.

"It cannot be a good thing when a club is run solely from a commercially-driven perspective.”

De Ligt

It has emerged that Barcelona are set to offer the Dutch player the same as his former Ajax team mate Frenkie De Jong. However, is is appears to be their final offer. Meanwhile, we're desperate to sign the 19 year old, to be at the heart of our defence, as part of the rebuild we need.

De Gea to PSG

The transfer of De Gea to Paris San Germain continues, as United have put a £75 million price tag on the goalkeeper. It's a shame that it has come to this, and a consequence of the board mismanaging the team, and also contract renewals - they failed to extend the players contract, and now we are fighting to get a return on his sale, given that he will be able to leave next summer on a free transfer.

Meanwhile, the board is looking at replacements in the form of Jasper Cillessen, of Barcelona, AC Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Atletico Madrid goalie Jan Oblak are all potential targets to replace the best player we have had over the past few years.

David Seaman says we should be doing everything we can to keep him, but given the poor state of the team and the lack of Champion's League football, it's hard to see why he should stay.

Adrien Rabiot

United are putting out the stop to sign the 24 year old midfielder from PSG, with an offer of £170,000 in weekly salary to attract him. With Tottenham and Juventus both interested, and able to offer him Champion's League football, he could be attracted elsewhere, but United are hoping to turn his head by paying a more attractive wage. Fingers crossed.

Pogba to Real - Player Swap

It's no secret that Pogba wants to leave United, and Real is one of the few clubs that wants him, and is big enough to afford him. However, Florentino Perez doesn't want to part with too much cash for the player, and would rather put in an offer of player exchange, for Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez AND Keylor Nava - 3 players for one.

It's all to be taken with a pinch of salt, but some type of deal involving Pogba and Real does currently appear to be on the cards.

Richarlison To Stay At Everton

United are targeting Richarlison, currently an Everton forward, as part of their summer plans, but the player has come out and said he is comfortable at the club.

He told  FourFourTwo : “It’s a nice feeling when you get praise for your good work, but I’m not thinking about a transfer at the moment.

“I’ve just arrived at Everton. I’m happy here.”

Joao Felix 

United are competing with the likes of Real for Benfica forward Joao Felix with a whopping £100 million offer for the 19 year old. Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha says United are set to make a £80 million offer with add ons that should see it got up to £105 million.

The report claims that United are set to sell two players to afford the younger, but the club's president  Luis Filipe Viera will not accept it.

If you'd like a roundup of player transfer odds, and tips, then head to Betting Mastery, where you can get all the promo codes, tips and bookmaker reviews you can handle. 

Transfer Roundup: Longstaff, James, Dybala, Dembele, De Ligt

So, after a hugely disappointing season, this is proving to be easily the most intriguing transfer window since Sir Alex left in 2013.

It looks like the aim of transforming the team is being taken seriously after a major pushback from the fans. The board are listening, appear to have taken on board the criticism, and are making offers for exactly the types of players that United need and have been badly lacking in recent years.

The only unfortunate thing in all of this mess is how the side has been allowed to decline so much, and the fact that we are not able to offer Champion's League football, which puts us at a huge disadvantage compared to the likes of Liverpool, City, Real, Barca, and so on.

If that means we have to throw money at the problem in order to secure players, that is what we are going to have to do, in transfer fees, agent fees, and player wages. This is the problem with not investing on the pitch - we now have to pay a premium for our failure to invest in the past, just to catch up.

Anyway, here's a round up of some of the big reports and rumours I have seen in the past few days.....

Moussa Dembele

Lyon forward Demele is on United's radar. The player has experience of playing in the UK, having played in the Scottish PL for Celtic, and at 22, is a great age to join the team long term. He's scored 23 goals in 51 appearances for the French side, which is a decent return.

Daniel James

Welsh winger Daniel James is a name that has been talked about for a couple of weeks now. The 21 year old Swansea player is said to be the subject of a £15 million offer, and it is this type of player, that is young, not the finished article, but could bring hunger and enthusiasm, that tells me United are doing the right things.

They can't base their transfer strategy around just buying big name players, so looking in the Championship and lower down the league for quality young players is a good way to go. Meanwhile, Robbie Savage reckons we should move heaven and earth to sign Aston Villa's Jack Grealish ahead of him.

Sean Longstaff

Longstaff is another player whose name has been doing the rounds for the past couple of weeks. But it's now looking like both the club and the player want him to stay put. He's only made 13 appearances, putting the midfielder on the edge of the first team, with United said to be on the verge of a £25 million bid. Whether or not he becomes the player that we need remains to be seen, but it's good that we're going for this type of player.

Paulo Dybala

The Paulo Dybala transfer saga continues. The Argentinian striker would be a great addition to the team, and he's been heavily linked with us. However, his has said he is going to stay.

“Juventus must make its choices with the coach that will come. But society knows it, next year I want to stay here.I have a lot of respect for this shirt and for these fans, and because of this I will only talk about Juventus, not about other teams, because that seems to me a lack of respect.”

However his brother reckons he is likely to leave Juve, although it's not clear where he will go.

De Ligt

This is one of the transfers I'm most excited about. United have offered the 19 year old defender a huge contract to draw him from Ajax. De Ligt has got the world at his feet one of the best defenders in the world at such a young age - he could serve United for a decade. 

They've bid £236,000 a week, which is a whopping sum such a young player, but that's the market we are currently in. Got to hope we can draw him, following a rich tradition of Dutch players that we've had over the years, including Stam, Van Nistelrooy, and Van Der Sar. 

Things That Have Gone Wrong at United : Ed Woodward

Ed Woodward. The chief executive of Manchester United has become something of a hate figure, particularly in recent weeks, as the 18/19 reached a bitter end. But is all the hate justified?

We've already look at some of the problems on the pitch, but the man who is effectively head of operations at United has a background, is not as a football man, but a former accountant and investment banker, who worked at PriceWaterHouseCoopers and then JP Morgan. Big names in the world of finance, but not the traineeship required to run a football club.

The previous occupant, David Gill, ran a good stewardship of the club, and had a similar background in the world of corporate finance, but he had the support of one Alex Ferguson, to manage the footballing decisions.

Wage Structure

He did make a better job of managing the wage structure at the club, and that is now clearly out of control, with the likes of Alex Sanchez on bumper contracts despite performing incredibly poorly.

The wage structure issue is the reason that De Gea is off to PSG. It's also behind Herrera's move, as they were unwilling to meet his demands. If they hadn't overpaid Sanchez, it wouldn't have caused these issues.

Bad Buys

There are a catalogue of bad buys under Woodward's leadership. Di Maria, Falcao, Sanchez, were all poor buys. Fred seemed a pointless buy at £50 million for a guy who hardly kicked the ball for the first half of the season, when there were more urgent and pressing issues in defence, for example.

The buys were haphazard, and reactive. Some of them seemed to come towards the end of the transfer window, as if he was panicking, and just buying for the sake of appearing to have taken some action.

They weren't strategic, carefully planned, etc., otherwise the defence wouldn't be as threadbare as it is, with players like Smalling and Jones still in the side for many years, despite not being to the standard that a team like United deserves. Where is our Virgil van Dijk, for example?

Not Backing Managers

The board's failure to back Mourinho last summer was the nail in the coffin for the manager. But who on that board had the authority to overrule that manager? Mourinho, for all his faults, is still a highly experienced manager, and he should have been given the backing to improve the side.

Infrastructure

The overall set up at United is now leagues behind City. The lack of a director of football, and facilities that pail in comparison to those enjoyed by City's Academy side, show there is a huge gulf now (pun unintended). City have put in place a system that could see them dominate football for the next decade at least. Meanwhile, United seem lost, and there is no clear indicator where their next major trophy is coming from.

Conclusion

Woodward is very reactive, the signing of Solskjaer was just another example of this. He reacted to fan and media pressure, rather than having a clear plan and following his own, strongly considered ideas. He's a weak person, not sure of what to do outside of his own fifedom, which is financial.

This need not be completely bad, though. It seems the criticism from the outside world, and the likes of Gary Neville, is filtering into the club. The buys that have been made this summer, and those that have been touted, show a club that is reacting to criticism, and taking a different tack.

Solskjaer has been backed, and it looks like he is aiming to build a young, hungry team, to emulate the success the club enjoyed in the 90s, If he can hire a director of football, and leave the footballing decisions to football people, then the damaging effects of his directorship can be limited. Here's to hoping.

Things That Went Wrong for Man Utd 18 / 19 Season : Attitude

The slow motion car crash of the past 6 years since Alex Ferguson retired as Manchester United manager has continued with another disappointing season in 18/19

Pogba has become a symbol of
everything that is wrong
at United in 18/19

After the club won the Europa League in 2017, and the club ending 2nd last season, there was some hope that we could kick on and fight for first place this season. But things never felt quite right under Mourinho, and conflict between him and the team was ongoing. The board's failure to back him last summer was the final nail in the coffin in retrospect.

Gary Neville has said, more than once, that, with the team we have, that second place result last year increasingly looks like a great achievement, given the group of player that he had at his disposal:

"It’s a really average team for what Manchester United needs to be. As a group of players I don’t like them. ‘Jose Mourinho at the time told us that it was his greatest ever achievement finishing second with that team. ‘We all laughed, we all thought: ‘It’s Jose just playing’. Maybe he was right, maybe it was a great achievement."

But quality aside, the underlying issue has been player power, and the virus of a bad attitude that has grown and grown in the changing room, and was the reason Jose was eventually forced out.

The board did not back Jose, and then the players smelled weakness and turned on the manager, as Neville said.

“It comes to a point where this would be the fourth manager in six years,” Neville said. “You have to look at who is bringing them in. The dressing room is leading what is happening. The tail is wagging the dog.

“Get some control back. Get some leadership. Undermining Jose on the eve of the season on why he couldn’t sign those centre-backs - who is qualified in that football club to tell Mourinho he cannot get them?"

And when it comes to a bad attitude that has caused all these problems, there's one name that keeps coming up : it's Paul Pogba. This is the player that said, after the Jose sacking, that "He fucked with the wrong baller".

Once Jose left, for 10 glorious weeks, with got a Pogba that actually put 100% effort in. Why? My believe is that he wanted to show people that he was not a lazy player. Once OGS was confirmed as permanent manager, Pogba returned back to the part timer, mercenary, inconsistent player he was at United before that.

It's the attitude of players like this, I believe, that has filtered from the most influential players, right through the squad. The fact it even began to affect hugely De Gea, a player who has been defined by consistency for 5 or 6 years, shows how it spread through the squad.

The last few games in particular showed a level of form that looked like a team that had given up, even if there were some bright sparks in the form of McTominay and Mason Greenwood.

I've no doubt that the attitude of OGS could be a panacea for some of the problems in the team. It worked, for a while. But how do you root out a problem of attitude in a team? The problem of players that don't care?

Getting rid of players like Herrera, who actually talks and behaves like someone does genuinely care, is not the way to do it. His wage demands may have seemed greater than his ability, but his contract renewal was poorly managed in the first place. It should never have come to this.

There is some hope in the attitude of players like Dalot, McTominay, and the academy players are hungry - they haven't been poisoned yet. Forging a young, hungry team is the way out of this mess.

What we need to do now is cut as much of the dead wood as possible, and let OGS fashion a team in his own image - one that is passionate, fights to the last minute, for each other and genuinely care about playing for the team, more than driving sports cars and sleeping with models.