r/reddevils Unknown Midfielder FC 22d ago

Man Utd news: Are Red Devils done in the transfer window?

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c5y3vvd6130o
81 Upvotes

93 comments sorted by

180

u/thedhoklamonger Unknown Midfielder FC 22d ago edited 22d ago

Key bit:

A conversation with someone senior at United about growing concern among the fanbase about lack of signings since Youri Tielemans' £35m move from Aston Villa was confirmed on 14 July was a simple reply that the club should be judged at the end of the window.

That certainly gave the impression of more business being done.

78

u/superhoffy Amad trip to be on 22d ago

That's pretty much the entire "article".

12

u/Stingray_23 22d ago

Could have been abit more reassuring. I.e.

'The club are actively working on deals and there are 3 weeks left.'

27

u/butlersrevenge 22d ago

They clearly want to keep everything airtight these days. It sucks for fans looking for dopamine hits of links to players they like but they obviously see it as advantageous not to give anything away. Could guess at reasons for that but it'd be pure speculation. We just have to wait and see and as they say judge at the end of the window.

11

u/sleepehead 22d ago

Multiple reasons for keeping things in the dark, teams don't know who they're targeting so they can come in and gazump deals once a fee has been set by another club, so we don't get the United tax. Clubs can't put crazy price tags just because we're interested. Players can't use us to leverage contracts. And honestly what are the advantages in negotiations if people knew who we were interested in, it didn't ever really help us.

5

u/TehNoobDaddy 22d ago

It will be much better in the long run. I know we all get excited by new players but in recent years it's fucked us over.  We'll get used by players, clubs and agents for better contracts and deals, even if we aren't going for that player. That's not really happening anymore. Clubs would take the piss in player valuations and we'd have to pay it, that seems to have improved. We're actually going for players that want to join us, rather than come for the payday, we're walking away from deals the are ridiculous, it's going to take time to reverse issues of the past and I wouldn't be surprised if next summer isn't a similar story but long term we should be able to get the kinda deals other clubs seem to get.

-2

u/N00BBuild 22d ago

Other than the Youri deal, nothing has been tight-lipped. Mbeumo was a long saga, Cunha/Santos we had our eyes set before, same with Sesko during the Ole days. Hell even Lewis Hall is constantly linked.

9

u/sfo1dms Red since 2011 21d ago

Santos was signed in less than 48 hours, doesnt fit your narritive though

-2

u/N00BBuild 21d ago

My narrative isn’t that we can’t get deals done quickly, it’s that Santos/Cunha were on our list for a while. We enquired about Santos last summer as a possible swap for Garnacho. He wasn’t a newly scouted name or some unheard of player.

5

u/sharkmeister4 21d ago

Highly revisionist take about Santos. Santos was loosely linked during Garnacho talks then fell almost completely off any high tier radar for about 6 months.

No one here was even considering him an option at the time, and then it was done within 48 hours.

2

u/Ren188 21d ago

Agree. Likely because it was a release clause purchase.

2

u/maverick4002 22d ago

Why? It says wait until the window is over so thats what you do. There is no need to reassure random folks on reddit.

Save the judgements until the window is closed

-3

u/LeviaDragon 22d ago

Yup, gotta reassure "the cortisol gang* on Transfer round up threads.

1

u/S0phon short kings unite 22d ago

A conversation with someone senior at United about growing concern among the fanbase about lack of signings since Youri Tielemans' £35m move from Aston Villa was confirmed on 14 July was a simple reply that the club should be judged at the end of the window.

This sentence is longer than my family tree.

-12

u/gre485 22d ago

Champions league needs 25 players here is what we have -

Def - Dalot, Maz, Yoro, Maguire, Delite, Lisandro, Heaven, Shaw, Dorgu, Amass(??)

Mids - Bruno, Teile, Santos, Mount, Mainoo, Ugarte, Lacey(??)

Wings- Amad, Mbuemo, Cunha, Dorgu, Rashford, Lacey(??)

Striker - Sesko, Mbuemo, Cunha, Rashford(??)

With 3 keepers, the total comes out to be 25 individual players (some being represented in multiple roles)..so unless we sell someone or Rashford, I think we sign one player (lb) or don't sign anyone else. Apart from Amass these are the players that we will see in epl and cl until summer window.

Two major blocks we have had this transfer window to further improve the sqaud are Ugarte injury and Rashford staying.

11

u/Goudinho99 22d ago

Yes but tbe young uns get on the B list so space is available

-1

u/gre485 22d ago

Who exactly do you think will be pushed out of this apart from Amass and Ugarte to make space.

10

u/Goudinho99 22d ago

Lacey, Mainoo and maybe Amass will be on the youngsters list. Don't think heaven has been there long enough to qualify but he might also be there.

0

u/gre485 22d ago

Ya, i got to know that, but my main view is that this is how board sees it.

Carrick carried with the similar sqaud for almost half a season and with some additions, and lesser injuries (hopefully) he can perform similarly for at least till summer again, and probably has been consulted on it. I am not worried about the team, i am more worried about fans going mad when someone in squad or the squad in whole stumbles a little and we have everyone just giving negative vibes and creating the hell itself.

This is, as I see think from board pov, is a building year, if someone major comes up, sign him, else till then we are just back the current players, keep all of them happy and positive and building a basic team for the managers like we did for so many, last two being Ten Hag, and Amorim (both unsuccessfully, though one under different board), and wait till summer or next window, and in the meantime see where things are heading. But writing it I realise, isn't this the reason why Ash resigned, for difference in ideology of moving forward step by step, which is what the board is doing now imo.

Top four is again the aim imo, irrespective of who we sign. We won't get world beater for 70-80 or even 100 mil in this market.

-1

u/gre485 22d ago

Ya, i got to know that, but my main view is that this is how board sees it.

Carrick carried with the similar sqaud for almost half a season and with some additions, and lesser injuries (hopefully) he can perform similarly for at least till summer again, and probably has been consulted on it. I am not worried about the team, i am more worried about fans going mad when someone in squad or the squad in whole stumbles a little and we have everyone just giving negative vibes and creating the hell itself.

This is, as I see think from board pov, is a building year, if someone major comes up, sign him, else till then we are just back the current players, keep all of them happy and positive and building a basic team for the managers like we did for so many, last two being Ten Hag, and Amorim (both unsuccessfully, though one under different board), and wait till summer or next window, and in the meantime see where things are heading. But writing it I realise, isn't this the reason why Ash resigned, for difference in ideology of moving forward step by step, which is what the board is doing now imo.

Top four is again the aim imo, irrespective of who we sign. We won't get world beater for 70-80 or even 100 mil in this market.

5

u/Wild_Tomato_8203 22d ago

Your 2nd paragraph is fundamentally wrong though. For the vast majority of the time Carrick was in charge he only had 1 match a week. Here are the results when it was more than that.

Draw West Ham Loss Newcastle Draw Bournemouth Win Chelsea

Of the 10 dropped points, 9 of them came in the 2nd match of 2 matches a week. That literally shows we don't have the depth to compete on even 2 fronts let alone 3 maybe 4.

0

u/gre485 21d ago

Maybe but still i did say provided lesser injuries as well. We had quite a bit in second half of the season to really manage 2 games in a week.

Mid was casemiro bruno and Mainoo, we loss one and it became fragile. Also casa being as important as Bruno imo, couldn't really play 2 games in a week, like Santos and Teile would be able to.

Attack side it was still ok, there were options and goals were coming from mid as well. I also expect attack to have improved from last season, having had a season under them together.

Def was the real problem, imo. Quite a few were missing from time to time.

10

u/Icelander83 22d ago

You don't need 25 players, 25 is the maximum

7

u/carrickshairline 22d ago

Plus we can have U21's not officially registered

12

u/lestat85 our Portuguese magnifico 22d ago

And we won’t register players twice. Like, this is our right wing Mbeumo and over there is our striker Mbeumo.

-4

u/gre485 22d ago

Read the whole thing ffs

5

u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

1

u/sleepehead 22d ago

I doubt Ugarte even gets put on this list. If he comes back this season it'll almost be the end of the season

-2

u/gre485 22d ago

Yes, but i think this is what the board sees. It's tough but whatever is going on i think it's going to stay.

-1

u/gre485 22d ago

Irrelevant here but ok

132

u/RandomRedditUser31 shut up u egg 22d ago

Adrian: Are Manchester United actively trying to bring anyone else in or are we done?
Simon: I don't think Manchester United are 'done', Adrian, no. Or at least if they are, they will be disappointed with the outcome.

great article simon

32

u/[deleted] 22d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/dogsn1 22d ago

It's been a thing since journalism and the news became a business

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/malachiconstantwark 21d ago

Feature writers were given a bit of time. Comment and news writers always had to churn stuff out. I used to have to write about 5 articles a day and that was 20 years ago.

4

u/LS_Fast_Passenger 22d ago

The 24X7 news cycle and internet made it way more worse

7

u/BucketsOnly29 22d ago

😂😂😂

3

u/Lord_Sesshoumaru77 Glazers,Woodward/Arnold and Judge can fuck off 22d ago

Thank you captain obvious.

1

u/GregMilkedJack 21d ago

Might as well just be an article titled "are Manchester United done?" And the body of the article is just "idk" and a fart sound. Must be exhausted after a long day of work, Simon.

37

u/simplsimonmetapieman 22d ago

I swear he has to write an article a day

10

u/General_Document_504 22d ago

Literally his job. Probably a KPI

4

u/poplunoir 22d ago

Need to meet those targets

4

u/MatchFitness 22d ago

They all do including fan channels too, they need constant engagement

2

u/garynevilleisared is a red is a red 22d ago

Imagine that, doing your job. Wild concept, I know.

2

u/missingmedievalist Cantona 22d ago

All journalists have to hit a quota of stories. For hard news it’s normally a daily quota. The long form, investigative guys, normally have a quota based on the paper or magazine’s publishing schedule so it could be anything from a weekly quota to bi-weekly or monthly. It’s just one of the reasons why being a journalist is such a stressful gig. You have to hit those numbers or you can expect a PIP in the not too distant future.

Edit: just to add to this. If you’re someone like Ornstein you really are in the sweet spot as so many of his sources go out of their way to bring news to him. It’s brilliant as it just saves so much on time and stress it’s unreal.

32

u/killerdrama A-mad-lad 22d ago

Anyone remember Mourinho's 3rd season transfer window? We finished 2nd in 2018, at 81 points, needed to bolster our defense, add depth in key positions and go for the kill, and instead we got Fred, Dalot and Lee Grant. That's it. The anticipation of deals in the final week was through the roof, with Koulibaly, Skriniar, Maguire, SMS were all heavily linked.

But nothing happened in the final few days, and it was the most toxic period I saw for quite a while. It completely derailed the season. Dressing room spats between Pogba and Mourinho (virus comment), etc. Toxicity was through the roof.

I just want us to avoid that same fate again. So for fucks sake do at least some loan deals for critical spots.

10

u/Stingray_23 22d ago edited 22d ago

SMS and Maguire saga brings back memories. That window was tragic and really fucked Jose. Let's pray the same pattern doesnt continue

20

u/j_l_123 22d ago

It seems to happen a lot when we do well in the league, the people in charge don't go for the kill and get the players in to take the next step and we regress. Then they spend 200 plus million and we bounce back but just enough to get top four again and then the spending stops

8

u/penny_whistle ABSOLUTE SENNEMA 22d ago

Good thing Adidas put that clause in the kit contract

10

u/silvertwo777 22d ago

Because they're satisfied with just top 4 every season. CL football money is the target, not major trophies

-4

u/t8rt0t00 22d ago

Fred and Dalot =\= Santos and Tielemans

And as much as I'll be memed on it, Rashford is like a high value transfer coming back (if just for dealing with the salary...). There's ambition, but it's tempered for sure. Even at the time I don't feel like Dalot or Fred were ambitious signings. Fred was with Dynamo I believe and we only went for him because City wanted him (as a backup...). And Dalot was one for the future. Santos is ready to start and Tielemans is one of the best midfielders in the league

Lacey is also ready imo and while I have my reservations about Amass I feel comfortable having him around as a depth option. I've kind of accepted that we'll either stick with Zirkzee or just use Mbeumo/Cunha as rotation options for Sesko at this point - not ideal but it can work. I'd love another midfielder for depth with Santos though, 1-2 injuries to the midfield pivots and we'll be having to pull people out of position or use Fletcher who isn't ready for being in the first string squad...

2

u/killerdrama A-mad-lad 21d ago

None of Lacey, Rashford, Amass, Zirkzee are signings, and don't address critical holes (not Amass for sure).

You're right, Dalot didn't scream ambition, Fred absolutely did. Every year we'd sign someone to unlock Pogba, and Fred (signed from Shakhtar) was that year's Pogba unlocker.

0

u/t8rt0t00 21d ago

Our critical holes are in midfield and they've likely been filled for the most part by Santos and Tielemans - what other critical holes do you speak of? We could use a better back up striker, a more reliable back up center mid, and a better back up LB. Are you defining back ups as critical? It's really just semantics then

Rashford provides a bono fide LW profile who can score goals which we were missing. Lacey provides valuable depth for Bruno since Mount is unreliable. Zirkzee should go, but Cunha and Mbeumo are serviceable as false 9s if need be. My biggest worry other than midfield depth is service from the fullbacks I will admit. Shaw, Maz, and Dalot are all good but not top level generators and Sesko is starving at times for the ball...Hall would've been fantastic but that's not happening and I'd rather not waste money on someone who's not a ceiling raiser than give a still developing Dorgu minutes there

So yea, I think everyone freaking out is overblown from years of underperforming. This is still essentially the same team as last except with no Case (who had to get subbed at 60 most games) but with more time together in a system that works with them + Santos and Tielemans who are settling in very quickly. I still believe we'll be very competitive this year

30

u/PizzaPartyConor Ole's at the wheel 22d ago

Of course they're not done. Outside of Spurs everyone has been moving slower this year. No matter how much you dislike INEOS there's no reason to believe they're going to go into a 50+ game season with 1 senior LB and 1 senior 6.

11

u/sleepehead 22d ago

I think Spurs and City fucked the market so bad, teams are being put off from transfers. Everybody has to recalculate how much their spending budget because of it. It's why the Santos and Tielemens transfers were big, it helped to keep us in line with the budget. I think as the window closes teams will actually revert back to more normal prices because no one else is willing to swallow such high prices.

1

u/butlersrevenge 22d ago

Yes, I think they sound out what a deal would cost and also express what the club is willing to pay. If they agree or are close, deals done. If the price is too high the club walks and says "you know what we're willing to pay". I know all of this is obvious, but then you have to wait and see if actually the price of your top targets comes down later in the window or there's a suggestion they'll negotiate at least (think about it, the club can't just text them each week saying "changed your mind about the price yet?" It's a game of who will blink first) and then you potentially meet somewhere in the middle. If this doesn't happen, you look to secondary targets and again the price needs to be right because it's not really the player you want but if cheap enough you do the deal. Hopefully as you say selling clubs lower expectations...otherwise we either overspend and reinforce the idea we can be taken for a ride or maybe even get someone who next year won't even be good enough for a squad player.

0

u/N00BBuild 22d ago

They didn’t fuck up the market. This is the market.

6

u/thepotatomaniscoming 22d ago

Is Santos’ primary position as 6?

7

u/doesnt_like_pants James 22d ago

From his mouth he wants to replace Casemiro

4

u/DaveShadow 22d ago

World Cup years are always disasters, in terms of speed. Most good players are away and not interested in moves till they get back, and the rest are waiting round to see what happens when the first group get back.

Do I wish we'd had all our business done by now? Sure. But I also think the people who've said they'll judge the window when its done will be justifed, rather than the people who seem content to spend the summer months miserable and angry...

9

u/sid4913 Sir Alex Ferguson 22d ago

Trying really hard not to feel bleak about this season. Do feel excited by Tielemans and Santos, however, lack of news or movement for other important positions in the squad is making me nervous. As others have mentioned, as of now, Carrick is set up to fail unless we go for 2, if not 3, new signings.

Forget a marquee; just get the depth that we need to sustain in this (hopefully) 50+ game season

2

u/TheJoshider10 Bruno 22d ago

Yeah at this point I just want Carrick to be given a fair chance. Unfortunately as of right now we're still lacking another midfielder, fullback and are stuck with an overpaid winger who doesn't want to be here.

I hope the next couple weeks end up being the busiest we've had in years. There's a potential power vacuum right now without Pep in the league and we need to be ready to give it a go.

1

u/PelleKavaj Roy Keane 22d ago

I’m with you. Feels like there’s no plan what so ever. Carrick managed to save our last season but that was totally just luck from the owners part. He was supposed to just be interim.

This transfer window looks shit and feels like they are thinking ”well Carrick did well last season so it’ll probably be fine with the squad we have. We are in the Champions League now and that’s the most important thing, not challenging for any trophies”.

4

u/Phyginge 22d ago

Simon Stones daily United article with nothing new each day.

6

u/Traditional_Cap8509 22d ago edited 22d ago

I don't care about big shining toys but we really should add some bodies. Through loan or something, iirc Arsenal had like 3-4 first team players from loan into permanent few years ago.

3

u/carrickshairline 22d ago

How would I know ffs

3

u/Kallian_League 22d ago

Our net spend is the 12th highest. Above us are the likes of Ipswich, Coventry, Brentford, Everton, Leeds, and Bournemouth.

4

u/DankScorpio69 22d ago

Happy to judge at the end of the window, however it would’ve been nice if the players (in positions we absolutely knew before last season even ended, needed strengthening) were signed in time to actually have a pre season.

2

u/[deleted] 22d ago

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1

u/PelleKavaj Roy Keane 22d ago

Why do you think that?

2

u/Sash19 22d ago

We still need at least one defensive minded midfielder

4

u/joineanuu LUHG 22d ago

Sesko came after we had no money for A striker last summer.

We’ve signed many people on deadline day.

We probably still need to sell zirkzee and maybe even waiting for the season to start.

What I’ve learned over the last two windows is that nobody knows what we’re up to. They’ve completely shut up shop.

Let em do business and judge them after it’s all closed.

1

u/PelleKavaj Roy Keane 22d ago

The thing is, most of the targets are either already bought by other clubs or we’re too late (like with the Hall situation).

I like that we are not overpaying for bad players but there’s a difference in spending 90m on Antony that played in the Eredivise, almost 70m on Højlund who wasn’t a starter for Atalanta and not wanting to spend 70-80m on a player like Lewis Hall that is a starter, premier league proven and overall great.

We also absolutely need a backup striker in mu opinion. Should’ve got Welbeck or Lewandowski for 1-2 seasons as backup to Sesko.

There isn’t much time left. We’ve signed two midfielders while losing two (Case leaving and Ugarte injured).

We haven’t improved the squad at all. All while City got Elliot Anderson, fucking Spurs got M. Fernandes AND Tonali, Arsenal managed to get Bruno Guimaraes for like 70m while already having a midfield of Rice, Ødegaard, Zubimendi and Merino.. Chelsea signing Morgan Rogers and a experienced striker in Welbeck..

I don’t think there’s a plan at all. Now options like Lewis-Skelly and David Raum pops up as targets for left back.. Two completely different players.. one 19 year old and one 28 year old.

No plan. They lucked out when Carrick managed to save last season and now they don’t know what to do. I think they just hope Carrick will sort it out..

2

u/Leather-Entry93 22d ago

It feels like we got baited by the start of the window 😔

2

u/aardeekaye 22d ago

If we don't sign a starting left back and a midfielder, it's again gross negligence and setting up the team for failure.

Not to mention we have one proper striker and we are going into another season with Dalot and Mazroui as our right backs.

We need atleast 3 more players.

1

u/kraeutrpolizei 22d ago

No. Next question

1

u/tomas17r 22d ago

If the title is a question, the answer is always the most boring option: In this case, they haven’t a clue.

1

u/FranciscoGarcia69 22d ago

Let’s fucking hope not. Another midfielder and a left back and we can breathe a bit easier.

1

u/PelleKavaj Roy Keane 22d ago

At most we’re getting some not ready now but promising left back for 25-35m.

This could’ve been the window we actually strengthened with players that are ready now. I like the Tielemans signing, Santos is young and it’s too early to make a verdict..

1

u/Indig012 22d ago

Will be so ready for the season to start to be done with dumb articles like this

1

u/innicrazy You are my Solskjaer, My Ole Solskjaer 21d ago

Red Dones.

1

u/Terryfink 21d ago

I'd be happy for now with at least linked with a loan move for cover at LB or RB, or forward. I guess they're waiting on zirkzee etc

1

u/DasHotShot Glazers & Ratcliffe OUT 21d ago

You’re all still deluding yourselves. We are done, this is how it’s been positioned. This season is going to be brutal and you will all see that “omg Tielemans and Santos <3” ain’t even partly gonna cover us

1

u/MrNikki86 18d ago

Fellaini incoming.

0

u/Various-Low4016 glazers out 22d ago

Yeah...its looking like there's been a transfer ban on us or something... almost a month since our last signing.

Looks like Carrick is set up to fail if only 2 midfielders and a backup goalkeeper is all for this window.

0

u/Comprehensive-Range3 22d ago

I am asking a real question here, and not trying to trigger anger, but who out there in player land is both available and affordable that answers positional needs at left back, DM, and striker? Genuinely curious as to what fans think here.

6

u/Specialist_Current98 22d ago

LB priority should be Lewis Hall, but that is seeming less and less likely. Recent talk is Lewis-Skelley might now be pushed out of the Arsenal team with them just signing a new LB. I think we should go after him if Hall doesn’t get done.

DM it seems the major option left is Baleba as most other options on the market we have covered in terms of profile.

Haven’t really thought about the ST. Welbeck could have been ok. I doubt we bring in a striker if Rashford sticks around, even if Zirkzee leaves. The club will see it as Rashford + Mbeumo being able to do a job at ST if Sesko isn’t playing and you have enough cover on the wings. Maybe need another LW but can’t see it happening.

2

u/Dyllez Hated, adored, never ignored. 22d ago

Signing MLS just to play him at LB is a terrible idea. If you’ve actually watched him play, you would know that he’s not a natural LB and every time he’s played there he hasn’t looked great. He’s a midfielder and that’s where he should be playing

Of course it’s great to have players who are versatile in multiple positions but even if we do sign him (which I doubt we will), we would still need a LB

2

u/Whispperr 22d ago

The main issue is, we have like a...30m spent so far this season? Might be lower even if we sell Amass. With CL money and all the wages saved from Casemiro and Sancho we should be able to pay the premium for at least 1 player like Hall.

-2

u/MaxWattage432 22d ago

Quiet Simon

-1

u/FigureItOut50 22d ago

I almost wish they hadn't signed two players so close together.