Topic: THE NON-LIVERPOOL TRANSFER THREAD

[rafathegaffa83]

Kevin Prince Boateng to Hertha on a free. This season's retro signing

[Dim Glas]

Kevin Prince Boateng to Hertha on a free. This season's retro signing

trying to finish his career where it started maybe!

[Nobby Reserve]

With Salah, Mane and Jota on our team, no reason to even think about Sancho at that price. Bellingham is someone that we must consider, when he is on the market, probably in a couple of years ...

Wasn't thinking about this coming season, or even perhaps the one after.

But Mane & Salah will, at some point, begin to decline (maybe Mane already has, if last season's form is an indicator) and we'll need to replace. Our scouting has largely been brilliant, but more and more clubs are following our approach and it's getting harder and harder to get a clear run at our key targets.

I don't just want to be competing for the top silverware for a handful of years with a squad assembled then allowed to age, I want us to be constantly planning for the inevitable turnover of players as they peak and decline.

Sancho is 21 and, as has been shown countless times, has been posting numbers that are at the elite level, and in one of the top leagues. In terms of the market, he's well underpriced, and at an age where you could get 5 years out of him then recoup your initial outlay. Not signing one of the most gifted young players in the world at that price seems a false economy.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Wasn't thinking about this coming season, or even perhaps the one after.

But Mane & Salah will, at some point, begin to decline (maybe Mane already has, if last season's form is an indicator) and we'll need to replace. Our scouting has largely been brilliant, but more and more clubs are following our approach and it's getting harder and harder to get a clear run at our key targets.

I don't just want to be competing for the top silverware for a handful of years with a squad assembled then allowed to age, I want us to be constantly planning for the inevitable turnover of players as they peak and decline.

Sancho is 21 and, as has been shown countless times, has been posting numbers that are at the elite level, and in one of the top leagues. In terms of the market, he's well underpriced, and at an age where you could get 5 years out of him then recoup your initial outlay. Not signing one of the most gifted young players in the world at that price seems a false economy.

Depends if we can afford him or not. It's not just the fee, but his wages and sign on bonus.

Given how we do business, this isn't possible at the moment. Rightly or wrongly from the owners perspective.

[PeterTheRed ...]

Wasn't thinking about this coming season, or even perhaps the one after.

But Mane & Salah will, at some point, begin to decline (maybe Mane already has, if last season's form is an indicator) and we'll need to replace. Our scouting has largely been brilliant, but more and more clubs are following our approach and it's getting harder and harder to get a clear run at our key targets.

I don't just want to be competing for the top silverware for a handful of years with a squad assembled then allowed to age, I want us to be constantly planning for the inevitable turnover of players as they peak and decline.

Sancho is 21 and, as has been shown countless times, has been posting numbers that are at the elite level, and in one of the top leagues. In terms of the market, he's well underpriced, and at an age where you could get 5 years out of him then recoup your initial outlay. Not signing one of the most gifted young players in the world at that price seems a false economy.

Salah and Mane are not even in our first 5 starting players who will need to be replaced, sooner or later. We have other priorities ...

[Schmidt]

Wasn't thinking about this coming season, or even perhaps the one after.

But Mane & Salah will, at some point, begin to decline (maybe Mane already has, if last season's form is an indicator) and we'll need to replace. Our scouting has largely been brilliant, but more and more clubs are following our approach and it's getting harder and harder to get a clear run at our key targets.

I don't just want to be competing for the top silverware for a handful of years with a squad assembled then allowed to age, I want us to be constantly planning for the inevitable turnover of players as they peak and decline.

Sancho is 21 and, as has been shown countless times, has been posting numbers that are at the elite level, and in one of the top leagues. In terms of the market, he's well underpriced, and at an age where you could get 5 years out of him then recoup your initial outlay. Not signing one of the most gifted young players in the world at that price seems a false economy.

Is it though? We signed Konate early on with no troubles, the Jota deal was concluded pretty swiftly, Thiago took a while but we never had to battle with anyone and got him for a very good fee and Tsimikas was done pretty quietly.

Last season's form is an indicator of nothing, other than maybe how much of a beast Salah is.

[Sangria]

Salah and Mane are not even in our first 5 starting players who will need to be replaced, sooner or later. We have other priorities ...

Mane in particular should be a priority for replacement, but unfortunately the old vultures are skint.

[CalgarianRed]

Manchester United are prepared to pay €85m for Jadon Sancho. MUFC confirm the intention to include add ons: payment structure to be discussed now.

Personal terms and agents fee already agreed.

BVB feeling is ‘deal now closer’, as per @bild @cfbayern. But they want €95m.

https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1407727699070799873?

They still got Ole at the wheel thankfully.

[killer-heels]

Last season's form is an indicator of nothing, other than maybe how much of a beast Salah is.

Why isn’t it? It could easily be an indicator that his form may further drop.

Ultimately we will only know next season.

[Schmidt]

Why isn’t it? It could easily be an indicator that his form may further drop.

Ultimately we will only know next season.

It was a compressed season in which our only quality cover for the front three was injured during the busiest period. Mane's first dry spell came after recovering from Covid and his second was during our horrendous run of form where the team looked exhausted. We can absolutely learn some things from the positives of last season and a couple of the negatives, but I think people are just seeing Mane is close to 30 and panicking.

As you say, it might be a sign of things to come but there's no way to tell until next season.

[Sangria]

It was a compressed season in which our only quality cover for the front three was injured during the busiest period. Mane's first dry spell came after recovering from Covid and his second was during our horrendous run of form where the team looked exhausted. We can absolutely learn some things from the positives of last season and a couple of the negatives, but I think people are just seeing Mane is close to 30 and panicking.

As you say, it might be a sign of things to come but there's no way to tell until next season.

I wanted the Real interest in Mane rumours to be true because our strategy needs periodic injections of transfer money and Mane, in 2020, was the best combination of star quality and replaceability. Ideally, we should find a buyer for a Coutinho every now and then to fund a refresh. Otherwise we'll find it hard to keep pushing Man City and Chelsea.

[killer-heels]

It was a compressed season in which our only quality cover for the front three was injured during the busiest period. Mane's first dry spell came after recovering from Covid and his second was during our horrendous run of form where the team looked exhausted. We can absolutely learn some things from the positives of last season and a couple of the negatives, but I think people are just seeing Mane is close to 30 and panicking.

As you say, it might be a sign of things to come but there's no way to tell until next season.

Maybe. I guess the interesting thing is what we do with Mane. He has two years left, do we give him a new contract or let him go on a free.

Or we could roll the dice and see how he performs and decide with one year left whether to offer him a deal. At which point we risk him deciding to leave.

[Schmidt]

I wanted the Real interest in Mane rumours to be true because our strategy needs periodic injections of transfer money and Mane, in 2020, was the best combination of star quality and replaceability. Ideally, we should find a buyer for a Coutinho every now and then to fund a refresh. Otherwise we'll find it hard to keep pushing Man City and Chelsea.

The problem is you're selling a player who fits incredibly well, is highly professional, is an experienced winner, has a fantastic injury record and has shown no indication that they'll decline soon, hoping that you'll find another gem with their replacement. The transfer team does have a fantastic recent record but transfers are still a big gamble, the strategy of selling players at their peak and buying ready made replacements at half the price sounds great but isn't something I think any team would be able to pull off consistently.

Maybe. I guess the interesting thing is what we do with Mane. He has two years left, do we give him a new contract or let him go on a free.

Or we could roll the dice and see how he performs and decide with one year left whether to offer him a deal. At which point we risk him deciding to leave.

My wild stab in the dark is that we'll give him a contract extension, get as much as we can out of him for the next couple of seasons, phase him out naturally and then open up to the possibility of selling once he's not playing regularly. Teams do have a habit of overpaying for big names so we could still get a decent return even if he's in the twilight of his career, after all who doesn't want to sign a player who just won back to back league and champions league titles!

[killer-heels]

The problem is you're selling a player who fits incredibly well, is highly professional, is an experienced winner, has a fantastic injury record and has shown no indication that they'll decline soon, hoping that you'll find another gem with their replacement. The transfer team does have a fantastic recent record but transfers are still a big gamble, the strategy of selling players at their peak and buying ready made replacements at half the price sounds great but isn't something I think any team would be able to pull off consistently.

My wild stab in the dark is that we'll give him a contract extension, get as much as we can out of him for the next couple of seasons, phase him out naturally and then open up to the possibility of selling once he's not playing regularly. Teams do have a habit of overpaying for big names so we could still get a decent return even if he's in the twilight of his career, after all who doesn't want to sign a player who just won back to back league and champions league titles!

Probably. Concern would be how we generate money to then sign proven players of our own considering we generally don’t make much available to spend without sales. If we don’t want a significant drop off then we probably have to sign a pretty much ready made replacement, which would cost a lot.

[PeterTheRed ...]

Mane in particular should be a priority for replacement, but unfortunately the old vultures are skint.

A player who has just turned 29, and was a serious Ballon d'Or contender only 18 months ago? Nah, I don't think so ...

[west_london_red]

Eurgh. I’m not sure they need him that much, Haaland is the player who’d transform them, but he’s much better than what they’ve got so it’s not ideal.

Haaland will end up at City, United pretty much have a clear run at Sancho

[Schmidt]

Probably. Concern would be how we generate money to then sign proven players of our own considering we generally don’t make much available to spend without sales. If we don’t want a significant drop off then we probably have to sign a pretty much ready made replacement, which would cost a lot.

Yeah that's the tough part, it seems like we'll continue to sell youngsters and squad players slowly to generate funds, and I think signings like Minamino and Davies are being made with the hope of making a little profit each time. I know we made heavy use of the Coutinho money to help build the current squad but that was when we needed massive upgrades across the board, if we're just looking to gradually refresh the squad we might not need such a drastic injection of funds.

As always though, I have no idea what I'm talking about.

[Sangria]

A player who has just turned 29, and was a serious Ballon d'Or contender only 18 months ago? Nah, I don't think so ...

Would have been exactly the right time to get Real, Barca or PSG to cough up 100m+ for someone of that stature. Unfortunately Real and Barca are skint.

[FowlerLegend]

Probably. Concern would be how we generate money to then sign proven players of our own considering we generally don’t make much available to spend without sales. If we don’t want a significant drop off then we probably have to sign a pretty much ready made replacement, which would cost a lot.

I think this could be a big, big problem moving forwards.
We don't have the values in players we did 2 years ago. Who in our 11 could you sell for big money? Trent and maybe Allisson?
I get that people think that last season was just a blip, but we won't find that out until next season. I just am hoping that FSG surprise us and start buying players this summer that will come into the first 11 long term.
We are a high intensity team and we have Van Dijk, Mane, Salah, Firmino, Hendo, Thiago and Milly all 29 years or older. You cannot replace all of them in 1 summer. We need to start that transition now, players that can be gradually bedded in over the next 2-3 years while staying at the top.
Hopefully we can raise sufficient funds through squad sales this summer to bring a couple in but I have my doubts about how much they can do.
If they don't think FSG will have to dig deep as otherwise their asset value could significantly drop.

[PeterTheRed ...]

Would have been exactly the right time to get Real, Barca or PSG to cough up 100m+ for someone of that stature. Unfortunately Real and Barca are skint.

Maybe 3-4 years ago, but now we are stronger than Real Madrid, Barcelona or PSG. Why sell them our star players, if they don't want to leave us?

[killer-heels]

Maybe 3-4 years ago, but now we are stronger than Real Madrid and Barcelona. Why sell them our star players, if they don't want to leave us?

So we can generate money to then sign a younger player?

[FowlerLegend]

So we can generate money to then sign a younger player?

Funny how times change, We would never would have accepted it before FSG came along.

[Schmidt]

Funny how times change, We would never would have accepted it before FSG came along.

Plenty of us still wouldn't.

[Sangria]

Funny how times change, We would never would have accepted it before FSG came along.

Only Chelsea had huge pockets before FSG came along. Since then, Man City have proven they've got bottomless coffers. If we don't sell to the mega-glamorous foreign giants, how do we compete with Man City and Chelsea?

[classycarra]

Salah and Mane are not even in our first 5 starting players who will need to be replaced, sooner or later. We have other priorities ...

Who are the five starting players that need replacing before Mane and Salah? 

You don't have to list them in order, just the five.

[killer-heels]

Funny how times change, We would never would have accepted it before FSG came along.

It’s not just about signing a younger player, it’s about signing a player who is pretty amazing. Mane has performed to such a level that means to replace him, or replace and dwindling influence, it will cost really big money.

[PeterTheRed ...]

So we can generate money to then sign a younger player?

Without the pandemic, yes we can ...

[killer-heels]

Without the pandemic, yes we can ...

2025 will be an incredible summer then.

[PeterTheRed ...]

Who are the five starting players that need replacing before Mane and Salah? 

You don't have to list them in order, just the five.

In no particular order, we can probably upgrade on Henderson, Firmino, Thiago and Gomez in the coming years, before we think about upgrading on Salah and Mane. So my mistake, it is not 5 but 4 starting players that we could upgrade before Salah and Mane. By the way, I have high hopes for Konate that he will be an upgrade on Gomez in the future ...

[Sangria]

Without the pandemic, yes we can ...

That's why it's a pity that the market has dropped out. But in more normal times, with Real and Barca strutting their stuff again, we should be looking to sell one of our stars every 2-3 years, and not act offended that players may not see us as the end point of their career.

Without Coutinho, we could not have afforded Alisson, Van Dijk and Fabinho in such a short space of time without it impacting the rest of our transfer dealings. Coutinho was a star who was desirable to the mega-glamorous foreign giants who was yet dispensable from our system. We should look for one of these sales every so often.

[PeterTheRed ...]

2025 will be an incredible summer then.

Even this summer will be incredible, with the number of people dying from Covid decreasing significantly ...

[FowlerLegend]

Plenty of us still wouldn't.

It was a bit tongue in cheek because I don't and I think they get a bit of an easier ride because of what came before them.

[FowlerLegend]

It’s not just about signing a younger player, it’s about signing a player who is pretty amazing. Mane has performed to such a level that means to replace him, or replace and dwindling influence, it will cost really big money.

Maybe you are right but maybe not. Let's say we signed Doku this summer for £40m. He could be in and out over the next 2-3 seasons to gradually replace him.
Mane still has 2-3 really goid years left but his performances may not be as consistent during that time.

[So… Howard Philips]

Funny how times change, We would never would have accepted it before FSG came along.

You obviously weren't around when we sold Keegan, Souness or Clemence.

[killer-heels]

Maybe you are right but maybe not. Let's say we signed Doku this summer for £40m. He could be in and out over the next 2-3 seasons to gradually replace him.
Mane still has 2-3 really goid years left but his performances may not be as consistent during that time.

That’s not how we operate. We sign players who have some proven ability behind them. That reduces the risk, but increases the price.

[PeterTheRed ...]

That's why it's a pity that the market has dropped out. But in more normal times, with Real and Barca strutting their stuff again, we should be looking to sell one of our stars every 2-3 years, and not act offended that players may not see us as the end point of their career.

Without Coutinho, we could not have afforded Alisson, Van Dijk and Fabinho in such a short space of time without it impacting the rest of our transfer dealings. Coutinho was a star who was desirable to the mega-glamorous foreign giants who was yet dispensable from our system. We should look for one of these sales every so often.

Sorry mate, I don't get this logic that we should sell our star players at their peak, who don't want to leave us ...

[FowlerLegend]

Only Chelsea had huge pockets before FSG came along. Since then, Man City have proven they've got bottomless coffers. If we don't sell to the mega-glamorous foreign giants, how do we compete with Man City and Chelsea?

Personally I would look to FSG to invest in say 5 young and hungry players at a cost of say £200-250m over the next 2-3 summers. That would probably keep us competitive for the next 6 years with minor adjustments needed each summer. During that time the clubs commercial side will continue to grow and so we reach a point where our owners no longer need to invest, like United.
People forget far too readily that only United in this country  have a comparable number of fans in the world to us. City will need to artificially invest there for years and years, we won't.
Personally, if I had an asset worth £3bn I wouldn't be averse to chucking £200m at it to ensure it became worth more and even more self sustaining.
This idea that FSG as a group don't have the collateral to invest is bonkers.

[Sangria]

Sorry mate, I don't get this logic that we should sell our star players at their peak, who don't want to leave us ...

Not all our players may see us as the pinnacle of their career. Real and Barca have been more glamorous clubs to many, including even some of our academy players in the past (eg. McManaman, Owen). We shouldn't see this as a negative.

[Sangria]

Personally I would look to FSG to invest in say 5 young and hungry players at a cost of say £200-250m over the next 2-3 summers. That would probably keep us competitive for the next 6 years with minor adjustments needed each summer. During that time the clubs commercial side will continue to grow and so we reach a point where our owners no longer need to invest, like United.
People forget far too readily that only United in this country  have a comparable number of fans in the world to us. City will need to artificially invest there for years and years, we won't.
Personally, if I had an asset worth £3bn I wouldn't be averse to chucking £200m at it to ensure it became worth more and even more self sustaining.
This idea that FSG as a group don't have the collateral to invest is bonkers.

We don't cook our books, and most of our ready money goes into wages.

[PeterTheRed ...]

Not all our players may see us as the pinnacle of their career. Real and Barca have been more glamorous clubs to many, including even some of our academy players in the past (eg. McManaman, Owen). We shouldn't see this as a negative.

I don't have a problem selling a player who wants to leave, but I am not seeing any of our star players pushing for a move. Why would any club in our position sell a star player who wants to stay?