21 Jun 2019 07:31:54
Hi all,
Thanks to the Eds as always.
Isn't it about time we stopped letting fees for players bother us for the following reasons:
1) it's not coming out of our own pockets
2) do any of us really know £1 for £1 what it all equates to?
3) we are all in agreement that the money being passed around for players is ridiculous so why keep saying it
4) all that really should matter to us is getting players in that improve the current squad

The biggest frustration for me is EW over seeing the success of these transfers as he clearly isn't experienced enough to deal with it. He needs to go over have responsibilities linked to transfers taken away from him. I don't give a monkeys how much the player costs, if we've got the money then pay it, or move on!

1.) 21 Jun 2019
21 Jun 2019 07:44:22
KG, we have little knowledge of football finances, but I’ve never understood people who say “just pay what it takes”.

Why should we pay more than another club for a player?
Look at the mess it has got us in to with wages.
There are also budgets to consider.
Getting the best deal for your business is simple logic.

I understand we need players but spending £70m on a right back that’s had one good season is not sustainable. You only have to look at our very own club to realise that.

2.) 21 Jun 2019
21 Jun 2019 07:50:49
He’s been in the top job for 7 years now so you’d have thought he might have picked up some experience by now.

3.) 21 Jun 2019
21 Jun 2019 09:48:42
@Wazza, we can look at different targets, but any RB at the level we need is going to be expensive, especially as it's Utd looking to buy. If we just refuse to pay over the odds, we won't get a good enough player. It doesn't matter how good the value for money is, if they aren't good enough to improve us, it's wasted money.

Conversely, it doesn't matter how much they should be objectively valued at, if all the good players are overpriced, then that's simply the way supply and demand works, and we just have to pay what's asked and move on.

There are only so many RB's of sufficient quality, and if we refuse to pay the cost for AWB, the next club we approach is just going to ramp up the asking price for their player. Sooner or later we end up paying 50m for a player who isn't even as good as Valencia. Better to just pay the 65-70m and get a player who actually improves us.

4.) 21 Jun 2019
21 Jun 2019 10:56:09
We pay a premium almost every time as it is.

It matters because if we spend our budget on 2 players when we need 4, then we are weaker over all.

It's a business at the end of the day. If you stop negotiating the situation gets worse and worse.

I agree if you are going to buy a player then buy a sure thing at our level - but is AWB a sure thing? Most of us hadn't heard of him this time last year, he has been playing at Palace which is different to playing at Utd, ask Zaha. The scouts should do their job and the academy should do their's. The manager should also blood young players when the need arises, this gives us the ability to walk away from deals if they don't work and don't act like a desperate school girl at a night club!

I have limited faith in our ability to sign the right players at the moment, we have a habit of taking star players for lesser clubs and ruining them.

5.) 21 Jun 2019
21 Jun 2019 10:56:33
Thorne.

We need 5 players. And let's pretend that the powers that be also know that we need 5 players as well.

So do we "pay whatever it takes" to bring in 3 players. And then not sign the other two?

We have to recruit, there's no doubt about it. There are many players out there who will improve our dated squad, whether that be first, second or third choice targets.

If a deal can't be agreed because other clubs are asking for too much money, we should move onto others.

If you were looking to buy a house with a £500K budget, would you say "na, I want that one for £800K, I'll just pay whatever it takes"?

No you wouldn't, because you need to buy a house but you have a budget to stick to. If you go over that budget you get yourself into financial difficulty.

Which is pretty much where the club is at right now, with a high wage bill as a result of over-paying in the past.

6.) 21 Jun 2019
21 Jun 2019 12:35:57
No Wazza, but at the same time, if I was trying to buy a home for my family of 5, I wouldn't buy a studio apartment just because it was reasonably priced, and all the 3 bedroom houses where going for inflated prices. I need a 3 bedroom house, even if it's overpriced, and a 1 bedroom flat isn't going to work no matter how reasonably priced it is.

I'm not saying we pay whatever they ask for this one specific player, just that every player Utd go for will be over-valued, just because it's Utd, and sooner or later we have to pay up, or miss out on the players who would actually improve us, and money spent on players who don't improve us is a waste.