I declared RoM on the Franck Ribery bandwagon last week, but who the fans are interested in signing matters little if Sir Alex Ferguson doesn’t fancy them at the club.
Fortunately, it appears as though United are keen to sign Ribery, although unfortunately, we’re not the only ones, with Real Madrid, Chelsea and Barcelona all trying to get in on the action, and Bayern Munich are playing hard ball.
“We are completely relaxed and very proud that we have one of the best three players in the world under contract and that he has triggered such a huge demand in the transfer market,” said Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “Real have asked in person, through their president, Florentino Perez, and his adviser, Pedro Jimenez, whether we will talk to them about a deal. We have rejected that request, because we have no intention of selling Ribery.”
Rummenigge confirmed that Real Madrid have not put in a bid, although one can only imagine how much they would be prepared to pay, but other clubs have.
“There are clubs that have come to us with offers,” he continued. “Chelsea’s bid has already been reported, and there’s also Manchester United and Barcelona. We are approaching it calmly, because we are the ones who have the power to make the decision. I don’t want to talk about sums of money because it is not in our interest. The amount is irrelevant. There is always going to be the perception that Bayern Munich are trying to push the price up and that there is a certain value at which we’ll have to accept, but I’ll say it again: we want to keep Ribery. We must do everything to make sure he stays in Munich and I am determined to do this. A player has to respect his contract, in this case until 2011.”
Man Utd News 24/7
We are completely relaxed and very proud that we have one of the best three players in the world under contract and that he has triggered such a huge demand in the transfer market,”
He is good, but i wouldn’t say he is in the top 3, or even top 5. Maybe top 10 at a stretch, but anyway it all becomes insignificant because he doesn’t want to play here. Didn’t he say earlier this year he would prefer a move to Barcelona? Oh and you can bet Citeh will be interested as well.
Definitely a top quality player but at any price ? I dont think so. If we could get him for 40million then OK. If not then I would like to see Alexis Sanchez given the chance, he is young, amazingly talented and just what we need. i would like to see Gattusso coming in to hold down the midfield and Benzema to give us real stature and presence in the box.
Leave him alone. I’m sure Fergie has the ethics not to do what the virus did to us last year.
I respect Bayern in case they didn’t sell us initially injuried player in Hargo.
Please, not another Mediterranean-sun-lover. We’ve had enough. And he’s not “one of the best three players in the world”. I prefer Rooney over him on all occasions.
Would love to have Ribery at OT, to me Ribery is the closest to the top 3 best players, but not in the top 3 as they are Ronaldo, Rooney and Messi hehe. In current form, he is even more effective than Kaka.
But anyway, in Fergie we trust.
Just a thought, Sir Alex can try to bid up the price even if we don’t get him. That way, when Real eventually pays, say, 50mill pound, they’ll have little left to bid with us for David Villa. OR vice versa, we’ll bid as high as we can for Villa & as Real seems a tad desperate, they’ll up it till they’re broke. Sir Alex then moves in on Ribery. Its call poker & we have a pool of 80mill pounds to play with.
definitely not worth above 45 M.
James F – a ‘Mediterranean-sun-lover’? Have you ever seen Ribery? Not sure he’s going to be donning a pair of tiny shorts and strutting up and down the beaches!
I would have to agree that he’s definitely up there in (or maybe just outside) the top three players in the world right now.
Would love him at OT but I think we’re gonna be out-muscled by Madrid if Bayern let him leave.
Gonna cost too much for him…He’s what, 27? 28? and the for the money we’re gonna have to spend, £60mil? £70mil?
Villa is not really an option. Be serious!
But anyway we just have to feed the rumours that we are in for Ribery. We have to use him as a cover for other objectives.
Ribery is 26.
Oooodz – he just turned 26 a couple of months ago. In his prime!
Stop making players older in order to make your statement tougher.
Im sorry 60 or so mil on a 28 year old no not for me i rather spend that on Daniele De rossi of Roma thats the type of player we despretly need,aswell as Hamsik a briliant young playmaker and i agree with the alexis sanchez purchase boys got pace, incredible skil,work ethic you would not expect from a south american aswel has a good pass on him and lastley Benzema who will aswel lift Rooneys game
And don’t be that sure that he prefers Spain because of the weather and the lifestyle. He is better than you might think of him.
I think he thinks about football in the first place, but who knows.
Anyway he doesn’t look like primadonna.
its not gonna happen, they aren’t interested in selling and unless ribery declares an interest in moving then he is not going anywhere.
yes im being negative but I just cant see him at OT, no matter how much I would like it to happen.
after last night, I have still not changed my opinion – in fact it’s got stronger, we must resign Giuseppe Rossi ASAP he’s value for money.
Yes, Tevez goes, Rossi comes in. Not bad, no ?
But it won’t happen..
why do you think it wouldn’t happen? Granted it would be a tricky situation to work out, but if you think about it: Antonio Valencia came from Villareal to Wigan, so if he comes to United i think there is some sort of sell-on clause or something that has to be arranged between United and Villareal, so if we get Valencia, there would inevitably be a dialogue between Villareal and United. I think there is a decent chance he would come back to United. Maybe one last throw of the dice, he’s still young so it could work in his favour. Besides, no doubt Fergie would have seen the goals and have Rossi on his mind…..
Apparently, Huntelaar is available from Real Madrid. I think United should try to put in a bid and get him on the cheap. Or may be include him as part of the Ronaldo deal.
We should get Sanchez,Aguero and Costas.We at United like to bring them in young and mould them into the United way of playing!That’s why the players that leave never get better because they start to play a foreign style that’s completely different to ours!Hence why i think Ronny will bomb at Real!
I cannot see it happen, when Bayern say no they mean no as we found out with Hargo, they only sold him for big money and maybe had an idea about his problems, or am I being cynical?
I’ve just read that both he and his wife want to move to Madrid. It seems that Bayern will be the next team to get the Spanish banks’ money and say thanks.
however much i respect all of “youses” opinions i really would NOT like to have ribery at united… i do believe that he is an amazing player but 70mill for a 26 year old is all too much for me and fergie will not want another big summer signing (after how much berba been critisized). unless ribery really scores between 15-20 goals and atleast 5-10 asssits the media will be onto him and call him another flop so keeeping that in mind sanchez or silva are the two best options in my mind… they can improve and will be worth taking a punt just like when we bought in ronaldo (though silvas 23years)
http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_united/s/1120855_out_with_the_old_for_united
Quite a good article about United’s transfer policy in the last few years
Kidmeister, i told you i am not for sale hihi.
I don’t see Ribery coming in. Spending most of our money on a 27 year old who prefers Spain is a waste. Top 3 hey? Well as Fergie said, we all think that our wives are the prettiest in the world. Ribery is not a top 3 and hardly a top 5.
when people say about our philosophy of bringing through young players etc. they conventiently forget all of the established players we buy. Yes we bring some players through but we also sign the likes of Berbatov and Hargreaves. Aguero is one of the best strikers in the world already and he is in the Argentina team. He would cost around £45 million, which was just about the world record transfer fee two weeks ago
I would love Ribery to join but Feel his fee is too much. Valencia was clearly our target for our original £20mill transfer fee and even with Valencia we need to replace Ronaldo as he was clearly being targeted as an addition to Ronaldo not a replacement. So we have 80mill to spend and the way bayern are talking atleast £70mill of that would go on Ribery. We could probally end up signing Silva, Sanchez and Costa all for less than Ribery alone. Silvas probably closest to Ribery is current playing level but Sanchez and Costa probably have more future potential
We also have an additional £25 mill that would have been earmarked for Tevez (and potentially 6mill for Campbell). I would get Rossi back as a Direct replacement and maybe see if we can get a deal on Huntelaar. Huntelaars a bit different to anything we have and while I’m not 100% sure he will cut it (His record looks better due to where he has played after all) if we can get him for a good price he may be a useful asset. If not then Kiki and Welbeck will do the job fine although ideally its maybe a little early for them
@kidmeister
with the greatest respect, what are you on about? Rossi for example has got a lot better since leaving United …..not mentioning Pique
lol costas wenger said that
I think he would be a very good replacement. But neither has he expressed his desire to play for united, nor is the ridiculous asking price justified. But if we’re making a bid for him, however big or small it is, IN SIR ALEX WE TRUST!!
Ridwan -
how can you say that Fergie won’t want another big summer signing? Surely after selling Ronaldo, it’s the only thing he’ll do? I can’t see us flogging the world’s best player and buying two or three players ‘with potential’. I think we can expect one big name.
Why not put in a cheeky bid for Rudd, he’s a proven goal scorer. If we buy another big name striker then it’s only going to halt Kiko’s and Welbeck’s progression. Wouldn’t it be a huge waste of money too when we have 2 such promising young players. What we need is someone with experience, if Berba and Rooney are not available.
I don’t want RIbery, he’s 26 a class player but wants to go to Madrid and I don’t want another Ronaldo scenario where a player comes to us and then begs to leave. Plus if we do get him and then sell him to Real I don’t think we would make money on him as he would be 28-29 and his value will have gone down.
Plus I don’t wanna screw Bayern, we have a special relationship with them and Rummenigge is a top bloke – check out this http://www.rednews.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=264518
I would much rather get Yaya Toure, Dougla Cost/Alexis Sanchez, Aguero/Benzema
Young players with great potential, that’s the United way, we very rarely make marquee signings and I am a romantic, would rather bring someone with potential and develop him into something special. As Laporta of Barca said about his team ‘Real buy superstars, we make superstars’. I believe we are the same.
Huntelaar is a sensible shout, he would not cost the earth and is a natural goalscorer, he is also 6’1 which in the prem is a bonus due the physical nature of our league.
Ribery is great!!! but I still think Villa would be a lot better. Ribery is a goal maker, but I feel we need Villa the goal scorer. No chance of gettig them both, eh?
We have no chance of getting either mate, Villa wants to stay in Spain and will cost the earth and Bayern say Ribery simply is not for sale, he also wants to sign for Real, we need to dip our rods elsewhere.
KJ –
Looks as though Barca might be favourites for Villa. He apparently wants to stay in Spain, and Real have said that they’re not prepared to match Barca’s offer for him. They’ve reportedly bid 50 million euros, plus Bojan Krkic or Martin Caceres. Would be good to see us throw in a bid though.
I’d like to see us go for David Silva. We’ve only got Giggsy as a natural left-footer and his days on the wing are done. So if we don’t buy a new leftie, then we’ve got another season of half-arsed crosses from the left from Nani and Park!
A fax has been sent from the Bernabéu that includes the names of the club’s Dutch players, as well as the former Manchester United full-back Gabriel Heinze. Robben and Van Nistelrooy are joined by their compatriots Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart and Royston Drenthe. The defensive midfielder Mahamadou Diarra and the striker Javier Saviola have also been made available.
huntelaar, van der vaart (for his wife), sneijder and diarra please.
Van Der Vaart is certianly worth signing for his wife, but would be delighted with Huntelaar, Diarra, Sneijder and Drenthe who would be superb in the Premiership.
We will not get him and at the ridicolous prices been banded about I am glad. Rossi won’t come either as he has just signed a new contract and is happy in Spain but would ultimately love to play in Italy. Regardless of the buyout clause.
As I said last night get Valencia possibly Benzema and then Costa. In addition to Ljijac who looks excellent and Tosic who should now hopefully be ready. Keep it young. I would sacrifice the league for a season as the team coming through could be superb in a year or two. As long as the dippers don’t win it.
Out of all the big name players out there, maybe our best bet is Silva. There is no point signing a striker other than for back up.
Tim the Red – Tosic is a left footer and should be ready to start in August.
I’m gonna suggest something contraversial and i don’t think anybody will be with me on this.
At the moment all the clubs now that we have a massive wad of cash and we’re getting quoted ridiculous amounts for players. So lets not make a major signing this summer, get Douglas Costa or Alexis Sanchez and one or two others but no big signing. Here’s the contraversial bit. Sign Michael Owen on a pay as you play contract. We wouldn’t really have anything to lose as there’s no transfer fee involved, he’d wanna play in the CL and want to prove himself for the world cup. It would mean we save £40-50 million at least for one season, if it works out then fantastic. If it doesn’t then its not really a massive loss. Next summer we could make the big splash for Benzema (if Lyon fail to qualify for the group stages of the CL this year then we could make an offer in January).
Ok i’m waiting ot be slated!
I think we should also look at momo diarra and wes sneijder now madrid are prepared to sell them
King Eric –
My mistake. It’s easy to forget about Tosic as we’ve only seen him for the reserves. He’s looked quite impressive though, so I’d like to see him get some first-team action.
Imy-Mcr – No mate I have said pretty much the same thing except for Owen, I hate the little dipper and have NEVER rated him. Just ask denton!
Imy –
Not gonna slate you mate. You’re not that crazy with your thinking. But Owen is injury-prone. He’s hardly played for Newcastle. We need a player we can rely on – that’s why we got rid of Louis Saha. There’s no way you can doubt his quality, but he’s always getting injured! And when you play 60-odd games a season you’ve got to have a reliable squad.
http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-fc/liverpool-fc-news/2009/06/15/liverpool-fc-s-fernando-torres-desperate-to-win-premier-league-92534-23878925/
Lets do it because he aint gonna win it with the dippers!
Not a bad suggestion at all, if anyone can get the best out of Owen then it would be Fergie, and with such brilliant players around him it will deffo help. I think that you could be on to something. Why buy Ribery/ Villa when we are not even their second choice team. If we’re putting in 40 mill + bids for players then it has to be because they want to play for our team. Still think Rudd would be a better bet than Owen, but i get your thinking.
Ribery is 26 years of age and indeed in his prime.
The amount of money Bayern Munich will want for Ribery will not leave us much left to spend on any other players. He is overpriced and the interest from the Fascists et all will no doubt push the prices up further. In addition to this whenever the Famous Number 7 Shirt has been vacated United have never spent big to fill the void. We have always picked up a promising youngster and moulded him in to the United way of playing. It is for those reasons I do not think Ribery is the answer although brilliant player he may be. It is not the United way.
I also think that spending £30 million on Berbatov was excessive. He may be class and sublime etc etc etc but he is 28 years old and we didn’t need him. We just spent £30 million on a striker AND we are still looking for a striker. It just makes little sense to me.
My personal opinion is SAF will not spend in the transfer market until 30th June 2009 when the situation with CR7 and the Fascists is resolved. SAF will then have until the 31st August 2009 to sign a contracted player. Or he could find an uncontracted player and sign him up at any time.
The problem is United have over the past few years signed up a number of players with promising talent but they haven’t been given a chance to show how good they are with a prolonged stint in the first team. I think this is unfair and may put off talented youngsters coming to United. In the last few years United have signed Pique (Left), Rossi (Left), Ben Foster, De Laet, R Da Silva, F Da Silva, Possebon, Nani, Anderson, Tosic, Macheda. There is no way that all of those players have had the opportunity to show their worth on the pitch and be able to develop. Some haven’t been here long enough but others just haven’t been given the opportunity.
There is no way we can accomodate all those players (We already have a 42 man squad) but we are talking about signing more promising youngsters in Sanchez and Douglas. Even signing Benzema and Valencia will push a Macheda, Wellbeck, Nani, and Tosic down the pecking order. Perhaps United need to give some of these players a chance and those who they are not willing to do that should be moved on.
Bentley for £7m seems a good buy, he was shite last season bar a belter against Arse, but when he was at Blackburn he was quality I was at the game when he scored a hattrick and he was superb that day, he can play in the centre out wide and pos as an off striker.
I know I will get slated but £7m for a player who has played well in the prem and is still only 24.
King Eric : If we’re going to start playing this game then lets fucking put a bid in for Gerrard, he’s basically the player we’ve been missing since Keano left. How sweet would that be to see him in our shirt. Dippers would not know what to do with themselves!
@doncobaino & Stephen : Van Der Vaart is certainly worth signing for his wife
lol
Alpha, £12.6m was a lot of money at the time but get your logic.
AlphaRS
my thoughts exactly on Berbatov. I also agree with you on giving the young players a chance – Nani and Tosic cost a lot of money. i think we need to make at least one signing this summer just to freshen things up a bit but no major overhhaul is needed.
While i think Berbatov might prove his worth in the coming seasons, i cant help but feel we would be in a better position with the money right now.
I think the only serious option is to go for Benzema, he’s 21 so quite young, and extremely promising (even though he’s already quite impressive)!
However, we still need a winger, and I think Silva is a reasonable and good winger.
I’de be thrilled to have both Benzema and Silva in the team next year.
Ribery will cost 60-70 million, way too over priced.
I see the Villa deal to Real is not done & dusted, Real are thinking twice about paying the 45million asking price. Also, interestingly, David Silva was very coy on his future saying he is only interested in the Spanish team currently.
We could get those two for the same price as Ribery. A much better alternative I feel.
i think fergies not gonna buy a winger at all and give nani and tosice chances.. he will probably buy a benzema or aguero (i still believe we shoulda got huntelaar last year b4 real madrid bought him and wasted his talent)
and guys what do u think of higuain… he has the ability to do well…
“We just spent £30 million on a striker AND we are still looking for a striker. It just makes little sense to me.”
we are looking for a striker because Tevez is leaving. what’s so difficult ?
@Stephen
You are right £12.6 million was alot of money to spend on a young player at that moment in time. But it looks a good deal since we are about to sell him for £80 million now. The club has always allowed players to evolve and be given a chance.
@James
Berbatov class he may be but surplus to requirements.
It could have been £30 million saved but we have signed him now so we shouldn’t sign Tevez. Get Benzema in to freshen things up a bit.
We spent alot of money on youngsters who haven’t had the chance to show whether they are United class or not. The nightmare situation would be what has happened with Pique. First choice in Barcelona and has won the European Cup. We don’t want Nani going for £5 million and becoming the next Ronaldo elsewhere….
@Corea
I hate you…. Hehehe.
Wish list:
A.Valencia
Ribery
Daniel De Rossi
Benzema
We will never buy Ribery for more than 40mills.
Alpha the issue with Berbatov simply he has not had a player to play up there with him, if he had for example Benzema to partner him then we would get the best out of him, but he and Wazza like to drop in leaving a void further up the pitch. We either play him in that role or we sell him because he is not going to change his game.
Also I agree about Nani, why pay £20m for Valencia and sell Nani for £5m, there is no logic lets not buy Valencia who in my eyes is not as good, and spend £20m on a midfielder who can put his foot in, ideally De Rossi.
@ AlphaRS
The moment of clarity should be the next season for Berba.
Tevez replacement = KIKO
We will see alot of youngsters go out on loan or be sold this summer like Cambell, Martins, Gibson ect we wont be keeping them all.
The trouble with starting youngsters today is that Utd and the other big clubs have huge pressure winning every game therefore seeing a 1st team regular starting line-up including Nani, Tosic, Possebon, and the Da Silva twins in premiership games is highly unlikely.
I have a feeling though that we will see alot more of Welbeck next season, as it looks like SAF rates him very highly even if its not with him playing upfront but from a wide position. He did after all say he expects him to be pushing for world cup squad place.
IMO we need to sign 2 top class players having seen Ronaldo go. We need at least one or two big names. Valencia also is simply not good enough to be given the number 7 shirt.
We may need to sign 2 players to replace what Ronaldo gave to Utd a goalscorer, a winger.
Ribery for me is the best possible replacement for him out there apart from Messi.
If Bayern remain unwilling to sell even at £50m then id like to see Utd make a £65M offer for cash strapped Valencia for Villa and Silva.
Lets not forget we are in need for a strong physical CM player who can pass the ball as well and protect.
Yaya Toure comes to mind with his contract talks a concern at Barca.
The market for the top players in turmoil at the moment, everyone is raising their valuations, waiting to see who makes the next move, who pays the next crazy fee.
I think Utd will play a waiting game until the end of this month, were things will need to happen as pr-season approaches.
One thing is for sure, David Gill will have his work cut out.
7 substitutes against the 5 a season ago should have improved the case of giving the youngsters the chance ?
The most evident criteria is of course the matchplay but SAF is a wise person and he knows what the player is about even on the training ground and in the games with reserves.
Besides football qualities there are some other issues. I don’t mind having Evans in the club instead of Pique.
“Stop making players older in order to make your statement tougher.”
I really hope we don’t pursue him too aggressively. Don’t want to see a cent over 40 million paid for him and even that is too much. We can’t drag ourselves into this over inflated market that Madrid has created. They are trying to buy success any which way they can. We have already got success. We need to keep our head and build towards the future. Ribery is a good player, but he wasn’t keen on a move to England when he left France and at his age anything over 35 million is a massive risk!
I was sad to see pique go as for a defender hes very comfortable on the ball like Rio thats why hes fitted in so well at Barca.
But I think Evans is a better, more natural defender than Pique anyway. Hes built for the Premiership.
Devilton
I agree unfortunately though if we want to a player or players of that quality this summer we will have to pay over what their true valuation is.
It looks like scousers will go for Glen Johnson and offload Arbeloa.
Minus one spanish head. He was the one who was on the verge of fighting with Carragher ?
Corea seems illogical to me spending £17m on a fullback when you have no money, odd one.
I hope we dont sign one of these big stars cos the prices are ridiculous. We should invest in a few youngsters, like this Douglas Costa guy, and maybe Pestore.. much more value for money. Or even that Fabien Delph guy (although I have never seen him in action).
and give Nani a chance. I doubt that Ribery will want to come here and it will cost us way too much to get him.
Ribery is just another player who’ll want to leave for Spain in 2-3 years.
With the talent we have at the moment we should do it the United-way: Give Welbeck, Tosic and Nani a chance!
Delph is a prospect but likes a yellow card.
@Stephen
Thing is both Rooney and Berbatov play in the same role.
Neither has a front man to play off and I think Macheda and Wellbeck might be slightly too young to be able to fill that role just yet.
Which is why I think that Benzema is the only player we really need this season. The midfield also lacks goals. For the last few years they have really given a poor goal return.
ribery is poor in bayern, he must immidietly leave if he wont to be one of the best three players in the world
tony-starks
problem is we will invest in too many youngsters and then stick with the safe options – Giggs, Fletcher and Park and they won’t get given a chance. Nani has barely played this season and you would be forgiven for thinking we never even signed Tosic. Hopefully they can feature next season.
does anyone else get the feeling that if Nani actually turns out to be good he will claim that his dream was to play in Spain or Italy.
Ribery would be the best signing under these circumstances. But as mentioned, the scum club of Spain want to take Franck with them too and I fear that they may have an edge in the form of the Zidane factor.
If Ribery does jet off to Spain, I think we’d do well to sign Zlatan. Although I hope Inter’s asking price of 90 big ones wasn’t a serious statement.
Alpha, I agree for me it is the area which needs most attention, we lack a player who can put his foot in and an attacking midfielder who can chip in with goals, which I think Fergie hoped Anderson would do, but he obviously has completly failed to do.
Pretty much agree with what’s been said already…
In a sick kinda way id love to see Real bid 90mill for ribery and ronaldo throw a fit before the season starts.
I know its a bit out there but would love it if sir alex gave it another go at signing Aiden McGeady.
Amuses me no end this campaign for Ribery. You didn’t want us to sign Benzema because he might want to go to Spain in the future, but seemingly completely ignore the fact that Ribery is probably even more likely to do so.
I’d be happy with just Benzema, and if it looks like Hargo isn’t going to make it back, an enforcer. 4-3-2-1 with the full backs (twins) for width, Carrick,Hargo, Ando across the middle.
I seem to be in the minority that don’t want to waste any more time watching Nani, he frustrates me too much and I don’t think there is muce more improvement to com, unfortunately.
To be honest we missed a trick not signing Palacios in Jan, he would have been ideal.
I just want rossi back . Ribery is unproven and at 26 he is too expensive . Rossi signing will be a masterstroke and I think it will be the only signing where we wont be held to a ransom . Rossi is way better than tevez . At 10 mill even if rossi flops we can get back that amount . Leave out tevez , for all his dedication he is a headless chicken for me , I have never watched a perfect pass from him , he misses a lot than he scores . We want a finisher Rossi fits the bill . Pls somebody in ROM write something about Rossi
Our txfrs should have
1. Rossi
2. Valencia (only if the fee is around 13 mill )
3 . Roque (around 12 mill)
4. Costa
5. Alexis
6. David Silva or Negredo
7. Ashley young(18 mill if we get him say gud bye to valencia)
8. Huddelstone (most technically gifted player next to paul scholes that england have….though he is slow rite now he can improve with some hair dryers)
9 . Kyle noughton
10. This is the most important signing – Yaya Toure
Nick – it amuses me no end that the only time you ever visit this site is to have a little bitch at me. What’s the point? It’s so fucking childish it’s untrue.
Benzema has said countless times he dreams of playing for Real Madrid. I’m not aware of Ribery saying the same thing.
palacios wouldve been perfect. Looking back back we should have offered Wigan a 25 million package for him and Valencia.
Berbatov behind Wazza next year= Wazza scoring 30+ with Berba getting 20+ and a huge amount of assists.
P.S. Get Scneijder immediately
There is NO WAY ON THIS PLANET that Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney will get +50 goals between them next season. It simply will not happen. Neither are out and out strikers and both play in the hole behind a front man in their natural positions.
Sign up Benzema and perhaps a central midfielder and most definately trim down that 42 man squad we have at the moment!
Alpha you never know mate, Berba in his two seasons for Spurs scored 23 goals, Rooney scored 20 for us last season.
C’Mon Buy Silva, Sanchez, Hamsik and Benzema with the money and maybe Valencia. Altough I would love to see Ribery playing at United I would rather those players for this money.
Toure’s agent just confirmed hes staying at Barca and apparently Madrid are now turning to Benzema after Villa talks breakdown. Great.
Ive also been reading rumours from Bayern fans saying Ribery will stay at Bayern another season before going to Real next season as Real cant afford to pay another huge fee and hes got his heart set on a move there.
A crazy summer transfer window is ahead of us and i have no idea who we will sign apart from probably Valencia! hmmmmm
Oh, and after Italy’s game yesterday we really could get Rossi back. Tottaly class. We would have a marvellous young squad, better than Arsenal I would say, but the big and experienced guys like Rio, Vidic, Evra, Park, Rooney, Giggs, Scholes, VDS…
@ashwinred
I don’t see us getting Rossi for £10mill unless our first option clause has a figure attached to it.
Valencia will be around £17mill and Ashley Young will be closer around £30mill imho (Villa Quoted Real £27mill in Jan and you have the United Tax, Same division premium and English Player to English club premuim to add onto that for us) unless we have a couple of players they really want and who we can jump their value up (as Spurs seemed to be trying to do when they were supposedly about to offer Bentley and Jenas for him)
Glad Rossi becoming a player like we thought he would but if we brought him back he would have the same problem as before of where to play him? SAF I think will want to bring in a prolific striker if he goes for one as thats what we are missing.
@alphars
Berbas’ goal scoring career record is quite good. Nearly a goal every two goals. (althought this year its a goal every three games. So he is capabe of 20+ goals a season)
Wayne’s record is less impressive at a goal every three games but he is still only 23. he’s shown for Ingurland (10 goals in 8 matches) he can score so 30 goals is realistic if he plays as a second striker
Fergie only wants him to be the pin up boy of the team now that Neville (his twin brother) is close to the end
@Stephen and RC7
At no time in a season have Berbatov’s and Rooney’s goal tally been more than 40 goals so I think that 50 goals is pushing it.
Dimitar Berbatov
2006-07 41 Games 16 Goals
2007-08 44 Games 18 Goals
2008-09 34 Games 10 Goals
Wayne Rooney
2006-07 43 Games 19 Goals
2007-08 31 Games 14 Goals
2008-09 33 Games 13 Goals
Cristiano Ronaldo
2006-07 42 Games 20 Goals
2007-08 37 Games 34 Goals
2008-09 39 Games 21 Goals
These stats are for domestic games only.
The question is how do you replace the goals Ronaldo scored as he has outscored both Berbatov and Rooney over the last 3 seasons. He was even injured for a few games this season!
We need a striker like Karim Benzema so Berbatov and Rooney can play off him. The midfield needs to start contributing more goals too. Because their contribution has been pathetic.
Am I the only one who thinks we don’t need to go after a new left mid? We already have the answer to that problem in our squad and his name is…..
FABIO!!!!! Give the lad a chance to play there for Pete’s sake and I am very confident he will do the business. He already plays on the left side so he’d be comfortble there. The few games we saw him this season he was oozing class, and he is more adept at attacking than defending anyway! And he’ll have Evra behind him to help out defensively, even though we know those Da Silva brothers love them a good strong tackle. Just play the lad there, please!!!
And then let that Belgian dude De Laet provide cover for left back. That saves us about 60 mil to strengthen in other areas if ya ask me.
What I can see happening is United bidding for Ribery, being quoted an ‘astronomical’ price as Real Madrid have said and turning to David Silva or Alexis Sanchez. Then I also see United making a sneaky bid for Villa, just to see if anything comes up, but he’ll probably go to Barcelona as they’ve offered 2 players + cash.
buying a striker would force Berbatov out the team and hinder the progress of Welbeck and Macheda. We would still need to sign at least on wide midfielder/winger.
@Drew Vader
We already have a few United players who can play on the left wing.
Nani, Tosic, Macheda, Welbeck and even Anderson can all play in that position. We should use the youth we signed up for astronomical fees rather than look for more players to fill spaces we really don’t need to fill.
The only player we need is Benzema. An out and out striker.
Alpha — I was saying use Fabio at the left wing, who is already a part of the squad!! I was advocating the same thing as you, that is, NOT going out and getting a new one!! Because I think, if given a chance and if he stays healthy, Fabio could be better at that position than Nani, Tosic, Macheda, Welbeck and Anderson! But I think we’re on the same page dude
ribery is good. but then i dont think he will be sold to united, or maybe he wont come cheap. united as always hold to ransom by clubs. just look at berba, veron and rio. good players but hold to ransom if it is united who want to buy. berba bought over by spurs for merely 10 mill and sold to us for 3 times over his value. and so to speak, maybe bayern still fuming over hargo issue, that they willing to let ribery join chelski or madird instead of united. IMO, we maybe should opt for talentted young and wonderkid as what we done in ronaldo himself. linked with brazilian costa is a good start. tosic and llajic still not yet proven in first team. let build world class player, not just thinking of buying one (sound like laporta though..hahahahahaha).
ribery is the ideal replacement for ronaldo, but unfortunately is being overpriced, and he has told his agent that it will be either r.madrid or nowhere.
@Drew Vader
I am agreeing with you mate. I don’t think my post came across like I was though! Just saying that we have plenty of youth in the squad and we need to give them a chance to develop. Otherwise there is little point in signing them up in the first place. I am just thinking a striker. To replace Ronaldo’s goals. We already have a few wingers to replace Ronnie anyway.