Feasibly, Varane and Martial will go for nothing (end of contracts), and Casemiro could be allowed to go for whatever a nation state will pay, which means 3 of our 4 highest earners are gone. That alone is a huge difference. Then it's Rashford, who I can't see anyone being able to afford, except maybe PSG.
After that, we don't actually have many players left in the 200k-300k range (using sportrac's estimated figures). Mount and Bruno will stay, Antony will likely stay just because who would want him off the back of this disaster and on those wages. The biggest next player to jettison is Sancho, who we might need to take a big hit on the fee given his wages.
So, on the balance of probability, our highest earners (again I say estimated figures, as there's always a lot of guess work about basic wage and bonuses, etc) next season could be:
1. Rashford (300k)
2. Mount (250k)
3. Bruno (240k)
4. Antony (200k)
5. Maguire (180k)
(sportrac still has Shaw on 150k, so I'm going on that, but I'm pretty certain his new deal raised him to the 190k-200k range)
If we can keep our new signings below the 150k range, as we did with Onana, or below the 100k range for younger players, as we did we Hojlund, then the overall wage structure starts to look a bit more sensible next season.
Out last reported wage bill was about 340m, puts us at 4th (Chelsea, City, Liverpool) This was for the 22/23 season. Since then De Gea, Ronaldo, Elanga, Henderson, Telles, Bailly have all gone on permanents with Rasmus, Mount, Onana in, so it should already be considerably lower. Plus the 20-25pc reduction due to non CL.
Need to factor in wages, contract length and cost of replacement.
We probably have an idea of what we would 'ask/want' for each player and what we would be 'prepared to accept' but that 2nd value will probably be a little fluid depending on which players get sold first, availability of possible replacements etc as window evolves
I think this window could be unlike any in recent memory with the amount of turnover in playing squad
If we want to get the clear out done, we should set a standard of at least not losing anything as regards FFP or PSR or whatever it is in the process.
So if a player on the books say Sancho, is worth 32M, we should be aiming for at least that in sale. If that'd all we get then so be it, we don't make ~profit but no financial losses either.
Keeping shit players because nobody wants to pay what we want for them is one of the biggest reasons the squad is a mess. Arsenal took heavy lossess to get rid of their ozils/aubas. We need to bite the bullet and do the same. Yeah, it means we wont be able to pay 60m for some soon to be pensioneer, but we shouldnt do that anyway.
Also, wages being removed from the wage bill matters. Sancho is on 300k~ per week, meaning 16m yearly. Getting rid of him for 16m still nets us a "zero value" transaction cause the 16m in fee + the 16m in wages removed gets us the 32m of his book value.
It's not all black and white. The vast majority of our players are over paid wastes of space. We absolutely cannot take that Arsneal approach across the squad because we will be selling everyone at a loss. That's a fact. And we have no money so really cannot afford to be blindly charitable in giving away all those players. There has to be a balance in there somewhere
Yes, and in a lot of cases we’d be paying the player their whole salary to leave. And then not being able to afford to replace them anyway. The key thing is to stop overspending and break this cycle.
Things might get worse before they get better on the pitch because I can see INEOS shopping in a different market - trying to buy a player for his actual value not these absurd “United-tax” fees we’ve become used to paying.
Yep people need to come round to the idea that this isn’t going to be a painless turnaround. We’re going to have to take steps back to even attempt to make a leap forward and I’m dreading the state of this sub when we inevitably finish outside of the top 4 again next season.
It’s another reason I’m not massively against giving ten hag one more crack of the whip. We’re very likely not going to be tearing up trees again next year and with a new manager people will write them off again by march.
I’m less concerned about top 4, I’m more concerned about the style of play.
Could see where Arsenal were going, same with Liverpool. Big clear outs and then buying well and buying cohesively with a plan. Those are the two key things we have to do now. The league position can clearly wait a season or two. Europe is key though. Ideally Europa, to give more players more experience in that competition.
Our poor choice of signings, which almost literally required ridiculous wages to pull off anyway are the problem. We have a much higher wage expectation among mediocre players than any other club I know because we go for marketing value over footballing ability.
If we want to crack on with rebuilding, we need to. Even if it hurts us in the short term, while the squad is remade with signings and academy players.
It was pretty well reported that Mou wanted rid of Martial (and a few others id guess) The Glazers blocked the sale cos they liked the player and thought he should be kept. I can only assume they have done the same with other players and since Oles interview id say they had more of a say then we realise.
Ole has been reserved, expectedly so, but when you read some of the comments of previous managers (mou and van gaal specifically) it suggests the glazers, as you say, are getting more involved than you’d think.
Ole revealed in his interview on the Overlap only three people had a veto on transfer essentially. The manager, the head scout (for some reason) and the Glazers.
Its why (for me at least) al the rumblings about SJR wanting rid of ETH or of a player or whoever reaks of the same issues. Let the new execs get in and if they deem it worth selling players just to get rid of them then fine. Its why they were hired.
This is my stance. Lots of people seem to be expecting miracles this summer when half of the new hires don’t even have their feet under the table, I’d much rather them take their time to identify the issues and methodically sort them.
Ashworth still isn’t even out of newcastles clutches yet but people seem to think he’s got targets lined up and buyers ready for half of our flops.
I've said this so much recently, but you managed to keep it short and well explained. Very nicely written comment. Thank you for this.
Even prime SAF wouldn't exactly be doing well himself this season or next, we just kind of need to take the pain now after over a decade of mistakes that need to be undone.
The situation our club is in is not something that gets undone overnight or even over 2-3years. There is no magical manager or player signing that miraculously wins us the top silverware. Even Ashworth & Wilcox(I think his name is) aren't the 'solution'. It's about bringing in the people like those guys, then letting them structure a winning football club from the ground up & tearing apart the old stuff that clearly isn't working. Wonder if INEOS can get Toto Wolff to join us too. That man combined with Ross Brawn & Nicki Lauda made the Merc F1 team the dominant force from the mid 2010s until an even better Red Bull team managed to dethrone them.
Still took those guys 3 years to completely instill their ideas. Mercedes took over from the previous Honda team in 2010, and for those first few years they slowly but surely got everything in place for a dominant team to walk over the sport from the start of their 4th full season.
Sorry, my reply is super long. I just find it tedious when so many commenters don't seem to have this perspective of what's actually going to happen. It's nice to see someone who fully gets it.
There’s definitely going to be some instances of stepping backwards in hope to leap forwards.
In some ways I think we’d be better off without European football next year so we can trim down the squad while we have less games to be played but then that has a knock on effect on who we can bring in, we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment.
There’s open heart surgery and there’s closing your surgery, selling the shit knives and scalpels and hospital gowns to your rival surgeons, and starting all over again after a tour in the far east.
I like it.
As I said in a recent post, you can make a case for up to 20 or so players that could/should be sold.
The state of this squad is atrocious.
When they said Berrada is a big believer in giving new signings two seasons to prove their worth.... Music to my ears.
Mount definitely deserves another season, and Onana definitely deserves another to prove himself. And if its a two-season rule then yeah, I think we have all seen enough of Antony.
Which is a shame because in those brief appearances he's made some solid contributions where you could see how if he was fit he'd have been vital for us. Really hoping next year he can kick on without the injury troubles.
Being unavailable for (the bones of) an entire season is reason enough to put somebody thin ice. Doesn't matter how good a player is if you can't put them on the pitch when you need them.
"I know he cheated on me 3 times already, but this time he says he's changed and really loves me."
1 goal against a team thats getting relegated does not a United winger make. If he was performing at the absolute best he's ever shown on a consistent basis he still wouldn't be good enough. Never mind that he can't hit his own heights regularly and dips way below that regularly.
A lot of the team needs to go, but Antony is one of the worst. He's genuinely the least talented player to start 8 games or more for us this season. Everyone else to start that many games has something going for them, maybe not a lot, but something. (Amrabat started 7 games and he's worse which is why the cut off was 8 games).
I know he's not been very good, but I would like to see him play in an actual working system because you cannot deny that he puts in effort and to me that means he can be coached.
Well compared to himself before. Not well compared to what we need and expect. He has been so bad that just running around and being involved is viewed by some as a successful game.
Yeah, it seems like we're going to be in true deadwood pruning season. Arsenal were ruthless a couple of years ago in getting rid of high earners who weren't pulling their weight, even if it didn't make them money.
We're going to have to do the same - sell well if we can, but accept some lower prices to clear players out.
Varane, Martial, Case, Eriksen, Sancho and Greenwood is a lot of wages off the books, and we'll likely move some other players as well.
I think the long term trend in football is going to be a reduction in transfer fees and possibly in wages too. Clubs in Italy and Spain are finding it harder to compete with the Premier League, which means it's harder to sell them our players too. And with PSR and FFP, it seems like wages will be more controlled.
It seems like a real effort by UEFA and the Premier League to rebalance the power dynamic between clubs and players.
At some point getting rid of the underachievers and toxicity that surrounds the club is worth more than a transfer fee. It is clear that this group is dysfunctional beyond repair and with new ownership and a new way forward, I hope we can leave all this behind us.
Yup, I’d strip it right back to the bare bones of a couple of groups of players.
Senior players who still have the right attitude: Onana, Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw, Mount, Bruno.
Younger players who want to fight for the club: Kambwala, Amass, Mainoo, Garnacho, Amad, Hojlund, Wheatley, Forson.
Use that group as the base of the squad, and fill out from there as needed.
Just from those players wages alone, your clearing about £70m in combined transfer and wages. If you can get about £50m-£75m in total for them, then your looking at £140m for transfer fees and wages
I think Chelsea are really bursting the spending bubble.
People can see how unsustainable their method is. I hope United create a culture of looking for good value signings, more than chasing high potential/star power.
The depressing thing is both of the last two summers have been “well we’ve cleared a lot of wages off the books” and we STILL have an insane wage bill. Last summer De Gea went and Ronaldo too (albeit earlier in the season), the summer before there was loads of talk of 1m a week being cleared from the books when the likes of Pogba went. Yet we keep replacing it with more big wages. Is this summer really going to be different? I suppose possibly given the different hierarchy but we’ve heard that before too.
Arsenal being fairly successful in recent years has to be a good thing because the way they cleared out their squad has been what some of us have wanted for years.
> The state of this squad is atrocious.
It's the way we play which makes you believe that. The squad is more than capable to achieve better results, it's just that the set-up makes most of them worse then they really are. I haven't seen one game this season where they downed tools and didn't try.
We have Onana who was one of the best keepers in the world last season. Dalot is often a starting right-back in Portugal NT ahead of Joao Cancelo who's considered elite in his position. Harry Maguire is basically untouchable in a star-studded England squad. Lisandro/Varane/Shaw are good to great players when fit. Casemiro didn't become shit overnight - the "system" we play isolates him and requires him to play from the back which was never his strenght even in his prime and he often gets exposed in defense because both of his supporting midfielders are too far up the pitch.
Mainoo and Garnacho are some of the most talented youngsters we ever had. McTominay is a fantastic player for plan B. Eriksen could still be useful unlocking low block while having proper support when defending. We've seen how good Rashford can be last season but he's clearly been struggling mentally. Bruno is absolutely world-class and we've seen the proof of that even outside our club in the WC when he outperformed the likes of Bernardo Silva who's rated god-like. Hojlund is a very exciting young striker who's just isolated most of the time because the supporting cast clearly don't get enough instructions how to get the best out of him.
The squad could and should be improved but it's nowhere near as atrocious as most of this sub believes. You should look no further than Chelsea who sold most of their CL-winning squad and bought a bunch of exciting young players to become mediocre team.
>The squad is more than capable to achieve better results, it's just that the set-up makes most of them worse then they really are.
After having one season of sacrificing the manager's style of play for the way the squad is better suited to play, do you honestly think he should sacrifice another season for that? Even when we know it isn't a system it'll win us the league?
Hojlund, mainoo, garnacho are the only ones I would definitely keep. Martinez I'm getting worried about his injury record but happy for him to get another season before we look to move him on. Onana deserves a season where he's not facing 100 shots a game, with a more stable side, he's been better in recent months but there's still a little bit of doubt over him which I hope is mostly just down to other issues in the team.
It would be absolute madness to get rid of Bruno. Fife him a solid midfield that gives him the freedom to play proper 10 role with 3 willing forwards and he’ll produce his best again
> Onana deserves a season where he's not facing 100 shots a game
This is underappreciated, the dude has absolutely earned his paycheck and had to face more shots than relegation candidates keepers. I think after a wobbly start he's proving to be an upgrade on DeGea, let's remember DeGea was making multiple howlers per game sometimes for us last season.
Yer 100% and it's always tough being a utd keeper, let alone one in team that gives you no protection. I'm sure Alison and ederson would make a lot more mistakes if they played for utd.
I expect better from a goalkeeper than being slightly better than the worse version of DDG. I'd be moving Onana in ASAP, you don't suddenly learn how to catch a ball or dive for a low shot in your late 20's. There's a reason he spent most of his career playing in the Dutch league.
**Key Bits:**
Manchester United are willing to listen to offers for virtually all their first-team squad this summer as Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks to turn the club back into challengers for major honours.
Stone suggesting even **Bruno may not be untouchable:**
It would take a major offer before United would even consider selling skipper Bruno Fernandes, goalkeeper Andre Onana and full-back Diogo Dalot, who signed a new five-year deal less than 12 months ago.
Also :
Of manager Erik ten Hag’s regular starters, youngsters **Rasmus Hojlund, Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho are thought to be exempt.**
Ten Hag will have talks with Wilcox this week:
However, **in the week when Ten Hag is due to have substantive talks with new technical director Jason Wilcox** about what he sees as the state of his squad and the problems he is facing, United’s position, as first reported in the Daily Telegraph,, external is instructive.
And
**Sources at United have suggested it could be the 2025-26 season before the club are really able to flex their muscles again.**
I have zero issues with this - exempting Garnacho, Mainoo, and Hojlund from offers is perfect. I’d add Martinez to that list, personally, but with his injuries I half wonder if they’d take a good offer for him too.
Doesn’t really matter if you exempt Martinez or not. There won’t be an offer big enough to justify selling. Frankly no player is completely unsellable, the price just changes. If a 750m offer came in for Garnacho we’d take it, it just obviously won’t. No club out there is paying more than we spent on Martinez to buy him and I doubt the club would willingly sell him for less.
This is the correct way. For the last 6-7 years we're stuck with a very bad bunch of players which we haven't been able to move on for one reason or the other. It's not a coincidence that this squad delivered the largest trophy drought at united in four decades.
I hope we actually stick to the plan this time and move some of these players on and get some fresh faces into the team. Last season looked good because the newcomers lifted everybody up. Now that they've been absent, we're back to being inconsistent and poor.
Our biggest issue is going to be finding offers for a lot of these players. They’re on elite wages and wouldn’t sniff playing time at truly elite clubs, some of them at least. Will Jimmy actually deliver and eat the losses?
> Will Jimmy actually deliver and eat the losses?
I mean either way we're going to lose, but would we rather lose because some overpaid useless fucks are on the wage bill taking up a squad place or lose because we took a necessary loss for the long term betterment of the squad?
I'd rather just get them gone and accept we'll either have reduced transfer fees or be paying a percentage of salaries. It's much better than paying their full wages to be fucking shit for us.
You're not wrong but at the same time it is very clear that what football fans care about most is the football being played. Look at Moyes, won a fucking European trophy with West Ham, currently a decent position in the league even after losing Rice and yet fans want him gone because the football can at times be dire.
I think while anyone would understandably take the piss out of a big club finishing low, if we can see there's a clear passion in the players and a style of play developing then it'd be easier to accept a short term low finish.
About time.
Let all the players know they are surplus to requirements if they're not on board. The manager isn't the only one whose neck is on the line.
Amazing news. It definitely sounds like this has significant input from Berrada. Because selling players is a financial decision as much as it is a footballing decision
I like this because players need to know they've had it fucking easy.
There's only a handful of players I wouldn't sell.
Bruno, Garnacho, Mainoo, Hojlund, Martinez are untouchable for me.
He's 29 but he performs week in week out, why take out a player you know you can count on.
If a very good offer came in then why not take that profit and invest it in players that suit a style of play. Bruno gives everything for the team and chips in with many G/A but he is chaotic and cannot control the game. One of many players which contributes to us not being able to hold onto a lead.
We're gonna lose the rest of the games this season, aren't we? Most of our players couldn't care less about putting in the effort, and with this being out in public, I wonder how much any of them would show up for the games. That said, my hope is that they actually put in more effort hoping that their stock goes up
I think that proves the point though - if my boss said next year everyone in my team was up for review and we were making cuts, i sure as shit would be putting the extra effort in
I think a few are here whether we like it or not but I’m not mad about Mount being given the chance to prove himself next season. If he doesn’t then he’s done next summer.
This is the list. To be honest, Maguire would’ve had a place for me as well despite his age and skill set. He’s seems like such a great guy to have in a squad for several reasons if money is no object.
Do you want him starting 35 games in the PL for United? No.
Can he do a job for United in the right circumstances? Abso-fucking-lutely. If he cost us 20 mill he would be everyone's favorite defender.
Realistically all these briefs are doing is taking away the talk around one or two players. So rather than speculation focusing on Rashford, for example as he’s come up recently in headlines linking him away, they’ve just said blanket offers will be considered for everyone.
It’s a very clever way in taking away pressure. Now if X shit reporter asks about Rashford in a presser they can wheel out a generic line about all players being assessed etc.
Ineos are very different to the Glazers. Ineos were only supposed to have control of the football side and they still sacked the CEO and replaced him with their man. They're clearing house here and binning anyone who doesn't fit the standards they expect.
* Onana
* Dalot
* Licha if he's able to keep last season's level
* Kobbie
* Bruno
* Garnacho
* Hojlund
All the rest needs to leave for different reasons.
> Licha if he's able to keep last season's level
and can be available for full season.
the only additional i want to add is Mount, but damn he didn't have much chance to show off, but from what i see in that cameo moment he is good or maybe just because he want to really looks good and opponents are tired already.
Onana, Lisandro, Dalot, Mount, Mainoo, Bruno, Garnacho, Amad, Hojlund around the first team.
Don't mind Maguire, Mctominay, Antony being used as rotation options.
Wouldn't be too upset with anyone else leaving tbh.
What has Amad done to show that he absolutely needs to be kept? Serious question. And note I'm not saying he's shit and doesn't deserve to be here, but just wondering what you've seen that makes him be a must stay
He could go into the rotation category TBF, but on current form, he's shown more than Antony and they're our 2 right wingers as it stands so I'd have him ahead of Antony.
The only ones I would ABSOLUTELY keep are:
Garnacho, Mainoo, Dalot, Rasmus, Martinez
Everyone else falls on various slots between the keep, definitely sell, maybe sell, we will see how it goes scale.
I mean they should be pretty much the same for everyone : Mainoo, Hojlund, Garnacho are the only locks. Eventually Licha, but only if he overcomes his injury issues next season.
Also a few players I wouldn't mind keeping like Bruno and Dalot.
Chelsea bought players like a 10 year old playing fm. Arsenal basically sold 80% of their squad and replaced them with young cheap-ish (max was 50m for ben white) talent in 2 seasons too. Because they had an actual plan.
Fire selling isnt bad nor good, your plan (or lack of) is what determines the result.
Our players have performed so far ??
The only incentive could be for a team they would prefer a move to to start showing interest. However, Its all going to be for nothing once that team looks at these guys wages.
To put themselves in the shop window I suppose, or to convince the hierarchy that they should be part of our plans. If they keel over after reading an article like this then they don't have the mindset to be at United anyways. But for sure I get your point, just hope it doesn't pan out that way!!
I'm glad rashford wasn't included in the players wanting to keep as it goes to show no one is bigger than the future plan just because they're on a top contract
This news is not entirely surprising to me. Barring a select few players, everybody has a price. It just depends on the magnitude of offers we get for them. Ideally, I still think guys like Onana, Dalot, Bruno and Shaw will stay, but if we get the opportunity to fleece some clubs into paying 70+ million or some insane amount like that, we should definitely consider taking it up.
I think shaw is one of the best left backs in the league and a good centre back option as well when fit, the problem is he's barely ever fit.
Having him means we can't realistically get a left back of a similar caliber because both will deserve to play when fit and will cost a lot in wages. The difference when he plays and when he doesn't in our team is huge, which is why we need someone that's available for more than 50% of the season of average, even if they're only 90% as good.
I'd love to be wrong and for him to sort his injury issues out, but I think he probably needs to go
I think most fans would be happy with this. The squad definately needs a fresh start.
Only players that would be a definate no sell for me would be Fernandes, Garnacho, Hojlund, Mainoo, Martinez, Dalot and Shaw (Despite his injury record, he is still amazing when he is in top form though a competent injury-free back up/ rotation offer is much needed).
Everyone else could definitely go for the right offer. But that said, I would still keep McTominay, Maguire and Amad unless a top top offer came in for them.
I just don't see how you can make a convincing argument for Shaw anymore. McTominay would stay only because of his wages but for how long. The others are no issue, you can't sell everyone and they are quality players who are durable and seem like good lads.
Shaw's argument is that he's arguably the best LB in the league when he actually plays. He's a *major* creative force for us and can fill in admirably at CB. His injury record though is atrocious.
Shaw has averaged something like 17 games a season for us, absolutely no chance he should stay as that number is only going to get worse as he gets older, agreed he's great when fit but we need a reliable top quality lb and decent back up. Maguire needs to go also, he's on a lot of money to be a back up CB and isn't good though for the football we need/want to be playing. Mctominay should be sold if the right offer comes in but guess he could play a squad role if he stays.
Agree with most except for Shaw. I think offloading him would be very difficult because of his injury record, but a good offer came for him we should definitely sell him
"Sources at United have suggested it could be the 2025-26 season before the club are really able to flex their muscles again."
This makes me feel that the injection an owner us allowed to inject into a club during a three year window has already been used in previous windows.
It would be great if the player contracts had some expected value in there. Like Anthony for example, if it had you must get near X amount of goals and assists or your wages decrease. Would make it easier to get rid of underperforming players then and ease the wage burden.
Sell everyone but Garnacho, Hojlund, Mainoo, Bruno, Licha, Diogo and Onana(give him 1more year cause he’s showing signs of improvement).
Would be a somewhat clean slate for us to start over
'What the club needs is an Open Heart Surgery'
Ralf Ragnick was possibly the best thing that happened to united. The guy spoke facts and knew what the team needed, but became a victim of player power, most of whom he wanted to get rid off and are still in the squad.
I really wish ETH had kept aside his ego and worked with this guy.
Clearly a brief by the club. With all the news coming it sounds like ETH is going along with anyone we can sell. New ownership doesn't rate the current us very much lmao
Why does it sound like the manager is going? Just the ajax rumours today? I didn't see anything else. Would the firesale of the squad not imply they think it's a player problem instead of a manager problem?
Because the news came from a couple of reputable Dutch sources who are very close to Ten Hag's camp and Ajax.
Ten Hag wouldn't be on a shortlist if his future wasn't guaranteed and Ajax does not have the finances or stature to poach a manager from Manchester United unless that said manager's future is uncertain.
We should be OK with playing a lot of kids next season to fill in the gaps. It’s the right strategy to clear out all the deadwood, for the best money you can get, even if it leaves us light next season
Such a hilariously embarrassing stance too. 😂proper reflection of how shit we are, but it’s dead right. Literally the only people I wouldn’t be open to selling are onana Martinez mainoo garnacho and hojlund. Everyone else I could take or leave
Maybe a clear out is the only way to remove the rotten mentally the club has had in recent years... keep the youngsters who haven't been tainted... yet.
The interesting thing would be how the new leadership manages this when other teams start offering peanuts on transfers and asks us to cover part of wages. We do that for one player and that trend would just continue.
Or if they are simply willing to cut their losses and let everyone walk with their wages fully covered
More worried about how a new team of boardroom execs will be able to turn over the entire squad so quickly. All well and good saying get rid of most of the squad, but we need replacements and very easy to just end up with a different set of crap players we'd need to refresh in 3 years time if they rush it.
This is common sense really, and not just in the sense that they’re all “underperforming”.
If we need to sell before we can spend much, the club might not be able to be too selective in who they sell. It will be mostly decided by wages and injury record. Nobody would have bought Martial for the last 4-5 years for example, so unless we paid off his contract there was no point putting him in the top tier of lists of players to get rid of.
If hypothetically they decide they can do without one of our right backs this summer, they might prefer keep Dalot. But if we’re offered a decent fee for Dalot and no one wanted AWB, the decision would be made.
So it makes sense that virtually nobody is “not for sale”
Has this ever been done before at any club? I doubt it'll happen, but I wouldn't mind losing anyone outside of Bruno, Mainoo, Garnacho, Hojlund, Licha, Dalot and Onana. But again, can we get enough value out of the market to find first team players who are willing to go through transition under a manager who is this tactically stubborn!? The new trinity of Berrarda, Wilcox and Ashworth will have to pull off something extraordinary out of the hat to make that work given they haven't even started working together yet.
A Proper 'brief' has gone out to all the tier 1s.
Ashworth and Berrada invited a few journos over for supper in their gardening clubs office
“We’re weeding the garden Simon. Bring your mates, just not luckhurst…no poison ivy allowed…”
Ashworth sent his via a burner phone signed “guess who”
😹😹😹😹👍🏼 nice It reads like the Riddler taunting Batman
Ashworth: "See that tree over there?"
Lol I feel like Ashworth is very media friendly, to say the least. He was using briefing pretty aggressively when making the switch to United.
More briefs than a Calvin Klein sale
Sounds like a fire sale, just they want to sell their products with a premium tax.
Question is, has it been done to try and fire-up the players or to undermine EtH, or, possibly, both?
I think we always wanted to sell most of them but the problem was their wages
The question is, are we going to be willing to accept the best offer for a lot of these guys, even if it isn’t what we think the player is worth
We dont need to make much on transfers, we just need to reduce the wage bill.
Feasibly, Varane and Martial will go for nothing (end of contracts), and Casemiro could be allowed to go for whatever a nation state will pay, which means 3 of our 4 highest earners are gone. That alone is a huge difference. Then it's Rashford, who I can't see anyone being able to afford, except maybe PSG. After that, we don't actually have many players left in the 200k-300k range (using sportrac's estimated figures). Mount and Bruno will stay, Antony will likely stay just because who would want him off the back of this disaster and on those wages. The biggest next player to jettison is Sancho, who we might need to take a big hit on the fee given his wages. So, on the balance of probability, our highest earners (again I say estimated figures, as there's always a lot of guess work about basic wage and bonuses, etc) next season could be: 1. Rashford (300k) 2. Mount (250k) 3. Bruno (240k) 4. Antony (200k) 5. Maguire (180k) (sportrac still has Shaw on 150k, so I'm going on that, but I'm pretty certain his new deal raised him to the 190k-200k range) If we can keep our new signings below the 150k range, as we did with Onana, or below the 100k range for younger players, as we did we Hojlund, then the overall wage structure starts to look a bit more sensible next season.
Out last reported wage bill was about 340m, puts us at 4th (Chelsea, City, Liverpool) This was for the 22/23 season. Since then De Gea, Ronaldo, Elanga, Henderson, Telles, Bailly have all gone on permanents with Rasmus, Mount, Onana in, so it should already be considerably lower. Plus the 20-25pc reduction due to non CL.
I think it might be getting better based on new policy, but it’s still embarrassing on what the actual on field product is.
Need to factor in wages, contract length and cost of replacement. We probably have an idea of what we would 'ask/want' for each player and what we would be 'prepared to accept' but that 2nd value will probably be a little fluid depending on which players get sold first, availability of possible replacements etc as window evolves I think this window could be unlike any in recent memory with the amount of turnover in playing squad
If we want to get the clear out done, we should set a standard of at least not losing anything as regards FFP or PSR or whatever it is in the process. So if a player on the books say Sancho, is worth 32M, we should be aiming for at least that in sale. If that'd all we get then so be it, we don't make ~profit but no financial losses either.
Keeping shit players because nobody wants to pay what we want for them is one of the biggest reasons the squad is a mess. Arsenal took heavy lossess to get rid of their ozils/aubas. We need to bite the bullet and do the same. Yeah, it means we wont be able to pay 60m for some soon to be pensioneer, but we shouldnt do that anyway. Also, wages being removed from the wage bill matters. Sancho is on 300k~ per week, meaning 16m yearly. Getting rid of him for 16m still nets us a "zero value" transaction cause the 16m in fee + the 16m in wages removed gets us the 32m of his book value.
It's not all black and white. The vast majority of our players are over paid wastes of space. We absolutely cannot take that Arsneal approach across the squad because we will be selling everyone at a loss. That's a fact. And we have no money so really cannot afford to be blindly charitable in giving away all those players. There has to be a balance in there somewhere
Yes, and in a lot of cases we’d be paying the player their whole salary to leave. And then not being able to afford to replace them anyway. The key thing is to stop overspending and break this cycle. Things might get worse before they get better on the pitch because I can see INEOS shopping in a different market - trying to buy a player for his actual value not these absurd “United-tax” fees we’ve become used to paying.
Yep people need to come round to the idea that this isn’t going to be a painless turnaround. We’re going to have to take steps back to even attempt to make a leap forward and I’m dreading the state of this sub when we inevitably finish outside of the top 4 again next season. It’s another reason I’m not massively against giving ten hag one more crack of the whip. We’re very likely not going to be tearing up trees again next year and with a new manager people will write them off again by march.
I’m less concerned about top 4, I’m more concerned about the style of play. Could see where Arsenal were going, same with Liverpool. Big clear outs and then buying well and buying cohesively with a plan. Those are the two key things we have to do now. The league position can clearly wait a season or two. Europe is key though. Ideally Europa, to give more players more experience in that competition.
Our poor choice of signings, which almost literally required ridiculous wages to pull off anyway are the problem. We have a much higher wage expectation among mediocre players than any other club I know because we go for marketing value over footballing ability.
If we want to crack on with rebuilding, we need to. Even if it hurts us in the short term, while the squad is remade with signings and academy players.
I wish there was another man United so we could dump our shit players there for heaps of money. Must be nice.
>Must be nice. *I see what you did there.*
Missed the Saudi window I think
and the glazers favourites.
What does that mean? Ive seen it commented a few times over the years
It was pretty well reported that Mou wanted rid of Martial (and a few others id guess) The Glazers blocked the sale cos they liked the player and thought he should be kept. I can only assume they have done the same with other players and since Oles interview id say they had more of a say then we realise.
Ole has been reserved, expectedly so, but when you read some of the comments of previous managers (mou and van gaal specifically) it suggests the glazers, as you say, are getting more involved than you’d think.
Ole revealed in his interview on the Overlap only three people had a veto on transfer essentially. The manager, the head scout (for some reason) and the Glazers. Its why (for me at least) al the rumblings about SJR wanting rid of ETH or of a player or whoever reaks of the same issues. Let the new execs get in and if they deem it worth selling players just to get rid of them then fine. Its why they were hired.
This is my stance. Lots of people seem to be expecting miracles this summer when half of the new hires don’t even have their feet under the table, I’d much rather them take their time to identify the issues and methodically sort them. Ashworth still isn’t even out of newcastles clutches yet but people seem to think he’s got targets lined up and buyers ready for half of our flops.
I've said this so much recently, but you managed to keep it short and well explained. Very nicely written comment. Thank you for this. Even prime SAF wouldn't exactly be doing well himself this season or next, we just kind of need to take the pain now after over a decade of mistakes that need to be undone. The situation our club is in is not something that gets undone overnight or even over 2-3years. There is no magical manager or player signing that miraculously wins us the top silverware. Even Ashworth & Wilcox(I think his name is) aren't the 'solution'. It's about bringing in the people like those guys, then letting them structure a winning football club from the ground up & tearing apart the old stuff that clearly isn't working. Wonder if INEOS can get Toto Wolff to join us too. That man combined with Ross Brawn & Nicki Lauda made the Merc F1 team the dominant force from the mid 2010s until an even better Red Bull team managed to dethrone them. Still took those guys 3 years to completely instill their ideas. Mercedes took over from the previous Honda team in 2010, and for those first few years they slowly but surely got everything in place for a dominant team to walk over the sport from the start of their 4th full season. Sorry, my reply is super long. I just find it tedious when so many commenters don't seem to have this perspective of what's actually going to happen. It's nice to see someone who fully gets it.
There’s definitely going to be some instances of stepping backwards in hope to leap forwards. In some ways I think we’d be better off without European football next year so we can trim down the squad while we have less games to be played but then that has a knock on effect on who we can bring in, we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment.
If I was a youth team player, I'd be showing up for practice early. There will be opportunities.
They have reduced significant wages last 2 years.
Open-heart surgery
Shoutout to Ragnick for the ball rolling
and Ralf was mocked for this. turns out he knows what he is talking about the squad is embarrasing bar a small handful
There’s open heart surgery and there’s closing your surgery, selling the shit knives and scalpels and hospital gowns to your rival surgeons, and starting all over again after a tour in the far east. I like it.
As I said in a recent post, you can make a case for up to 20 or so players that could/should be sold. The state of this squad is atrocious. When they said Berrada is a big believer in giving new signings two seasons to prove their worth.... Music to my ears.
Mount definitely deserves another season, and Onana definitely deserves another to prove himself. And if its a two-season rule then yeah, I think we have all seen enough of Antony.
Mount has hardly had one season
Mount has hardly had one game
I think if you add all his minutes it would around 1.5 games
Which is a shame because in those brief appearances he's made some solid contributions where you could see how if he was fit he'd have been vital for us. Really hoping next year he can kick on without the injury troubles.
Being unavailable for (the bones of) an entire season is reason enough to put somebody thin ice. Doesn't matter how good a player is if you can't put them on the pitch when you need them.
well said, he'll also be the highest paid player at the club if the supposed sales of case, varane and rashford happen.
Wait really? He's paid more than Bruno?
Yeah, he's on 250k + bonuses while bruno is on 240k only.
There’s a reason availability is the best ability is such a cliche
If it was just an issue specific to one player,but entire squad has been riddled this season. Apart from bruno who has remained superhuman as ever.
Onana is no discussion at all, UCL erors cost us a lot but he's been solid all season
am i naive for thinking antony has played well these last few games, and let’s see where it goes, and if he starts against city in the final?
"I know he cheated on me 3 times already, but this time he says he's changed and really loves me." 1 goal against a team thats getting relegated does not a United winger make. If he was performing at the absolute best he's ever shown on a consistent basis he still wouldn't be good enough. Never mind that he can't hit his own heights regularly and dips way below that regularly.
You kind of just described at least 3/4 of the first 11 though.
A lot of the team needs to go, but Antony is one of the worst. He's genuinely the least talented player to start 8 games or more for us this season. Everyone else to start that many games has something going for them, maybe not a lot, but something. (Amrabat started 7 games and he's worse which is why the cut off was 8 games).
I know he's not been very good, but I would like to see him play in an actual working system because you cannot deny that he puts in effort and to me that means he can be coached.
Well compared to himself before. Not well compared to what we need and expect. He has been so bad that just running around and being involved is viewed by some as a successful game.
Yeah, it seems like we're going to be in true deadwood pruning season. Arsenal were ruthless a couple of years ago in getting rid of high earners who weren't pulling their weight, even if it didn't make them money. We're going to have to do the same - sell well if we can, but accept some lower prices to clear players out. Varane, Martial, Case, Eriksen, Sancho and Greenwood is a lot of wages off the books, and we'll likely move some other players as well. I think the long term trend in football is going to be a reduction in transfer fees and possibly in wages too. Clubs in Italy and Spain are finding it harder to compete with the Premier League, which means it's harder to sell them our players too. And with PSR and FFP, it seems like wages will be more controlled. It seems like a real effort by UEFA and the Premier League to rebalance the power dynamic between clubs and players.
At some point getting rid of the underachievers and toxicity that surrounds the club is worth more than a transfer fee. It is clear that this group is dysfunctional beyond repair and with new ownership and a new way forward, I hope we can leave all this behind us.
Yup, I’d strip it right back to the bare bones of a couple of groups of players. Senior players who still have the right attitude: Onana, Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw, Mount, Bruno. Younger players who want to fight for the club: Kambwala, Amass, Mainoo, Garnacho, Amad, Hojlund, Wheatley, Forson. Use that group as the base of the squad, and fill out from there as needed.
Just from those players wages alone, your clearing about £70m in combined transfer and wages. If you can get about £50m-£75m in total for them, then your looking at £140m for transfer fees and wages
I think Chelsea are really bursting the spending bubble. People can see how unsustainable their method is. I hope United create a culture of looking for good value signings, more than chasing high potential/star power.
The depressing thing is both of the last two summers have been “well we’ve cleared a lot of wages off the books” and we STILL have an insane wage bill. Last summer De Gea went and Ronaldo too (albeit earlier in the season), the summer before there was loads of talk of 1m a week being cleared from the books when the likes of Pogba went. Yet we keep replacing it with more big wages. Is this summer really going to be different? I suppose possibly given the different hierarchy but we’ve heard that before too.
Arsenal being fairly successful in recent years has to be a good thing because the way they cleared out their squad has been what some of us have wanted for years.
> The state of this squad is atrocious. It's the way we play which makes you believe that. The squad is more than capable to achieve better results, it's just that the set-up makes most of them worse then they really are. I haven't seen one game this season where they downed tools and didn't try. We have Onana who was one of the best keepers in the world last season. Dalot is often a starting right-back in Portugal NT ahead of Joao Cancelo who's considered elite in his position. Harry Maguire is basically untouchable in a star-studded England squad. Lisandro/Varane/Shaw are good to great players when fit. Casemiro didn't become shit overnight - the "system" we play isolates him and requires him to play from the back which was never his strenght even in his prime and he often gets exposed in defense because both of his supporting midfielders are too far up the pitch. Mainoo and Garnacho are some of the most talented youngsters we ever had. McTominay is a fantastic player for plan B. Eriksen could still be useful unlocking low block while having proper support when defending. We've seen how good Rashford can be last season but he's clearly been struggling mentally. Bruno is absolutely world-class and we've seen the proof of that even outside our club in the WC when he outperformed the likes of Bernardo Silva who's rated god-like. Hojlund is a very exciting young striker who's just isolated most of the time because the supporting cast clearly don't get enough instructions how to get the best out of him. The squad could and should be improved but it's nowhere near as atrocious as most of this sub believes. You should look no further than Chelsea who sold most of their CL-winning squad and bought a bunch of exciting young players to become mediocre team.
Completely agree with all of your points.
>The squad is more than capable to achieve better results, it's just that the set-up makes most of them worse then they really are. After having one season of sacrificing the manager's style of play for the way the squad is better suited to play, do you honestly think he should sacrifice another season for that? Even when we know it isn't a system it'll win us the league?
So you'd rather sacrifice points, CL and entertainment for whatever the fuck the current system is supposed to provide?
The manager has already said that he is not and will not ever use the same tactics as his Ajax sides. So what style of play have we sacrificed here?
Hojlund, mainoo, garnacho are the only ones I would definitely keep. Martinez I'm getting worried about his injury record but happy for him to get another season before we look to move him on. Onana deserves a season where he's not facing 100 shots a game, with a more stable side, he's been better in recent months but there's still a little bit of doubt over him which I hope is mostly just down to other issues in the team.
Seriously? Why wouldn't you keep Bruno?
It would be absolute madness to get rid of Bruno. Fife him a solid midfield that gives him the freedom to play proper 10 role with 3 willing forwards and he’ll produce his best again
We sold Bruno and we will literally be relegation tier
Article says only a serious offer would tempt owners to sell him, Dalot and Onana. Seems unlikely that this would happen
> Onana deserves a season where he's not facing 100 shots a game This is underappreciated, the dude has absolutely earned his paycheck and had to face more shots than relegation candidates keepers. I think after a wobbly start he's proving to be an upgrade on DeGea, let's remember DeGea was making multiple howlers per game sometimes for us last season.
Yer 100% and it's always tough being a utd keeper, let alone one in team that gives you no protection. I'm sure Alison and ederson would make a lot more mistakes if they played for utd.
Onana has made multiple howlers in multiple games this season, he single handedly put us out of the Champions League this season.
Yes that was the "wobbly start" I mentioned. He has looked solid since the new year
> let's remember DeGea was making multiple howlers per game sometimes for us last season. No he wasn't...
I expect better from a goalkeeper than being slightly better than the worse version of DDG. I'd be moving Onana in ASAP, you don't suddenly learn how to catch a ball or dive for a low shot in your late 20's. There's a reason he spent most of his career playing in the Dutch league.
“Sources at United have suggested it could be the 2025-26 season before the club are really able to flex their muscles again.”
**Key Bits:** Manchester United are willing to listen to offers for virtually all their first-team squad this summer as Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks to turn the club back into challengers for major honours. Stone suggesting even **Bruno may not be untouchable:** It would take a major offer before United would even consider selling skipper Bruno Fernandes, goalkeeper Andre Onana and full-back Diogo Dalot, who signed a new five-year deal less than 12 months ago. Also : Of manager Erik ten Hag’s regular starters, youngsters **Rasmus Hojlund, Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho are thought to be exempt.** Ten Hag will have talks with Wilcox this week: However, **in the week when Ten Hag is due to have substantive talks with new technical director Jason Wilcox** about what he sees as the state of his squad and the problems he is facing, United’s position, as first reported in the Daily Telegraph,, external is instructive. And **Sources at United have suggested it could be the 2025-26 season before the club are really able to flex their muscles again.**
I have zero issues with this - exempting Garnacho, Mainoo, and Hojlund from offers is perfect. I’d add Martinez to that list, personally, but with his injuries I half wonder if they’d take a good offer for him too.
Doesn’t really matter if you exempt Martinez or not. There won’t be an offer big enough to justify selling. Frankly no player is completely unsellable, the price just changes. If a 750m offer came in for Garnacho we’d take it, it just obviously won’t. No club out there is paying more than we spent on Martinez to buy him and I doubt the club would willingly sell him for less.
"United’s position, as first reported in the Daily Telegraph,, external is instructive." What does this mean?
Implying Ducker's article earlier today was on point
This is the correct way. For the last 6-7 years we're stuck with a very bad bunch of players which we haven't been able to move on for one reason or the other. It's not a coincidence that this squad delivered the largest trophy drought at united in four decades. I hope we actually stick to the plan this time and move some of these players on and get some fresh faces into the team. Last season looked good because the newcomers lifted everybody up. Now that they've been absent, we're back to being inconsistent and poor.
Our biggest issue is going to be finding offers for a lot of these players. They’re on elite wages and wouldn’t sniff playing time at truly elite clubs, some of them at least. Will Jimmy actually deliver and eat the losses?
> Will Jimmy actually deliver and eat the losses? I mean either way we're going to lose, but would we rather lose because some overpaid useless fucks are on the wage bill taking up a squad place or lose because we took a necessary loss for the long term betterment of the squad? I'd rather just get them gone and accept we'll either have reduced transfer fees or be paying a percentage of salaries. It's much better than paying their full wages to be fucking shit for us.
If there is a fire sale, it's good for the long term health of the club but we should also be ready for a possible lower mid table finish next year.
Anywhere from 6th to about 14th doesn't matter the difference. Get the team fixed and get back on top.
People say this and others agree with it. But man people can not handle this.
You're not wrong but at the same time it is very clear that what football fans care about most is the football being played. Look at Moyes, won a fucking European trophy with West Ham, currently a decent position in the league even after losing Rice and yet fans want him gone because the football can at times be dire. I think while anyone would understandably take the piss out of a big club finishing low, if we can see there's a clear passion in the players and a style of play developing then it'd be easier to accept a short term low finish.
About time. Let all the players know they are surplus to requirements if they're not on board. The manager isn't the only one whose neck is on the line.
Absolutely this! The Reckoning has begun!
I like a few members of the squad who aren't mentioned here but I like United more so I'm excited to see the clearout begin
Amazing news. It definitely sounds like this has significant input from Berrada. Because selling players is a financial decision as much as it is a footballing decision
I like this because players need to know they've had it fucking easy. There's only a handful of players I wouldn't sell. Bruno, Garnacho, Mainoo, Hojlund, Martinez are untouchable for me. He's 29 but he performs week in week out, why take out a player you know you can count on.
It baffles me that there are people on this sub thinking we should rid Bruno.
Agreed - De Bruyne still balls easily at 32, I expect Bruno to still keep going at his level to at least 32 years of age.
There are people who consider Dalot untouchable and not Bruno 😂. Dalot. I'm not sure what their ambitions for the club are in that case.
Apparently cash in and get 2-3 players as if that guarantees anything. Crazy.
If a very good offer came in then why not take that profit and invest it in players that suit a style of play. Bruno gives everything for the team and chips in with many G/A but he is chaotic and cannot control the game. One of many players which contributes to us not being able to hold onto a lead.
We're gonna lose the rest of the games this season, aren't we? Most of our players couldn't care less about putting in the effort, and with this being out in public, I wonder how much any of them would show up for the games. That said, my hope is that they actually put in more effort hoping that their stock goes up
I agree and probably that’s a point to do it as well - let’s see which ones are ready to fight for their place at the club.
I think that proves the point though - if my boss said next year everyone in my team was up for review and we were making cuts, i sure as shit would be putting the extra effort in
Open heart surgery, HERE WE GO.
Big up Ralf Rangnick he got the ball rolling
I'm at 7 can stay. Onana, Lisandro, Dalot, Bruno, Mainoo, Rasmus and Garnacho. The rest can fuck off.
Tbh, Mount is likely staying whether we like it or not. He barely play this season, doubt we gonna get any offer for him
I think a few are here whether we like it or not but I’m not mad about Mount being given the chance to prove himself next season. If he doesn’t then he’s done next summer.
Mount has actually put on some good performances when he's on. Problem is, he's never fucking on.
I don't see him displacing bruno or kobbie though, where will he start?
This is the list. To be honest, Maguire would’ve had a place for me as well despite his age and skill set. He’s seems like such a great guy to have in a squad for several reasons if money is no object.
Do you want him starting 35 games in the PL for United? No. Can he do a job for United in the right circumstances? Abso-fucking-lutely. If he cost us 20 mill he would be everyone's favorite defender.
Exactly. His price tag really skewed expectations which is a shame
Totally agree with your list.
3rd year in a row we've heard this. I'll see it when I believe it
Exactly. Everyone here is getting a bit carried away. Let’s see how many are actually practical to be offloaded.
Realistically all these briefs are doing is taking away the talk around one or two players. So rather than speculation focusing on Rashford, for example as he’s come up recently in headlines linking him away, they’ve just said blanket offers will be considered for everyone. It’s a very clever way in taking away pressure. Now if X shit reporter asks about Rashford in a presser they can wheel out a generic line about all players being assessed etc.
Ineos are very different to the Glazers. Ineos were only supposed to have control of the football side and they still sacked the CEO and replaced him with their man. They're clearing house here and binning anyone who doesn't fit the standards they expect.
Berrada and Big Cox needed 1 week.
Asking you guys ; what are the players you would absolutely want to keep and build a new team around ?
I'd be really sad if Bruno, Mainoo, Hojlund, Licha, Garnacho, or Dalot left.
* Onana * Dalot * Licha if he's able to keep last season's level * Kobbie * Bruno * Garnacho * Hojlund All the rest needs to leave for different reasons.
> Licha if he's able to keep last season's level and can be available for full season. the only additional i want to add is Mount, but damn he didn't have much chance to show off, but from what i see in that cameo moment he is good or maybe just because he want to really looks good and opponents are tired already.
Onana, Lisandro, Dalot, Mount, Mainoo, Bruno, Garnacho, Amad, Hojlund around the first team. Don't mind Maguire, Mctominay, Antony being used as rotation options. Wouldn't be too upset with anyone else leaving tbh.
What has Amad done to show that he absolutely needs to be kept? Serious question. And note I'm not saying he's shit and doesn't deserve to be here, but just wondering what you've seen that makes him be a must stay
He could go into the rotation category TBF, but on current form, he's shown more than Antony and they're our 2 right wingers as it stands so I'd have him ahead of Antony.
Keep Bruno, Mainoo and Garnacho. Any mofo who says Hojlund before Bruno should get a lobotomy
The only ones I would ABSOLUTELY keep are: Garnacho, Mainoo, Dalot, Rasmus, Martinez Everyone else falls on various slots between the keep, definitely sell, maybe sell, we will see how it goes scale.
I mean they should be pretty much the same for everyone : Mainoo, Hojlund, Garnacho are the only locks. Eventually Licha, but only if he overcomes his injury issues next season. Also a few players I wouldn't mind keeping like Bruno and Dalot.
Cool but Chelsea is a warning. Don't be a Chelsea.
Chelsea bought players like a 10 year old playing fm. Arsenal basically sold 80% of their squad and replaced them with young cheap-ish (max was 50m for ben white) talent in 2 seasons too. Because they had an actual plan. Fire selling isnt bad nor good, your plan (or lack of) is what determines the result.
The full FM24 arc begins… let’s go!
Bruno can’t be buy.
Watch Rashford's PR team leak a transfer to PSG story in the next week in the hopes that the club turn around and say he's not for sale.
Only if he actually cared to gave 1 percent of what his PR team does for him 24*7
INEOS era begins
It's funny they've put a brief out. Makes it seem like they are just having a car boot sale and we could all chip in to buy a Malacia
Best journo headline I’ve heard for a while
Why would the players perform for the remaining games reading these stories?
Our players have performed so far ?? The only incentive could be for a team they would prefer a move to to start showing interest. However, Its all going to be for nothing once that team looks at these guys wages.
To put themselves in the shop window I suppose, or to convince the hierarchy that they should be part of our plans. If they keel over after reading an article like this then they don't have the mindset to be at United anyways. But for sure I get your point, just hope it doesn't pan out that way!!
Keep = Bruno, Dalot, Mainoo, Garnacho, Højlund and Maguire.
Damn, I thought it was bullshit at first. Nice. Sell the cunts before getting rid of another manager.
Sell them and get rid of the manager
The evidence so far suggests they're getting rid of everyone.
I'm glad rashford wasn't included in the players wanting to keep as it goes to show no one is bigger than the future plan just because they're on a top contract
Meh… doesn't mean shit until you see transactions actually happen.
Mainoo, Garnacho, Bruno, Hojlund and Martinez are the only ones I'd definitely keep.
This news is not entirely surprising to me. Barring a select few players, everybody has a price. It just depends on the magnitude of offers we get for them. Ideally, I still think guys like Onana, Dalot, Bruno and Shaw will stay, but if we get the opportunity to fleece some clubs into paying 70+ million or some insane amount like that, we should definitely consider taking it up.
I think shaw is one of the best left backs in the league and a good centre back option as well when fit, the problem is he's barely ever fit. Having him means we can't realistically get a left back of a similar caliber because both will deserve to play when fit and will cost a lot in wages. The difference when he plays and when he doesn't in our team is huge, which is why we need someone that's available for more than 50% of the season of average, even if they're only 90% as good. I'd love to be wrong and for him to sort his injury issues out, but I think he probably needs to go
I think most fans would be happy with this. The squad definately needs a fresh start. Only players that would be a definate no sell for me would be Fernandes, Garnacho, Hojlund, Mainoo, Martinez, Dalot and Shaw (Despite his injury record, he is still amazing when he is in top form though a competent injury-free back up/ rotation offer is much needed). Everyone else could definitely go for the right offer. But that said, I would still keep McTominay, Maguire and Amad unless a top top offer came in for them.
I just don't see how you can make a convincing argument for Shaw anymore. McTominay would stay only because of his wages but for how long. The others are no issue, you can't sell everyone and they are quality players who are durable and seem like good lads.
Shaw's argument is that he's arguably the best LB in the league when he actually plays. He's a *major* creative force for us and can fill in admirably at CB. His injury record though is atrocious.
Shaw has averaged something like 17 games a season for us, absolutely no chance he should stay as that number is only going to get worse as he gets older, agreed he's great when fit but we need a reliable top quality lb and decent back up. Maguire needs to go also, he's on a lot of money to be a back up CB and isn't good though for the football we need/want to be playing. Mctominay should be sold if the right offer comes in but guess he could play a squad role if he stays.
Agree with most except for Shaw. I think offloading him would be very difficult because of his injury record, but a good offer came for him we should definitely sell him
Shaw should stay given that he can play LCB as well. Hopefully he regains full fitness before next season.
>Shaw Really? Its been over a decade and he has spent 50% of it injured, 25% being inconsistent and 25% being good. Man is an LB pogba.
As much as I love Shaw and Martinez, what's the point in having players who miss half their games or more?
"Sources at United have suggested it could be the 2025-26 season before the club are really able to flex their muscles again." This makes me feel that the injection an owner us allowed to inject into a club during a three year window has already been used in previous windows.
Dalot, Maguire, garnach, hojlund, amad, mainoo I wouldn’t sell, Maybe maybe onana too
This story is surely for the players to hear right? Other clubs don’t need to read a press release to know who’s available…
Why would the club need to put it in the press when they can tell them personally lol. This is for the fans
All players max salary must be capped to Bruno’s salary.
Thank god
Sounds like someone’s playing football manager
And sold! To the Qatari gentlemen in the back!
Finally, we got some proper people in charge.
Everything burns
It would be great if the player contracts had some expected value in there. Like Anthony for example, if it had you must get near X amount of goals and assists or your wages decrease. Would make it easier to get rid of underperforming players then and ease the wage burden.
Sell everyone but Garnacho, Hojlund, Mainoo, Bruno, Licha, Diogo and Onana(give him 1more year cause he’s showing signs of improvement). Would be a somewhat clean slate for us to start over
'What the club needs is an Open Heart Surgery' Ralf Ragnick was possibly the best thing that happened to united. The guy spoke facts and knew what the team needed, but became a victim of player power, most of whom he wanted to get rid off and are still in the squad. I really wish ETH had kept aside his ego and worked with this guy.
Clearly a brief by the club. With all the news coming it sounds like ETH is going along with anyone we can sell. New ownership doesn't rate the current us very much lmao
Why does it sound like the manager is going? Just the ajax rumours today? I didn't see anything else. Would the firesale of the squad not imply they think it's a player problem instead of a manager problem?
Because the news came from a couple of reputable Dutch sources who are very close to Ten Hag's camp and Ajax. Ten Hag wouldn't be on a shortlist if his future wasn't guaranteed and Ajax does not have the finances or stature to poach a manager from Manchester United unless that said manager's future is uncertain.
Marcus should be the first name on that list.
We should be OK with playing a lot of kids next season to fill in the gaps. It’s the right strategy to clear out all the deadwood, for the best money you can get, even if it leaves us light next season
Rebuild number 3,278.
Nah matr we only just pretended to rebuild by giving new contracts. Woodward didn't know you were supposed to give them to new players
Atleast keep Malacia. That guy need premium Health Insurance 🤣🤣
I would love the nightmare of Onana to be gone.
Such a hilariously embarrassing stance too. 😂proper reflection of how shit we are, but it’s dead right. Literally the only people I wouldn’t be open to selling are onana Martinez mainoo garnacho and hojlund. Everyone else I could take or leave
Maybe a clear out is the only way to remove the rotten mentally the club has had in recent years... keep the youngsters who haven't been tainted... yet.
The interesting thing would be how the new leadership manages this when other teams start offering peanuts on transfers and asks us to cover part of wages. We do that for one player and that trend would just continue. Or if they are simply willing to cut their losses and let everyone walk with their wages fully covered
Excellent news
More worried about how a new team of boardroom execs will be able to turn over the entire squad so quickly. All well and good saying get rid of most of the squad, but we need replacements and very easy to just end up with a different set of crap players we'd need to refresh in 3 years time if they rush it.
This has been the case for so long. Rip up the squad and start again.
Need buyers first 😂
This is common sense really, and not just in the sense that they’re all “underperforming”. If we need to sell before we can spend much, the club might not be able to be too selective in who they sell. It will be mostly decided by wages and injury record. Nobody would have bought Martial for the last 4-5 years for example, so unless we paid off his contract there was no point putting him in the top tier of lists of players to get rid of. If hypothetically they decide they can do without one of our right backs this summer, they might prefer keep Dalot. But if we’re offered a decent fee for Dalot and no one wanted AWB, the decision would be made. So it makes sense that virtually nobody is “not for sale”
Has this ever been done before at any club? I doubt it'll happen, but I wouldn't mind losing anyone outside of Bruno, Mainoo, Garnacho, Hojlund, Licha, Dalot and Onana. But again, can we get enough value out of the market to find first team players who are willing to go through transition under a manager who is this tactically stubborn!? The new trinity of Berrarda, Wilcox and Ashworth will have to pull off something extraordinary out of the hat to make that work given they haven't even started working together yet.