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Manchester United get Pogba for record-breaking €120+ million

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Anyone stating that stuff is clueless, it is generated via other methods, mostly merchandising, sponsorship deals and TV money.

The money is not an issue but shirt sales will not pay for it, massive shirt sales does one thing, get you huge deals with shirt manufacturers.


Great to see the player home, all the naysayers can spout what they like but the kid is world class and he is playing for United.

World class is s term that gets thrown around too easily. He isn't world class, he might one day but not yet.
 
World class is s term that gets thrown around too easily. He isn't world class, he might one day but not yet.

Pogba? I think he's easily World Class. What box to box midfielders are out there with his two way ability that can compare, especially at his age? Yaya Toure/Vidal maybe? But they're much older. He's already unquestionably a complete midfielder with the skill/intelligence and most importantly the physical tools (something that separates him from other impressive young midfielders) to boss a midfield and he's only 23! The best is obviously yet to come.

I hate to go all youtube highlight video to prove a point, but come on... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjmvcousUPg he's ridiculously good. And they paid a record price because complete midfielders are a rare fucking commodity these days.

I don't know what people doubt at this point? He's already a proven winner with Juve and helped get France to the Euro final.
 
Utd have a good chance at the title now imo. This is a genuinely massive signing, one I wasn't sure they were capable of anymore.

God I can't wait for the premier league to begin again.
 
John Stones has been listed as part of the Man City squad for the CL playoffs so it would seem that he has joined them too.

If he has gone for £50m as widely reported, is this even worse than Pogba's fee? £89m is a lot for one player but £50m for a CB?

City like spending lots of money on CB's and this one is English so the price doesn't surprise me at all.
 
Sounds like City signed John Stones yesterday as well but didn't announce it. They registered him with UEFA and when they published their team lists for the next CL qualifying round Stones was on it. Bit of a marketing fuck up from City there.

Fee for Stone seem to be £42m rising to £50m if he reaches certain targets.

Oof. Late on the Stones news.
 
John Stones has been listed as part of the Man City squad for the CL playoffs so it would seem that he has joined them too.

If he has gone for £50m as widely reported, is this even worse than Pogba's fee? £89m is a lot for one player but £50m for a CB?

I'm guessing the Homegrown player rule would add to the price.
 
Look, I have no disillusions that if Real Madrid stumped up the cash he would be a Madrid player now, but to all those fucks that kept saying "lol why would he want to go back to Manure?" - eat some fucking crow. The guy genuinely loves United and Manchester.

I've seen United play and have visited Manchester.

It's definitely the money.

pogba1.png
 
I don't think it will ever happen, especially under Mourinho, but I would love to see a midfield three of TFM, Pogba and Pereira develop.

If Mourinho is going to be playing a 4-2-3-1 I'd love to see Pogba and TFM start to build up a partnership there.

With the players they have brought in, guys like Martial and De Gea already being in the squad and a lot of very promising youngsters coming through I'm feeling really good about Man Utd just now.
 
I've seen United play and have visited Manchester.

It's definitely the money.

pogba1.png

The sooner fans accept that the vast majority of players/managers aren't driven by some super duper special brand of loyalty and love, the better.

There are exceptions of course, but still.
 
"My mom said I'd be back at United"

"It's like I went on vacation and now I'm back home"

"It feels like destiny"

"I haven't finished what I started here"

"Everyone has to listen to their mother"

- Pogba from United first interview

lol that's so cringeworthy, he's a mercenary, he'll say anything for money
 
Stones for 47.5 makes Pogba look a bargain.

Not to say Stones will be a flop, but he had a poor season and is far from proven. Pogba is a proven winner, bordering on World Class.
 
The sooner fans accept that the vast majority of players/managers aren't driven by some super duper special brand of loyalty and love, the better.

There are exceptions of course, but still.

I never suggested he wasn't interested in the money, but just watch his recent interview and his past comments about United, he seems genuinely happy to be back. Yeah, he's getting a shit ton of money, but I get no vibe like with Di Maria that he's only moving here because no one else was in for him for him so he settled for United and a briefcase of money. He spent his formative years as a pro player here, has friends and family here, I think he has some affinity for the club and area.
 
Stones is very good but wreckless. Think they could train that out of him though. English premium with that fee.
 
I never suggested he wasn't interested in the money, but just watch his recent interview and his past comments about United, he seems genuinely happy to be back. Yeah, he's getting a shit ton of money, but I get no vibe like with Di Maria that he's only moving here because no one else was in for him for him so he settled for United and a briefcase of money. He spent his formative years as a pro player here, has friends and family here, I think he has some affinity for the club and area.

Probably some truth to it but money obviously and he is young enough to have another mega transfer later down the line. Win win.
 
I never suggested he wasn't interested in the money, but just watch his recent interview and his past comments about United, he seems genuinely happy to be back. Yeah, he's getting a shit ton of money, but I get no vibe like with Di Maria that he's only moving here because no one else was in for him for him so he settled for United and a briefcase of money. He spent his formative years as a pro player here, has friends and family here, I think he has some affinity for the club and area.

He could very well be one of those exceptions, of course. I've just seen the same song and dance so many times that I'd always recommend caution - particularly in this stage of the hype cycle.

Either way, it's an excellent signing for United. If he does the business then it all becomes moot.
 
Pogba is a proven winner, bordering on World Class.

This doesn't mean anything.

Man Utd purchased Rooney from the same club and he hadn't won anything with them IIRC.I can also give lots of examples of players that have won loads that have been massive flops.

And as mentioned before,The homegrown rule will have inflated the price as it did with Sterling and a plethora of other English players in the premiership.

Only time will tell on these transfers. I hope we get a few great teams this year, because I thought the overall quality of premiership last season was lacking.
 
Stones is a good signing, but considering how City have failed to improve Sterling I'd worry that their coaching methods will yet again be tested with Stones. He's far from fully rounded as of yet, still very rough.

As for Stones chat in comparison to Man Utd, Bailly does seem like a solid signing (and for less). He played well in the charity shield match. Pace and strength are absolutely vital in the prem league for CD's these days.

His Cantona kung fu like challenge (more jump than kick) on a yellow card had me a little worried though lol. The strikers in the prem league are masters at baiting defenders and we really don't need someone who gets sent off a lot. In saying that though Mr Mike Smalling and his constant shirt pulling is bound to be tested this year if refs do actually clamp down. Smalling is a fucking idiot in that regard. CONSTANTLY does it. Even when he is on a booking.
 
He could very well be one of those exceptions, of course. I've just seen the same song and dance so many times that I'd always recommend caution - particularly in this stage of the hype cycle.

Either way, it's an excellent signing for United. If he does the business then it all becomes moot.
Di Maria supposedly wanted to play for United as a kid and apparently even wore the jersey, so yeah I'm not going to say categorically that he isn't here primarily for the money. But even if he is a mercenary, I doubt many City fans cared when Toure was bulldozing through midfield and hitting them home from 30 yards. I've stopped romanticizing football as soon as Moyes walked in the door and Mourinho went to Chelsea.

Stones has been confirmed

£47.5million

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37020275

So Stones and Luiz are the two most expensive defenders? hmm
 
Di Maria supposedly wanted to play for United as a kid and apparently even wore the jersey, so yeah I'm not going to say categorically that he isn't here primarily for the money. But even if he is a mercenary, I doubt many City fans cared when Toure was bulldozing through midfield and hitting them home from 30 yards. I've stopped romanticizing football as soon as Moyes walked in the door and Mourinho went to Chelsea.



So Stones and Luiz are the two most expensive defenders? hmm

Van Gaal absolutely slayed Di Maria. He was already having some personal issues settling (robbery attempt) and then big Louis comes in and kills creative freedom on the pitch for a player in the vein of Ronaldo like attacking freedom.

Mourinho showed more creative freedom in the charity shield match than LVG did in a whole season (allowing Martial/Ibra/Rooney/Lingard to switch around at will). Even if Shaw hadn't broke his leg LVG would have eventually castrated him. Maybe best he did actually break it... (not really, but...)

Looking back at LVG and what he tried to do over the two years is one hell of a sobering experience. He couldn't have gotten it more wrong. To go from Moyes, someone completely out of his depth at this level, to LVG, someone with the reputation and arrogance needed but the completely wrong style of play for the Prem league shows how badly Man Utd had no idea how to replace Fergie. The fact we scraped an FA cup win is unbelievable. Although it helped the other big boys shat the bed in that competition.
 
This doesn't mean anything.

Man Utd purchased Rooney from the same club and he hadn't won anything with them IIRC.I can also give lots of examples of players that have won loads that have been massive flops.

And as mentioned before,The homegrown rule will have inflated the price as it did with Sterling and a plethora of other English players in the premiership.

Only time will tell on these transfers. I hope we get a few great teams this year, because I thought the overall quality of premiership last season was lacking.

Of course it means something.

The chance of him being successful is much higher. He's 23 and already top in his position. Yes it could go wrong. He could get a massive injury that wrecks his career. He could lose focus completely. He could have been carried by Juventus' overall quality (unlikely). These are the risks of almost every transfer.

Stones could be great too. But he hasn't even had a great season yet. He's had flashes of quality. His last season was poor. He's more hype than reality at the moment. I'm glad he is going to work with Guardiola who is a coach that can really instil strong tactical awareness - something English coaches are inept at - but he is a very rough diamond.

The thing with Pogba is that he is only one year older than Stones and yet is far better(relative to position) and more successful.
 
Van Gaal absolutely slayed Di Maria. He was already having some personal issues settling (robbery attempt) and then big Louis comes in and kills creative freedom on the pitch for a player in the vein of Ronaldo like attacking freedom.

Mourinho showed more creative freedom in the charity shield match than LVG did in a whole season (allowing Martial/Ibra/Rooney/Lingard to switch around at will). Even if Shaw hadn't broke his leg LVG would have eventually castrated him. Maybe best he did actually break it... (not really, but...)

Looking back at LVG and what he tried to do over the two years is one hell of a sobering experience. He couldn't have gotten it more wrong. To go from Moyes, someone completely out of his depth at this level, to LVG, someone with the reputation and arrogance needed but the completely wrong style of play for the Prem league shows how badly Man Utd had no idea how to replace Fergie. The fact we scraped an FA cup win is unbelievable. Although it helped the other big boys shat the bed in that competition.

Yeah, I do think playing under LVG was definitely a major part in Di Maria wanting to get out (I wouldn't want to play under a strict headmaster type manager if I was a creative player either), but I personally think that if PSG didn't have any FFP issues that summer then he would have gone to Paris. The difference between Pogba and Di Maria, was that Di Maria was being practically forced out of Madrid so he had to settle for United, whereas Pogba was wanted be Juventus who consistently said that they would only let Pogba go if he asked to leave. Pogba could have bided his time, played as the fulcrum in a strong Juve team and gone far in the CL, and got his move to Madrid in a couple of years. We were the only option for Di Maria, I don't think his heart was ever set here. Now, if Mourinho was our manager at the time then things might have been different, because he always speaks highly of Jose.
 
So out the door will be:

McNair
Blackett
Pereira
Januzaj*
Schweinsteiger*
Wilson
Keane

Which will leave us with a potentially very strong 28-man squad.
Getting really excited now!

* :'(
 
I wouldn't get rid of Pereira just yet. I think the kid has what it takes, he just needs a proper run in the team. The rest? I don't see a future for any of them at United (Januzaj just doesn't seem to have his head in the game unfortunately). That said, I'd sooner get rid of Rooney, Memphis, Young and Fellaini.
 
Its a win-win-win situation for all parties in regards to Stones.

We got huge amount of money for a defender who was under performing for us, didn't have the heart to stay at Everton and added an unwanted tension at the club. Now we can go for Ashley Williams who is a proven experienced defender and another young CB while promoting our youngsters to first team.

Man Cirt got a young, ENGLISH, talented defender that is staying on a log contract and has the potential to be one of the best CB out there. John Stones get to train under Pep, will play in CL and will learn a lot playing alongside world class players.

Happy with this deal and hopefully we get replacements who can make us competitive again. Now that we got Welsh as a sporting Director, a Top 6 might not be out of reach if we get clever signings.

It's been reported that Barnsley will get up to 9million of the transfer fee.

Great pay day for them.

No

6.6 Million which was around a bit less than 15% of overall sales.
 
Its a win-win-win situation for all parties in regards to Stones.

We got huge amount of money for a defender who was under performing for us, didn't have the heart to stay at Everton and added an unwanted tension at the club. Now we can go for Ashley Williams who is a proven experienced defender and another young CB while promoting our youngsters to first team.

Man Cirt got a young, ENGLISH, talented defender that is staying on a log contract and has the potential to be one of the best CB out there. John Stones get to train under Pep, will play in CL and will learn a lot playing alongside world class players.

Happy with this deal and hopefully we get replacements who can make us competitive again. Now that we got Welsh as a sporting Director, a Top 6 might not be out of reach if we get clever signings.

It's confirmed, mate. I honestly think you're getting a better player, potential and age issues be damned.
 
Don't really understand people moaning about this. One of the best players in the world chooses to come to the premier league for a world record fee. Pogba is not fully developed but he comes pre-prepared with swagger, ridiculous technique and perfect physicality. Mourinho could turn him into a total monster.

Stones to city is far worse, 50m for a defender who was dropped last season and doesn't start for his national side.

Just be grateful you haven't spunked 5m on Grant Hanley.
 
It's confirmed, mate. I honestly think you're getting a better player, potential and age issues be damned.

I am so excited. such a good news. Jagielka and Williams....

now if we can get rid of Lukaku...

Stones to city is far worse, 50m for a defender who was dropped last season and doesn't start for his national side.

He wasn't dropped. In fact he played most of our games last season. and National Side who keeps employing Cahil is a bar for a quality?

Lol
 
Mandzukic is a box striker and on average he scored less than Zaza. A first striker who does not score is an useless striker. People cling too much to that shitty UCL 2013 final goal which was 30% Ribery, 69% Robben and 1% him for showing up on the goal line for a comfy tap-in.
There's still Bayern fans that claim he always shows up and use that goal as an example. Gets on my titts how stupid it sounds, not going to lie.
 
Don't really understand people moaning about this. One of the best players in the world chooses to come to the premier league for a world record fee. Pogba is not fully developed but he comes pre-prepared with swagger, ridiculous technique and perfect physicality. Mourinho could turn him into a total monster.

Stones to city is far worse, 50m for a defender who was dropped last season and doesn't start for his national side.

Just be grateful you haven't spunked 5m on Grant Hanley.

Essentially I want Man Utds version of Toure, expect with the potential to be much better. Can't beat a tall, strong midfielder who has some pace and can fucking smack the ball.

We've missed the strength and presence of Keane and the skill and technique of Scholes for too long. Pogba could be both, albeit it with less aggression than Keane cause no one is going to out-Keane Keane.

Carrick has been insanely consistent, but he lacks strength and presence and is more so Mr Calm and a great passer. It would be good if we could turn Schneiderlin into Carrick 2.0, and let Pogba be more attacking. With Martial on the wing/striker and those two, the French revolution!

All I can say is FM17 for a Man Utd fan will be great. Although I sense a massive fucking nerf to Depays potential incoming LOL (he's pretty amazing in FM16). They better not nerf Pogba either, he's a fucking beast in FM16 (maybe a bit too good given when FM16 was researched and made). One thing is for sure though Ibrahimovic is going to have a pace stat of about 7! /notbothered If he retires after a season he'll be my assistant manager as well!
 
How is this thread so active and yet the Football OT stays so quiet, c'mon people.
 
How is this thread so active and yet the Football OT stays so quiet, c'mon people.

I suppose its because the new members aren't as active as the old ones. It takes ages for members to be friendly and post regularly and comfortably.

At least it moves faster than poor old Alt/Indie thread :(
 
He sure did piss off a lot of Juve fans with his holiday comments lol.

I don't think he meant for it to come across that his time with Juve was a holiday, just that returning to Manchester felt like coming back from a long holiday, which is totally understandable, and not in anyway condescending to Juve. Anyone who has gone back somewhere where they spent part of their childhood can surely relate to this. Unless you're referencing the Juventuz forum or some twitter fucks, in which case who the fuck cares what those guys think?
 
I don't think he meant for it to come across that his time with Juve was a holiday, just that returning to Manchester felt like coming back from a long holiday, which is totally understandable, and not in anyway condescending to Juve. Anyone who has visited somewhere where they spent part of their childhood can surely relate to this. Unless you're referencing the Juventuz forum or some twitter fucks, in which case who the fuck cares what those guys think?

Yeah I'm basing my sentiments on the social media reactions and the Juventuz forums. I just find it funny how salty they are.
 
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