January Transfer Window 2017/18

Robbo · 14 Jan 2018 at 20:45

Yes, pretty much every journalist connected to United/City/Arsenal thinks we're in pole position. The more bitter ones are blaming money which, considering where City have come from, is rather comical to say the least.

The Chilean journalist I mentioned (who happens to be in Salford) has covered Sanchez quite closely and just tweeted out the following:

Maks Cárdenas @MaksCardenas
When Sánchez was a kid in Chile United was Top 3 club in the World. Any player of his generation would love to play in Old Trafford.

To put this in perspective, he appeared on a Man City podcast the other day saying a move to City wasn't far off.

Wenger himself said the move is imminent so I think we'll find something out tomorrow, or perhaps even at 10pm later when the papers etc start coming out.

I know he's just turned 29 but 2-3 good seasons out of him would be worthwhile, especially in our current position. Signing absolute top level players is never easy or straightforward.

BaZ87 · 14 Jan 2018 at 20:59

Robbo said:
I know he's just turned 29 but 2-3 good seasons out of him would be worthwhile...

If the figures being reported are true then it's frighteningly expensive. You're looking at £35m per season if you get 3 good seasons out of him.

explicit4u · 14 Jan 2018 at 21:04

BaZ87 said:
If the figures being reported are true then it's frighteningly expensive. You're looking at £35m per season if you get 3 good seasons out of him.

For Sanchez?

Didn't we accept a £55mil bid for him in the summer, how could he be worth more now?

sneakysnail · 14 Jan 2018 at 21:16

explicit4u said:
For Sanchez?

Didn't we accept a £55mil bid for him in the summer, how could he be worth more now?

I think he's including wages in that. Would hope so anyway

adam cool dude · 14 Jan 2018 at 21:25

BaZ87 said:
If the figures being reported are true then it's frighteningly expensive. You're looking at £35m per season if you get 3 good seasons out of him.

We paid £25 million for Van Persie which would have been double in today's market and we got a premier league out of him.

BaZ87 · 14 Jan 2018 at 21:28

adam cool dude said:
We paid £25 million for Van Persie which would have been double in today's market and we got a premier league out of him.

Van Perie was the best forward in the League, Sanchez isn't. Van Persie was hugely expensive though, you're right. The reported wages being offered to Sanchez is what makes this deal so expensive though.

explicit4u said:
For Sanchez?

Didn't we accept a £55mil bid for him in the summer, how could he be worth more now?

As sneaky says, I was looking at the total value of the deal. The talk is of a £30m fee, £400k per week to Sanchez (I assume that will include any signing on fee to him) and £10m+ to his agent. Over 3 years that's £100m+.

Shamikebab · 14 Jan 2018 at 22:04

BaZ87 said:
If the figures being reported are true then it's frighteningly expensive. You're looking at £35m per season if you get 3 good seasons out of him.

Is that expensive? That seems about par for top players now, if not cheaper.

BaZ87 · 14 Jan 2018 at 22:27

Shamikebab said:
Is that expensive? That seems about par for top players now, if not cheaper.

Of course it's that expensive and as above, it's the reported wages that make it so expensive.

The transfer fee in isolation is pretty much on a par with what you paid for Pogba. You didn't spend £90-100m to sign Pogba for the length of the contract you gave him, you spent it to get a player that could be your central midfielder for the next 9-10 years and even if he didn't stay that long you could potentially sell him on. In 3 years Sanchez is going to have little to no resale value so the £40m (reported transfer + agent fee) would be costing Utd £13m per season. If you get 9 years out of Pogba then his fee (including the reported £16m paid to his agent) is costing you around £11.6m per season. As above, the big difference is the wages - Pogba's on £250k per week(?) which takes his total cost per season to just under £25m per season, where as if you're really offering Sanchez £400k that would take his yearly cost up to near £34m.

dannyjo22 · 14 Jan 2018 at 22:40

He’s 29? Past his peak and having to pay silly money to an agent and huge wages for a player a few months from a free. United should also tell him nah. There’s little reason to pay 40 million with agent fees right now as the signing won’t change the season much for either team.

Let him stay where he is until June.

The_One · 14 Jan 2018 at 22:52

Gathering pace now

Matt Law‏Verified account @Matt_Law_DT
Hearing Aubmayeng expects to join a new club in the next 24 hours. Arsenal...?

Arsenal have agreed terms with Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to make him the highest earner in the club's history, according to Bundesliga expert Lee Price

Shamikebab · 14 Jan 2018 at 23:07

See Baz you're comparing him to a transfer pre Neymar. That is just pointless, the world has changed. Look at how much Coutinho cost compared to De Bruyne.

Robbo · 14 Jan 2018 at 23:09

All transfers will sound considerably more expensive when you add in wages and agent fees etc (which are often unclear).

It's very expensive, but it's really just what you'd expect a rich club to pay for a top player, even with his contract running down.

drunkenmaster · 14 Jan 2018 at 23:11

Utd spending 400k a week(if that is true and not some lets add agent fees, transfer fee, signing bonus and wages together bs) then Utd are getting robbed and it's a great deal for Arsenal. He's simply not worth 400k a week, he's just turned 29 and he's not that good. I said before he signed and I'll say now, he's best not dribbling, not holding on to it too long, one/two touch then pass or shoot is where he's best. He has games his dribbling works, but most games he wastes so much of the ball and not in the "he's creative so it's worth it" way, just in a omg that was stupid and never going to work way.

I'd have happily kept him at 150k a week, maybe even pushing to 200k a week but I feel more than that is just taking the club for a ride. You can't build around him, he's 29, he can't play through the middle though he thinks he can and he seems to be doing a bit of a Rooney and thinks he should drop and get on the ball more rather than focus on what he's best at. When he doesn't hold the ball too much he can be exceptionally effect and have magic games but for 300k+ a week Utd seem to be throwing his way, I think there are far better options who will turn out much better over the next 4 years.

Not sure what Utd are planning, screwing Martial as both prefer wide left, one of them playing wide right, playing Sanchez through the middle, we'll see.

City are doing the right thing, as the cost increased for a 29 yr old he becomes awful value who will just take development time from a young offence that needs to be playing plenty. Never understood why they were really interested. They probably some depth in central midfield and maybe a CB more than another attacker.

If Auba and Malcolm are true, sounds like Wenger is less involved with player buying and those guys we brought in from Dortmund and somewhere else iirc, are doing their job. but I don't think Wenger will get the best out of them. OX had games like today throughout his time at Arsenal, but we're talking about 1-2 games a season at that level and usually had a game losing mistake or two in those same games. I said at the time, he wasn't a 40mil player for us, but I've only ever seen him playing under Wenger who hasn't improved him one bit since he joined, he'd never be a 40mil player while with us but a better manager might turn him around.

Wenger still needs to go but at least if someone sensible is in charge of transfers the next manager won't have as weak a squad to start with.

drunkenmaster · 14 Jan 2018 at 23:13

Shamikebab said:
See Baz you're comparing him to a transfer pre Neymar. That is just pointless, the world has changed. Look at how much Coutinho cost compared to De Bruyne.

Back in 2000 and all the way to today, certain clubs like making 'statements' with their signings. The world hasn't moved on, City are just deciding to spend their money well and not getting caught up in the yearly hyped up transfer while... Utd, Real, barcelona love that ****. They'll spend 140mil just, literally just to say hah, we spent more than Real. It's pathetic but they've been doing it for years. They would spend 30mil on a player while everyone else was spending 5mil and today they are spending 140mil where everyone else spends mostly 15-30mil. PRices move on but 140mil isn't the new standard, it's the same insane 'statement' buying that has gone on for nearly twenty years.

BaZ87 · 14 Jan 2018 at 23:18

Shamikebab said:
See Baz you're comparing him to a transfer pre Neymar. That is just pointless, the world has changed. Look at how much Coutinho cost compared to De Bruyne.

Compare the total cost of Coutinho and Sanchez then. Coutinho's yearly cost is going to be around £30m per season. You're paying more on an inferior player (certainly over the past 18 months) that effectively has 4 months left on his contract.

Again, it's not the transfer fee that makes the deal so expensive, it's the reported wages that you're offering him. £400k per week is quite possibly only less than Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar.

*And Coutinho today is better than De Bruyne when City signed him.

Robbo · 14 Jan 2018 at 23:21

Will the wages really be that high? What's he on at Arsenal? City wouldn't offer much more than he's on now, so while we may offer more, we wouldn't have to go overboard.

It's more than affordable though so ultimately I don't really care, as long as it doesn't negatively affect us financially going forward (and it won't).

As for Sanchez not being that good, he's pretty damn good. Comfortably one of the best attackers around.

BaZ87 · 14 Jan 2018 at 23:29

Robbo said:
Will the wages really be that high? What's he on at Arsenal? City wouldn't offer much more than he's on now, so while we may offer more, we wouldn't have to go overboard.

These are just the figures being reported. No idea what he's on at Arsenal but the talk has been that City are offering him £250k per week and that Utd have manoeuvred their way in by offering Arsenal & him/his agent far more.

Robbo said:
As for Sanchez not being that good, he's pretty damn good. Comfortably one of the best attackers around.

A goal or assist every 150 minutes which puts him 23rd out of every player that's scored 5 of more PL goals this season. To put that into perspective, Mo 'all the goals' Salah is first with a goal or assist every 70minutes.

He definitely was an excellent player but he's not played like one consistently enough in the past 18 months. How much that has to do with being a moody ****, I don't know.

Robbo · 14 Jan 2018 at 23:34

Let's not forget that while City have run away with the league and are playing very well, we had a better season than them last season and they actually won nothing. Things can change very quickly (in either direction).

BaZ87 said:
He definitely was an excellent player but he's not played like one consistently enough in the past 18 months. How much that has to do with being a moody ****, I don't know.

I think both he and Ozil have wanted out for some time, they play well in bursts. Sanchez had a few good performances over the past couple of months, I remember that impressive snap shot against Crystal Palace not long ago.

BaZ87 · 14 Jan 2018 at 23:47

Robbo said:
Let's not forget that while City have run away with the league and are playing very well, we had a better season than them last season and they actually won nothing. Things can change very quickly (in either direction).

Slightly unfair to compare your two seasons. City were playing CL teams where as you were playing League 1 sides in the Europa and you fluked your way to the League Cup thanks to some terrible refereeing decisions, including in the game where you beat City's reserves

Robbo said:
I think both he and Ozil have wanted out for some time, they play well in bursts. Sanchez had a few good performances over the past couple of months, I remember that impressive snap shot against Crystal Palace not long ago.

Ozil's played well in bursts ever since he joined

18 months was probably a bit harsh on Sanchez but ever since the 2nd half of last season he's spent more time sighing and stood with his hands on his hips than he has playing football. If there's one area Utd have already got covered it's the petulant ****s department - Pogba and in particular Lukaku love a good sulk.

Seriously though, he's clearly a hugely talented player but his attitude has stunk for some time and if (and it's only an if) money is the decisive factor for him then you've got to wonder just how much fight and commitment he'll show when the going gets tough at Utd.

Robbo · 15 Jan 2018 at 09:10

I’m not saying it was a good season for us, but it was better than theirs, because theirs wasn’t good at all. I don’t think the roles will have reversed, but it’s not impossible, as you say.

City and Pep have actually won nothing yet, and people are talking as if they are an unstoppable force for years to come. Man Utd and Chelsea both have the capability to match and even surpass them (maybe Liverpool too).

I am pretty much always critical of the team and the manager, but let’s not get too carried away in the opposite direction either (though I appreciate that’s difficult for you).