FA Cup final - vs Man City 115 - Today

[viking22]

We are going to get about £15-20m for AWB as he only has a year left on his contract. We've sold the Alvaro Fernandez Carreras kid. Erik's admitted that Malacia hasn't even trained all year. Shaw is always injured.

So basically that would leave Dalot as our only full back we can rely on. And £21m raised this summer to fund a RB and a LB when the going rate for good full backs is at least £30m and sometimes double that.

We've already let Varane go on a free and he'll need to be replaced with all the funds having to come from our transfer budget and the going rate for a good young centre back is around £60-£70m.

Most likely our transfer budget (after player sales) will be in the region of £200m. And I don't see us spending half of it on defenders. And the priorities are a centre back, midfielder and striker which won't leave much change left over for a full back.

And coming off the worst season ever for defensive injuries do we really want to gamble on Shaw and Malacia's fitness? And if Dalot spends most of next season playing LB then it will mean Lindelof at RB and that would be a major weak link and Lindelof struggled to stay fit this year. So it really does seem like false economy to let AWB go for a likely £15-20m when we cannot afford a proper replacement let alone an upgrade.

[Chris]

This is a worry that nobody has touched on. Should be fine though...


Ineos is "confident" of finding a solution that allows Manchester United and Nice to compete in next season's Europa League.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos company owns a 27.7% stake in United and are in control of the club's football operations, while they completed a takeover of French club Nice in 2019.

Uefa rules restrict the influence any organisation can have over more than one club in the same competition.

An independent panel will rule on the matter before next season's competition starts in the middle of July with the qualifying rounds.

Uefa's regulations meant Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise had to alter its ownership structure last season to allow it to compete in the Europa League alongside Brighton, whose owner Tony Bloom had been a pivotal figure for both clubs.

Aston Villa and Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes faced the same scenario in the Europa Conference League.

It is also a situation Manchester City and Spanish side Girona will have to address this summer given they are both part of the City Football Group and have qualified for next season's Champions League.

If a solution is not found United would have to drop into the Conference League as they finished lower in the Premier League last season than fifth-placed Nice did in Ligue 1.

However Ineos is confident that scenario will be avoided.

"We are aware of the position of both clubs and are in direct dialogue with Uefa," it said.

"We are confident we have a route forward for next season in Europe."

Ineos also owns Swiss Super League club FC Lausanne-Sport, but they have not qualified for European competition

[viking22]

Nice is another reason why we shouldn't get overexcited about INEOS and what they can achieve at this club.

Since INEOS took over in summer of 2019 Nice's finishes have been 5th, 9th, 5th, 9th, 5th. No progress whatsoever.

[Kojak]

May 28, 2024 10:30:04 GMT viking22 said:

Nice is another reason why we shouldn't get overexcited about INEOS and what they can achieve at this club.

Since INEOS took over in summer of 2019 Nice's finishes have been 5th, 9th, 5th, 9th, 5th. No progress whatsoever.

I do think this is relevant but also need to consider there’s a big difference between what you can do with Nice and what you can do with Manchester United.

Every club has a ceiling, especially now the FFP is actually being regulated in the wake of the City charges. Our ceiling is higher than theirs.

We’ve still won some trophies under the worst ownership structure in world football. Having INEOS involved won’t make us any worse.

[safariRed]

May 28, 2024 9:22:22 GMT viking22 said:

We are going to get about £15-20m for AWB as he only has a year left on his contract. We've sold the Alvaro Fernandez Carreras kid. Erik's admitted that Malacia hasn't even trained all year. Shaw is always injured.

So basically that would leave Dalot as our only full back we can rely on. And £21m raised this summer to fund a RB and a LB when the going rate for good full backs is at least £30m and sometimes double that.

We've already let Varane go on a free and he'll need to be replaced with all the funds having to come from our transfer budget and the going rate for a good young centre back is around £60-£70m.

Most likely our transfer budget (after player sales) will be in the region of £200m. And I don't see us spending half of it on defenders. And the priorities are a centre back, midfielder and striker which won't leave much change left over for a full back.

And coming off the worst season ever for defensive injuries do we really want to gamble on Shaw and Malacia's fitness? And if Dalot spends most of next season playing LB then it will mean Lindelof at RB and that would be a major weak link and Lindelof struggled to stay fit this year. So it really does seem like false economy to let AWB go for a likely £15-20m when we cannot afford a proper replacement let alone an upgrade.

I think as a backup you won't find better than AWB and we should be keeping him at all costs.

[safariRed]

May 28, 2024 10:14:11 GMT Chris said:

This is a worry that nobody has touched on. Should be fine though...


Ineos is "confident" of finding a solution that allows Manchester United and Nice to compete in next season's Europa League.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos company owns a 27.7% stake in United and are in control of the club's football operations, while they completed a takeover of French club Nice in 2019.

Uefa rules restrict the influence any organisation can have over more than one club in the same competition.

An independent panel will rule on the matter before next season's competition starts in the middle of July with the qualifying rounds.

Uefa's regulations meant Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise had to alter its ownership structure last season to allow it to compete in the Europa League alongside Brighton, whose owner Tony Bloom had been a pivotal figure for both clubs.

Aston Villa and Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes faced the same scenario in the Europa Conference League.

It is also a situation Manchester City and Spanish side Girona will have to address this summer given they are both part of the City Football Group and have qualified for next season's Champions League.

If a solution is not found United would have to drop into the Conference League as they finished lower in the Premier League last season than fifth-placed Nice did in Ligue 1.

However Ineos is confident that scenario will be avoided.

"We are aware of the position of both clubs and are in direct dialogue with Uefa," it said.

"We are confident we have a route forward for next season in Europe."

Ineos also owns Swiss Super League club FC Lausanne-Sport, but they have not qualified for European competition

I hope they don't allow it, I don't want to see a 115City Vs Girona CL final.

[Chris]

May 29, 2024 5:16:13 GMT safariRed said:

May 28, 2024 10:14:11 GMT Chris said:

This is a worry that nobody has touched on. Should be fine though...


Ineos is "confident" of finding a solution that allows Manchester United and Nice to compete in next season's Europa League.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe's Ineos company owns a 27.7% stake in United and are in control of the club's football operations, while they completed a takeover of French club Nice in 2019.

Uefa rules restrict the influence any organisation can have over more than one club in the same competition.

An independent panel will rule on the matter before next season's competition starts in the middle of July with the qualifying rounds.

Uefa's regulations meant Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise had to alter its ownership structure last season to allow it to compete in the Europa League alongside Brighton, whose owner Tony Bloom had been a pivotal figure for both clubs.

Aston Villa and Portuguese side Vitoria Guimaraes faced the same scenario in the Europa Conference League.

It is also a situation Manchester City and Spanish side Girona will have to address this summer given they are both part of the City Football Group and have qualified for next season's Champions League.

If a solution is not found United would have to drop into the Conference League as they finished lower in the Premier League last season than fifth-placed Nice did in Ligue 1.

However Ineos is confident that scenario will be avoided.

"We are aware of the position of both clubs and are in direct dialogue with Uefa," it said.

"We are confident we have a route forward for next season in Europe."

Ineos also owns Swiss Super League club FC Lausanne-Sport, but they have not qualified for European competition

I hope they don't allow it, I don't want to see a 115City Vs Girona CL final.

United are the biggest team in the Europa. They need us in it.

[viking22]

I don't think the issue is insurmountable.

It is a very good thing that we haven't yet used Nice as a feeder club or done any transfer dealings with them (even though Todibo and Thuram would be nice additions to our squad). And the only overlap in footballing hierarchy is Jean-Claude Blanc and that is only a temporary situation while we wait for Berrada to join. And a 25% ownership stake is below the 30% limit (although clearly it is a little different in our case because that 25% gives us full control over footballing operations).

But I think it is the least of our worries and will get sorted out. And really Europa League is a competition we should be winning now that clubs cannot drop down from the Champions League.

[Diablo Rouge]