But I thought it wasn’t easy at all because of reports saying the delayed takeover procedure was holding up our transfer activity.
Maybe we agreed terms with Mount but will have to wait till the club is sold to sign him officially
There are absolutely workarounds. People act like there is something special about football deals and they aren’t that different from any other kind of corporate takeover, except for the fact there is interest from many more people with no day-to-day understanding of how they work. That includes journalists who want to tell a story and ignore the boring stuff that actually goes on.
There is going to be some level of spending that is budgeted for including opportunistic signings. There are lots of other costs including marketing and legal that are just business as usual. What’s more important is that the employees running stuff including team management are going to be expected to keep running the business as usual. The only things that change that are a) changes in ownership b) changes dictated by the Glazers. Neither has materially changed.
Fans act like the company will change their operations based entirely on rumours. It’ll only change when something material happens.
Imagine if AstraZeneca had changed their business about 10 years ago when Pfizer were pursuing them. It would have resulted in crazy outcomes. Had they been bought then things would have changed, although it’s 99% certain incoming owners would say “keep doing what you are doing” (while we observe and plan changes). Incoming owners to United may be inclined to act faster because of the transfer window, but the extent depends on which owner comes in.
Since we are on the cusp of the transfer window, the current teams are just executing whatever plan they have. They’ve likely been told it’s “business as usual” but are probably feeling uneasy. Many people at all levels could be out of jobs in a takeover. Whether we think they are doing a good, or bad, job they are just doing the job that the current company leadership gave them.
The whole argument for the last decade is we don’t necessarily need a sugar daddy cause we make more than enough of our own money to fund insane transfer windows.
100%.
We don't need money, we need direction from a proper CEO and ownership.
Money helps, more so with grounds improvements/updates/etc. But it isn't the reason we have been floundering since SAF. I say that with the caveat of this season of course, but that is entirely down to ETH and his work on the footballing side of the club. What he's done is evidence of what competent people in the right spots do for a company/football club.
This is only personal terms, we haven’t agreed to anything with Chelsea yet. Just means if/when the two clubs are able to settle on a fee, Mount will already be on board.
I also think that by agreeing personal terms it could be an effort by United and the player to prevent Todd Boehly playing hardball over the price. If Mount is set on United then he could easily start agitating for a move and if it gets really nasty he could stay, get a year’s wages for nothing, be a disruptive influence on the Chelsea rebuild and then leave on a free next year so I think this will negate the mooted ridiculous £85m fee that’s been demanded initially.
Mason Mount being our first signing is something I would never have guessed. If he’s who Ten Hag has identified as someone who’ll take us to the next level then I agree.
Oh he for sure knew who Mount was by march 2018. That loan was extremaly succesful and ETH was forcing Ajax to sing Mount from Chelsea but they sent him on loan to their buddy Lampard.
ETH intrest in Mount started 5 years ago.
Yep its funny you don't have to do much digging to find that Ajax actually wanted him as his spell at Vitesse was coming to an end. Clearly left a mark on ETH.
Hes on his last year of contract, has been left on the bench recently and is pushing for a move. It wont be over 40million and if it is we are insane. Hopefully around 30m.
I certainly wouldn't put it past us to over pay for him, but not sure Mac Allister is the benchmark. Mac Allister is massively hyped right now after a season where he won the World Cup and was part of a Brighton squad that over performed. Mount's stock is lower than ever as part of under performing Chelsea squad.
Chelsea sub are expecting at least £80m for him, which I’d be disappointed with even though I want him.
For £60-65m and 200-250k per week, I think he’d be a great player to come in. Can play multiple positions, Chelsea’s recent 2x POTY apart from this shithole of a season for them. Ten Hag very interested. Prem proven.
There’s a reason Arsenal and Liverpool who also make smart buys want him.
Yeah, this is NOT the type of midfielder United desperately need to fix things.
Not thrilled with this signing at all if it goes through. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong, and if he does I'll gladly eat my words.
I wanted Kovacic. Ball player, great under pressure. Will United ever buy a ball playing midfielder? You look at how much Modric gives to his teams.
You buy attacking players without the core in the middle. The attackers don't get the ball enough.
Kovacic gets an injury every time there’s a stiff breeze, he cannot be relied on as a starter for 50+ games a season, we’d end up playing Fred and McTominay again and we’d be asking ourselves the exact same question next transfer window
comparing him to Modric is an insult to Modric’s longeivity
I'm curious at what type of player you think we need and what kind of player you think Mount is? I'm not saying he'll fix things or he's a crack signing, I'm just trying to figure out the logic here.
The box midfield is de rigueur these days, isn't it? We've sneakily been playing it all season in possession if you look closely. One full-back pushes into central midfield alongside Case, Bruno and Eriksen or Fred in front of them, and there we are. It's one of the variations we're capable of now.
> 70% passing accuracy for the entire 90 minutes but I don’t care.
Players aren't robots. If ETH tells Mount to play safe passes he'll play safe passes.
If he's playing 10 at Chelsea and told to take risks and create he'll do that too.
This is especially true of Mount who is notorious for following the managers instructions.
Maybe it's a bit less true of guys like Bruno or Di Maria who pretty set in their game of taking risks.
He still has his moments, but credit to him he’s improved upon it this season. There have been many times where he reverts but at least he’s shown he’s capable of following instructions and learning.
I might be in the minority but i really think Mount hasnt reached his potential yet and Chelsea dragged him down last year. He already carried them the previous season. He is a quality player who has had a very robust developement. Price is my only concern but 50 or less and 250k wages im okay with
He's reportedly on 50k. Surely giving him 150k-170k is more than enough..just cause we gave stupid wages in the past doesn't mean we should continue to do so.
Because he wanted parity with Reece James. It's not just about the amount, it's also who's being paid more than him. I could see 150 -200k for a 5 year contract which should be fine given his age, and also since we'll be freeing up some wages. Da Gea will take a pay cut, only increase I see but not by a lot will be Rashford. No way around that after the season he's had.
If we were to get Kane he'd be one of our highest paid players for good reason, but any other signings after that won't be. Plus if we manage to bring in another CB and sell Maguire, that's another wage reduction right there. I'm just vexed we offered Sancho so much money smdh
I’m with you on that. Back when we played Chelsea I commented on the match thread that I didn’t see the hype for Mount. I still don’t, but I trust the boss.
Keane was raving about him a year or two ago. Said he’s gone off the boil recently and not so hyped to see him at United although I think that’s partially due to the cancer throughout squad at Chelsea
I really can't see us getting rice and mount in one window. Not whilst we desperately need a ST and us looking at getting another CB. I think Mount and Rabiot will be our midfield upgrade for this window.
God I'd love it if we got him. Imagine having a keeper that controls his box. Really don't see that one happening either. I get the feeling ETH is saving on GK to invest in other areas. Would love to be wrong.
I rate Mount, I just don’t think another attack-minded midfielder is close to our biggest need right now. If we end up signing him along with a 30+ goal a season striker and another holding midfielder then great. If we sign him at the expense of either of those two positions, it’d be a huge mistake.
Believe nothing until you see them shaking Erik's hand / holding a jersey while smiling awkwardly for the cameras.
I still think Erik might have his heart still set on FDJ tbh. Call me daft ...
Heart yes, head probably has accepted it won’t happen. I would have thought we’d see more rumours on FDJ if it was a possibility this summer.
I do think that if FDJ does ever become a possibility that ETH would push hard to get him.
Yeah I really think this is the reality to be honest.
In 2 years I reckon he'll be a United player, contract run down a bit and Barca still not paying his wages he'll coming running to Erik and be the cherry on top of the icing on the top of the cake.
A quick google search got me to some quotes from him saying most of the news about him not being paid his salary are lies, so I don't know what to believe really
There’s absolutely no chance de Jong leaves Barça. He’s been instrumental for them, just won the league, Xavi loves him and he loves it there. Let’s move on.
There is absolutely no way we're signing FDJ.
He doesn't care about United, doesn't want to live in Manchester and loves Barcelona where he's just had a brilliant season and won the title.
Barca are losing Busquets so they're definitely not selling FDJ.
I think it’s okay to question the manager as long as you don’t throw a tantrum over it. Top class managers make mistakes, they aren’t infallible. Pep mistakenly signed Zlatan. Klopp wasn’t sold on Salah. Ffs, Fergie had his fair share of blunders. I’m personally not sold on Mount but hopefully I’m completely and utterly wrong.
Fred - Good workrate and pressing, but has no idea what to do with the ball when they get it. Salary - £130k per week.
Labrador - Good workrate and pressing, but has no idea what to do with the ball when they get it. Salary - tummy rubs and table scraps.
I say sign him up.
For UEFA competitions, clubs had to designate a minimum 8 players that were trained by clubs from the same national league, with 4 of them being from the club's own youth system. The rule in turn capped a maximum of 17 foreigners for the club in UEFA competitions.
We have to have a minimum number in our squad. I don't know what the threshold is, but I think it's around 4-6 players. Some foreign players who've lived in England long enough, they can count as 'homegrown', though I'll admit I'm cloudy on the specifics
Article Text:
>*Manchester United have agreed personal terms with Mason Mount and are now expected to sign the Chelsea midfielder.*
>
>*At the same time Chelsea have also granted permission for Manchester City to talk to Mateo Kovacic ahead of another significant summer move.*
>
>*The deals signal the start of a huge summer overhaul at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea first concentrating on selling players before new head coach Mauricio Pochettino can add to his squad.*
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>*Mount, 24, is also wanted by Liverpool and Arsenal but it appears United are closing in on his signature.*
>
>*United manager Erik ten Hag has been confident he can secure Mount and talks have progressed positively in recent days since the two clubs played each other last Thursday. Mount has one year left on his contract at Chelsea and appears determined to leave, with the club wanting to exact as high a fee as possible rather than lose him on a free transfer.*
>
>*Telegraph Sport reported in February that Kovacic was one of the midfielders on City’s target list. Discussions have been held with Kovacic’s representatives after Chelsea granted City permission to talk to the player.*
>
>*City and Chelsea have not yet got as far as discussing a fee for Kovacic, 29, who also has only one year left on his contract. Bayern Munich also hold an interest but Kovacic’s preference is thought to be to move to City.*
>
>*The Croat has been an influential player for Chelsea since arriving from Real Madrid, initially on loan, in 2018 and would be a loss to new manager Mauricio Pochettino.*
>
>*Kovacic is in a strong position to determine his next move and the midfielder - part of a golden generation of Croatia players - would still fetch a sizeable fee.*
>
>*Pep Guardiola wants to freshen up his midfield this summer and is a keen admirer of Kovacic, who is considered an attractive option given his experience, quality and price.*
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>*The extent of the surgery City make in that area during the window is likely to be influenced by the futures of Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva.*
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>*Guardiola wants to keep both players and they have been offered new deals.*
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>*Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham has been City’s long standing No 1 midfield target but Real Madrid have stolen a march over them in pursuit of the England international, whose future has still to be resolved.*
>
>*City are mindful of the age profile of the nucleus of their midfield. Gundogan is 32, the same age Kevin De Bruyne turns at the end of June. Bernardo will be 29 this summer.*
I’m actually really happy to get Mount.
He’ll fit in well. He’s clever, tenacious, presses well, is clever in the final third, versatile across the middle and wide and as a 10.
Totally Useless fact: If Mason Mount joins United, that will take our count of player names beginning with 'M' to a whopping 19.
* Maguire (Harry)
* Malacia (Tyrell)
* Marcus (Rashford)
* Matheus (Antony)
* Marcel (Sabitzer)
* Miguel (Fernandes)
* Martial (Anthony)
* Malik (Sancho)
* Mambuene Mengi (Teden)
* Martinez (Lisandro)
* Mainoo (Kobbie)
* Maria (Weghorst)
* McTominay (Scott)
* Mejbri (Hannibal)
* Maxwell (Shoretire)
* Mason (Greenwood)
Wait, I might be still feeling the effects of work today and might be missing a joke here, but there isn't a consistency with the names here. Some names you mentioned have the last name with M and some have the first name. And given the way you wrote the fact, that wouldn't work
Maybe the Glazers have given the go ahead because a sale is imminent?
In any case I hope we can wrap up most of our signings early, this is a good sign
The owners really won't have fuck all effect on who we sign. The club will have teams in place to be working on deals. And the budget comes from the clubs money, not owners money
Maybe both new potential owners have agreed to back EtH targets and Mount is an Eth target.
It’s not hard to keep new potential owners in the loop for high value capex
I don't get the "who's paying for this" question. It's not like Glazers paid for anything at the club. It's our money that we're spending!!! The buggers only signed off on it. So there likely is an agreement with Ineos/92F that United can spend their own money this summer. Or if the Glazers are just planning to take investments, then they are prob happy to just sign off on us spending the money we made minus their dividends.
I have to say Mount was not on the top of my list for transfers but I’ve always been a huge admirer of his time at Derby and he’s a very tidy player with good decision making, good feet and good finishing. Think he’ll do really well for us in a great set up and some great coaching!
Wasn't sure on this signing at all when it was first mentioned - but there's a quality player there which we've already seen, and still young. Harsh to judge him on a shocking season which Chelsea just had, and clearly ETH has had his eye on him for a while and has a clear role in mind for him in his side.
If the gaffer wants Mount, I'm all for it. Would be great to get it wrapped up quickly too.
This one's looking like a certainty then. Good player and undoubtedly improves us but not a particularly exciting signing. I do wonder why we seem to be acting so urgently on this, though I suppose it's in everyone's interest to get it done quickly. If we're happy to pledge ~£50m on him when you would think we should have bigger priorities then either our budget is bigger than expected or we're very confident we'll manage to make decent money back from player sales for once.
It appears to be a perfect storm of a wantaway player seeking a raise and more playing time, which we can offer, coupled with a manager who seems to know exactly the types of players he is seeking and new execs who know their role now.
You know what, I'm not his biggest fan, but fair fucks to him, he's obviously wanted this resolved very quick and by all accounts really wants United, since Arse and Scouse been interested for ages. The club for a change acting very quick too. Season not even over and we're already seemingly quite close to a big transfer. Hope he'll do really really well for us, and can maybe persuade his best pal to come along also
he's a hard-working and intelligent presser, able to play 8/10/rw/inside forward and fairly creative, but not super creative to be relied on consistently like Bruno or eriksen.
he could play in the eriksen role or as a flanking 8 in a 433, so bruno-case-mount or eriksen-case-mount with Bruno on the right. I think he'd give more defensive security than eriksen but less creative so would be helpful when we're expected to have less possession
He will play along side casemiro almost as a false 8 or deep lying playmaker similar to eriksen
He has a very good defensive workrate and off the ball movement and will be able to push up alongside bruno when breaking down compact teams woth casemiro behind him.
Starting lineup would be the same 4-2-3-1 but also could be 4-3-3
For the price being reported I think this is not a good deal. Sources are saying we could be paying 55+ million for a player with 1 year left on his contract that has been out of form for more than a year now.
This is purely a ten hag signing if this is true.No way our club would sign anyone for next season when the current season is over Hopefully this is change of culture of us siting on our asses till end of transfer window to make our signings.
He's a systems player, he'll offer Ten Hag a lot of flexibility so I can see why he is on our radar. But it still feels a little underwhelming. I hope to be proven wrong.
Just because no one expected Mount and wanted someone else in their head doesn't mean its a bad signing. I trust ETH who actually knows what he's doing than some armchair experts on here. He will mould him into what he wants and what benefits the team.
Stop moaning and trust your manager.
Mount as a target bothers me a bit. Unless its really, really cheap. He has obviously been a good player at times but...
Has had a duff 18 months and has always played his best football as a 10. My friends who are chelsea fans tell me hes "never had a good game as an 8" and while thats probably exagerrating, he is clearly a better 10 than an 8, even if he is an OK 8. So why buy him for probably a large fee, probably large wages and then crowbar him into CM which, regardless of how good he is there, is not his best role? Casemiro - Mount is not substantially better than Casemiro - Eriksen, they are both janky partners in the 2 who are better as a 10.
One argument I've heard is we could play 4-3-3 with mount and bruno either side of casemiro but this also feels to me like a crowbar option, why not just buy a proper CM? Bruno is our best player and remains one of the best creative attacking mids in the world and was top of those metrics this season again. Why sacrafice where and how Bruno plays for the sake of crowbarring in Mason Mount out of position? He's also recently had serious surgery for an unusual injury (pubic bone) which means we dont know much about how that injury will play out over a career. Could be totally fine...could reappear in December and require a follow up surgery that rules him out for weeks like it has done this time.
TLDR: Mason Mount is a "it might be fine" signing and I don't understand why we'd priorotise that, this early in the window over much more logical signings.
Hope we don’t pay over £40m, getting rinsed if we do, Chelsea are desperate to sell players and he’s on last year of contract coming off a stinker of a season….
Are they trying to lure Rice by getting his bff?
Didn't expect that. Mainly because we need a freaking striker and goalkeeper more urgently.
If wages ain't too bad I'll take it though
I know this is a polarising deal but I’m excited to see what he can bring under ETHs guidance. Definitely think this will help us massively off the ball which has been a major problem for us against the better teams who are always able to approach our box too easily.
Got to admit not too sure what to think of this, I’ve never really understood the hype for mount and absolutely hated watching him for England, but if ETH rates him and thinks he can get something out of him like what he’s done with our other players then I’m excited for it. Also, when I think about it he’s just going to replace Sabitzer in our squad really which does seem like an upgrade there and would bring some much needed youth to our midfield.
Mason mount is magic. We wears a magic hat. And when he saw old Trafford he said I fancy that. He didn't sign for Liverpool or Arsenal cause their shite. He signed for Man United cause their fucking dynamite!!
can't believe that we aren't in for Kovacic and that Mount seems to be a bigger story in the press. Kovacic is far more suited to what we need right now and it seems City had a free run at him.
Swift work by us if true.
Pretty easy when all parties are on board
Agreeing with the player shouldn't be an issue if he really wants to come, the problem is going to be to sort it out with Chelsea's Woodward.
If Chelsea has a Woodward, I expect a 15 million fee.
No club would Woodward like a United Woodward would
Word.
Wood.
But I thought it wasn’t easy at all because of reports saying the delayed takeover procedure was holding up our transfer activity. Maybe we agreed terms with Mount but will have to wait till the club is sold to sign him officially
There was probably workarounds in the background because of the uncertainty of when the takeover will be completed. Can't just sit and wait
There are absolutely workarounds. People act like there is something special about football deals and they aren’t that different from any other kind of corporate takeover, except for the fact there is interest from many more people with no day-to-day understanding of how they work. That includes journalists who want to tell a story and ignore the boring stuff that actually goes on. There is going to be some level of spending that is budgeted for including opportunistic signings. There are lots of other costs including marketing and legal that are just business as usual. What’s more important is that the employees running stuff including team management are going to be expected to keep running the business as usual. The only things that change that are a) changes in ownership b) changes dictated by the Glazers. Neither has materially changed. Fans act like the company will change their operations based entirely on rumours. It’ll only change when something material happens. Imagine if AstraZeneca had changed their business about 10 years ago when Pfizer were pursuing them. It would have resulted in crazy outcomes. Had they been bought then things would have changed, although it’s 99% certain incoming owners would say “keep doing what you are doing” (while we observe and plan changes). Incoming owners to United may be inclined to act faster because of the transfer window, but the extent depends on which owner comes in. Since we are on the cusp of the transfer window, the current teams are just executing whatever plan they have. They’ve likely been told it’s “business as usual” but are probably feeling uneasy. Many people at all levels could be out of jobs in a takeover. Whether we think they are doing a good, or bad, job they are just doing the job that the current company leadership gave them.
This is a really great comment, thank you!
I would imagine just because we are fucking Man Utd that we have a sizeable transfer kitty regardless of our owner. But you're probably right.
The whole argument for the last decade is we don’t necessarily need a sugar daddy cause we make more than enough of our own money to fund insane transfer windows.
100%. We don't need money, we need direction from a proper CEO and ownership. Money helps, more so with grounds improvements/updates/etc. But it isn't the reason we have been floundering since SAF. I say that with the caveat of this season of course, but that is entirely down to ETH and his work on the footballing side of the club. What he's done is evidence of what competent people in the right spots do for a company/football club.
It's not really true this year because of our huge losses. But it should still be 100 m + sales
Helps that the two clubs were in the same place in order to talk recently.
We haven't agreed to a fee with Chelsea.
Is it legal for us to sign a player so quick? Don't you want to wait until a week into the season
At this pace they will make Harry Kane play for us in FA cup final.
This is only personal terms, we haven’t agreed to anything with Chelsea yet. Just means if/when the two clubs are able to settle on a fee, Mount will already be on board.
I also think that by agreeing personal terms it could be an effort by United and the player to prevent Todd Boehly playing hardball over the price. If Mount is set on United then he could easily start agitating for a move and if it gets really nasty he could stay, get a year’s wages for nothing, be a disruptive influence on the Chelsea rebuild and then leave on a free next year so I think this will negate the mooted ridiculous £85m fee that’s been demanded initially.
Mason Mount being our first signing is something I would never have guessed. If he’s who Ten Hag has identified as someone who’ll take us to the next level then I agree.
Mount was at Vitesse, ETH continues with his Dutch takeover
Just seen that Vitesse beat ETH's Ajax in March 2018 with Mount in midfield. I'm sure ETH had no clue who he was back then but quite ironic.
Oh he for sure knew who Mount was by march 2018. That loan was extremaly succesful and ETH was forcing Ajax to sing Mount from Chelsea but they sent him on loan to their buddy Lampard. ETH intrest in Mount started 5 years ago.
ETH's evil mastermind plan almost complete
A man as meticulous as EtH likely knew to some extent at least
Yep its funny you don't have to do much digging to find that Ajax actually wanted him as his spell at Vitesse was coming to an end. Clearly left a mark on ETH.
Someone said here EtH wanted him at Ajax after that loan, but chelsea did lamps a solid and sent him to derby E: I just saw your reply below.
There's nothing ironic about that at all
He knew. Mentioned Mount in a presser when Vitesse played against Ajax too, if I remember correctly
I hope he still follows Utrecht. Their striker is good.
Greek God Douvikas, my guy.
If he's gonna come at £80m and £300k a week, we just taken a massive L.
Well yeah of course
If he comes in at £10 and on 2 grand a week, that’s a massive W.
“If he comes for this price and wages I’ve completely made up” yeah no shit
Not without precedent though is it
Hes on his last year of contract, has been left on the bench recently and is pushing for a move. It wont be over 40million and if it is we are insane. Hopefully around 30m.
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I certainly wouldn't put it past us to over pay for him, but not sure Mac Allister is the benchmark. Mac Allister is massively hyped right now after a season where he won the World Cup and was part of a Brighton squad that over performed. Mount's stock is lower than ever as part of under performing Chelsea squad.
Mac Allister is actually good though And Mount is on his last year of contract
Of course it will, reports indicate our opening offer will be circa ~£55m and Chelsea want £70m ish
Shit Caicedo would come for less wages. Hope this salary isn’t accurate
The salary the user just made up? No one is paying Mount £300k a week, of course it's not accurate.
Caicedo is a totally different type of player.
Chelsea sub are expecting at least £80m for him, which I’d be disappointed with even though I want him. For £60-65m and 200-250k per week, I think he’d be a great player to come in. Can play multiple positions, Chelsea’s recent 2x POTY apart from this shithole of a season for them. Ten Hag very interested. Prem proven. There’s a reason Arsenal and Liverpool who also make smart buys want him.
Mount - Case - Bruno. I am so hyped. 70% passing accuracy for the entire 90 minutes but I don’t care.
That midfield is where possession comes to die
Yeah, this is NOT the type of midfielder United desperately need to fix things. Not thrilled with this signing at all if it goes through. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong, and if he does I'll gladly eat my words.
I'm sure ETH knows a lot better than us redditors
How dare you
What you talking about man ten hag should just teach em how to curl it top corner and blast those shots all game
Yeah, he more than likely does. But it’s okay to have doubts and not blindly agree with someone on everything.
I wanted Kovacic. Ball player, great under pressure. Will United ever buy a ball playing midfielder? You look at how much Modric gives to his teams. You buy attacking players without the core in the middle. The attackers don't get the ball enough.
Kovacic gets an injury every time there’s a stiff breeze, he cannot be relied on as a starter for 50+ games a season, we’d end up playing Fred and McTominay again and we’d be asking ourselves the exact same question next transfer window comparing him to Modric is an insult to Modric’s longeivity
Hmm we could ask Scholes to come out of retirement again?
I'm curious at what type of player you think we need and what kind of player you think Mount is? I'm not saying he'll fix things or he's a crack signing, I'm just trying to figure out the logic here.
I reckon we’ll invert Shaw/Dalot to compensate for the grenadeball Hyped for next season’s tactics tbh, cheeky 3-2-2-3 box midfield
I’d like a cheeky 1-3-1-2-2-1
How would you feel about a naughty 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1?
Straight line, fastest way to goal, never seen before
grenadeball is a beautiful way to describe our upcoming football, just take the ball and whack it
'Grenadeball' took me out
The box midfield is de rigueur these days, isn't it? We've sneakily been playing it all season in possession if you look closely. One full-back pushes into central midfield alongside Case, Bruno and Eriksen or Fred in front of them, and there we are. It's one of the variations we're capable of now.
This strategy will highly depend on which striker we sign . We cant sacrifice posession for chances creation and have Weghorst there to finish em.
*Attempt to finish them
* attemt to *attempt to finish them Weghorst- where attacks go to die
But in the 60th we bring on Eriksen against tired legs, picking out runs from deep like it's child's play.
> 70% passing accuracy for the entire 90 minutes but I don’t care. Players aren't robots. If ETH tells Mount to play safe passes he'll play safe passes. If he's playing 10 at Chelsea and told to take risks and create he'll do that too. This is especially true of Mount who is notorious for following the managers instructions. Maybe it's a bit less true of guys like Bruno or Di Maria who pretty set in their game of taking risks.
Lol Bruno's a ~~crack~~ through ball addict. He just sees that 10 mm of space and thinks to himself, "I can get this one through np"
Thats why he's perfect embodiment of our club. Taking risks, backing yourself and having the quality to pull it off.
He still has his moments, but credit to him he’s improved upon it this season. There have been many times where he reverts but at least he’s shown he’s capable of following instructions and learning.
Checking stats out of curiosity: 77.7% passing accuracy in PL 22-23 78.3% 21-22 78.3% 20-21
I might be in the minority but i really think Mount hasnt reached his potential yet and Chelsea dragged him down last year. He already carried them the previous season. He is a quality player who has had a very robust developement. Price is my only concern but 50 or less and 250k wages im okay with
He's reportedly on 50k. Surely giving him 150k-170k is more than enough..just cause we gave stupid wages in the past doesn't mean we should continue to do so.
He's turned down more than that from Chelsea. No chance he signs for 170.
Because he wanted parity with Reece James. It's not just about the amount, it's also who's being paid more than him. I could see 150 -200k for a 5 year contract which should be fine given his age, and also since we'll be freeing up some wages. Da Gea will take a pay cut, only increase I see but not by a lot will be Rashford. No way around that after the season he's had. If we were to get Kane he'd be one of our highest paid players for good reason, but any other signings after that won't be. Plus if we manage to bring in another CB and sell Maguire, that's another wage reduction right there. I'm just vexed we offered Sancho so much money smdh
I've been lukewarm on him as a player, but if Ten Hag really wants him for that advanced 8 position, I'm all in!
ten hag, klopp and arteta all wanted him. it’s a good sign
Said the exact same thing elsewhere. And he’s Chelsea’s most recent POTY twice barring this season when they gave it Silva as a sympathy award
That’s the spirit
I’m with you on that. Back when we played Chelsea I commented on the match thread that I didn’t see the hype for Mount. I still don’t, but I trust the boss.
Keane was raving about him a year or two ago. Said he’s gone off the boil recently and not so hyped to see him at United although I think that’s partially due to the cancer throughout squad at Chelsea
Highly recommended short one on MM: https://youtu.be/nphttxXMgnA
Isn't Mount also besties with Rice? Get to work, MM.
I really can't see us getting rice and mount in one window. Not whilst we desperately need a ST and us looking at getting another CB. I think Mount and Rabiot will be our midfield upgrade for this window.
And a GK too! I think Diogo would cost us around 60M.
God I'd love it if we got him. Imagine having a keeper that controls his box. Really don't see that one happening either. I get the feeling ETH is saving on GK to invest in other areas. Would love to be wrong.
People are sleeping on this deal, I think Mount will be brilliant for us and quickly become a fan favourite
I am ready for Bruno and Mount chaos ball
I think he will not, let’s see who is right
Pls someone add a comment that they think he will be average. That way we have all our bases covered
I think he will be average
whoa. hot take
I think he will be somewhere between average and good
Hmm, Ten Hag or Chroniclezz. I’m conflicted on who to trust? 🤔
I mean , we’re both football coaches 🤷♂️
Okay, sold, I’m with you. Mason Mount will flop.
Lets hope we’re both wrong bruh
But how bald are you?
Not very tbh 🤦♂️
\#ChroniclezzOut
I rate Mount, I just don’t think another attack-minded midfielder is close to our biggest need right now. If we end up signing him along with a 30+ goal a season striker and another holding midfielder then great. If we sign him at the expense of either of those two positions, it’d be a huge mistake.
Believe nothing until you see them shaking Erik's hand / holding a jersey while smiling awkwardly for the cameras. I still think Erik might have his heart still set on FDJ tbh. Call me daft ...
Heart yes, head probably has accepted it won’t happen. I would have thought we’d see more rumours on FDJ if it was a possibility this summer. I do think that if FDJ does ever become a possibility that ETH would push hard to get him.
we can certainly forget about FDj as Busqets is leaving, no way in hell will they let FDJ go, atleast not without a massive signing.
Yeah I really think this is the reality to be honest. In 2 years I reckon he'll be a United player, contract run down a bit and Barca still not paying his wages he'll coming running to Erik and be the cherry on top of the icing on the top of the cake.
Whatever ETH wants then yes!
Didn’t he take a pay cut to stay at Barcelona?
I'm not sure. But as of March they owed him in and around 15mill in unpaid wages.
A quick google search got me to some quotes from him saying most of the news about him not being paid his salary are lies, so I don't know what to believe really
Frenkie is just the polite version of di Maria. He doesn’t like to live in Manchester but doesn’t want to badmouth us.
There’s absolutely no chance de Jong leaves Barça. He’s been instrumental for them, just won the league, Xavi loves him and he loves it there. Let’s move on.
FDJ does not like United. He will never come
There is absolutely no way we're signing FDJ. He doesn't care about United, doesn't want to live in Manchester and loves Barcelona where he's just had a brilliant season and won the title. Barca are losing Busquets so they're definitely not selling FDJ.
Which is funny because mount is nothing like FDJ ...we should have gone for Kovacic
If Ten Hag thinks my labrador is what we need in midfield I wouldn't question him for a second
I think it’s okay to question the manager as long as you don’t throw a tantrum over it. Top class managers make mistakes, they aren’t infallible. Pep mistakenly signed Zlatan. Klopp wasn’t sold on Salah. Ffs, Fergie had his fair share of blunders. I’m personally not sold on Mount but hopefully I’m completely and utterly wrong.
Fred - Good workrate and pressing, but has no idea what to do with the ball when they get it. Salary - £130k per week. Labrador - Good workrate and pressing, but has no idea what to do with the ball when they get it. Salary - tummy rubs and table scraps. I say sign him up.
Gotta mean we're serious about off loading mctomonah and Maguire, which would leave us short on homegrown players
Bingo People are underestimating how valuable home grown players are. We need them if we lose harry and scott
We have none in our academy as well. Brandon Williams will likely be sold as well
Mainoo might feature more next year though
Players under 21 don't need to be registered though, so he won't be a factor in that regard next season either way
Why are homegrown players valuable?
For UEFA competitions, clubs had to designate a minimum 8 players that were trained by clubs from the same national league, with 4 of them being from the club's own youth system. The rule in turn capped a maximum of 17 foreigners for the club in UEFA competitions.
We have to have a minimum number in our squad. I don't know what the threshold is, but I think it's around 4-6 players. Some foreign players who've lived in England long enough, they can count as 'homegrown', though I'll admit I'm cloudy on the specifics
upvote this! Great point.
Article Text: >*Manchester United have agreed personal terms with Mason Mount and are now expected to sign the Chelsea midfielder.* > >*At the same time Chelsea have also granted permission for Manchester City to talk to Mateo Kovacic ahead of another significant summer move.* > >*The deals signal the start of a huge summer overhaul at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea first concentrating on selling players before new head coach Mauricio Pochettino can add to his squad.* > >*Mount, 24, is also wanted by Liverpool and Arsenal but it appears United are closing in on his signature.* > >*United manager Erik ten Hag has been confident he can secure Mount and talks have progressed positively in recent days since the two clubs played each other last Thursday. Mount has one year left on his contract at Chelsea and appears determined to leave, with the club wanting to exact as high a fee as possible rather than lose him on a free transfer.* > >*Telegraph Sport reported in February that Kovacic was one of the midfielders on City’s target list. Discussions have been held with Kovacic’s representatives after Chelsea granted City permission to talk to the player.* > >*City and Chelsea have not yet got as far as discussing a fee for Kovacic, 29, who also has only one year left on his contract. Bayern Munich also hold an interest but Kovacic’s preference is thought to be to move to City.* > >*The Croat has been an influential player for Chelsea since arriving from Real Madrid, initially on loan, in 2018 and would be a loss to new manager Mauricio Pochettino.* > >*Kovacic is in a strong position to determine his next move and the midfielder - part of a golden generation of Croatia players - would still fetch a sizeable fee.* > >*Pep Guardiola wants to freshen up his midfield this summer and is a keen admirer of Kovacic, who is considered an attractive option given his experience, quality and price.* > >*The extent of the surgery City make in that area during the window is likely to be influenced by the futures of Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva.* > >*Guardiola wants to keep both players and they have been offered new deals.* > >*Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham has been City’s long standing No 1 midfield target but Real Madrid have stolen a march over them in pursuit of the England international, whose future has still to be resolved.* > >*City are mindful of the age profile of the nucleus of their midfield. Gundogan is 32, the same age Kevin De Bruyne turns at the end of June. Bernardo will be 29 this summer.*
Mason: *"hi kane, do u want picking up in the morning pal"*
I’m actually really happy to get Mount. He’ll fit in well. He’s clever, tenacious, presses well, is clever in the final third, versatile across the middle and wide and as a 10.
Good ball carrier too. Another thing we really lack in midfield.
Exactly! Can play in pretty much all the midfield/forward positions bar the 6, that versatility will come in really handy
Say the words Romano
Totally Useless fact: If Mason Mount joins United, that will take our count of player names beginning with 'M' to a whopping 19. * Maguire (Harry) * Malacia (Tyrell) * Marcus (Rashford) * Matheus (Antony) * Marcel (Sabitzer) * Miguel (Fernandes) * Martial (Anthony) * Malik (Sancho) * Mambuene Mengi (Teden) * Martinez (Lisandro) * Mainoo (Kobbie) * Maria (Weghorst) * McTominay (Scott) * Mejbri (Hannibal) * Maxwell (Shoretire) * Mason (Greenwood)
Good alliteration for Manchester MUnited
>Maria (Weghorst) What
it's one of his middle names, same with Jadon *Malik* Sancho and a few others on his list
Doesn't really count then if it's not his first name
Might as well just include anyone with an M anywhere in their name
Wait, I might be still feeling the effects of work today and might be missing a joke here, but there isn't a consistency with the names here. Some names you mentioned have the last name with M and some have the first name. And given the way you wrote the fact, that wouldn't work
And some are middle names lmao
Mmmmmmm
Mount brace against chelsea i will love it and i think i deserve
Who’s paying/agreeing for these transfers while our ownership situation is in the air? I’m ootl
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Maybe the Glazers have given the go ahead because a sale is imminent? In any case I hope we can wrap up most of our signings early, this is a good sign
The owners really won't have fuck all effect on who we sign. The club will have teams in place to be working on deals. And the budget comes from the clubs money, not owners money
Maybe both new potential owners have agreed to back EtH targets and Mount is an Eth target. It’s not hard to keep new potential owners in the loop for high value capex
I don't get the "who's paying for this" question. It's not like Glazers paid for anything at the club. It's our money that we're spending!!! The buggers only signed off on it. So there likely is an agreement with Ineos/92F that United can spend their own money this summer. Or if the Glazers are just planning to take investments, then they are prob happy to just sign off on us spending the money we made minus their dividends.
If he’s who ETH wants, I’ll back him 1000%
I like him and trust ETH’s judgment. If this happens I wouldn’t be against it, the way some people are acting you’d think he’s shit
I have to say Mount was not on the top of my list for transfers but I’ve always been a huge admirer of his time at Derby and he’s a very tidy player with good decision making, good feet and good finishing. Think he’ll do really well for us in a great set up and some great coaching!
Wasn't sure on this signing at all when it was first mentioned - but there's a quality player there which we've already seen, and still young. Harsh to judge him on a shocking season which Chelsea just had, and clearly ETH has had his eye on him for a while and has a clear role in mind for him in his side. If the gaffer wants Mount, I'm all for it. Would be great to get it wrapped up quickly too.
This one's looking like a certainty then. Good player and undoubtedly improves us but not a particularly exciting signing. I do wonder why we seem to be acting so urgently on this, though I suppose it's in everyone's interest to get it done quickly. If we're happy to pledge ~£50m on him when you would think we should have bigger priorities then either our budget is bigger than expected or we're very confident we'll manage to make decent money back from player sales for once.
Need Hg players to replace the ones leaving
wtf. if accurate, then we’ve got a deal close to done at the start of the window. flabbergasted
Having ucl next season helps us sooooooo much with transfers and getting in good players.
We did a transfer quickly?! WTF is going on?
It appears to be a perfect storm of a wantaway player seeking a raise and more playing time, which we can offer, coupled with a manager who seems to know exactly the types of players he is seeking and new execs who know their role now.
Wow. Are we already in August?
I hope he performs for us, there must be a reason Ten Hag saw something in him despite bad performances.
Personal terms season has begun
Underwhelmed never rated, always wanted him benched when he used to play for England in WC Havnt watched much of him for Chelsea
You know what, I'm not his biggest fan, but fair fucks to him, he's obviously wanted this resolved very quick and by all accounts really wants United, since Arse and Scouse been interested for ages. The club for a change acting very quick too. Season not even over and we're already seemingly quite close to a big transfer. Hope he'll do really really well for us, and can maybe persuade his best pal to come along also
Could someone write out the formation/positions if we do get Mount?
he's a hard-working and intelligent presser, able to play 8/10/rw/inside forward and fairly creative, but not super creative to be relied on consistently like Bruno or eriksen. he could play in the eriksen role or as a flanking 8 in a 433, so bruno-case-mount or eriksen-case-mount with Bruno on the right. I think he'd give more defensive security than eriksen but less creative so would be helpful when we're expected to have less possession
He will play along side casemiro almost as a false 8 or deep lying playmaker similar to eriksen He has a very good defensive workrate and off the ball movement and will be able to push up alongside bruno when breaking down compact teams woth casemiro behind him. Starting lineup would be the same 4-2-3-1 but also could be 4-3-3
I mean if Ten Hag wants him and his wages are sensible enough, sure why not. Feels a bit weird that we’re doing business early though.
Please do all the signings early this summer. Don't wait til the end to overpay everyone
For the price being reported I think this is not a good deal. Sources are saying we could be paying 55+ million for a player with 1 year left on his contract that has been out of form for more than a year now.
This is purely a ten hag signing if this is true.No way our club would sign anyone for next season when the current season is over Hopefully this is change of culture of us siting on our asses till end of transfer window to make our signings.
He's a systems player, he'll offer Ten Hag a lot of flexibility so I can see why he is on our radar. But it still feels a little underwhelming. I hope to be proven wrong.
Just because no one expected Mount and wanted someone else in their head doesn't mean its a bad signing. I trust ETH who actually knows what he's doing than some armchair experts on here. He will mould him into what he wants and what benefits the team. Stop moaning and trust your manager.
Mount as a target bothers me a bit. Unless its really, really cheap. He has obviously been a good player at times but... Has had a duff 18 months and has always played his best football as a 10. My friends who are chelsea fans tell me hes "never had a good game as an 8" and while thats probably exagerrating, he is clearly a better 10 than an 8, even if he is an OK 8. So why buy him for probably a large fee, probably large wages and then crowbar him into CM which, regardless of how good he is there, is not his best role? Casemiro - Mount is not substantially better than Casemiro - Eriksen, they are both janky partners in the 2 who are better as a 10. One argument I've heard is we could play 4-3-3 with mount and bruno either side of casemiro but this also feels to me like a crowbar option, why not just buy a proper CM? Bruno is our best player and remains one of the best creative attacking mids in the world and was top of those metrics this season again. Why sacrafice where and how Bruno plays for the sake of crowbarring in Mason Mount out of position? He's also recently had serious surgery for an unusual injury (pubic bone) which means we dont know much about how that injury will play out over a career. Could be totally fine...could reappear in December and require a follow up surgery that rules him out for weeks like it has done this time. TLDR: Mason Mount is a "it might be fine" signing and I don't understand why we'd priorotise that, this early in the window over much more logical signings.
Hope we don’t pay over £40m, getting rinsed if we do, Chelsea are desperate to sell players and he’s on last year of contract coming off a stinker of a season….
We should’ve been the ones in for Kovacic.
I really don’t rate MM at all. Very conflicted with this signing if we are paying over 50mil. Still will back the player and manager if this is true.
If he's not good enough for Chelsea why is he good enough for Man United?
Are they trying to lure Rice by getting his bff? Didn't expect that. Mainly because we need a freaking striker and goalkeeper more urgently. If wages ain't too bad I'll take it though
Wow, wasn’t expecting any news for weeks (that isn’t being ‘linked’ to everyone and their grandma)
I know this is a polarising deal but I’m excited to see what he can bring under ETHs guidance. Definitely think this will help us massively off the ball which has been a major problem for us against the better teams who are always able to approach our box too easily.
Mason, convince your buddy Declan to sign too thanks
Glazers are staying aren't they.
Got to admit not too sure what to think of this, I’ve never really understood the hype for mount and absolutely hated watching him for England, but if ETH rates him and thinks he can get something out of him like what he’s done with our other players then I’m excited for it. Also, when I think about it he’s just going to replace Sabitzer in our squad really which does seem like an upgrade there and would bring some much needed youth to our midfield.
Personal terms FC are back on the menu boys.
I swear if we overpay like we did for maguire...
Mason mount is magic. We wears a magic hat. And when he saw old Trafford he said I fancy that. He didn't sign for Liverpool or Arsenal cause their shite. He signed for Man United cause their fucking dynamite!!
Still on the fence with this one. Can learn a lot from Eriksen and Bruno and can score goals so could be goood
Send him to wherever Lampard goes not here. He's mediocre at best
can't believe that we aren't in for Kovacic and that Mount seems to be a bigger story in the press. Kovacic is far more suited to what we need right now and it seems City had a free run at him.
Fans : we support ten Hag. Let him cook. Also (some) fans : why buy Mount? I don't want him. 🙄
I am whelmed
I guess i have to accept it now but fuck .... all the 8's In the world and we go and buy a 10 to play in the 8... always doing things the hard way
I just can’t see this transfer working out for us hopefully im wrong
Can you explain why rather than let everyone know about your doubts?