https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/1470850/paul-pogba-pictured-smoking-e-cigarette-while-on-holiday-with-romelu-lukaku-in-miami/?CMP=spklr-_-Editorial-_-FBPAGE-_-TheSunFootball-TheSunFootball-_-20160719-_-Football-_-520808347

 Everton agree deal in principle with Leicester for Steve Walsh to become Director of FootballVe

anyone else think utd are putting all their eggs in one basket by spending 100+ million on pogba? mourinho seems hell bent on pogba when they still have a relatively mediocre squad. don't get me wrong, with the addition of zlatan and pogba it will be above average, but still a bit underwhelming on paper. I am glad we haven't spent so much (even if we had the money) on one player when we can sign 2-3 players for that price and strengthen other weak spots in the team. 

Reece Oxford is that kid who played a blinder against Arsenal last season and went onto play about five more games over the course of the season.

I'd pay 15 million for Reece Oxford in a heartbeat. Shame we aren't involved if thats the case.

'James Wilson, Tyler Blackett and Will Keane are all likely to leave Manchester United this summer as manager Jose Mourinho continues to overhaul his squad. (Daily Telegraph)'

 

Nice to see Mourinho already shipping out the youth.Thought Blackett had played alright when given a chance.

 

'Jose Mourinho has told Juan Mata he does have a future at Manchester United — but he will only play one game in three. Mourinho is also offering an olive branch to Marouane Fellaini. (The Sun)'

 

Also, not quite sure how every 1 in 3 games is classed as an olive branch? That's insulting.
 

If they're going to play him and he will be the future of this club, good price for a good defender. But if they're planning to loan him after or give him a spot on the bench, then they're destroying him and this money will overrate him. 

 

City seem to be doing what we used to get accused of - buying young promising players just to stop anyone else getting them. They did the same when they signed Patrick Roberts from Fulham (who I rate highly) and he's now on loan at Celtic. Could be shrewd business but I really don't think the big clubs should be able to do this - us included.

Edited July 20, 20169 yr by Nibs

Oxford is a highly rated CB and £15 million is nothing to a club like City.

If he becomes half as good as his potential has shown so far it will be a bargain.

 Everton agree deal in principle with Leicester for Steve Walsh to become Director of Football Ve

Massive blow for Leicester if this goes through, even worse than losing Kante.

anyone else think utd are putting all their eggs in one basket by spending 100+ million on pogba? mourinho seems hell bent on pogba when they still have a relatively mediocre squad. don't get me wrong, with the addition of zlatan and pogba it will be above average, but still a bit underwhelming on paper. I am glad we haven't spent so much (even if we had the money) on one player when we can sign 2-3 players for that price and strengthen other weak spots in the team. 

 

That's what made Leicesters success last season so refreshing and why it should long be celebrated. Not saying it's easy to win the PL, but it's made a damn sight less difficult if you can just throw millions of pounds at loads of established players and £100M on ONE PLAYER. Does seem to be Jose's way. Really will be interesting to see how Utd fans react as time goes on if some of the rated youth don't get a look in.

 

Just makes me want it to go pear-shaped all the more!!

Looks like Pogba is very close to United now. Mourinho building a team with many potential matchwinners there now. They are going to be incredibly hard to compete with the next few years i bet.

 

Another thing i am going to envy them is that they will have players with a mean shot on them. We have really missed that since Lampards best days if you ask me. The ability to just blast in a bullet from long distance in tough, tight games.

Edited July 20, 20169 yr by Sindre

Just seen on Sky sports news, that Juventus have turned down Man Utd's latest offer for Paul Pogba, but say they can have him for £100.000.000 ?????...... ONE HUNDRED MILLION for a player who's stats for Juve' are : 35 Appearances = 8 goals and 12 assists. Your having a laugh

Just seen on Sky sports news, that Juventus have turned down Man Utd's latest offer for Paul Pogba, but say they can have him for £100.000.000 ?????...... ONE HUNDRED MILLION for a player who's stats for Juve' are : 35 Appearances = 8 goals and 12 assists. Your having a laugh

It's a drop in the ocean to United. They are a money printing machine.

The fee is irrelevant.

Just seen on Sky sports news, that Juventus have turned down Man Utd's latest offer for Paul Pogba, but say they can have him for £100.000.000 ?????...... ONE HUNDRED MILLION for a player who's stats for Juve' are : 35 Appearances = 8 goals and 12 assists. Your having a laugh

 

I've always said that for that money a player should be a genuine game changer and consistent. I would say De Bruyne is a similar (maybe better player) and he went for 50 million, and his stats were better in a similar strength league. There are players out there with better stats who are going for way less than pogba is supposedly going for. For that money i would expect 25+ goals a season. For a central midfield player it is ludicrous and glad we are out of bidding for him. 

I'm not so sure why the fee matters so much to people tbh.

I mean it's not our money and we spend more money on players who end up not making it here and end up punted on loan. Cuadrado, Salah, Moses, Torres and so on.

Pogba is a fantastic midfielder and one who continues to improve every season while still being only in his early 20's. In a market place where Guys with half his ability like Sterling are going for ridiculous amounts then what can you expect? Bale went for £90 odd million a few seasons back too while having a similar profile to Pogba.

Man United will be laughing if they sign him, he will light this league up, I have no doubts about that.

The game has gone crazy. It's like, "it's Football Jim, but not as we know it".

The game has gone crazy. It's like, "it's Football Jim, but not as we know it".

Going to get worse especially over here with the money they continue to pump into our league.

Guys like Deeney getting £20 million plus offers is simply outrageous.

High profile players moving from club to club in England is going to be interesting.

If a team is willing to pay £85m for a Tottenham player, then £100m for Pogba seems entirely reasonable.

Take the Pogba fee and add a quarter of it for his agent's bonus. That's before you even start talking about signing on bonuses for Pogba himself.

On a serious note about Bruce, how do you think he'd do? Would be be better than Hodgson?

Bruce took Hull, which I think were newly promoted at the time, to the FA Cup final a couple years back. This past season in the League Cup, they beat Leicester and Swansea before losing to Manchester City. In the FA Cup they took Arsenal to a replay. He also got them promoted through the playoffs despite not having the best record going in.

That suggests that he might be good in tournament settings. I think that some managers are better in tournaments than over the entire season. Maybe they're more motivated or thrive from being in a must-win situation.

Have you seen what Neville Southall looks like now? He's a heart attack waiting to happen. It's really quite sad.

I'm confused when former professional athletes become morbidly obese. They clearly aren't physically lazy people. They probably didn't adjust their diet to account for their greatly diminished calorie burning once they stopped playing, which might make someone mildly to moderately obese, but that shouldn't make them morbidly obese.

I wonder if they have depression or another mental health issue that makes them develop an unhealthy relationship with food. A former national level gymnast I know got that way after stopping gymnastics. She was pushed into having an eating disorder by her coaches, and food became a psychological thing. I would think that wouldn't happen with football the way it happens with girls gymnastics.

Could be, or maybe they just want to enjoy their food. They were probably quite restricted for what they could eat for 20 odd years, and want to make up for it!

Pogba should still make the United move, despite the first bid being rejected. I don't think he is worth 100m but it doesn't matter as United can afford it and thwy get their man.

Edited July 20, 20169 yr by Blue Exile

100m for pogba makes you wonder what the price would be for lampard and essien back in the day

A sad cautionary tale from Daniel Agger about overuse of pills (anti-inflammatories). A very interesting read:

 

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2016/jul/20/daniel-agger-liverpool-story-athletes-pills

Have you seen what Neville Southall looks like now? He's a heart attack waiting to happen. It's really quite sad.

I'm confused when former professional athletes become morbidly obese. They clearly aren't physically lazy people. They probably didn't adjust their diet to account for their greatly diminished calorie burning once they stopped playing, which might make someone mildly to moderately obese, but that shouldn't make them morbidly obese.

I wonder if they have depression or another mental health issue that makes them develop an unhealthy relationship with food. A former national level gymnast I know got that way after stopping gymnastics. She was pushed into having an eating disorder by her coaches, and food became a psychological thing. I would think that wouldn't happen with football the way it happens with girls gymnastics.

 

Could just be that after years of living like a Spartan, they lose their discipline and decide to enjoy the fruits of their labours.

Big Sam set to be announced England manager within 24 hours.