Definitely sold the good ones we've had low too. We basically did nothing well!

Dortmund announce Brandt officially:
[Twitter]

United fans think owing to these two Dortmund signings that Jadon Sancho is on his way.

I'll be laughing out the other side of my face if it happens now. Apart from the fact that I think he'd be mad to go there, last I heard Dortmund wanted a lot more than United are willing to pay:
[Twitter]
I'd still pay £80m for the kid.

to get big fees you have to sell players while they still have potential sell on value at the next club. under our current management we would have sold ozil and alexis in summer '16 and ramsey in summer '17. so if raul is true to his word and a player doesn't want to renew with two years remaining then he's gone, we'll be just fine on the selling front.

We complained loudly as fans when we began selling players last time though. Called ourselves a “selling” team.

I have made my peace with the fact that we need to be a selling team to stay competitive in this crazy world. As long as the recruitment team can show that they can build a pipeline to effectively strengthen the team with the money we make in selling, I'd have no problem with that.

To sell well you have to buy well and manage contracts well.
Pretty hard to do when we are letting contracts of younger men lapse, and generally buying geriatrics.

Claudius wrote:

ohboy!!! wrote:

Exactly, it really is not that difficult, Arsenal have made it seem impossible.

The key first step is, sell your players at top prices

The first step is shift some of Xhaka, Ozil, Mustafi and Mkhitaryan. And then see the magic happen. 

Nobody comes shopping for highly paid non-performing players.
It's no co-incidence that Lacazette is the only player attracting attention.
Those on your list are going to see out their contracts either on the pitch or on the golf course.

I think all except Ozil are movable, to be frank. We just have to lower the fees. And we have to suck it up. Some people might be appalled that we aren't going to get big fees for these players, but I would rather just get rid of them and their salary commitments and start with a clean slate as much as possible. They're anchors stalling our progress.

Zidane with the same problem as Emery.
Bale has asked for the 51 million euros left on his three year contract. He will only be open to negotiating down this figure if he receives an offer of equal or more than the 17m a year he's currently on.
https://www.sport-english.com/en/news/real-madrid/gareth-bale-asks-for-51-million-euros-to-leave-real-madrid-7465607

i don't know why some think these players are shiftable. they are relying on the player having personal pride and not wanting to hang around where they aren't wanted. but does ozil strike you as someone who has that kind of drive? he'll be happy to ride the bench and collect his paycheck if that's what it comes too. he'll play for you, but on his terms.

Straight swap Özil for Bale then. Worst case both clubs are still stuck with an overpaid flop, best case one or both of them finds their form again.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Straight swap Özil for Bale then. Worst case both clubs are still stuck with an overpaid flop, best case one or both of them finds their form again.

[font=Source Sans Pro]That's nuts![/font]
[font=Source Sans Pro]Swap Ozil's 2 years (left) £350,000 per week for Bale's 3 year £600,000-a-week contract?[/font]

Not to mention, isn’t Bale’s agent still Barnett?

There is no way we will be dealing with him again.

TBF i think it was a throwaway comment.

Of course Quincy was joking.

I was, but for the record Bale's salary is absolutely not £600 000. It's about the same as Özil's.

flobaba wrote:

We complained loudly as fans when we began selling players last time though. Called ourselves a “selling” team.

Which is exactly why it is amusing that the club is being knocked for not selling well, whatever that means. Essentially when one of our players is at his peak, and is worth a premium, we should sell if there is interest. Those same people will moan that we are a selling club. You just can't win with some.

I don’t think anyone is saying that at all. What folks are saying is don’t let £150m worth of talent leave on a free.

People are allowed to change their minds, especially when the environment changes. I wanted us to hold onto Sanchez at all costs but that turned out to be an enormous mistake. In the meantime most clubs doing well with our profile sell when they have to and reinvest.

Yeah. It’s different now.
When people were angry that we were a selling club is when we were selling some of the best players in the league in Fabregas and van Persie with no direct replacement,.

Now I am very comfortable selling all of Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Mustafi and Xhaka to let the manager build a younger, more physical and dynamic squad. Those players are not taking us anywhere and two of them are on high wages with diminishing transfer value.

goon wrote:

I don’t think anyone is saying that at all. What folks are saying is don’t let £150m worth of talent leave on a free.

People are allowed to change their minds, especially when the environment changes. I wanted us to hold onto Sanchez at all costs but that turned out to be an enormous mistake. In the meantime most clubs doing well with our profile sell when they have to and reinvest.

It is easy to be wise after the event. Cashing in on £150m worth of talent would mean selling your best players when they are at the peak of their powers. It would mean accepting £50 million from Chelsea when they pursued Henry, or £60 million from Man City for Sanchez. Taking up such offers would undermine any ambitions we have for major honours.

The reality is that we are in a predicament. We have more money than Liverpool and Tottenham, so adopting a selling mentality is an inferior strategy best left for clubs without access to large capital, who require outgoings to fund acquisitions. On the other hand, we can't spend as much as Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea, so we are unable to add freely to an already bolstered squad.

Keeping our most valuable assets past their sell by date is perfectly fine. All big clubs do this. Where we have room for improvement is managing players who quite clearly aren't going to become major players for us, and turning them over to fund new recruits. If Mustafi had secured his move to Inter Milan after his first season at the club, we may already have an able replacement in his place, and wouldn't need to budget a chunk of our summer budget towards a new CB.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

I was, but for the record Bale's salary is absolutely not £600 000. It's about the same as Özil's.

Wrong and for you to repeat it makes you wrong twice.

If you quote Gareth Bale's after tax figure, do the same for Ozil even if it doesn't suit your agenda.
There is the small matter of tax that you seem to be ignoring.
Ozil earns 157,500 a week (after tax)
https://www.mileiq.com/en-gb/blog/2018-uk-income-tax-rates-brackets/
Bale earns 350,000 a week (after tax)
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/oct/30/gareth-bale-real-madrid-new-contract-2022

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

I was, but for the record Bale's salary is absolutely not £600 000. It's about the same as Özil's.

I don't understand the game, should I quote you now and not say anything? If you google Bale's salary again you can easily press one of the other links that give other numbers, so I wouldn't talk about an agenda if I was you.

I would still swap for Bale in a second.

Do you guys watch Madrid? Last few years, Bale has spent so much time in the treatment room or on the periphery of games. When he does turn it on, he’s a marvel. The more involved forward is actually Benzema. He’s been more of their link man all these years without the goals. Trading Ozil for Bale would be a painful exercise. We’d get some highlight reels and little else in between.

Ozil talks like a man who has not been given an ultimatum. He’s very comfortable eating at Arsenal.

Bale is a complete dickhead. I'm not one to give a toss about body language but this guy actively wants to appear that he cares more about his handicap than playing for his club, and I actually dislike Madrid.

Ozil, james, bale, Alexis. All expensive players that shouldn't be as washed up as they are

If sane goes to bayern, i reckon coman might become available. Any takers?

Coman is a great player but he is always injured. Same ankle injury over and over again

Claudius wrote:

Do you guys watch Madrid? Last few years, Bale has spent so much time in the treatment room or on the periphery of games.  When he does turn it on, he’s a marvel. The more involved forward is actually Benzema. He’s been more of their link man all these years without the goals. Trading Ozil for Bale would be a painful exercise. We’d get some highlight reels and little else in between.

Ozil talks like a man who has not been given an ultimatum. He’s very comfortable eating at Arsenal.

It often got glossed over by the odd wonder goal and bursting run but he used to have a load of games for Spurs where he was barely involved over the 90 and that hasn't changed at Madrid. 

Gazza M wrote:

Ozil, james, bale, Alexis. All expensive players that shouldn't be as washed up as they are

Alexis gave years of good service to us, Barcelona and Chile before he got washed up. Bale is a cripple and a bitch, and James + Özil have no balls

[Twitter]

This rumour has had the ring of truth to it since it first surfaced weeks ago.

He mustve fallen out with pep over playing time. It's mad to let him go, even for city

Gazza M wrote:

Ozil, james, bale, Alexis. All expensive players that shouldn't be as washed up as they are

If sane goes to bayern, i reckon coman might become available.  Any takers?

Robben and Ribery are leaving. They don't need to sell Coman.

Benfica have made it clear that they will only sell Felix if someone pays the full 120m Euro release clause, and not a Euro less. The market for top tier talent is so stretched. It resembles the market for corporate talent. Messy. I wonder what Mbappe would go for if he really pushed this summer.

Gazza M wrote:

He mustve fallen out with pep over playing time. It's mad to let him go, even for city

He was left out of the German squad last summer too, not likley to get into for next summer sitting on Citys bench, makes perfect sense to go to Bayern for him.

City also need to address central midfield and central defense. They have a wealth of attacking options. They can afford this move, especially if it brings in a ridiculous fee like what’s being quoted. Maybe it puts them back in the De Ligt race.

United pushing hard for de ligt. They've put up much more money than barca apparently

City or Barcelona need to up their game, I absolutely don't want this guy at United.

The Pogba transfer showed everyone that United's inverted midas touch can turn even gold into shit. The only person I feel bad for if they pull this off is De Ligt.

I’m not fully convinced by De Ligt