Anthony Martial

[nedley]

JJ on Twitter:

“A lot don’t appreciate it on here and just expect us to spend 90million on Martial with 300 a week on wages - we simply can’t orvwobt do that - yet”

Why then have we targeted him. Why are we wasting our time with him. Why haven't we identify the next Martial if that's the player Poch wants.

 

[Ben1]

I'm intrigued as to why most ITK's thought we'd be spending circa 150 million at the start of the window.

Now I know transfers are complex and difficult at the best of times, and of course things change...however, it doesn't look like we're prepared to spend anything like that.

Seems like a remarkable shift in intentions.

I think there was no chance it was ever 150 without sales, simple as - the figure was never said to be or not.

A 30-50 mil spend was most likely and still could be. Unfortunately theres 120 mil from Toby, Dembele, Janssen, Nkoudou, Sissoko and Llorente that simply doesn't exist..and in the most part, doesn't look like it will.

 

[ajspurs]

Why then have we targeted him. Why are we wasting our time with him. Why haven't we identify the next Martial if that's the player Poch wants.

To be honest though we don't know that we are wasting time or even still targeting him. We may have realised he's not a viable option weeks ago for all we know.

 

[barry]

Why then have we targeted him. Why are we wasting our time with him. Why haven't we identify the next Martial if that's the player Poch wants.

This, so much this. If the club says 90mil and Martial says 300k a week, they're never going to lower it enough for Levy to pull the trigger

 

[tiger666]

I think there was no chance it was ever 150 without sales, simple as - the figure was never said to be or not.

A 30-50 mil spend was most likely and still could be. Unfortunately theres 120 mil from Toby, Dembele, Janssen, Nkoudou, Sissoko and Llorente that simply doesn't exist..and in the most part, doesn't look like it will.

It was said to be not reliant on sales. Update 11 in the read only section.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

I'm intrigued as to why most ITK's thought we'd be spending circa 150 million at the start of the window.

Now I know transfers are complex and difficult at the best of times, and of course things change...however, it doesn't look like we're prepared to spend anything like that.

Seems like a remarkable shift in intentions.

At a guess I think it was assumed we would have shifted some players by now that would have allowed us to spend money and upgrade. That hasn’t happened for whatever reason. Probably meaning the deadwood will have to be sold at a reduced rate to Europe when the UK window shuts. Meaning our overall transfer budget will be reduced.

 

[Colonel Dax]

Why then have we targeted him. Why are we wasting our time with him. Why haven't we identify the next Martial if that's the player Poch wants.

Agreed. The only possible explanation is that we’re hoping Man U will relent and agree to a swap with Toby. I just can’t see it happening though. Seems more likely we’ll sell Toby and that’s it.

One aspect I didn’t understand about JJ’s tweet was the reference to weekly salary. Is Martial demanding £300,000 per week? I find that very surprising.

 

[Ben1]

It was said to be not reliant on sales. Update 11 in the read only section.

Said once by one source. Barrel of salt required. Even Herc changed his tune days later, so maybe it was never the case.

I would go as far as saying that claims we could spent 150mil plus sales, which would come in at 250+ were deluded and ridiculously far of the mark.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

I don't really believe it, but it has been said that clubs put out positive, but false info around season ticket renewal time to make sure the uptake is good. Once that's done business as usual.
fans of other clubs have complained of similar. I just don't really think positive or negative info would truly affect renewals, but that's one theory.

Any fan who based their decision to renew on potential transfer activity doesn’t deserve to support this great club.

 

[RuskyM]

To be honest though we don't know that we are wasting time or even still targeting him. We may have realised he's not a viable option weeks ago for all we know.

Thing is we've given the benefit of the doubt for most of the summer - Poch must have signed with promises, we must have other targets, Grealish must be a backup - but with five days left, nothing seems in the pipeline. Sometimes silence is just silence.

 

[stonebrow]

To be honest though we don't know that we are wasting time or even still targeting him. We may have realised he's not a viable option weeks ago for all we know.

Why then have we targeted him. Why are we wasting our time with him. Why haven't we identify the next Martial if that's the player Poch wants.

To tell the fans we tried!!!
Appears we always waste a fuck load of time on players out of our reach...yes we need to aim high but surely the club knows what a players is worth & the wages said player demands!

 

[tiger666]

Agreed. The only possible explanation is that we’re hoping Man U will relent and agree to a swap with Toby. I just can’t see it happening though. Seems more likely we’ll sell Toby and that’s it.

One aspect I didn’t understand about JJ’s tweet was the reference to weekly salary. Is Martial demanding £300,000 per week? I find that very surprising.

I think he was exaggerating to make a point. I don't think United are asking £90m and Martial for £300k a week.

 

[paulcumpstone]

If martial is unrealistic why have we spent so long chasing him?

 

[Mr Pink]

At a guess I think it was assumed we would have shifted some players by now that would have allowed us to spend money and upgrade. That hasn’t happened for whatever reason. Probably meaning the deadwood will have to be sold at a reduced rate to Europe when the UK window shuts. Meaning our overall transfer budget will be reduced.

That's a logical conclusion.

Just seems weird, that nearly all of them were of the opinion there was significant funds available.

Yes, that doesn't mean Levy is going to shy away from his MO, but it really doesn't look like we intended to spend that aggressively.

Just seems a huge disparity to what ITK thought and the reality that has been this summer - so far anyway. Of course it could still happen - with an optimistic hat on.

 

[luRRka]

If martial is unrealistic why have we spent so long chasing him?

As tiger says above, I think it's to do with negotiation rather than just going out and spunking far more than he's worth to land him straight away

 

[RuskyM]

Any fan who based their decision to renew on potential transfer activity doesn’t deserve to support this great club.

Bit grandiose, this - we've got the second highest season tickets in the league we talk about winning, but we were 23 points off the leaders last year and have done nothing since. It isn't hard to tell why someone might be disenchanted.

This isn't woe is us, it's obviously been worse - just if the club doesn't seem to wanna get the wallet out, I get why others wouldn't.

 

[Mr Pink]

If martial is unrealistic why have we spent so long chasing him?

According to who?

I doubt we've ever chased him.

 

[Colonel Dax]

I think he was exaggerating to make a point. I don't think United are asking £90m and Martial for £300k a week.

Fair enough. I’d love to know what the true figures are and what we would find acceptable but I guess we’ll never know.

 

[stonebrow]

That's a logical conclusion.

Just seems weird, that nearly all of them were of the opinion there was significant funds available.

Yes, that doesn't mean Levy is going to shy away from his MO, but it really doesn't look like we intended to spend that aggressively.

Just seems a huge disparity to what ITK thought and the reality that has been this summer - so far anyway. Of course it could still happen - with an optimistic hat on.

Yeah it definitely didn’t come across that it was dependent on sales.
If that was the case where did they get the £150m figure from?
Doesn’t appear we are willing to spend a 3rd of that sum!

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

Any fan who based their decision to renew on potential transfer activity doesn’t deserve to support this great club.

That’s a bit extreme. For some people renewing season tickets poses difficult questions around finance, family, personal commitments. Like a lot of things in life, it becomes a balancing act where something has to give for something else to happen. If the chance to watch once-in-a-lifetime scintillating football justifies tightening the finances elsewhere or giving up something you’d enjoy on a Saturday then I’m sure more people would be willing to make that sacrifice. But it isn’t always an easy choice.

Of course, your post may have been tongue-in-cheek- in which case, excuse my daftness