Youri Tielemans

[chrisw1]

I was resigned to Rogers leaving, but this is such a kick in the nuts.

And yeah, this is down to SCR, as surely we would have given him a new contract by now if we had been allowed to pay the wages.

[PaulWinch again]

Profit wise it’s good - relative ability wise it’s a very low fee. The gap he leaves, on top of Onana being injured, is massive.

[AlexAlexCropley]

This could well be my camel's straw

[algy]

the money is good , but fucking hell !

Money is awful for proven player at his level

He is 29 high wages and 2 years left I am trying to be positive but this is hard

This is the way I'm looking at it.  Youri's 29.  His value will plummet over the next 3 or 4 seasons.  I'd also think he's likely to be one of our higher earners.  And, whilst I don't think it's quite as urgent as is made out, we're going to have to replace a big chunk of our first team over the next 5 years, and he's going to be one of those players.  We're better off doing it when his transfer fee will cover his replacement.

e.g. £35m spread over 3 years = about £12m/year; which pays for 3 years of a £60m transfer ... and coincidentally we look like we'll be signing Manzambi, a box-to-box midfielder costing ...

Honestly, whilst it's a bit disappointing to lose him, with all the other moving parts it might be a genius move by us.  There's no saying that he'll be the same player at Manchester United as he is/was with us.  They don't have Unai Emery, for a start.

[taylorsworkrate]

I find it pretty staggering that no one has attempted to trigger such a ludicrously low asking price for Tielemans in the last 3 years.

No way that release clause has been kept a secret from big clubs

[Dave]

£35m release clause is fucking criminal. Criminal.

He was signed on a free, though, and he would have had other options on the table at the time. All the power was on his side.

Why is the power always on the other side in every transfer we every do bar Rogers, then? Where was all that power in the Guessand deal?

I think we just have to accept that, for all the things we do well, we fucking suck at transfers.

The power in the Guessand deal was us using our clout to persuade a sought-after player to join us.

Good deal, wasn't it? Worked out beautifully. A stunning success.

Pardon?

[aev]

I find it pretty staggering that no one has attempted to trigger such a ludicrously low asking price for Tielemans in the last 3 years.

No way that release clause has been kept a secret from big clubs

Maybe it just dropped each yr as the contract reduced.

[kippaxvilla2]

This feels as sickening as Delph

[Keeno]

He's played 60 thousand minutes of club football - started at Anderlecht at 15, and has played more football at 29 than Paul Scholes had played when he retired at 38.

We've got 3 fantastic seasons out of his prime, but with 2 years on his deal now is the time to sell, as painful as it will be to see him go.

Leaves a club legend and that volley will stay with me forever.

[PeterWithesShin]

He's a wanker if he joins them.

[Clampy]

He's a fantastic player and we missed him when he was out last season. I could live with it though  if it means maybe MGW coming in as well?

[algy]

I find it pretty staggering that no one has attempted to trigger such a ludicrously low asking price for Tielemans in the last 3 years.

No way that release clause has been kept a secret from big clubs

Wash yer mouth out with soap.  There isn't a bigger club than the one that created the football league, has the most beautiful name, the most beautiful stadium, and the most attractive players in the whole of world football.

[Somniloquism]

He's our midfield playmaker/quarterback. Manzambi isn't a like for like; so we need to find somebody.

I think he might well be the replacement actually.

If Rogers stays, the Youri job is the one that Manzambi would be doing, particularly in that version where Youri was pushed up as the furthest forward of the midfield.

Before this news I was going to post similar in the other thread that Manzambi has been playing more as a general CM then winger or AM/SS this season for Freiberg, and even the small video of this contributions against us showed him playing deeper then expected. So I was thinking Tielemans cover but now probably the replacement.

[Des Little]

He's a fantastic player and we missed him when he was out last season. I could live with it though  if it means maybe MGW coming in as well?

Now you're talking

[RamboandBruno]

Beyond gutted