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Manchester United Season 2019 - 2020

Papsmearer

Alfrescian (InfP) - Comp
Generous Asset
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LOL, the Xinhua Chicom shills are so retarded.

No footballer would go to China if it were not for the money. Once you move to a Chinese football club, you can kiss the chances of playing for your national team goodbye.... assuming you even had those chances before the transfer.

And pre-season is always about the money, doesn't matter which country hosts the games.

Trust the Chicom propagandists to make an issue out of a non-issue... typical. :rolleyes:

中共宣传,无耻脑残 :poop:

Not true. Paulinho when to china, was a star there, and played for the Brazilian national team. Then Barcelona bought him from the Chinese club and he scored 9 goals in 34 games. That's pretty good.
 

Papsmearer

Alfrescian (InfP) - Comp
Generous Asset
let me start a new thread to log Man U news 2019 - 2020.
Seems strategy is to sign young & British...why British...anyway jury is out on AWB...is he worth 50m?
Their strategy is only 4 years behind other teams like Spurs and Liverpool, who both have a wealth of young english players in their squad. Welcome to the modern age Manure.
 

yinyang

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Harry Maguire: Man Utd agree £80m deal for Leicester defender


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Harry Maguire has been capped 20 times by England
Manchester United have reached an agreement to sign England centre-back Harry Maguire from Leicester for £80m - a world record fee for a defender.
The 26-year-old is expected to complete a medical at the club at the weekend.
He will become United's third summer signing following Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James, who arrived from Crystal Palace and Swansea respectively.



"The clubs have agreed [a fee] and there's still some work for it to go through," said Brendan Rodgers.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the Leicester boss added: "There's still a bit to go in terms of Harry's medical and whatever personal things to sort out, but it is what it is.
"He's a special player, he's not a player that of course we would want to lose.
"He's a top-class player, he's a good man as well, and everything about Harry over the course of this pre-season, he knows there has been interest over the summer and he's been super professional."
Maguire made 69 Premier League appearances for Leicester after joining from Hull City in 2017.
The deal means Maguire becomes the world's most expensive defender, eclipsing the £75m Liverpool paid Southampton for Virgil van Dijk in January 2018.

Most expensive transfers of all time Player Clubs Fee
NeymarBarcelona to Paris St-Germain£200m
Kylian MbappeMonaco to Paris St-Germain£165m
Philippe CoutinhoLiverpool to Barcelona£142m
Ousmane DembeleBorussia Dortmund to Barcelona£135m
Joao FelixBenfica to Atletico Madrid£113m
Antoine GriezmannAtletico Madrid to Barcelona£107m
Cristiano RonaldoReal Madrid to Juventus£99.2m
Eden HazardChelsea to Real Madrid£89m
Paul PogbaJuventus to Manchester United£89m
Gareth BaleTottenham to Real Madrid£85m
£80mHarry MaguireLeicester to Manchester United£80m


United had a long-standing interest in Maguire but they backed away from a deal 12 months ago because they felt the £70m that would be needed for a transfer to be concluded was too high.
He signed a five-year contract at Leicester last September and manager Brendan Rodgers made it clear at the end of the season he felt Maguire could develop even more if he remained at the club.


Maguire began his career at Sheffield United in 2011, making 139 league appearances for the Blades before joining Hull in 2014.
He was part of the Hull side that earned promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs in 2016 but left for Leicester in a £17m deal following the Tigers' relegation 12 months later.
The defender made his England debut in August 2017 and was part of the side that reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
He becomes one of seven central defenders on the books at United, joining Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo and Axel Tuanzebe.


Analysis
BBC Sport's Simon Stone
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made signing a central defender a priority this summer.
Three weeks ago, United were still assessing other options but slowly these had fallen by the wayside, leaving Maguire as the single option.
Solskjaer believes Maguire has not only the playing style but also the leadership qualities United's current squad requires.


 

yinyang

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Thank goodness, finally offloaded the big potato :cool:

Lukaku: Inter Milan sign Belgium striker from Manchester United for £74m


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Lukaku leaves the Premier League after eight seasons in England, having also played for Chelsea, West Brom, and Everton
Inter Milan have signed Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United for a club record fee of 80m euros (£74m) on a five-year deal.
Lukaku, 26, scored 42 goals in 96 games for United but leaves just two years after his £75m move from Everton.
He becomes the third most expensive signing by a Serie A club after the Juventus duo of Cristiano Ronaldo (£99.2m) and Gonzalo Higuain (£75.3m).
"Inter were the only club I wanted," said Lukaku.
"I'm here to bring the Nerazzurri back to the top."

In a statement, Manchester United said: "Everybody would like to thank Romelu for his efforts at the club and pass on our best wishes for the future."

Lukaku scored 15 goals in 45 games for United last season but was often overlooked in favour of England striker Marcus Rashford by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

He did not feature in any of United's pre-season games, with Solskjaer saying the player had an ankle injury.
Belgium manager Roberto Martinez said earlier this summer Lukaku "had to leave" the Premier League club,
with Inter boss Antonio Conte indicating the ex-Blues striker was his top transfer priority

Lukaku's United career
Lukaku moved to United from Everton in 2017 and at the time was only the fourth player to score 80 goals in the Premier League before turning 24 - after Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Wayne Rooney.
In his debut season, the Belgian became one of only 11 United players to score 25 goals or more in a campaign since 1992-93. Cantona, Andy Cole and current United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (25 each) are among the strikers who never matched Lukaku's 27-goal tally in a United campaign.


However, 26% of his United goals - 11 out of 42 - came in the first two months of his Old Trafford career.
Lukaku's departure leaves United with just three established forwards - Rashford, Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez - in addition to youngsters Angel Gomes, Mason Greenwood and Tahith Chong.


United have spent £140m this summer on Harry Maguire, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James.

Analysis - Lukaku gone but United light in midfield
BBC Sport's Simon Stone on BBC Radio 5 Live:
Manchester United ended up in a very difficult position with Lukaku.
It goes back to last season when Lukaku did not feel he was being picked often enough by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer because of the style of play. During pre-season, when everyone thought the focus was going to be on Paul Pogba and whether he would turn up, Lukaku's attitude looked poor and he did not train. The one session he did train before the Leeds game, he told someone he felt a twinge and was not seen again.


In another session he watched on as his team-mates trained for 40 minutes - I had never seen anything like it. You knew there was no way back, he did not want to be there and Solskjaer did not want him there. In the end, Inter Milan came up with the money.
I knew Lukaku was going but I never felt they would get another forward in. Inside the club, the way Solskjaer wants to play, they have the forwards they need - Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Alexis Sanchez and young Mason Greenwood. They only play one centre-forward and the rest are advanced midfield players like Jesse Lingard.


Where United needed someone was in central midfield. If you have an anchor, then Pogba can go forward more. He has knuckled down and responded. He might want to go to Real Madrid but has not created a situation like Lukaku did.
United let Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera go from midfield and now you are look at who is in the middle. If you take Pogba out, you have Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic, that is not great.


They are in a difficult situation, do they massively overpay for players like they did with Sanchez or do they try to sell players to create space in their squad? They are in a position where they now have seven centre-halves.
The fans were saying, Bruno Fernandes, Bruno Fernandes, but people at United said they were never seriously in for him.
 

yinyang

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Opener tonight home vs Chelskis, how? Noisy neighbours and scousers already made their intentions clear last night.

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Harry Maguire is the world's most expensive defender after signing for Manchester United for £80m

TEAM NEWS
Harry Maguire is set to make his Manchester United debut after moving from Leicester in a world-record deal for a defender.
Paul Pogba is in contention following a back injury, but Alexis Sanchez is not expected to start following his involvement in the Copa America.
Chelsea could be missing midfielder N'Golo Kante, who is a doubt with the knee injury that ended his pre-season.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Antonio Rudiger and Callum Hudson-Odoi remain out.

MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES
@Guymowbray: A monster opening fixture with a "fresh start" feel.
Whether by necessity or choice, both clubs are set to give young players more playing time this season - part of the "long rebuild", as Solskjaer has described Manchester United's path.
How long he gets to oversee it may depend on how well United start, and that could be influenced by Paul Pogba's mood and plans for his own future.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have their own main man back, with Frank Lampard having proved himself a fine manager of young men in his one Derby season, which included success at Old Trafford.
It's a huge day for the Blues legend, who may have come to Premier League management earlier than planned - but somehow it just feels right.


VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT
Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the loss of Romelu Lukaku: "Of course Rom has a good record and stats, he's one of the top number nines around when you want to play with that kind of striker, a target man.
"I'm very confident that we'll get goals from (Anthony) Martial, Daniel James and (Marcus) Rashford and Jesse Lingard.
"I believe Mason Greenwood is going to be playing and involved a lot and, when he is, he's going to score goals."


Chelsea head coach Frank Lampard on his club's transfer ban: "We have to remain competitive while we are in this position. With the ban it has been easy to write off this squad, and I don't write off this squad at all.
"I think that what is important is that you have a target within the group. What matters is how we approach things. We will see how we go."


LAWRO'S PREDICTION
This is Frank Lampard's first game in charge of Chelsea, but he has already won as a manager at Old Trafford - his Derby side beat United on penalties in last season's Carabao Cup.
Prediction: 1-1
Lawro's full predictions v England netball stars Helen Housby and Jo Harten
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MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head

  • This will be the first opening-day meeting between Manchester United and Chelsea since Jose Mourinho won his first Premier League match with the Blues.
  • United have not hosted Chelsea on the opening day of a league campaign since 1958, when they won 5-2 courtesy of a Bobby Charlton hat-trick.
  • The Reds have triumphed in just two of their last 13 Premier League games against Chelsea (D6, L5) but they are unbeaten in six home matches (W2, D4).
  • Chelsea are the only club to have won more Premier League matches against United than they have lost, with 18 victories and 15 defeats.
Manchester United
  • Manchester United failed to win any of their final five games last season, losing three and drawing two.
  • They could equal the club Premier League record of four consecutive winless home fixtures.
  • However, United can win their opening match in five successive top-flight seasons for only the second time, and first since 1910.
  • The Red Devils have lost just one of the last 26 matches when opening a top-flight campaign at home (W19, D6).
  • United kept just seven clean sheets last season - only relegated Huddersfield Town and Fulham, with five apiece, fared worse.
  • They have not secured a Premier League clean sheet since a goalless draw with Liverpool on 24 February.
  • United's only league victory against another top-six team last season came at Tottenham in January (D4, L5).
  • Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's final competitive appearance for United came in the 2007 FA Cup final defeat against a Chelsea side featuring Frank Lampard.
Chelsea
  • Chelsea lost just one of their final 13 games in all competitions last season (W8, D4), a 2-0 away defeat at Liverpool.
  • However, the Blues triumphed in only two of their last nine league games on the road, drawing two and losing five.
  • They have never been defeated when opening a Premier League season on a Sunday (W8, D3).
  • The last Chelsea manager to lose his first Premier League match in charge was Avram Grant, a 2-0 defeat at Manchester United in September 2007.
  • Chelsea were winless in all nine Premier League away fixtures last season at teams in the top half of the table, drawing three and losing six.
  • They conceded 14 goals in their five league away matches at top-six sides, and only avoided defeat at Manchester United, drawing 1-1.
  • Frank Lampard won on just one of his nine Premier League appearances as a player against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (D3, L5), and was outscored 4-1 by the Norwegian.
 

yinyang

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Goes to show the young ones (like DJ, Greenwood) are proud to wear the red shirt/badge. Makes Mata coming on looks old.:cool:
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red amoeba

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Early days yet. That Emerson looks menacing, if not of Chelsea hitting the post twice the result could be different.

Chelsea is handicapped without signings. The match against wolves will give clearer indication whether the new squad is potent or not.
 

GoldenDragon

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
They won’t win the EPL this season. Looks like the race will be between MCI and Liverpool again. With their reinforcements, I am backing Arsenal to come in 3rd.
 
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