Reds ready for transfers

March 05, 2007

MANCHESTER United have the cash to be in the fight to sign the best players in Europe this summer.

The Old Trafford outfit have just announced a new multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Spanish commercial giants Grupo 2002 to promote residential properties throughout the globe under the Royal Resorts Sports and Leisure banner.

The five-year contract emphasises the continuing global appeal of United, who have similar platinum sponsorship deals with Air Asia, Budweiser, Audi and Kumho Tyres and comes on the back of some hugely impressive performances in both domestic and European combat by Sir Alex Ferguson's men this season.

While some critics argue the cash will only be used to help pay off the debts Malcolm Glazer incurred to complete his controversial £780million takeover in 2005, United chief executive David Gill insists there is no question of the Red Devils not being able to compete in the transfer market at the end of the current campaign.

"We will be pitching for players," he said.

"In order to do these (sponsorship) deals we fully understand the need for us to have good teams playing attractive and winning football the Manchester United way. That has always been the case.

"We bought Michael Carrick and Tomasz Kuszczak last summer and we will continue to invest in the team as necessary. The funds are there."

Clinch

Nine points clear at the Barclays Premiership summit, well placed to overcome Lille and clinch a place in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday and favourites to beat Middlesbrough in the FA Cup on Saturday, United are enjoying the kind of success many predicted they would never have under the Glazer family.

Although rebel club FC United continue to enjoy unprecedented support at their level of the non-league pyramid, the 'big' United have steamrollered on.

At a time when many north-west clubs are cutting prices in an effort to attract full houses, Gill reported the Red Devils are still turning away an average of 6,000 supporters a game, even though the capacity at Old Trafford has now expanded to over 76,000.

"If you wind the clock back there was clearly some turmoil prior to the takeover," said Gill.

"Change is always something you have to think about but I spent some time with the family and got to understand what they were all about. They have been true to their word.

"They said they wouldn't change things in terms of how it is run, either with Sir Alex Ferguson on the football side and myself on the non-football side.

"They understand stability is a key requirement in any sports team.

"But they have been there when we have needed them, both in finding money for players and improving contracts but also in an equally constructive way with the various sponsorship deals.

"Obviously, you never know but it has worked out pretty well for everyone; the fans, the staff, the manager and the team.

"The owners are there for the long term, which means we can concentrate on areas where we can improve the club in terms of income rather than just fighting fires.

"Hopefully now we can look forward to a great end to the season."

Elite

While the revolution at Chelsea under Roman Abramovich has propelled the Londoners into the elite league of sponsorship deals, Gill believes United remain a class apart in England, a legacy of their continued worldwide appeal and extraordinary support.

Over 50,000 tickets have already been sold for next week's charity game against a European Select to mark the 50th anniversary of United's entry into European competition and the Treaty of Rome.

The loss of star attraction David Beckham to a knee injury picked up on Real Madrid duty at the weekend is a blow but Gill is hopeful the former England skipper will still be able to make a non-playing appearance on Tuesday, when Ronaldinho will now take top billing.

"It is disappointing," admitted Gill.

"When we made the initial announcement, everyone wanted David to come back. We believe and hope he will still come and be part of the event even if he won't be on the pitch.

"These things happen in football, we have to move on. We have Ronaldinho and there are some other good extra names to announce later this week.

"We are sure it will be a spectacular evening for all concerned."

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Balders, Halifax (05/03/2007 at 16:28)

commical, season not even over yet and we've more tripe from Gill !! Heard it before anyone? Season ticket renewals by chance ? or is it an MEN special to stir up the wrath of it's loyal readers/subscribers ?

paul, Manchester (05/03/2007 at 16:30)

>> Obviously, you never know but it has
>> worked out pretty well for everyone;
>> the fans, the staff, the manager and
>> the team

Yes, it's certainly worked out for me. Finding an extra wad of cash to pay for my season ticket is just what I was hoping for.

I'm sure all the staff that were laid off are also loving the new regime.

meathman007, meath (05/03/2007 at 16:35)

absolute rubbish again from Gill. We badly need to sign a winger, central midfielder ( we acutally need 2 but we all know that will never happen) and finally we badly need a new striker. I would love to see Etoo sign for us but that would only happen in fantasy football. Its unreal how the 'biggest club in the world' cannot compete for any of the worlds best - the glazers and the discraceful debt that they have put on the club have destroyed us in the transfer market.
My prediction - we will be held to ransom for the vastly overated hargreaves and pay something like 20 million. Ferguson will either sing smiths praises and say he is our new striker or buy a 'forlan' type unknown player. Id love to see someone like simao to come in as well but i doubt it,
Fletcher, Richardson, smith, silvestre should all be sold...
any views....

Macca, Cornwall (05/03/2007 at 16:37)

achoooooooooo. sorry im allergic to BS. this time last year it was '3 world class players will be brought', wont fall for that old chesnut again...

A Mancunian, Manchester, Manchester (05/03/2007 at 16:41)

He should keep quiet and stop being a dogsbody to the Glazers. We all remember the promises that were made at the end of last season and in the summer. If anything Fergie deserves enormous credit for not doing a great deal in the transfer market but still milking the most out of what we have - compare this to Benitez at Liverpool. I, for one, won't hold my breath for some superstar to come to Old Trafford and Gill should keep his mouth shut.

Loyal to the End (31 years, City Fans, 31 years), Nottingham, ex-Malaysia (05/03/2007 at 17:02)

Money to spend in the summer? Now where have I heard that before?

Birdy, Ireland (05/03/2007 at 17:08)

No interest in listening to this. Actions speak louder than words Gill. You still owe us 2 world class midfielders that we were promised last year

DC, Amsterdam (05/03/2007 at 17:09)

Why provide last season's transfer dealings as evidence that we are willing to spend cash? The sales of Ruud and Mikel were enough to finance our purchases, not to mention the countless youngsters and staff let go.

bobbydazzler (05/03/2007 at 17:18)

heard it all before just getting us primed ready for st renewals and 15% rises. expect T&c on any minute giving us insider tips on players who are definitley coming

Southern Red (05/03/2007 at 17:19)

Here we go again. So David "capable hands" Gill will be pitching in for players the same as last year. Lets make sure we don't slip up in the next nine games 'cos it may be our last chance for a while.

karma2007, rochdale,greater manchester (05/03/2007 at 17:37)

Well lets see what we get in the summer then eh mr Gill.
I want mort gamst pedersen in midfeild for starters,2nd eto and guttuso .thank's.

Jonny F, Chorlton, Manchester (05/03/2007 at 17:42)

Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before.......

MJ, New York City (05/03/2007 at 18:10)

The rumour is a £15m bid for Shaun Wright-Phillips!!Fool us once, Gill, shame on you. Fool us twice, three times, four times....I can't remember how many times. No one believes you. Just check the comments here from everyone. As for this season, unless we improve to match Chelski and Drogba, we are in danger of losing it all at the finish line. And to think our big hope was a player on loan who has known better days! Didn't anyone think that Rooney could land up injured or worse still, that he would lose form? Did anyone think that Saha would power his way into every match and avoid injury? Did anyone think that Solskjaer could keep up the pace? And that Scholes would avoid a red card at some point in the season? We started the season playing attractive, ATTACKING football. The current team is unrecognizable...and luck can only take us so far.

KingCantona7, Ashton (05/03/2007 at 18:20)

What on earth does this paragraph have to do with anything.
"Although rebel club FC United continue to enjoy unprecedented support at their level of the non-league pyramid, the 'big' United have steamrollered on."
It may as well say, the New York Yankees have a lot of support in New York

Kevin, Tralee, Eire (05/03/2007 at 18:31)

I wonder if Alias & TMUF will comment on this tripe. The day we sign Kaka, & Etoo is the day David Gill walks on water & I believe he has a better chance of that than signing 2 world-class players.

Pepe (05/03/2007 at 18:38)

Google search returned 942,000 matches for :¨manchester united sign new player next season¨

TMUF, Manchester (05/03/2007 at 19:13)

Kevin, Tralee, Eire
I wasnt going to as I try and remove myself from all the negative rubbish our fans come out with for these type of stories. To be honest I was half expecting to see Spin Detector (the supposed United fan who only comes out to display negativity to the Glazers). Ah well doesnt surprise me why you lot are so negative, I mean we only just ended Liverpools unbeaten home record!

Tomas, Aarhus, Denmark (05/03/2007 at 19:22)

Why is everybody so negative in here...I don't get it.

We're still in the 3 major competitions and looking pretty solid in at least 1 of them (CL and FA looking promissing).

The current crop of players have played some of the most attractive footie in the world this season, and our last 4 purchases (Vidic, Evra, Carrick and VDS) are playing really well.

This is a monster team in the making until anything else is proven, and I can't see us not getting players this summer. And quite frankly...if we get rid of Smith, Richardson and Silvestre and sign 2 new players, I'd be very happy.

There's a good chance of us getting Hargreaves, and then we'll just see who else.

It might be naive, but I just can't see why it's necessary to complain so much about the season and the outlook of the last couple of months.

Utd-For-Life, marseille ex-stretford (05/03/2007 at 19:57)

TMUF, well said man. You'd think our fans would have got over the 'debacle' which was our transfer 'activity' last summer by now, particularly after this seasons stormin' efforts by the coaching staff and team. We're top of the league, still in the champions league and just beaten liverpool at anfield, and we still have fans griping. We all know that it can still go pear shaped, particularly if rooneys sidelined for a while and during scholes ban, but the lads haven't let us down todate so i'm hopefull that they will be able to cope. This team is good enough to get the results we need in the league even without rooney and scholes, as we seen against liverpool on saturday. Europe would be another matter, but if i had a choice for this year, i would pick the league title ahead of anything else. Saying that, i'm looking forward to a massive performance on wednesday against lille. Hopefully we'll see the lads back onform and playing the kind of football we've been able to enjoy this season.

Utd-For-Life, marseille ex-stretford (05/03/2007 at 20:11)

tomas, you're not naive mate. You have every reason to be happy with the way things are going right now. All of fergies recent buys have been top quality as you pointed out, but some fans still remember djemba, kleberson and co from a few years ago. they convieniently forget that since then we've brought in Rooney (best english player in a generation), ronaldo (best player in the world), VDS (not a bad golie) vidic ( future best Centre half in the world), evra, carrick and the polish GK. Nobody can argue that we haven't put up the money to bring the very best to the club. Admittedly, last summer was a dissapointment for everyone, but nonetheless we've done pretty well 'so far' this season.

Nathan, Finchampstead (05/03/2007 at 20:37)

Yes, we need an injection of talent. But the flipside is..do a Chelsea, buy up a second team and have fed up players sitting on the bench gathering dust and flitting our funds down the drain. At least most of United's current squad know they will (won or lose) play a part in the outcome of the title. Chelsea can't say the same.

Alias Smith, over the moon (05/03/2007 at 21:51)

Were you sneering when you typed that comment Kev? Nice one. Now, I may stick out like a sore thumb on this forum because I have opinions which are less than ultra-cynical but even I have a sense of deja vu about Gill's words this time. Let's just wait and see, we have more important things to focus on at the moment.

Kevin, Tralee, Eire (06/03/2007 at 00:10)

It isn't negative rubbish from me & other sane minded fans TMUF, in fact it's the same old party-line from Gill. I would much rather he kept his mouth shut & let the Glazers money do the talking. We cannot & will not compete for the "big" names in football it's as simple as that & I accept that fact. We have to bring in players like Carrick who are good but not great, the guy has done a good job in improving our midfield, but that wouldn't be hard especially with the existing materials in place. Next summer will be the same, chances are we'll get Hargreaves at a massively inflated price, a good, solid pro, but not in the same class as Keane or Scholes. Our best hope of unearthing great players is actually with Fergie jnr & his scouting team & hopefully they can unearth the next Ronaldo or 2 & not the next KR.. hopefully.

seamus vanisle ex-stretford (06/03/2007 at 00:37)

Been there, done that, can't afford the T-shirt. Bit soon for re-runs isn't it? Anyone believe this guy? I don't.
However it's still 1-0. Yes!

arletta red, USA (06/03/2007 at 03:33)

The reason we are all so negative? Have you just become a Man U fan? Yeah sure we are in three cups, but luck has a lot more to do with it than our team. Let see, Schols is gone ih a red, oh let's just put in O'shea, or Fletcher or Fletchers mum. We need a cneter midfielder, and during last summer and this winter the Gill master said we would have the money etc. We got Carrick and a second rate goalie. To be a team to really have a chance to win all three we need another stricker under the age of 30. A wingwe that does not have 700 games in his legs. Two CM's to fill for starter when they are teird, suspended, or injured. And another winder for when Ronoldo needs a break. Let's look at Barcelonas options. They had Eto'o Inesta, saviola, Guarduanson and Deco on the BENCH, and played the second place team to a 1 goal defeat. How would we do with Rooney, Saha, Ronaldo Carrick and Schols on the bench? David, you a poor liar, and we are tierd of it. Go tell someone that has not heard it before, were bored.

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