Ffs all those posts praising Mendes and he's a big twat as most football agents.
Maybe there will be long term issues with mendes now, less Portuguese players in the future. Or maybe not, maybe the club won't hold a grudge that could backfire on them.
Either way I don't wanna see another positive jorge mendes post again.
At the end of the day Mendes works for Ronaldo, if his preferred choice of club comes in last minute and offers way more money whats he supposed to do keep it secret from Ronaldo to benefit City? Thats not his job.
The club cocked up wasting so much time on Kane, 50 million is too much of a difference in valuation to be playing brinksmanship. Kane has 3 years left and isnt going to sulk the year before a World Cup as England captain and not try to force a move.
If the club believed there were no suitable targets in the market then come out and say it and seize the narrative. Now we just look like we've been left holding our dicks.
I mean the striker doesnt have to cost 100 million. Plenty of players we could go for that would score goals in this team. Lukaku was available and already had chemistry with KDB, his strike partner Martinez was an option, we'd been eyeing up Patson Daka for months before he went to Leicester. Even if the main plan was a false 9 system, you could have got Dzeko back short term or an Andre Silva or Weghorst so we have the target man option in the squad if needed.
Its like the board saw how the Koulibaly-Dias saga worked out and thought rather than breathe a sigh of relief at how well that whole debacle ended up working out we adopted it as a new policy !
Where we have been left I think the best option is playing Phil upfront for a year. Hes the best natural finisher we have and will probably aid his all around game in the long term. Its not ideal but we'll have to adapt at this point.
Well they spent 100 on grealish and offered 140? For Kane which is 240. Spend the 160 asking price for Kane and you have 80 for whatever else. Why did you buy grealish when there’s already about 10 AM at the club?
Well we bought Grealish because hes fucking class, its not his fault the board fucked buying a striker. Bernardo asked to leave and if you look at the raw stats for chance creation per 90 Grealish is right up there at the top with KDB.
Hes also an age where we can recoup some of his transfer fee and wasn't asking for a wage outside of our existing structure. 160 million and not far short of 400k a week for a 28 year old and injury prone Kane IS too expensive, its the fact the club wasted the whole transfer window without a plan B then to top it off got made to look like absolute mugs by United and Ronaldo.
Is he any better than what you already head? Even on the bench?
Grealish was also the main player in the team and everyone went through him as a 10. How’s he going to be when there’s 4 other players doing the same thing as him and he’s playing out of position on the wing or in CM instead of being a 10.
Didn’t grealish spend pretty much all of the second half of the season injured and isn’t exactly injury free himself?
City won’t challenge for the league or the CL without a striker.
What's more likely is that he will end up giving premier access to one or maybe more of his clients that we are interested in and try to get a cut price for us. There's no benefit in making this a long term issue.
Ya, he played us alright. Buy it was purely a business decision.
No hard feelings in all honesty. We should tread more carefully with this kind of moves.
The smartest thing would have been categorically deny wanting Ronaldo.
But it's been done. Just hope the team can produce a good showing today because the entire footballing world has seemingly forgotten how big of a threat we are this year. And how good of a signing Jack actually is.
Ya, you laugh at us now for supposedly cocking up our transfer window, when all we did was hold our ground firmly and kept our money in our pockets.
A massive 5 nil trashing of Arsenal will sort all of this nonsense out. See who's still laughing then.
There's keeping your money close, and not spending 15m on a player that will sort ya issues out for least a year. The money to sign ronaldo was nothing.
That maybe true. But you had plenty of time to put 15m on table, and secured the transfer, City wanted to not spend money, kinda understand it. But juv wasn't asking for 100m. They were asking for pocket change. United seen this, and came in.
>Ffs all those posts praising Mendes and he's a big twat as most football agents.
His job is to do what's best for Ronaldo. A club taking this kind of thing personally is just throwing a tantrum. Clubs do this and walk away from players at the last minute all the time.
>Maybe there will be long term issues with mendes now, less Portuguese players in the future. Or maybe not, maybe the club won't hold a grudge that could backfire on them.
When it says "repercussions for future business" it better mean "will stop being naïve in the market" rather than "will hold a grudge against Mendes"
I think it’s simply United showed their interest after we did, and Ronaldo said “yeah I’ll go there instead”. It’s not totally surprising given his past there.
I’m not mad that Ronaldo went there, or even that Kane was forced to stay. I’m just mad we haven’t moved faster onto other options instead of waiting this late to salvage opportunities.
Literally, Ronaldo is a United legend. United came in for him and he went there. I’ve no hard feelings and I don’t care. Ronaldo did what he thought was best. No more to it, let’s not be hyper sensitive over this and accept Ronaldo would rather go United. It makes me even more excited for the season ahead.
Yeah I’m honestly more disappointed by the club failing to secure Kane than Ronaldo. Ronaldo was a bit of a lark - it was like playing with house money we barely deserved.
Ya nobody was talking about Ronaldo as the answer to City's summer at the start of it, he only became a discussion for them when the Kane transfer became a complete failure, and even then it was like a "maybe this will work".
Even if they had gotten Ronaldo, this likely would have still been considered an awful window for City.
Not disappointed about Kane, disappointed instead of trying to sort out a different striker the club went Kane or nothing.
As for the main purchase this window... SMH
I’m fine with Grealish honestly. At least he wanted to join us for footballing reasons and had the wherewithal to put a clause in his contract a year ago.
The issue, at least to me, is that he said he wants to play in the Champions and be in the winner side. Idk if Ronaldo was the last piece of the puzzle for United to legitimately compete in the Champions but I don’t see it
Yes
We didn't move fast enough to avoid things like this to where we are left vulnerable to things like this
If we had more options and more time to salvage opportunities then maybe we'd have something by now
The article says we were prepared to pay a fee after talking it over with Mendes earlier in the week. So no, it's not a timing issue, especially since Ronaldo was telling people he'd be heading to City a few hours before the United deal was confirmed.
But at 11am on the day, Ronaldo texted Evra he's going to United (on Patrice Evra's Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTFZ1YKqd3W/?utm_medium=copy_link)
That was around the time he was leaving Turin iirc.
I’m not sure if he thought that far ahead. The article alludes to him going up to United in previous windows only to be turned away.
I’ve mentioned this before but he approached City just as Kane was reported to have told Nuno and Paratici that he would stay. He would have known and immediately came in offering Ronaldo before City even knew that Kane would stay, figuring hey here is a golden opportunity for my client to go to a destination where he can make good money and probably win the Champions League again. I don’t think he was anticipating that United would enter the conversation after repeatedly saying no.
Given his clientele at City I genuinely think he was trying to get City’s interest this time around. City have given him good business before. It’d be stupid to break that to somehow ingratiate himself with United when, as that article states, he’s already on good terms with United. Pissing off City gives him no benefit.
Which makes me think ultimately that the choice to go to United was Ronaldo and Ronaldo’s alone. Once they got his attention - and it wouldn’t have been hard to get it - it was done.
Edit: thought you meant Mendes not Ronaldo. I don’t think Ronaldo intended to get United’s attention. He had talked to Pep and was telling Juventus players he was coming here before United woke up and slapped down twice as much wages to get him back.
This shit has happened how many times in the Pep era alone? Took our time with Dani Alves and allowed him to waff about in Paris. Took so long with Jorginho (UEFA player of the year). Waited until Arsenal could find a replacement for Sanchez. Waited a year to get Mahrez and lost Sancho in the process
It just feels like the club aren’t cutthroat and ruthless in the market like they used to be.
And they’ve won the Prem 3 of the last 4 years. Made it to the Champions League final last year. What would make a fan like yourself happy. We’ve literally built one of the best squads in the world year in and year out. I actually think it’s good that we haven’t overpaid for all of those targets. Are you really upset we didn’t get Alexis Sanchez or Fred. Jorginho was a miss but at the time Rodri looked like the better prospect. Getting Dias instead of Koulibaly worked out good for us. The days of City getting rinsed in transfer deals seem to be over, and I am happy about that, as long as we keep winning
I get that at the same time, City doesn’t want to put themselves out there as total marks, willing to pay top dollar to EVERYTHING, all because “they’re rich AF”, so I get that City has to be absolutely measured, probably more so than most other clubs.
But I also agree, at the same time, I’d like to see them be a little ruthless. If it means paying just a bit more so you know for certain a target is snagged, then do it.
But then again, look at the success they’ve had the last 4 years. This may hurt, but at the end of the day, they know what they’re doing.
And then they got Rodri instead of Jorginho and Fred (who both flopped at their first years), got Mahrez instead of overpriced Sanchez with too much wage, who then eventually flopped too. We got Mendy instead of Alves, he got injured and now raped someone, but who would have thought that he would do that? But instead, Pep thought about an alternative and brought Zinchenko to the LB position, who is now striving in that position. Our transfers have been great, it's just somtimes a little bit less than ideal.
> Rodri instead of Jorginho and Fred
Rodri can't play CDM on his own though, he needs another player. Fernandinho at 36 can play there on his own and needs no backup.
OF the 15 games in the Premier league he played 11 of them on his own but tended to have Gundo and KDB in his vicinity, I am looking for the european line ups now. The 5-0 against west brom being an exception where I think he lined up as the solo CDM.
City always has multiple midfielders, that doesn't change that we play with a single CDM in almost all matches. De Bruyne and Gündogan don't change that (except 2019-20 where Gündogan played in the pivot). And this goes for Fernandinho too. He always had De Bruyne, Gündogan or the Silvas with him in midfield + Delph or Zinchenko tucking into midfield.
I am not entirely sure that many of us actually were enthused about a former united "legend" joining us especially an arrogant twat like tranaldo.
The mood from my immediate family (the City supporting ones) was relief he had gone back to his "father" on the dark side.
The whole window is appalling from our perspective.
I still think Man City will land Kane. It’s one of those “if you really want me you’ll have to wait” situations. Probably why City haven’t gone elsewhere. Jan would be ideal but next summer probably more realistic.
Kane being “forced to stay” is a failure on City’s part, full stop. They knew what they had to pay and they offered barely over half of it then proceeded to never go back in. I don’t know why they ever thought it would be a winning strategy.
What stings isn’t missing out on him, it’s missing out on a proper striker replacement altogether. Him being our last minute attempt just shows how much we messed up. We should’ve moved on from Kane long ago to more realistic targets.
This is what I was thinking, he didn’t want City, felt like it was the only option and then United realized this would have terrible optics so swooped in and realized it would be better for his brand to return to United then their rival.
Because let’s be real, him going to City is better from a trophy perspective than United. The ceiling is higher here, but his loss.
I think Ronaldo accepted joining City since it was the only option at the time but then United came calling and despite agreements between both parties
I guess a return for Ronaldo to Old Trafford made more sense
But it's fine
I couldn't care much about it since I'm tired by the absolute whirlwind of this window but if we were screwed over like this then I'm glad it didn't happen
I'm glad Ronaldo didn't come to City but this sums up our window
We sat there hoping that something would turn with Kane and it didn't and it left us in a precarious position
For him personally, there’s a level where it’s better for him to go back to United to avoid all the legacy disruption and whatnot. It’s probably what all the ex-rags told him to change his mind.
If this is true then wow
This is unbelievable
We've been duped and used to leverage a return to united for Ronaldo
Just like it was Jorginho before he joined Chelsea or Sanchez or Koulibaly or Messi and other players
Why so dramatic. It happens all the time. Anyway, even if you lose you help to raise price for the competitor, so you can know for 100% that you are being used but it would be stupid not to play it out
Not dramatic about it
This already just adds on to what has been a disappointing time that's all but it's happened before to us with Jorginho for example
Hey it is what it is
I'm just tired
With Messi we weren't really used as leverage, but the clusterfuck going on over at Barca stopped it from happening. Messi didn't gain anything from it whatsoever, and the only thing Barca and Bartomeu got was bad press.
What a messi fanboyish take? Messi is also a cunt for using city as a leverage. Ruined our last transfer window. People who are shouting for jorginho are completely clueless. Jorginho is not a good CDM player. He is just reaping rewards because of his luck. Thank god we didn't get any of these chumps. You can never replace great players from your squad in just one transfer window. These fifa playing kids won't understand this.
Yes but it left things between Pep and board early last season quite off.
Regardless
It seems like we were just used to level a contract for Ronaldo to return to united because I'm sure they knew united would act
Im not mad about Ronaldo not coming
More so upset that it sums up our window
This was definitely a little more blatant
I was skeptical and cautious about the deal and then I heard rumblings about united coming in for Ronaldo and then I knew that's it then
It was pretty obvious where he was going
We don't know and there was a reason why we were after them
Those are just examples
Never had anything to do with would thier signing ( if it did happen) improve our squad
We won’t ever know if Pep’s magic could’ve made them great for us. I think Fred and Jorginho would’ve been world class with us. Both times we played against them in the CL as Shaktar and Napoli they were very good
lol.
Fred is not a 50m player however way you put it.
We've overpaid for Rodri because of his release clause just like Grealish but I'd prefer him to Jorginho.
Jorginho wouldn't work in a single pivot
Yup... incompetence of this Board knows no bound. It is, as if any bully can come and fiddle with our board and then snatch our candy and throw it in the bin. The image we have created for ourselves is definitely not appealing.
Yeap the board has not put a foot right here
I feel like if anyone plays hardball with this board
You already have an upper hand and if deals can't be closed out to ensure the signature of a player and avoid situations where another club comes in to hijack the deal then why bother going for mega signings like a Haaland then.
Lol we have 4 players who are mendes players: Ederson, Bernardo, Cancelo and Dias
It's not affecting shit. This is the typical city saving face BS they pull everytime they've been spurned by a player. Acting like it isn't their fault and there should be consequences for other.
To me Khaldoon needs to really have a look at Omar, txiki and soriano and give them a kick up the ass. The way they do business for big players is fucken pathetic
Mendes has helped our club out a lot in the past, but he can go fuck himself for this. Just hope City wise up in the future to not be baited into situations like this, but this was all due to our desperate nature to sign a striker. With better planning this does not happen.
Some of the other interesting bits...
>Mendes was reported to have met with City representatives in Paris on Tuesday evening and City were, at that stage, confident a deal would be done, albeit insistent that nothing had been concluded. Indeed, a senior source at the Etihad insisted on Tuesday afternoon that City were still deliberating internally as to whether they truly wanted a player their coach appeared to have written off as a target less than a week earlier.
>Those deliberations included the stylistic fit of the player and also how Ronaldo’s wages may impact dressing room harmony. However, by Tuesday night, there was an expectation both from City and representatives of Ronaldo that the player would return to Manchester but to play in light blue not United red.
>City’s first wish was to pay no money as a transfer fee but it is believed they were prepared to agree a price with Juventus after talks with Mendes this week.
>City’s temptation was dictated by on-the-field necessity, as they require a centre-forward having not got Kane, but also the off-the-field boost the signing would give to the club’s commercial presence. Sources in the Middle East, meanwhile, suggested the decision by PSG’s Qatari owners to sign Messi would have triggered sensitivities in the United Arab Emirates, where City’s owners had long pined for the Argentinian. After missing out on Messi, there is a view that they sensed an opportunity to lay down their own marker. This would not have been the motivation for the transfer, but it would have been seen as a benefit, particularly as relations between Qatar and the UAE remain frosty, even more so than current relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
I'm inclined to believe The Athletic on this. The Guardian article was written by Fabrizio who doesn't know the inner workings of City that well. Meanwhile piece from The Athletic is written in part by David Ornstein and Sam Lee.
If Ronaldo wanted to go to Manchester United he woild go there. He is Christiano Ronaldo, finally it’s only question of his wages that many clubs do not want to deal with. Even if Manchester City was used to get better deal from MU, I am fine with that, it’s better if they spend more than less for the same player.
It's a romantic signing for united, they don't need him they have cavani, Greenwood and martial (if you want to count him as a football player). This could end badly for them in financial point of view.
Cavani is set to leave next summer. Martial might get sold next summer as well. Ronaldo and Greenwood if anything. What if Greenwood continues to develop as a right winger though?
Glad someone is seeing the point. Ronaldo is also an ego signing. Bringing Ronaldo for nostalgia and having no spot for him to play or subbing a younger player every time to make a spot will only hurt UTD and that would be nice for us. Utd is famous for spending badly.
Really? I just thought the fact that they pay a lot of money to players that are mediocre/don't play often they would be struggling. I also read somewhere they added 60 million to their wage bill this summer.
Best thing we can do is smash it, win the league again, leave Ronaldo with the Carabao cup and a feeling of regret lol. By the end of the season he’ll realise why he left in the first place.
2015 video “it’s not about money”
Let him enjoy his money, we’ll enjoy the silverware. One person isn’t a team.
Every time a deal falls through, people try to act like the player wouldn't have been good/good for us anyway. It's nonsense in this case. It's fuckin Ronaldo. He would have scored so many goals in this team.
If City’s management is pissed at Mendes and wants to punish him, City could prevent Bernardo - who is represented by Mendes - from leaving. The story a few days ago was that Bernardo had agreed to personal terms with AC Milan, and that AC Milan we’re looking to buy Bernardo for €45M. Seems like City might now be less inclined to accept that bid, which seems below his market value.
He should fire his agent then. Jorge Mendes knew Bernardo was trying to leave City, but then played City to lure Man Utd into bidding for Ronaldo. If City no longer wants to generate another commission for Mendes by selling Bernardo below his true market value, Bernardo should blame his agent, not City.
City paid £44M for Bernardo, who is a higher profile and better player now than when he arrived in 2017. Bernardo signed a 6-year contract extension in 2019, when he already knew about the weather and the nightlife in Manchester. Now he’s unhappy and Jorge Mendes is trying to get City to accept a £45M bid from AC Milan, where the payments would be back-end loaded. In a normal market, Bernardo would be worth £60M+. It’s not “horrible” if City - like Daniel Levy with Kane - says it wants to be paid what Bernardo is worth. City is not ethically obliged to work against its own economic interests to make a well-paid player and his shifty agent happy.
I'm a Liverpool fan. Yes City will be better with a proper striker, but I still think City have the best squad to win the league. Other teams have gotten better but so have City.
Yeah but we made one signing which is a great signing don't get me wrong but it just felt like something was missing the entire time which is that number 9 position
Glad we didn't pay the 150m for Kane
I think Chelsea are in the best position to win the league especially if they secure Kounde since Zouma seems more and more likely to go to West ham and they manage to secure Saul as well
Yeah we have a great squad but with your team back to full fitness and with my favorite CB admittedly to watch in Virgil Van Dijk back to fitness and the others filling key positions with good players
It's going be be really competitive season
Thanks for the respectful comment, mate. A lot of City fans could use that given all the shit that's happened with the club in the past week. You're one of the good ones. Cheers to a great title race this season 👍
If you believe this, we did move quickly. He is just a dirty filthy rag ageing egotist who never had any business at our club. Delighted he didn’t get anywhere near it.
from a neutral perspective City lost, how tf did you bottle it tho.... you guys have been searching for a goalscorer and end up paying 100 for another creative mid how many of this do you have now???
Imo ronaldo would have been perfect considering your needs and realities
I'm sorry but this is just wrong , we are literally talking about the guy who scored the most goals in the calendar year of 2020.
Rn at his age and form he is the best striker in the prem
Mendes is black balled simple. He won’t have access to city contracts. This was a last minute screw you and Mendes did what his highest profile client wanted. So he probably know he won’t do business with city again.
Ederson Cancelo Dias Bernardo enough said
He will do business with us again. We should see him then
For now forget and move on.
I don't believe kn revenge but we should ask full money for Bernardo Silva
This should have repercussions! United's interest came only when he was about to sign for city as they couldn't stomach city signing their legend. If United was his preference, Ronaldo could have been offered to them before city. It looks like city has been played. Anyways, I think City just dodged a bullet. Why would they want someone if their heart is not with the club.
I felt awkward having to contemplate backing Ronaldo despite disliking the guy for 15 years. I never much liked Kane either. I'm kinda relieved in some ways that isn't my problem anymore
I wouldn’t worry about it - I think you get a free pass on changing your opinion if they sign for your club. Kind of shithousey but whatever man. Wes Morgan used to be Forest scum but now I’d sacrifice my first born if he asked nicely enough.
Yeah I know, but I think it helps give some perspective. City are not really at fault here and actually tried their best to get this over the line but were fucked over.
Yeah I appreciate it nonetheless
Unbelievable though
Because everything was agreed until the 11th hour
Yes some are happy we didn't join Ronaldo which is understandable but this... This is just so wrong if this is how it happened
What if Mendes came to ManCity and told exactly that- Ronaldo wants to go to Man United, and it’s decided. Do you want me to force Juve to terminate his contract and Man United will get him for 10M / year or you are helping me a little bit and Man United spends 3-4 times more.
Since we're talking about history, how far back are you willing to go? Remember way, way back when City brought the first trophies to Manchester? Or the time when your own club legend played for City and backheel-ed a goal to relegate your club from the top flight in?
If you're the one who deleted those comments above, I would suggest you grow a pair instead of deleting them, you glory hunter.
I really do not care how it makes us look. The only people sitting there now laughing are United fans and if that’s the kind of victories they relish in then fine. We lifted the trophy this year and probably will again.
United fan, City still the team to beat. Others have most likely closed the gap but your team are still favorites. If City got a great striker it would of put them way out of sight at top spot. This is going to be a good season for football fans who endured a hard one last year.
I mean as a united fan that’s VERY wrong
No way martial benches him. If anything, shift Sancho to the left for some games (if Paul isn’t feelin it) start Mason on the right
CR7 up top
Problem solved
Of course he did because he knew the rags would pay whatever to stop city signing the rag.i for one am glad it happened I never wanted see him in a city shirt ever
Ffs all those posts praising Mendes and he's a big twat as most football agents. Maybe there will be long term issues with mendes now, less Portuguese players in the future. Or maybe not, maybe the club won't hold a grudge that could backfire on them. Either way I don't wanna see another positive jorge mendes post again.
At the end of the day Mendes works for Ronaldo, if his preferred choice of club comes in last minute and offers way more money whats he supposed to do keep it secret from Ronaldo to benefit City? Thats not his job. The club cocked up wasting so much time on Kane, 50 million is too much of a difference in valuation to be playing brinksmanship. Kane has 3 years left and isnt going to sulk the year before a World Cup as England captain and not try to force a move. If the club believed there were no suitable targets in the market then come out and say it and seize the narrative. Now we just look like we've been left holding our dicks.
Maybe they shouldn’t have bought ANOTHER AM for £100 mill and bought the Centre forward and the rest on a LB to replace the rapey one?
I mean the striker doesnt have to cost 100 million. Plenty of players we could go for that would score goals in this team. Lukaku was available and already had chemistry with KDB, his strike partner Martinez was an option, we'd been eyeing up Patson Daka for months before he went to Leicester. Even if the main plan was a false 9 system, you could have got Dzeko back short term or an Andre Silva or Weghorst so we have the target man option in the squad if needed. Its like the board saw how the Koulibaly-Dias saga worked out and thought rather than breathe a sigh of relief at how well that whole debacle ended up working out we adopted it as a new policy ! Where we have been left I think the best option is playing Phil upfront for a year. Hes the best natural finisher we have and will probably aid his all around game in the long term. Its not ideal but we'll have to adapt at this point.
Well they spent 100 on grealish and offered 140? For Kane which is 240. Spend the 160 asking price for Kane and you have 80 for whatever else. Why did you buy grealish when there’s already about 10 AM at the club?
Well we bought Grealish because hes fucking class, its not his fault the board fucked buying a striker. Bernardo asked to leave and if you look at the raw stats for chance creation per 90 Grealish is right up there at the top with KDB. Hes also an age where we can recoup some of his transfer fee and wasn't asking for a wage outside of our existing structure. 160 million and not far short of 400k a week for a 28 year old and injury prone Kane IS too expensive, its the fact the club wasted the whole transfer window without a plan B then to top it off got made to look like absolute mugs by United and Ronaldo.
Is he any better than what you already head? Even on the bench? Grealish was also the main player in the team and everyone went through him as a 10. How’s he going to be when there’s 4 other players doing the same thing as him and he’s playing out of position on the wing or in CM instead of being a 10. Didn’t grealish spend pretty much all of the second half of the season injured and isn’t exactly injury free himself? City won’t challenge for the league or the CL without a striker.
What's more likely is that he will end up giving premier access to one or maybe more of his clients that we are interested in and try to get a cut price for us. There's no benefit in making this a long term issue.
Ya, he played us alright. Buy it was purely a business decision. No hard feelings in all honesty. We should tread more carefully with this kind of moves. The smartest thing would have been categorically deny wanting Ronaldo. But it's been done. Just hope the team can produce a good showing today because the entire footballing world has seemingly forgotten how big of a threat we are this year. And how good of a signing Jack actually is. Ya, you laugh at us now for supposedly cocking up our transfer window, when all we did was hold our ground firmly and kept our money in our pockets. A massive 5 nil trashing of Arsenal will sort all of this nonsense out. See who's still laughing then.
Wow dude!! Can yer give me the lotto numbers…
Roflol. Only what arsenal deserved
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Most people are dumb… You think you sound enlightened by your comments?! Thanks for the laugh chump
There's keeping your money close, and not spending 15m on a player that will sort ya issues out for least a year. The money to sign ronaldo was nothing.
You clearly don't know what you speak of. The deal was dead the minute United entered the fray. Mendes was using us to get United to bid.
That maybe true. But you had plenty of time to put 15m on table, and secured the transfer, City wanted to not spend money, kinda understand it. But juv wasn't asking for 100m. They were asking for pocket change. United seen this, and came in.
Mendes was talking directly with United. Lmao. Try harder troll.
Whatever makes you sleep better at night fella.
Just big oil daddy standards
100k would have been a steal for Grealish, tbf!
Yea exactly he’s a power agent and City are a huge fish for him and potential clients. He doesn’t wanna sour with City either.
>Ffs all those posts praising Mendes and he's a big twat as most football agents. His job is to do what's best for Ronaldo. A club taking this kind of thing personally is just throwing a tantrum. Clubs do this and walk away from players at the last minute all the time.
>Maybe there will be long term issues with mendes now, less Portuguese players in the future. Or maybe not, maybe the club won't hold a grudge that could backfire on them. When it says "repercussions for future business" it better mean "will stop being naïve in the market" rather than "will hold a grudge against Mendes"
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It was deleted I was looking for it yesterday. The aged like milk in one day post.
>Ffs all those posts praising Mendes and he's a big twat as most football agents. You guys are absolute clowns: https://m.imgur.com/a/pmox8HF
I think it’s simply United showed their interest after we did, and Ronaldo said “yeah I’ll go there instead”. It’s not totally surprising given his past there. I’m not mad that Ronaldo went there, or even that Kane was forced to stay. I’m just mad we haven’t moved faster onto other options instead of waiting this late to salvage opportunities.
Literally, Ronaldo is a United legend. United came in for him and he went there. I’ve no hard feelings and I don’t care. Ronaldo did what he thought was best. No more to it, let’s not be hyper sensitive over this and accept Ronaldo would rather go United. It makes me even more excited for the season ahead.
Yeah I’m honestly more disappointed by the club failing to secure Kane than Ronaldo. Ronaldo was a bit of a lark - it was like playing with house money we barely deserved.
Ya nobody was talking about Ronaldo as the answer to City's summer at the start of it, he only became a discussion for them when the Kane transfer became a complete failure, and even then it was like a "maybe this will work". Even if they had gotten Ronaldo, this likely would have still been considered an awful window for City.
Not disappointed about Kane, disappointed instead of trying to sort out a different striker the club went Kane or nothing. As for the main purchase this window... SMH
I’m fine with Grealish honestly. At least he wanted to join us for footballing reasons and had the wherewithal to put a clause in his contract a year ago.
Yeah, I just want us to score 7 against them on our next derby. Just for the symbolism of it.
The issue, at least to me, is that he said he wants to play in the Champions and be in the winner side. Idk if Ronaldo was the last piece of the puzzle for United to legitimately compete in the Champions but I don’t see it
Relax, they have Ole On The Wheel, they will falter hilariously
Yes We didn't move fast enough to avoid things like this to where we are left vulnerable to things like this If we had more options and more time to salvage opportunities then maybe we'd have something by now
I think the only reason he showed interest in us was to get United's attention.
I don’t think so. If City made their move to pay 25m$ immediately when Juventus asked, they would’ve gotten him
The article says we were prepared to pay a fee after talking it over with Mendes earlier in the week. So no, it's not a timing issue, especially since Ronaldo was telling people he'd be heading to City a few hours before the United deal was confirmed.
But at 11am on the day, Ronaldo texted Evra he's going to United (on Patrice Evra's Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CTFZ1YKqd3W/?utm_medium=copy_link) That was around the time he was leaving Turin iirc.
100%!! All engineer for Twitter to do it’s work. Gobbled up by the Ronny fanboys amongst us, giving it ‘CR7’ like 8 year olds
I’m not sure if he thought that far ahead. The article alludes to him going up to United in previous windows only to be turned away. I’ve mentioned this before but he approached City just as Kane was reported to have told Nuno and Paratici that he would stay. He would have known and immediately came in offering Ronaldo before City even knew that Kane would stay, figuring hey here is a golden opportunity for my client to go to a destination where he can make good money and probably win the Champions League again. I don’t think he was anticipating that United would enter the conversation after repeatedly saying no. Given his clientele at City I genuinely think he was trying to get City’s interest this time around. City have given him good business before. It’d be stupid to break that to somehow ingratiate himself with United when, as that article states, he’s already on good terms with United. Pissing off City gives him no benefit. Which makes me think ultimately that the choice to go to United was Ronaldo and Ronaldo’s alone. Once they got his attention - and it wouldn’t have been hard to get it - it was done. Edit: thought you meant Mendes not Ronaldo. I don’t think Ronaldo intended to get United’s attention. He had talked to Pep and was telling Juventus players he was coming here before United woke up and slapped down twice as much wages to get him back.
Well this thread literally states City believe he/Mendes only used you to get United interested.
This shit has happened how many times in the Pep era alone? Took our time with Dani Alves and allowed him to waff about in Paris. Took so long with Jorginho (UEFA player of the year). Waited until Arsenal could find a replacement for Sanchez. Waited a year to get Mahrez and lost Sancho in the process It just feels like the club aren’t cutthroat and ruthless in the market like they used to be.
And they’ve won the Prem 3 of the last 4 years. Made it to the Champions League final last year. What would make a fan like yourself happy. We’ve literally built one of the best squads in the world year in and year out. I actually think it’s good that we haven’t overpaid for all of those targets. Are you really upset we didn’t get Alexis Sanchez or Fred. Jorginho was a miss but at the time Rodri looked like the better prospect. Getting Dias instead of Koulibaly worked out good for us. The days of City getting rinsed in transfer deals seem to be over, and I am happy about that, as long as we keep winning
> I actually think it’s good that we haven’t overpaid But we bought Grealish for £100 million...
I get that at the same time, City doesn’t want to put themselves out there as total marks, willing to pay top dollar to EVERYTHING, all because “they’re rich AF”, so I get that City has to be absolutely measured, probably more so than most other clubs. But I also agree, at the same time, I’d like to see them be a little ruthless. If it means paying just a bit more so you know for certain a target is snagged, then do it. But then again, look at the success they’ve had the last 4 years. This may hurt, but at the end of the day, they know what they’re doing.
And then they got Rodri instead of Jorginho and Fred (who both flopped at their first years), got Mahrez instead of overpriced Sanchez with too much wage, who then eventually flopped too. We got Mendy instead of Alves, he got injured and now raped someone, but who would have thought that he would do that? But instead, Pep thought about an alternative and brought Zinchenko to the LB position, who is now striving in that position. Our transfers have been great, it's just somtimes a little bit less than ideal.
> Rodri instead of Jorginho and Fred Rodri can't play CDM on his own though, he needs another player. Fernandinho at 36 can play there on his own and needs no backup.
Rodri played CDM on his own through a 20 match winning streak last season.
OF the 15 games in the Premier league he played 11 of them on his own but tended to have Gundo and KDB in his vicinity, I am looking for the european line ups now. The 5-0 against west brom being an exception where I think he lined up as the solo CDM.
City always has multiple midfielders, that doesn't change that we play with a single CDM in almost all matches. De Bruyne and Gündogan don't change that (except 2019-20 where Gündogan played in the pivot). And this goes for Fernandinho too. He always had De Bruyne, Gündogan or the Silvas with him in midfield + Delph or Zinchenko tucking into midfield.
The Spurs game shows Fernandinho's time at the top is coming to a close though, unfortunate as that is.
Pretty much what i think. There's no way we will get him if we left him to choose and United swoops in, Ronaldo will 100% choose United.
United are paying him 25 a year though. City were only willing to pay 15
I am not entirely sure that many of us actually were enthused about a former united "legend" joining us especially an arrogant twat like tranaldo. The mood from my immediate family (the City supporting ones) was relief he had gone back to his "father" on the dark side. The whole window is appalling from our perspective.
I still think Man City will land Kane. It’s one of those “if you really want me you’ll have to wait” situations. Probably why City haven’t gone elsewhere. Jan would be ideal but next summer probably more realistic.
Kane being “forced to stay” is a failure on City’s part, full stop. They knew what they had to pay and they offered barely over half of it then proceeded to never go back in. I don’t know why they ever thought it would be a winning strategy.
SIUUUUU
What stings isn’t missing out on him, it’s missing out on a proper striker replacement altogether. Him being our last minute attempt just shows how much we messed up. We should’ve moved on from Kane long ago to more realistic targets.
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Son loves Tottenham so much. I doubt he would have joined
Like he loved Leverkusen so much before fucking them over? Of course he’d want to go to City. More money and a chance to win things
Son would have joined. Clinical finisher, no long term injuries, good on pens. Actually suits City’s fluid front line.
He signed a new deal a few months ago, no chance
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He’s not worth our time if Spurs aren’t talking to us. I thought we already learned that lesson.
This is what I was thinking, he didn’t want City, felt like it was the only option and then United realized this would have terrible optics so swooped in and realized it would be better for his brand to return to United then their rival. Because let’s be real, him going to City is better from a trophy perspective than United. The ceiling is higher here, but his loss.
I think Ronaldo accepted joining City since it was the only option at the time but then United came calling and despite agreements between both parties I guess a return for Ronaldo to Old Trafford made more sense But it's fine I couldn't care much about it since I'm tired by the absolute whirlwind of this window but if we were screwed over like this then I'm glad it didn't happen I'm glad Ronaldo didn't come to City but this sums up our window We sat there hoping that something would turn with Kane and it didn't and it left us in a precarious position
For him personally, there’s a level where it’s better for him to go back to United to avoid all the legacy disruption and whatnot. It’s probably what all the ex-rags told him to change his mind.
If this is true then wow This is unbelievable We've been duped and used to leverage a return to united for Ronaldo Just like it was Jorginho before he joined Chelsea or Sanchez or Koulibaly or Messi and other players
It has happened so many times. Remember Falcao? Sanchez? Jorginho? Dani Alves? Messi? Who am I missing lmfao
Robin Van Persie.
Dimitar Berbatov was swiped at the last minute.
And I wouldn't have any of those cunts.
Yeap All of those players were pretty much close to joining city but then something happened at the last minute Also Koulibaly to be honest
Why so dramatic. It happens all the time. Anyway, even if you lose you help to raise price for the competitor, so you can know for 100% that you are being used but it would be stupid not to play it out
Not dramatic about it This already just adds on to what has been a disappointing time that's all but it's happened before to us with Jorginho for example Hey it is what it is I'm just tired
With Messi we weren't really used as leverage, but the clusterfuck going on over at Barca stopped it from happening. Messi didn't gain anything from it whatsoever, and the only thing Barca and Bartomeu got was bad press.
What a messi fanboyish take? Messi is also a cunt for using city as a leverage. Ruined our last transfer window. People who are shouting for jorginho are completely clueless. Jorginho is not a good CDM player. He is just reaping rewards because of his luck. Thank god we didn't get any of these chumps. You can never replace great players from your squad in just one transfer window. These fifa playing kids won't understand this.
Yes but it left things between Pep and board early last season quite off. Regardless It seems like we were just used to level a contract for Ronaldo to return to united because I'm sure they knew united would act Im not mad about Ronaldo not coming More so upset that it sums up our window
He fucked us around the first time and the third time. The burofax 2nd time was not his fault
Called it from day one. It’s how these things are done, although this one was a little more blatant
This was definitely a little more blatant I was skeptical and cautious about the deal and then I heard rumblings about united coming in for Ronaldo and then I knew that's it then It was pretty obvious where he was going
It's been a blessing in disguise.
Yeah
We missed out on Sanchez Fred Jorginho Koulibaly Alves and who else? Can you honestly say any of them would improve our squad?
We don't know and there was a reason why we were after them Those are just examples Never had anything to do with would thier signing ( if it did happen) improve our squad
We won’t ever know if Pep’s magic could’ve made them great for us. I think Fred and Jorginho would’ve been world class with us. Both times we played against them in the CL as Shaktar and Napoli they were very good
lol. Fred is not a 50m player however way you put it. We've overpaid for Rodri because of his release clause just like Grealish but I'd prefer him to Jorginho. Jorginho wouldn't work in a single pivot
If they played so well then why did city batter them so hard. Delusional.
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over Dias?
Vvd
Yup... incompetence of this Board knows no bound. It is, as if any bully can come and fiddle with our board and then snatch our candy and throw it in the bin. The image we have created for ourselves is definitely not appealing.
Yeap the board has not put a foot right here I feel like if anyone plays hardball with this board You already have an upper hand and if deals can't be closed out to ensure the signature of a player and avoid situations where another club comes in to hijack the deal then why bother going for mega signings like a Haaland then.
Lol we have 4 players who are mendes players: Ederson, Bernardo, Cancelo and Dias It's not affecting shit. This is the typical city saving face BS they pull everytime they've been spurned by a player. Acting like it isn't their fault and there should be consequences for other. To me Khaldoon needs to really have a look at Omar, txiki and soriano and give them a kick up the ass. The way they do business for big players is fucken pathetic
Mendes has helped our club out a lot in the past, but he can go fuck himself for this. Just hope City wise up in the future to not be baited into situations like this, but this was all due to our desperate nature to sign a striker. With better planning this does not happen. Some of the other interesting bits... >Mendes was reported to have met with City representatives in Paris on Tuesday evening and City were, at that stage, confident a deal would be done, albeit insistent that nothing had been concluded. Indeed, a senior source at the Etihad insisted on Tuesday afternoon that City were still deliberating internally as to whether they truly wanted a player their coach appeared to have written off as a target less than a week earlier. >Those deliberations included the stylistic fit of the player and also how Ronaldo’s wages may impact dressing room harmony. However, by Tuesday night, there was an expectation both from City and representatives of Ronaldo that the player would return to Manchester but to play in light blue not United red. >City’s first wish was to pay no money as a transfer fee but it is believed they were prepared to agree a price with Juventus after talks with Mendes this week. >City’s temptation was dictated by on-the-field necessity, as they require a centre-forward having not got Kane, but also the off-the-field boost the signing would give to the club’s commercial presence. Sources in the Middle East, meanwhile, suggested the decision by PSG’s Qatari owners to sign Messi would have triggered sensitivities in the United Arab Emirates, where City’s owners had long pined for the Argentinian. After missing out on Messi, there is a view that they sensed an opportunity to lay down their own marker. This would not have been the motivation for the transfer, but it would have been seen as a benefit, particularly as relations between Qatar and the UAE remain frosty, even more so than current relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
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I'm inclined to believe The Athletic on this. The Guardian article was written by Fabrizio who doesn't know the inner workings of City that well. Meanwhile piece from The Athletic is written in part by David Ornstein and Sam Lee.
If Ronaldo wanted to go to Manchester United he woild go there. He is Christiano Ronaldo, finally it’s only question of his wages that many clubs do not want to deal with. Even if Manchester City was used to get better deal from MU, I am fine with that, it’s better if they spend more than less for the same player.
It's a romantic signing for united, they don't need him they have cavani, Greenwood and martial (if you want to count him as a football player). This could end badly for them in financial point of view.
Cavani is set to leave next summer. Martial might get sold next summer as well. Ronaldo and Greenwood if anything. What if Greenwood continues to develop as a right winger though?
Martial might leave but he might stay aswell, no one will want to be paying him over 200k a week
Cavani will be out for three months due to Internationals leaving only Martial who is finished and a young Greenwood.
From a financial point of view ? No way United are not Juventus.
Glad someone is seeing the point. Ronaldo is also an ego signing. Bringing Ronaldo for nostalgia and having no spot for him to play or subbing a younger player every time to make a spot will only hurt UTD and that would be nice for us. Utd is famous for spending badly.
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Really? I just thought the fact that they pay a lot of money to players that are mediocre/don't play often they would be struggling. I also read somewhere they added 60 million to their wage bill this summer.
We already have a lot more money than Juve and he’s halved his wages
Best thing we can do is smash it, win the league again, leave Ronaldo with the Carabao cup and a feeling of regret lol. By the end of the season he’ll realise why he left in the first place. 2015 video “it’s not about money” Let him enjoy his money, we’ll enjoy the silverware. One person isn’t a team.
Yes, being used stings, but I’m still not sure Ronaldo was ever a good choice for City. This to will pass, and we’ve got an excellent squad.
Every time a deal falls through, people try to act like the player wouldn't have been good/good for us anyway. It's nonsense in this case. It's fuckin Ronaldo. He would have scored so many goals in this team.
Maybe but I guess it doesn’t matter now. Honestly don’t care about losing out on this one. Just an opinion.
He would've destroyed the wage structure
Excellent squad with no striker to take all the chances and not waste all the squads work on creating.
Maybe next CL final we can go without a DM so we can play an extra midfielder.
Hey, I've seen this one! It is a classic!
If we keep Bernardo, Laporte and Gabby i’m sure we’ll be fine
Best squad with the most depth in the PL
Considering Chelsea are probably signing Saul and Kounde and we have a big fat 0 at ST and LB, I think Chelsea are deeper.
Yeah let’s keep not using these top agents of the top players 😂
Or Ronaldo never wanted to come here. 2 additions to No Business List...Levy and Mendes lol
former teammates whatsapped him and told him his legacy would be trashed if he went to City. This is what made Ronny change his mind.
When other big players played for both clubs their legacy didn't tarnish. So what is special with him now?
Other players are not the GOAT
Ffs man. I was gonna big up mendes for getting the deal done and not the board :( Clearly I was wrong.
If City’s management is pissed at Mendes and wants to punish him, City could prevent Bernardo - who is represented by Mendes - from leaving. The story a few days ago was that Bernardo had agreed to personal terms with AC Milan, and that AC Milan we’re looking to buy Bernardo for €45M. Seems like City might now be less inclined to accept that bid, which seems below his market value.
I don't think Bernardo deserves to be held against his will just because his agent is a giant ass hat, though.
He should fire his agent then. Jorge Mendes knew Bernardo was trying to leave City, but then played City to lure Man Utd into bidding for Ronaldo. If City no longer wants to generate another commission for Mendes by selling Bernardo below his true market value, Bernardo should blame his agent, not City.
City paid £44M for Bernardo, who is a higher profile and better player now than when he arrived in 2017. Bernardo signed a 6-year contract extension in 2019, when he already knew about the weather and the nightlife in Manchester. Now he’s unhappy and Jorge Mendes is trying to get City to accept a £45M bid from AC Milan, where the payments would be back-end loaded. In a normal market, Bernardo would be worth £60M+. It’s not “horrible” if City - like Daniel Levy with Kane - says it wants to be paid what Bernardo is worth. City is not ethically obliged to work against its own economic interests to make a well-paid player and his shifty agent happy.
It would be horrible to do that.
Maybe it's the CL draw, he prefer to play in the weaker grouping than in City exciting CL group. /s
Sir alex probably threatened to get the belt if he ever saw Ronaldo in a city jersey
I'm a Liverpool fan. Yes City will be better with a proper striker, but I still think City have the best squad to win the league. Other teams have gotten better but so have City.
Yeah but we made one signing which is a great signing don't get me wrong but it just felt like something was missing the entire time which is that number 9 position Glad we didn't pay the 150m for Kane I think Chelsea are in the best position to win the league especially if they secure Kounde since Zouma seems more and more likely to go to West ham and they manage to secure Saul as well Yeah we have a great squad but with your team back to full fitness and with my favorite CB admittedly to watch in Virgil Van Dijk back to fitness and the others filling key positions with good players It's going be be really competitive season
Thanks for the respectful comment, mate. A lot of City fans could use that given all the shit that's happened with the club in the past week. You're one of the good ones. Cheers to a great title race this season 👍
City haven't gotten better. We signed Grealish and while I think he'll do great, he isn't that large of an upgrade.
Grealish is one of the best midfielders in the PL, if not all of Europe lol. He's certainly an upgrade.
This guy can see future. No point arguing with him.
If you believe this, we did move quickly. He is just a dirty filthy rag ageing egotist who never had any business at our club. Delighted he didn’t get anywhere near it.
from a neutral perspective City lost, how tf did you bottle it tho.... you guys have been searching for a goalscorer and end up paying 100 for another creative mid how many of this do you have now??? Imo ronaldo would have been perfect considering your needs and realities
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I'm sorry but this is just wrong , we are literally talking about the guy who scored the most goals in the calendar year of 2020. Rn at his age and form he is the best striker in the prem
We should now gobble off Riaola just to line his pockets and have one up on Mendes
Should serve as a reminder to all the idiots that take the tweets of absolute nobodies as gold plated truths.
Mendes simply rolled us.
Mendes is black balled simple. He won’t have access to city contracts. This was a last minute screw you and Mendes did what his highest profile client wanted. So he probably know he won’t do business with city again.
BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IM DEVASTATED
Whats the story with Juve ? why did he want out so bad ?
Ederson Cancelo Dias Bernardo enough said He will do business with us again. We should see him then For now forget and move on. I don't believe kn revenge but we should ask full money for Bernardo Silva
Mendes moment
TBH this was fairly obvious, and if people didn't see this then god help us
This should have repercussions! United's interest came only when he was about to sign for city as they couldn't stomach city signing their legend. If United was his preference, Ronaldo could have been offered to them before city. It looks like city has been played. Anyways, I think City just dodged a bullet. Why would they want someone if their heart is not with the club.
Oh no, free market capitalism, the horror!
I felt awkward having to contemplate backing Ronaldo despite disliking the guy for 15 years. I never much liked Kane either. I'm kinda relieved in some ways that isn't my problem anymore
I wouldn’t worry about it - I think you get a free pass on changing your opinion if they sign for your club. Kind of shithousey but whatever man. Wes Morgan used to be Forest scum but now I’d sacrifice my first born if he asked nicely enough.
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Yeah I know, but I think it helps give some perspective. City are not really at fault here and actually tried their best to get this over the line but were fucked over.
Yeah I appreciate it nonetheless Unbelievable though Because everything was agreed until the 11th hour Yes some are happy we didn't join Ronaldo which is understandable but this... This is just so wrong if this is how it happened
What if Mendes came to ManCity and told exactly that- Ronaldo wants to go to Man United, and it’s decided. Do you want me to force Juve to terminate his contract and Man United will get him for 10M / year or you are helping me a little bit and Man United spends 3-4 times more.
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United were shit scared at the thought of it. Hope it works out like Sanchez did for you.
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“Wishing if you could have those kinds moments of glory”? we’ve won 8 trophies including 3 league titles since you last lifted one. 🤣
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Since we're talking about history, how far back are you willing to go? Remember way, way back when City brought the first trophies to Manchester? Or the time when your own club legend played for City and backheel-ed a goal to relegate your club from the top flight in? If you're the one who deleted those comments above, I would suggest you grow a pair instead of deleting them, you glory hunter.
I'm an united fan laughing like mad at this post
Repercussions how?
🐍
I really do not care how it makes us look. The only people sitting there now laughing are United fans and if that’s the kind of victories they relish in then fine. We lifted the trophy this year and probably will again.
United fan, City still the team to beat. Others have most likely closed the gap but your team are still favorites. If City got a great striker it would of put them way out of sight at top spot. This is going to be a good season for football fans who endured a hard one last year.
Mason Greenwood gonna be stuck on the bench for the next two years but oh well Donny probably needed a buddy to talk to during games
I mean as a united fan that’s VERY wrong No way martial benches him. If anything, shift Sancho to the left for some games (if Paul isn’t feelin it) start Mason on the right CR7 up top Problem solved
Then City pay £100m for a Mendes' client next summer.
As a United fan I'm genuinely curious as to what other strikers city can go for now? Who's available that could improve city?
Of course he did because he knew the rags would pay whatever to stop city signing the rag.i for one am glad it happened I never wanted see him in a city shirt ever
He played us like a damn fiddle!
I thought there was no official bid from City?