student

Take into account who briefed them. Highest will be briefed by southampton and probably include all the possible clauses and assume they will be activated. The lowest will be briefed by united, they have strong ties with the guardian, and will not include the clauses. The middle ones will include the upfront fee plus the clauses which will be activated and maybe mention the ones which might be. The main fee was agreed in principle a long time ago, hence why united bid 27m and thats what was ultimately accepted, it was just how clauses activate etc

Crook says 27m upfront with it rising to 34m based on various clauses. A good deal for all involved. I still maintain that the deal was done before the world cup, Shaw had signed a precontract with united before hand which imposed a penalty on him if he didnt sign!

This is certainly along the right lines. Shaw and united sorted personal terms months ago. In terms of the fee, united were given strong suggestions from Southampton that 27m the magic number to do the deal. Important people in united, most notably woodward, thought it was a done deal and were briefing the press that it was as good as done. They believed they would announced it before the world cup and even had a press release ready for the thursday i mentioned before the world cup. This is fact. Speculating, It would seem that the hold up regards the structure of the 27m, presumably united wanted to do it 'on the cheap' with x upfront, y next year then plenty in achievement and appearance based clauses. Im guessing southampton want pretty much all of it upfront. The 34m quoted could be a new 'structured deal' with bigger achievement based clauses. United obviously don't want to pay it all upfront as they're probably going to over 100m of business this summer and cant stump all that up in cash immediately.

Fwiw all the reliable united journalists have stated that they havent increased their offer.

Keep in dreaming

So are any of you beginning to believe the info i passed on? Shaw has been talking for a long time about joining utd. The deal dates back to the january window where united were told 'not now'

To be fair he barely played barkley and didnt play wilson at all

I haven't claimed to know anything about the manager, read the post it makes assumptions and doesn't pretend to be fact. Shaw was due to play against Peru... Baines was away for family reasons so wasn't going to play but Shaw got I'll so got called back. I still maintain a deal for Shaw is done. It would have been official by now if you weren't looking for a new manager. Shaw has agreed personal terms and is looking for houses in Manchester, he's openly been talking in the England camp about joining and was at the pfa awards. Look at my posts last week, I knew the Shaw meeting was happening on Friday, United has prepared a statement to announce him in anticipation. I do concede that it will now have to wait until after the World Cup until it's official but a fee will be formally agreed shortly after the new manager is in place. It won't end nicely between Shaw and the club if they don't let him go for the fee they previously intimated they would accept

Sherwood going very short atm. I can only assume that all the people who have gone short have been interviewed. It seems to make a short list of Koeman, Poyet, Sherwood, Magath, Ranieri, Moyes. Koeman - seems to have been interviewed and seems most likely Poyet - saints made an enquiry and Sunderland quickly tied him down Sherwood - sounds like he's been interviewed and someone around him has let slip Magath - saints asked and were knocked back Ranieri - interviews/talks had Moyes - question asked and he rejected Yakin - wanted the job but seemingly was never asked Mclaren - doesn't seem to have been asked Puel - was going to be interview but then taken off list Gross - talks maybe happened. What you can be sure of is that your board is doing things the right way. They are maximising their chance of getting a manager who works. All clubs should try to be as thorough.

Magath still shortening. 11/4 on sky and koeman is 2/5. Bizarre

I do wonder if its just the bookies trying to cover their arses. Pull someone in short at the last minute and people will back it and throw money away

Anyone know the story with magath? Im assuming hes been interviewed and has told someone? Koeman must be the leading candidate by far

There is no way united will spend anything close to that. Expect it to be around 120m plus anything they get for selling players. You've got to take into accoun they've lost their two best cbs and haven't bought a good midfielder in about 7 years.

I told you about cork and fonte...

I can't see anyone paying more than 25m, I think he's already overpriced for that sum.

This guy has singlehandedly dragged you up through the leagues. Hes then kept you there. A while ago you were all moaning about how his legs had gone. Hes now been offered his boyhood dream. The club are quite right to do the right thing by him. Btw jackie c and jose f are the next ones to go

What thread are we in

He is starting tomorrow...

Keep an eye out tomorrow

Markets suddenly short on yakin and closing

Where's the smart money then? Between koeman and yakin?

There's a difference between an offer and an 'offer'. You have to read between the lines. Ed Woodward has strange ways of workings, on the mata deal united didn't make an 'offer' until it was all agreed and even then it was made through a third party. Woodward uses men with contacts at these clubs to broker the deals and they get a cut of the pie. What I'm saying is that the offer is the end game in these negotiations not the start. I'm sure if you asked united and saints if a bid had been made now they'd say no because, formally, there probably isn't one. The rest has all been sorted, bar a few minor bits, and when the 'offer' is made Shaw will have his medical and sign within a day. In regards to Hodgson. He'll want his players focused on the World Cup and clubs have been briefed that he will let medicals happen etc outside of training sessions whilst they are in the pre World Cup camp but once they fly out to Brazil he will not let anything happen until England are out. It's in everyone's interest to get it done ASAP, and it will be.

Chelsea don't want him. They're after Felipe Luis at atletico, as I said last week... Seeing as how people acted on here when there were actual Southampton members of staff posting I expect everyone to yell troll. This deal has been long on the making since January. City and Chelsea were interested but his family decided that their history with young players was a concern. Add to that United can afford a big fee and wages, FFP is not worry for them, the deal was done with Luke ages ago. The only way he was ever going to end up at Chelsea/City was if he forced his way out and threw a big strop that he only wanted to join one of them etc. the line all along coming from the Shaw camp has been that he is happy to join united but he respects Southampton and won't go unless a deal can be agreed, eg he won't force his way out of the club publicly. He's kept to his end of the deal and the two clubs have got the deals they wanted. The fee was agreed with Southampton, in principle, some time ago and it's just been about ironing out the fine fine details and making it look like they put up a good fight. After all, you can't let a bid come in for your best young player straight after the last game and have the deal done within 5 days. Southampton will want to get the deal done early because their summer budget depends on at least one outgoing. If they sell Shaw they can afford to cling onto lallana unless a silly bid comes in. The deal will be formally signed off before Shaw flies out to Brazil. It's what suits everyone, including Hodgson.

All is still going to plan, don't worry. Now the manager is officially in place the deal will be announced in the coming days. United will fly medics out to Portugal

This is all going to be wrapped up before the WC I wouldn't worry about that...