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- [00:00]
Kristen Bell
A hotel might have a bar, a resort, a spa. But if you want it all, dining pools, gaming clubs, shows. It takes more than the boardwalk. It takes a village. It takes a borgata where the best meals meet the hottest tables, where one pool leads to the next. Room service, bottle service, every service. It takes nothing short of a village to make your stay. So we built one. Visit theborgata.com to learn more. Must be 21 or over. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler hi, I'm Kristen Bell.
- [00:35]
Ayo Akimolere
And if you know my husband Dax.
- [00:36]
Phil Hay
Then you also know he loves shopping for a car.
- [00:38]
Mark Critchley
Selling a car? Not so much.
- [00:40]
Kristen Bell
We're really doing this, huh?
- [00:42]
Mark Critchley
Thankfully, Carvana makes it easy. Answer a few questions, put in your van or license and done. We sold ours in minutes this morning and they'll come pick it up and pay us this afternoon.
- [00:53]
Kristen Bell
Goodbye, Truckee.
- [00:54]
Mark Critchley
Of course, we kept the favorite.
- [00:57]
Phil Hay
Hello other Truckee.
- [00:59]
Mark Critchley
Sell your car with Carvana. Terms and conditions apply.
- [01:06]
Kristen Bell
As a small business owner, you don't have the luxury of clocking out early. Your business is on your mind 24 7. So when you're hiring, you need a partner that grinds just as hard as you do. That hiring partner is LinkedIn jobs when you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in. LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share it with your network and get qualified candidates that can manage all all in one place. Here's how it works. Post your job LinkedIn's new feature can help you write job descriptions and then quickly get your job in front of the right people with deep candidate insights. Either post your job for free or pay to promote promoted jobs. Get three times more qualified applicants get qualified candidates at the end of the day, the most important thing to your small business is the quality of candidates. And with LinkedIn, you can feel confident that you're getting the best. Based on LinkedIn data, 72% of SMBs using LinkedIn say that LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates. You can let your network know you're hiring. You can even add a hiring frame to your profile picture and get two times more qualified candidates. Find out why more than 2.5 million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring today. Find your next great hire on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com baseball show. That's LinkedIn.com baseballshow to post your job for free, terms and conditions apply. The Athletic FC Podcast Network.
- [02:35]
Ayo Akimolere
Welcome to the Athletic FC Podcast with me, Ayo Akimolere. Marcus Rashford is one of five players Manchester United Told didn't need to report for the start of pre season, but he showed up anyway. So where does his future lie and how difficult will it be for United to move on their unwanted state stars? So here with us today we have our Manchester football writer, Mark Critchley and lead writer of the Athletic FC newsletter, Phil Hay as well. All right, listen to these names. Marcus Rashford, Jaden Sancho, Anthony, Alejandro Gacho and Tyrell Malacia were all told they didn't need to report back for the start of preseason by Manchester United. Krich, how did that go down? Firstly with the players, but also the people that look after the new players in the build up to the new season?
- [03:29]
Mark Critchley
Well, I think the first thing to say is that nobody could say they didn't see this coming. I think the direction of travel for all five of these players has been pretty clear for a while now. Four of them of course, were out on loan last season. So Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho Anthony and Tyrone Malacia played absolutely no part of the past six months of Ruben Aberyn's Manchester United. And so the writing was on the wall to an extent for those players. Garnacho is the only one who we saw playing regularly for Reuben Amarin last season. But as my colleague David Ornstein reported on the Athletic just after the Europa League final defeat, Amarin basically told him in a player meeting in front of the rest of the squad that you need to go and find a new club. So we've known that this would be the case for this group of players for a while now. The problem is that United have been unable to sell these players up until this point. And so it kind of came to a head last week where the rest of the squad was due back in training this Monday, just gone Monday the 7th of July. We knew that these players were out of favour, were on the fringes. The question was, are they going to be there? If they're going to be there, are they going to train on their own and ultimately are they going to be part of the preseason schedule? Are they going to go on tour to America and the rest of it with the rest of the squad? That has been the case at United. There's been these questions for several seasons now. I remember last season around Jadon Sancho as well, even before that, Cristiano Ronaldo. So it's a repetitive theme that we've had with United over the last few years and I think perhaps that played a part in the club actually on Friday coming forward and getting messaging out there to the effect that these players would not be. They would be given this time away to help find them new clubs. Now you asked has that gone down well and how has it gone down with them and their representatives? Part of that messaging suggested that these players had asked to leave, that all of these players had effectively said that they wanted to explore a future away from United. Now that is disputed. Depending who you talk to, who you ask. I think some of the player camps involved would say that they would deny that they ever directly asked to leave the club and they would have been quite happy to actually come in on Monday and start training with the rest of the squad. Even though there's been this sense that, you know, their future probably lies away from the club, that they would have been happy to come in and be part of training and train ready for the new season, if that even is at a different club than somewhere else. I guess the question is, what does it mean to ask to leave? Was Marcus Rashford asking to leave when he gave that interview to Henry Winter in December where he said that he's ready for a new challenge at the club? I think most of us read that and took that to mean that he was laying the pathway for his exit from United. Equally, you can look at that and say that he wasn't directly asking to leave. Was Alejandro Garnacho asking to leave when he gave that interview after the Europa League final and he was asked about his future and he said, I don't know, I'm going to go on holiday, we'll see what happens. And he was very non committal after being quite critical of Reuben Am rim's decision to leave him on the bench in that game as well. So, you know, it's all semantics. There's, there's clearly differences of opinion here and there. But I think the key message to take away from, from the events of the past week is that these five players do not have a future at Manchester United under Reuben Amarim. And that is absolutely clear now.
- [06:43]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah, Phil, yet another head scratcher when it comes to Manchester United. But also, I wonder how this also puts a bit of a dent in the kind of business they're looking to do. Obviously Amarim's come in, he wants a new team, he wants his people there. But you've got this dead stock that you just can't shift.
- [06:58]
Phil Hay
The semantics thing that Krich mentioned there is funny. I remember interviewing a player years back about a transfer request that he put in at a different club to Leeds, who I was covering at the time. And he said to Me, it wasn't a transfer request. It was a perceived transfer request. And I said to him, well, what's the difference? And he said, well, I can't really explain, but basically they thought it was a transfer request. I thought it was something else. So you do get kind of caught in the middle. And when it comes to how you deal with players who you want to sell, I don't think there's a right answer to what you should do or a one size fits all model. You know, Chris summed this up pretty neatly there. When you're dealing with players who are surplus, it's kind of horses for courses, depending in part on who you're talking about. I mean, some players have no politics around them. They can kind of be on the fringes without being a great issue or any mad complexity. I mean, as an example, Sean Longstaff looks like he's about to exit Newcastle, but he's not somebody who Newcastle need to ostracize in the meantime. You know, he's a pretty positive influence there, and he's not a real issue. I would say from a distance that Ruben Amarum clearly looks at certain Manchester United players, and I'd probably say Rashford in particular as a bit of a malign influence, or to put it more diplomatic way, as people he'd rather not have around. And that's not especially unusual. I mean, I remember at Leeds, Marcelo Bielsa taking the job as head coach and deciding that anybody who was categorically out of his plans was going to train at a completely different time to the rest of the squad to prevent any interaction. And further down the line, he actually had players training off site, you know, a different location altogether for the same reason. And his rationale was, I'm never going to use these players, I can tell you that now. So what purpose does it serve having them around? And the answer to that is not very much. But at the same time, it's surely easier to sell players if they're fit and in shape. And to be fit and in shape, they have to train. And the thing about ostracizing them in the way that United have is that it makes it perfectly clear that you're very anxious to sell. And I know, as Mark said there, that's been telegraphed for a while, but it's kind of blindingly obvious now, and it is almost inviting clubs to come in and lowball you with the offers that they're going to make. And given that none of these players have left so far, it would be going some to Say that the United have handled this really effectively to this point. But I can totally see why AM has taken the stance that he has taken, because a coach like him has to have the authority to draw some red lines somewhere.
- [09:20]
Ayo Akimolere
It's interesting we talk about low bowling there, Phil, because Crit, you know, Ollie Case written a piece about the sort of mess that Manchester United have got themselves in in this scenario. You know, you'd have expected with a new season ahead, hopefully, that have resolved some of the issues around here. But, you know, teams lowballing them, you know, you can see the values of players like Sancho Ante, Rashford completely plummeting. And it's not that you're going to get market value for them, are you?
- [09:43]
Mark Critchley
No, it's not. I think he'll hit the nail on the head there in terms of the bargaining position that United have is. Is absolutely damaged by this move. Because, yes, we've known that these players would like to. We're on the way out for a while, but it makes it absolutely clear that there's no road back for them. If there's always that possibility, then there's a sense that, okay, maybe they'll. Maybe they'll be on the bench in the first game of the season, maybe Amir will work it, maybe there'll be an injury crisis. This really draws a clear line in the sand. And I think that is the difference in the position in terms of United selling. I mean, I wrote a piece a few weeks ago where I actually tried to judge whether or not United fans should be panicking at this moment about the fact that they haven't sold these players. And I went back through the last 11 or 12 years of United transfers, and the only time that I could find that they'd sold a player this early in the window, which was about late June at the time, was Alexander Buttner going to Dynamo Moscow for 4.5 in 2014.
- [10:36]
Phil Hay
That's amazing.
- [10:37]
Mark Critchley
Yes. When I found that, my point in mentioning that in the piece was that it's early days, so don't panic. You know, historically, United haven't actually done many deals at this time, so there's still plenty of time for them to do them. Chatting to people who read that piece and the interactions and the comments on it, I think what people took from that was actually that, wait, United are absolutely terrible at selling players. And that is. That is actually true. At the same time, to be fair, it's completely right. United have been bad at selling players. If you compare them to the likes of Chelsea, if you Compare them to Manchester City clubs like that who have these academy systems that produce talent, sell them on for a fee. They've never been at that level. I think if you look over the last five years, those two clubs have something like £500 million of profit that they've managed to make through selling those players. United, by comparison, is about 100 million. That's a huge difference. And the other big difference, I think that sort of makes my Alexander Butler comparison irrelevant, is that this summer is. Is very different for United from summer's past. Everybody's come into this summer knowing that they need to sell if they want to reinvest further in the squad beyond Matthias Kunhu, who's obviously through the door already, and then Brian and Bumo, who is this in terminal transfer saga that's been going on for months and months and months now. It feels like it's actually just weeks, but it feels like months. If they want to do business beyond that point, they are very likely going to have to sell. That has been the consistent message coming out this summer. Part of me still wonders whether they. Whether there might be some jiggery pokery they can do. They've got a credit card. They could maybe throw some money on that. I would never rule anything out with United, but if they want to stop spending beyond their means, which is why the reason that they're in this mess in the first place, they need to sell players.
- [12:17]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah. Phil in all his piece also points out how at their peak value, Rashford, Anthony and Sancho were worth 250 million, according to Transfermarkt, that is now combined value of 97 million pounds. I mean, that's a huge plummet. I mean, what does that tell us, you reckon?
- [12:33]
Phil Hay
Well, this isn't a news flash, but it tells us that United's judgment in the transfer market and in terms of squad building has been pretty dreadful for quite a while now. I mean, I would dispute whether they were ever really worth £250 million. That might have been the price that was paid. But there is definitely a difference. And I think in the case of Anthony and Jadon, Sancho in particular, they were pretty horribly overpriced, both of them. I also think that the wage given to Rashford, which is massive, doesn't tally with his current standing in the game. It might have done previously, but not now. And it's not as if it's simply gone wrong for him on Amarim's watch either. I think the scrutiny on Rashford and the feeling that he might need a fresh start away from Old Trafford. You know, that he didn't look entirely happy, that the body language wasn't right. You know, that all began much earlier and it does feel like damage limitation now. I mean, I mean, Critch is spot on. For years and years, you never thought Manchester United as a selling club, that wasn't what they did. And he didn't feel that they were a club who had to fund one window by piling players out the door. But it's come to a crunch this summer and PSR is obviously leaning on them extremely heavily and they have very little option. And that's why I think the comparison to 2014 needs to sort of reflect the fact that this is a summer like no other they've ever had, when they are under huge amounts of pressure to get money in. But they're definitely not going to recoup Antony's fee. They're not going to recoup Sancho's either. It's pretty hard to see how anybody out there is going to pay Rashford's salary in full because it's so big. Garnacho is slightly different. I mean, he should make them. If they sell him and they sell them at a good price, he makes them a useful profit, which helps with, with. With psr. But again, we're not talking, say, Florian Verts by Leverkusen, where Leverkusen were selling from a position of. Of absolute strength. You know, United want Garnacho gone. Everybody can see it. That changes things and it does change the way that other clubs will approach them with offers.
- [14:24]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah. Garnacho aside, Critch, you know, players like Rashford, Sancho, even Anthony. I mean, Phil talks about wages. Yeah, okay, we might want to buy him, but can you afford. Can the club afford those insane wages? I mean, Betis had just been quoted saying that the £105,000 a week that Antony was on, you know, it was very hard to match that for a club at their level, even though he had an amazing sort of season with them.
- [14:48]
Mark Critchley
Yeah, look, we could take them one by one if you want. I think Marcus Rashford, for starters, one of the club's highest earners. Probably talking one of the highest paid players in the Premier League. You say there's not a lot of clubs that can pay that salary. I absolutely agree. There's also not a lot of clubs who can pay that salary. Look at it and want to. Right. I think that is the issue here.
- [15:09]
Ayo Akimolere
Is it value?
- [15:09]
Phil Hay
Yeah.
- [15:10]
Mark Critchley
Is it value for the. The level of performance that Marcus Rashford has been putting in over the last Few years, people came away from the loan spell at Aston Villa, like, impressed, I would say, and. And that he was playing some of his better football in the last few years. He still wasn't quite regularly always getting in that team at the same time. Right. And Villa had the option to take it up £40 million. I think there was a bit on both sides there. Both knew that it was a bit of a holding move in view of something further coming down the line in the summer. But we're now at the summer and there's a very shallow pool of suitors that could possibly, yes, meet Marcus Rashford' man's and would be willing to pay it. It's, you know, maybe Barcelona are paddling in that pool. I don't know. We don't know yet. There's. Even then it sounds like something more like a loan rather than something that's permanent. Sancho, I think it's almost the same situation but amplified. You know, again, very, very high wages. But over the last few years, what performances have you really seemed to be able to justify that his salary has been an obstacle to him departing previous summers, whether it's on loan with Borussia Dortmund or with Chelsea last year as well.
- [16:10]
Phil Hay
Can I just ask Critchlo, with Chelsea and Sancho, did they fundamentally want to sign him but not take on his wage or did they actually just not really want him?
- [16:19]
Mark Critchley
Well, the thing with the Sancho did was that it was an obligation to buy and it's the first obligation to buy.
- [16:24]
Ayo Akimolere
No one's taken.
- [16:28]
Mark Critchley
It is quite a curious deal. I think the understanding on that is that essentially it was an obligation to buy on the condition that Chelsea were able to agree terms with Sancho. And there has been talk of an offer going in. I don't think it was an offer that Sancho was going to accept. Clearly it wasn't. In the end, were Chelsea doing that because they perhaps actually just didn't want to sign a player and it was perhaps just a bit of a sop or a peace offering or just to make it seem like, look, we couldn't do this. I don't know. I don't have the information on that. I would be purely speculating to say that, but clearly there was a way out of that deal that a lot of us didn't foresee and Chelsea managed to find it. I think if they had genuinely wanted Jadon Sancho, I think they could have made it happen. Look, they seem to make it happen for the other 64 players who are on their book. So they tried to sign in any given summer. Right. So clearly that was possible, but I don't think the willingness was there from Chelsea. And yeah, and like Anthony as well. Just to mention you said about Betis, Betis are a club that they aren't Real Madrid, they aren't Barcelona. I think they're a club with a lot of financial issues in the history. They did break the world record transfer once, which I found out in my research for the other piece for Denilson in 1998. Goodness. I didn't expect 21 million, which is a long time ago. But those days are gone, definitely for Betis. They're a club that tries to be smart in the recruitment, you know, sells players high and buys low. That is another deal where you might. You're looking at maybe something that's quite creative and I think with all these players essentially apart from maybe Garnacho, you're looking at United perhaps having to compensate and take on some of the salary even when they're not playing for the club, just to get them out the door. That's how much of an issue wages are.
- [18:01]
Ayo Akimolere
All right, let's move on because having seen Matthias Cunha take his number 10 shirts, we'll ask what next for Marcus Rashford?
- [18:11]
Kristen Bell
You're listening to the Athletic FC podcast with IO akamolere. As a small business owner, you don't have the luxury of clocking out early. Your business is on your mind 24 7. So when you're hiring, you need a partner that grinds just as hard as you do. That hiring partner is LinkedIn Jobs. When you clock out, LinkedIn clocks in. LinkedIn makes it easy to post your job for free, share it with your network and get qualified candidates that can manage all in one place. Here's how it works. Post your job LinkedIn's new feature can help you write job descriptions and then quickly get your job in front of the right people with deep candidate insights. Either post your job for free or pay to promote promoter jobs. Get three times more qualified applicants get qualified candidates at the end of the day, the most important thing to your small business is the quality of candidates. And with LinkedIn you can feel confident. Confident that you're getting the best. Based on LinkedIn data, 72% of SMBs using LinkedIn say that LinkedIn helps them find high quality candidates. You can let your network know you're hiring. You can even add a hashtag hiring frame to your profile Picture and get two times more qualified candidates. Find out why more than 2.5 million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring today. Find your next great hire on LinkedIn. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.combaseballshow that's LinkedIn.com to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. A hotel might have a bar, a resort, a spa. But if you want it all, dining, pools, gaming clubs shows it takes more than the boardwalk. It takes a village. It takes a borgata where the best meals meet the hottest tables, where one pool leads to the next next room service, bottle service, every service. It takes nothing short of a village to make your stay. So we built one. Visit theborgata.com to learn more. Must be 21 or over gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows home, so you don't have to don't know the difference between matte, paint, finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is. With thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app Download today.
- [20:39]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah, crit, we alluded to it there. Matthias Cunha has taken the number 10 shirt at Manchester United and a confirmation that perhaps there is no way back for Marcus Rashford under Ruben Amaram Durham.
- [20:52]
Mark Critchley
Yeah, look again, I'm gonna answer this question in the same way that I answered the question at the top, in that I think it's been clear for a while and shouldn't really come as a surprise that there is not a place for Marcus Rashford at Reuben Abrin's Manchester United. We've seen this for a while, even with the number 10, right? Again, not so much of a surprise. When Cunha came in, people saw what number is he going to have? Well, the number 10 is probably going to be vacant at some point and he's probably going to take that. But it didn't even take that long. I think that was the surprising thing about the announcement on Friday. Rashford is still a United player. He's been stripped of this number before. The club really needed to do it before they secured a move away from him. So in that sense it was a surprise. And now he just doesn't have a squad number and Sancho doesn't either. By the way, it's quite a sorry tale, it's quite a sorry fall from this academy graduate who has meant so much to a club that has a proud history of developing young players. But. But like I say it's been absolutely clear since December when he was dropped for that City game. Garnacho was dropped for that game too. He was reinstated. Rashford wasn't. Then he gave that interview saying that he was ready for a different challenge elsewhere. He was left out of the squad consistently after that, only included when United were down to the absolute bare bones and Amarin basically had to pick him. That was a game against Newcastle. I don't know if you remember, they were 2 nil down inside 20 minutes and. And even then there was absolutely no hope of Rashford coming on to change this game. I think that spoke more than anything about exactly where Rashford was. And yeah, like I said, he went on loan to Villa. But I think this was always more of a you go away, improve, play your football. We found a solution for you very late in the January window. But it wasn't as though he's going to go away, come back and be a rejuvenated character and be somebody who's a key part of the team going forward. It was always just a device to be able to get him to play football before they reviewed it again in the summ. And so look, I don't think anybody realistically watched Rashfordshire play for Villa and thought he's going to come back to Manchester United and be leading the line next season. It was never really. It was never really a realistic prospect. And yet in that sense, the stripping of the number 10 too, it just isn't that much of a surprise.
- [23:01]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah, the Rashford one really hurts me, Phil, just on a personal level because no one likes to see a footballer with so much potential be in such a sorry state when it comes to a team as big as Manchester United. But I mean, it's been really sad to watch this one unravel because was a player who was hailed as the future of Manchester United. This was a player that was also held as one of the futures of the England national team. And look where we are right now.
- [23:25]
Phil Hay
It feels quite a long time ago that now though, doesn't it? It seems as if a lot of time has gone by in between. I mean, just to quickly go back to obligations. Cric played the, the Sancho card. I'm just going to raise him with Jean Kevin Augustine 40 to 50 million pounds for a player you, you never actually signed is, is quite, quite an achievement. But Rashford. Three problems with Rashford really. One is that he earns huge am which clubs either can't afford or just don't want to bother themselves with I'm not saying everybody, but there'll be a choice few out there who would consider him. Two, his recent sample of form going back quite a long way isn't brilliant. It's a long time since we were talking about him being on a. On a hot streak at Old Trafford. And three, his relationship with Amaram is clearly not in a good place, which means that United can't even really be pragmatic about him. They can't say, listen, if we find a taker, he'll go, but if not, we'll reintegrate him, we'll find a way to use him and we'll. We'll make the best of it. It's just not what. What Amarim wants. So complicated and it is messy and I feel like money's the bottom line here because it surely makes sense to the club and to Rashford now for him to move on in some form. But getting him out the door will come down to how they structure a deal because he won't be inclined to give up what he's supposed to be paid, which was fair enough. And imagine as well, he'd probably be fairly picky about the sort of club he wants to join if we're talking a longer term move. And when it comes to it, there just isn't a huge Rashford market out there.
- [24:48]
Mark Critchley
There.
- [24:48]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah, on Rashford. Let's hear from Juan Mata. Chritch, you recently caught up with him and asked him for his take on Rashford's position at Manchester United. Here's what he had to say.
- [24:58]
Phil Hay
I saw when he came through, I saw his test training with us. I love him as, as a kid, you know, I called him the Warner kid and the way he played was fearless. The way he played, you know, he.
- [25:11]
Mark Critchley
You could feel he could win a.
- [25:13]
Ayo Akimolere
Game by himself at any time when he was playing at his best.
- [25:17]
Phil Hay
So, of course, as a Man United.
- [25:19]
Ayo Akimolere
Fan and as a Marcus friend, I.
- [25:22]
Phil Hay
Wish that he can succeed here because it's his club he's born in club, he loves the club and I think it will be a very, very good stage in his career. I don't know what's going to happen, but if he stays and he can.
- [25:34]
Ayo Akimolere
Actually be happy and enjoy, I think it will be a win, win situation for both the club and him. And I hope that's the ideal scenario for me. Yeah. Juan Mata, definitely a bit more optimistic than we've been about the Marcus Rashford situation. Critch. But I mean, you look at it, and as I said earlier, it's something that's quite sad for me, but I also think there's so much has passed in terms of that relationship with Manchester United. There really doesn't feel like any other resolution but for him to find a new club of some sort.
- [26:02]
Mark Critchley
Absolutely. Just in one's defense. He was speaking before Friday's news, which I think I'm not even sure. I'm not even sure he's that optimistic anymore, playing for Manchester United again. So in the room in Amarin. But no, you're right, I think there is a sadness to it. It shouldn't really end this way. As I said, it's a club that has a huge tradition of players being developed through the academy and going on to make hundreds of appearances and win a lot of trophies. You think of just in my lifetime, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs, players like that. But obviously the legacy of the Busby Babes as well. Marcus Rashford was always seen as part of that legacy. He was always seen as somebody who would fulfill it for a new generation. And even on Friday when the news came out, there was people at United were making a point of. Even though clearly his time at the club is coming to an end, he's going to be a significant part of this period of the club's history, right? He's played a significant part in that. He's always going to be one of the most successful players to come through the academy in terms of appearances, in terms of goals, and he'll be remembered that way. I think it's 138 goals that he scored now and he's 15th in the all time ranks of United's top scorers. So his legacy in that respect will always be there. But you explained it perfectly there. There's no United fans that are really up in arms about this. There's no demand for United and Rashford to get around the table and sort it out and just commit his future and find a way for him to get back into the team. There hasn't been for a while, to be honest. And even though there is this sadness about United, fans would say one of their own, ultimately looking like he's going to depart the club. I think what is more telling is that despite that there is this acceptance on both sides, on all sides really, from everybody surrounding the club, that something has to change and that a parting of the ways is necessary. And I think that speaks more to what's gone wrong really for Rashford over the last few years rather than this, you know, what is an undoubted legacy of being, you know, an academy player and part of United's recent history.
- [28:04]
Ayo Akimolere
Where does it go? Phil? We've reported on the deal sheet. Paul Belous was saying, you know, Barcelona are interested, and we said, who knows if they can afford it. But. But do you see him playing for another Premier League team or does it feel like a move abroad? Really?
- [28:15]
Phil Hay
It'd be quite a turn of events for Rashford to parachute into one of the best teams in Europe, Barcelona. But you know what, at this stage, it probably makes most sense. Barcelona have lost out on Nico Williams. I mean, that was a total bombshell last week. I honestly can't remember or can't think of many times when the entire sport has been completely wrong, fitted like that. I mean, it felt like a move to Barca was a fait accompli for Nico Williams. Everybody thought that was happening, but it's not happening. So they. They need to move on and, and they still do need somebody in that. That area in that sort of position. Liverpool don't seem to be budging on Luis Diaz at all. I wondered whether they were just again trying to hardball in that one. But given that they're not not moving in the slightest, you feel as if they. They will actually go through with what they're saying and keep Diaz next season. So in those circumstances, and, you know, considering that Bar have spoken about Rashford openly as well, it's got to be a possibility. That said, I can't see United rushing to do massive favors for Barcelona financially. And every single transfer that Barca tried to do seems to get caught up in this mad tangle of salary caps and financial levers and the general sort of organizational dysfunction that exists over there. So I wouldn't have it down as a simple negotiation, but it does look like an option. Would he play for another Premier League club? I'm pretty sure he would if he got the right offer. But again, where does he fit?
- [29:39]
Ayo Akimolere
Good point, good point. Quick one on Garnacho Kric amidst social media posts and falling out with Amarim. I mean, he probably represents out of that bunch the best prospect for a sale for Manchester United. You can't imagine they'll be commanding a crazy strong free for him, but probably the strongest off that lot.
- [30:01]
Mark Critchley
Yeah, I think so. I think it helps that compared to some of the other players, he's on relatively more modest wages, so that would make him more attractive in terms of the fee to potential suitors. I think a colleague, Laurie Whitwell's been reporting United were looking around £70 million. I think there's Been some pushback from United as well on that. Clearly you don't want to go into a negotiation just saying this is the price. Because if you feel like you could get a bit more and United need to get as much as they can. I remember talking to people connected to United last summer about Garnacho when he was in a very different period of his United career and they were rating him as a 80, 90 million pounds prospect. I think, you know, United would struggle to get that in this current market, certainly. But sure, like he didn't have the best of seasons, but I think you watch him, he's exciting to watch. He gets fans off the seats, he's direct, he's still 20 years old and we're saying that he didn't have a great season last year. I think it's still 21 goal contributions. If you're a fan of that stat, then it's not exactly a bad return for a young player in a struggling side. And if I was to get on my soapbox for a minute, I think of all these players, Garnacho is the one that you have a little bit of a reticence about actually letting go and you wonder whether United are maybe going to regret this further down the line. But clearly, as with Rashford, as with the other three as well, a line has been drawn in the sand by Reuben Amarim here. There's a question of his authority which potentially has been questioned in that interview by Garnacho that he gave after the Europa League final. There's been the social media post that you referenced as well. I think as with Rashford, there's not a lot of United fans who would be up in arms about him leaving the club and would say, no, we absolutely need to keep him. I think there's a general fatigue, if you like, with Ghana at shows, some of the off field stuff. So of all these players, you're absolutely right. He's the one that United could get the most of the market for. There's a long standing interest from Chelsea. I think we've been reporting as well that Garnacho probably would like to stay in the Premier League and London is something that appeals to him. There's not been anything really concrete in that link so far yet though. No real developments on it, so we'll see how it goes. But I think, yes, you're right, that Garnacho is maybe their best prospect of a decent fee at least.
- [32:13]
Phil Hay
I don't know whether Chris would agree with this, but there's always that little niggle in my head about whether Garnacho is all that.
- [32:19]
Ayo Akimolere
You don't think you've seen enough, Phil?
- [32:20]
Phil Hay
Well, he certainly has something about him, but there are times where I can't tell if he's a. If he's a bit of a luxury player. And I always think a good way of gauging this is to ask yourself how many of the top tier teams in Europe, the best of the best, who, who you know, in the running for the Champions League and everything else would want Garnacho. And I kind of feel like they would rather put the money elsewhere, which is not to say that he isn't worth a good fee and, and he doesn't have plenty of potential. But I can never decide where I think he ranks.
- [32:50]
Mark Critchley
I kind of flip that. Just play devil's advocate. I think that I take the point completely. I think it's worth remembering that he's a 20 year old. He's 20 years old at the same time and sometimes that is forgotten because he has been part of United's first team maybe for the last three seasons now and somebody who's made an impact. So there's that slight perception that he's been around a bit longer than he has. But also if you look at his numbers last season he got 11 goals, 10 assists. I think if you're at United in your position, he's available at 50 to 60 million pounds. Are you interested? They would say yes, because there's clearly a player there to work with who can be, you know, maybe he does need whipping into shape a little bit off the field or in terms of his social media posts, but it's not a huge problem as much as a lack of talent is. And I think, think when you watch Garnacho, there's potential there. And I feel like a club in United's position. Again, you're talking about elite clubs. United, let's face it, they finished 15th last season. The budgets that they're working with at the minute aren't that great. They need to be finding young players who can sustain the club for the medium to long term future and have that ceiling, if you like, that's a little bit higher than the rest of the current squad. I feel like Garnacho, you only have to watch United play with Garnacho in the side. He's the most threatening player, player. He's the one that takes the most shots. He's the one on the end of the most chances now. He doesn't put them all away. And that is, that is a huge. His decision making at times is horrific, let's be honest, but not too strong a word on it, but he's 20 years old. Those things can get better. I do think that there's a player in there and I just wonder if United are going to regret letting him go ultimately.
- [34:23]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah, there I say I'm sort of on on the crit side on this one because I think about the money Michalo Modric went to Chelsea for and Arsenal were in for that deal as well. Let's not forget Garnacho probably offers you a little bit more certainty, especially in the Premier League. Anyway. All right, let's move on because next we've discussed the players Manchester United are trying to sell. What about the players they might want to bring in?
- [34:45]
Kristen Bell
You're listening to the Athletic FC podcast with I.O.
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Mark Critchley
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Ayo Akimolere
This is Kartrax with Turtle Wax. Your car says a lot about you. So if we asked your car what it would say about you, what would it say? Listen, you dropped one of those tiny cheeseburgers under the seat like last week.
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Kristen Bell
And now we're both dry heaving at.
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Ayo Akimolere
The stench us a favor. Grab some Turtle Wax and let's get to work. This has been car tracks with Turtle Wax. You are how you car.
- [36:19]
Mark Critchley
This is the Athletic FC podcast with IO Aguilera.
- [36:24]
Ayo Akimolere
Critch and the deal sheet on the Athletic On Tuesday we reported on Manchester United's interview interest in Moise Keen from Fiorentina. You know, I've looked on the socials. There's a lot of Manchester United fans worried that this is where their club's at if they're going for a player like Moise Keane. But what else can you tell us about some more of the players, especially in that attacking position that Manchester United might be in for.
- [36:45]
Mark Critchley
Some people don't like Mokin. I've got bad news about some of the rest of the names. No, no, no. I think there needs to be a recognition of the position that United are in right now. Okay.
- [37:00]
Phil Hay
Totally, yeah, 100%.
- [37:02]
Mark Critchley
This isn't, they aren't going to be able to go out and just throw money at the problems and you know, Mose Kean is somebody that they've been keeping tabs on. 19 goals in Serie A last season. A very different player now from the one who I remember being at the game when he was subbed on, but then subbed off Old Trafford when he was playing for Everton back in 2019. Colleague Conor O' Neill wrote a piece about that which just goes through how much he's changed since then. He will be at Old Trafford, I think, because the plane Fiorentina in a friendly in August. So there's a. He is going to turn up.
- [37:34]
Ayo Akimolere
You can take a look at what potentially might be the future.
- [37:36]
Mark Critchley
Yeah, but, but yeah, so he's got a 52 million euro release clause. I think the deadline for that is next Tuesday. Look, given everything that we've spoken about on this podcast so far, given the priority that United are putting towards Brian and Boomer, I think the chances of them triggering that are unlikely. But United are, while they're very much focused on Mbumo, they are canvassing opinion, they are speaking to clubs, speaking to agents. They're looking at players in different positions and seeing what deals can be done. We've already reported on the Athletic before about my colleague Larry Whitwell got the line about Aston Villa, Ollie Watkins and the, and the conversation that been had around there. There's been contact with an Frankfurt about Hugo E and yeah, I, I, I think that when United feel that they are ready to move, when they are able to move, then they'll be ready to move. That's what, that's the position that they want to be in. I think the question is when that will be. I think that is why you're also seeing at the same time links with some Premier League proven, certainly slightly older strikers who are on the free agent market. So the likes of Dominic Calvert, Lewin, Jamie Vardy, Callum Wilson, these are players that we were reporting in the deal sheet have been offered to United. So it's quite different from them having an active interest in pursuing these players. But they've been offered, they're there in a couple of cases. They have questionable injury records. But I guess if United were getting to come to a position later in the window where they've not been able to get players off the books, where there is still a very present, clear need for a centre forward, as there has been even before this window, then maybe those options come on the table. But it's not a situation where United can simply have their pick of the best strikers in Europe. I mean, there's so much talk about Victor Jocherez, right? And now it looks like he's going to Arsenal. And I think. I think that is a neat encapsulation of the position that United are in in the striker market.
- [39:25]
Ayo Akimolere
Yeah, we were just joking about it there, Phil. But isn't this a reality check in many respects, from the old Manchester United to where we see them now? I mean, look where they finished last season in the Premier League. Also, European football's a big thing for any top player. Isn't that literally where we see this team right now? Not to say they won't get back to glory, but especially in the market right now, top, top players want to be playing in Europe. They want to be playing in the Champions League.
- [39:49]
Phil Hay
League very much so. There's no getting around that in critics. Right? You know, they have to be realistic. Manchester United about where they are in the food chain at the moment and. And therefore the players, they can realistically go after, the players they can, can afford. I mean, Moishkin is not by any stretch the best striker out there, but he's had a very, very tidy spell with Fiorentina and has definitely improved since going there. So not somebody you could, you could say outright isn't good enough. They've got Kunya done so all good on that front. He's a really talented player, Kunya. I'm not sure he enhances United massively, but that's a good deal to get done quickly. Bumo feels like a bit of a red flag to me because that is absolutely there to get over the line. So much so that Mbumo is basically begging United to sign him from Brentford, but the incremental offers are falling short. And now that we've got to the point of preseason and the start of the Premier League season is coming, you're getting close to the point where you'd credibly be able to say that United are just biding the time and, you know, playing the long game with this, this is one which, if they're going to do it, they're going to have to. Have to get on with it. Feels like money is an issue, which, if you've read Any of critics coverage or any of Man United coverage in general. It would be, wouldn't it? Money's a massive issue at Old Trafford and they do need to get a bit of a shifty on now with players going out and players coming in, because it's Arsenal on the first weekend of the season. And honestly, the last thing Amaram needs is a paste in on day one. He got away with some really dreadful league form last season, but I don't think the same level of understanding will be there in the. In the 12 months ahead. And I don't know. There's always been this question right from the point where they bought in about whether Ineos, the minority shareholder there, but the people who are effectively running the show can play a good. As good a game as they talk. And I feel like this, this window is crucial for their reputation. Get it wrong and there's going to be some heavy firing coming.
- [41:43]
Ayo Akimolere
Obviously. Kunya, attacking positions seem really imperative for Manchester considering actually they're letting go of a lot of attacking talent or potentially letting go of a lot of attacking talent. Why is it so. Why is it so big for them? Like what, in your opinion, why is that a big focus for them this time around? Because you've still got Hojlund, let's not forget there's a striker there. And Xerxe.
- [42:01]
Mark Critchley
Well, United scored 44 goals in the Premier League last season. That was the fewest that they've managed since. Well, post 1992, essentially of the Premier League era. And you mentioned Hojlund and Xerxe. I think the two of them.
- [42:14]
Phil Hay
Them.
- [42:14]
Mark Critchley
Well, they signed for a combined. There's more than 100 million over the last two summers. They contributed seven of those 44 goals. So, look, I don't. I don't think it's solely down to a striker issue. I think you could look at United as well last season and say there was problems of actually creating chances at the same time. So much of that responsibility often falls to Bruno Fernandes that if he isn't firing, there isn't that much else in the team and it's. And there's a lack of that at the same time. So that is another issue that they have. But you could say that you could look at the business that they've done this summer in Cunha and say that they, you know, they've got 15 goals there that he scored for Wolves last season. If they get Mbuma as Well, he scored 20. I think five of them were penalties. And I don't Think he's going to take penalties off Bruno. So maybe you've got a. You've got to massage those numbers down slightly. And it's rarely as easy as. As picking up goals here and just dropping them there. I think there's a. I think there is a huge question about how this all fits together at the minute because. Because fans are desperate from Bumo to sign. It's been weeks now where, as Phil says, there's been this incremental progress, or it's not really felt like progress, because we still not really got anywhere with it. If he signs, maybe that puts a bit of. A bit more positive spin on the window. But I still come back to the sense that. Six, seven, eight weeks ago, when we were talking about what United need to do this summer, we were saying that they need a recognized number nine. That is a clear and obvious need that they must address. And to be honest, that we expected them to address. And we know that they were in. They were in the battle for Lian de Lapp, right, and that was a player that they wanted to bring in. That was a clear priority. He chose Chelsea. They shifted to Mbumo. Part of me is looking into the future. Three or four months time from now, it's October, November, things aren't going well, or any optimism that people had generated during the summer through the transfer business has gone. And we're looking back and we're asking, well, why didn't they sign a striker? What's going on there? Everybody knew they needed one and they didn't do it. And so I. I think that is still the one glaring aspect of business that needs to be done, even if Bumel gets done. United's lack of goals was a huge problem for them last season, essentially, and one that really, at the minute, you're still struggling to say that they've actually fixed.
- [44:29]
Phil Hay
What's the mood inside Old Trafford? Would they privately say this is under control or not in terms of transfers.
- [44:37]
Mark Critchley
Or the bigger picture? Um, I think there's been a sense that they, as. As we said at the top, that the club can't keep on spending money that it doesn't have. You remember Ratcliffe's round of media interviews in March where he was talking about, you know, going bus by Christmas, et cetera, et cetera. He was also talking about in that. That if they signed nobody this summer, then they would be spending £89 million cash on Hojlund, Casemiro, Anthony Sancho, players that were already through the door because of the way that they. They've been so desperate to do business in previous summers that they've structured payments over years. Now, all clubs do this to an extent, but I think United have done it to the point where, and it's not ultimately born success out on the pitch, they've not qualified for the Champions League consistently. Right. Even though they've spent that money, that that is now becoming a problem. And I think the sense throughout leading into this summer and then over the last few weeks as well, has always been that we need to show more discipline when we're negotiating fees, when we're doing transfer business. Now, to be honest, they've done that so far, right? They've done that because Cunyon was a very easy deal to do in the sense that the lease clause, you know, the fee, you go in there was some negotiation over the instalments. And they, to be honest, I say they've been disciplined. They sort of gave in towards man's on that one and paid over wolves's terms. But in that sense, you know, it's a deal that they could do relatively easily. And Bumo is a deal that requires negotiation. And United so far haven't had that moment where they totally throw all the cards in and say, look, let's just get him. It's always difficult because on the one hand, that deserves some credit because we can all see from the financial picture that the club can't keep on acting the way it has in the transfer market over the last few years, simply paying whatever for players, getting them in and then failing. There needs to be a change on that front. The other hand, you also have fans who are, even though they agree with that approach, are still desperate for them to actually bring players in. And so you have this kind of conflict between the angel and the devil on two shoulders as to how to go about the business. I feel that United so far will feel that they have shown that discipline that they have been. They've been sensible to an extent. But it's getting to the point, you know, this. This is called silly season for a reason. Because people get silly. And I wouldn't. I wouldn't bet against United ultimately especially. Look, we've seen it in past summers as well. You have a few bad results at the start of the season and then suddenly there's this impetus to buy Casemiro by Anthony. That is the sort of thing they perhaps need to resist this this summer. But the groundswell of opinion that'll be, you know, if they lose a few games at the start of the season, people would be desperate to get players in and I just wonder whether that discipline will hold.
- [47:17]
Ayo Akimolere
All right, let's end it there. Critch Phil, thanks for your time and really nice to hear from one matter as well. And also thank you guys for listening. We're back soon.
- [47:25]
Mark Critchley
You've been listening to the Athletic FC Podcast. The producers were Guy Clark, Mike Stavrou and Jay Beale.
- [47:30]
Kristen Bell
The executive producer was Aidy Moorhead.
- [47:33]
Mark Critchley
To listen to other great Athletic Athletic podcast for free, search for the Athletic on Apple, Spotify and all the usual places. The Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic.
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Kristen Bell
Media company production the Athletic FC Podcast.
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Ayo Akimolere
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