How do Man United get rid of the 'bomb squad'?

0:01Evening. Buyer's remorse. Buy a new car? I'll be moving in. Let's get started. Uh, sorry, I think there's been a mistake. I bought it from Carvana. You what? Yeah, great price. I even have seven days to love it or return it. So there's no... No, no buyer's remorse. More like buyer's rejoice? I guess I'll let myself out. Congratulations. I mean it. Buyer's rejoice. Buy your car today on Carvana. Limitations and exclusions may apply. See our seven-day return policy at Carvana.com. This is a Global Player original podcast. Man United fly to Stockholm for their first pre-season match this weekend, but five big names weren't allowed on the plane.

0:44Gabby:Rashford, Garnaccio, Sancho, Antti and Malassia were told not to show up to pre-season because they aren't part of the club's plans, but United are struggling to sell them. And time is running out. The club desperately needs that money to invest in new players, and for the players themselves, their bargaining power is getting smaller by the day. So what's it like to be a player in limbo and why can't United shift these players? But could it all come good for Rashford in the end though and he joins Barcelona or is that just a pipe dream? Welcome to the Sports Agents.

1:23Gabby:The Sports Agents. With Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman.

1:30Gabby:Hello, Mark. Hi, Gabby. Are you in Zurich? I am, can you not tell, by the beautiful backdrop.

1:39Gabby:Yeah, you've really gone to town on that grey wall behind you. I'm in my hotel room here in Zurich, and it's a long day, isn't it? I was thinking that this morning when my alarm went up at seven. I think it's a long day if you're a player and you're not kicking off until nine o 'clock at night. I was with Farrah Williams the other day saying she used to hate those late, late kickoffs because obviously you don't know what to do with yourself. Well, they can't really do anything, can they? They go for a walk and that's about it. But aside from that, they can't really do a great deal because it's all about rest and mental preparation and so on and so forth.

2:08Gabby:So they're just lying there bored out of their skulls. Ellen White said the problem as well was fueling, which is not something we have a problem with. But she said, you know, when you take on board your food and having to eat an extra meal, anyway, that won't be my problem today. I'm very much looking forward to this evening and really enjoyed actually last night's first quarterfinal between Norway and Italy. and Italy making it through to the last one for the first time in 28 years. A 90th minute winner from Cristina Ghirelli. I mean, perfect timing. I was watching it in my hotel room, imagining my colleagues who were doing the game back in Salford being delighted with that.

2:40It wasn't going to extra time and penalties. And obviously we'll be hoping for some kind of drama like that tonight. But this obviously is bad timing because this podcast will probably go out a few hours before that game. But the other big news in the world of women's football, Olivia Smith's signature is finally on that. Much talked about, wasn't really a secret, was it, that Arsenal were in for her, the first million-pound female footballer she's been signed from Liverpool. This feels like a big milestone.

3:08Gabby:It does. There was rumours that Chelsea might have got in for her as well. They had the previous record with a$1 million signing when they signed Naomi Germa, but it feels like those two are stretching ahead of everybody else, doesn't it, now? Yeah, City and United haven't gone beyond£300 ,000 in terms of transfers. I guess historically, before the WSL became the biggest league in the world in terms of the values of players and the values of clubs we now know, you know, 200 million value on Chelsea as a club, I guess a lot of the talent that was coming through was homegrown and there was a lot of development of British players.

3:44Now, of course, players from all around the world are coming in and those values are just going to get pushed up more. And Arsenal have always been the leader, haven't they? They've always set the benchmark, whether it's for attendances, playing in the men's grounds, which they're going to do next year. They're going to play every game at the Emirates, they hope, to their home games.

3:59Gabby:So much other great sports to look forward to over the course of the next few days. You've got Usyk Dubois on Saturday, and that will be the focus of our special weekend edition. There's the Lions Test, the first Lions Test against Australia at the weekend as well. The Open runs Thursday to Sunday at Port Roche, which I'll be heading off to once we've recorded this podcast, which I can't, I cannot wait. I was there in 2019 when Shane Lowry won it, when all the hype was around Rory McIlroy beforehand. And then he hit his first shot on the first tee out of bounds. I remember standing 200 yards up the faraway thinking, oh my, oh my God.

4:36Gabby:I mean, you just couldn't write it back then. It is a stunning course. The atmosphere is phenomenal. The crowds there are going to be something like 280 ,000, I think. Only St. Andrews gets bigger crowds for the Open. it will be a really really special four days and scotty sheffler is always the favorite always the favorite and rory mackerel is always second favorite but it's kind of without having to use a pun it is wide open do you want me to tell you who i've put my money so i've gone fleetwood i've gone hatton partly for just favoritism and english favoritism and so on and so forth but tristan lawrence who had a very good open last year and is in very good form as well ryan fox who is a big hitter and the bbc's golf correspondent ian carter told me to have a look at ryan fox the new zealander and then i've also gone with daniel brown who had a very good open last year but also i was looking at the sky preview and several of the sky team had him as a dark horse okay he's at 275 to one when i had a look so i've i've laid it out there before we're underway they're the five okay good and we can we can go back and review that next week I'm Scotty Scheffler.

5:50I was quite, I mean, surprised how open you were. What's the point? You know, this is not a fulfilling life. It's fulfilling from a sense of accomplishment, but it's not fulfilling from a sense of like the deepest, you know, places of your heart. You know, there's a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life. And then you get there and all of a sudden you get to number one in the world. And then they're like, what's the point? It feels like you work your whole life to celebrate winning a tournament for like a few minutes. It only lasts a few minutes, that kind of euphoric feeling.

6:23And like to win the Byron Nelson Championship at home, I literally worked my entire life to become good at golf, to have an opportunity to win that tournament. And you win it, you celebrate, get to hug my family, my sisters there. It's such an amazing moment. And then it's like, okay, now what are we going to eat for dinner? You know, life goes on. This is brilliant. I think a lot of other sports people in different sports will probably feel the same way. And this is a man who's done it all. You know, he's won three majors. He's won Olympic gold. Of all the people that you would think would say it's not a fulfilling life, you'd expect it to be somebody who's an also-ran, the fodder, who just turn up week by week and never win.

7:01Gabby:We talk to so many sportsmen and women who have won something and then they're immediately on to the next thing. It can happen in football. I don't know. You win a trophy, but it's halfway through a season, right? We've got to be back into work and so on and so forth. that's what I often say to them surely you're going to enjoy it surely you're going to give yourselves three or four days off and enjoy it the golfers can't a lot of the time because they're on to the next tournament it's really caught the imagination as that press conference and lots of other golfers have been asked about it subsequently and have kind of backed him up really and I think there will be a big point of discussion at Port Rush over the next few days There was a lot of talk at Wimbledon I'm not sure if you kind of picked up any of it of the players who've talked about their mental health and quite a few of them I mean obviously Amanda Anissimova who of course was double bageled in the final, had to take a year off to go and find the things that she enjoyed again in life a couple of years ago before she came back.

7:52And there were other players as well who've talked about their mental health. And actually what I love about somebody, and it's probably, you know, you'll say it's easy for him because he's so brilliant. Alcaraz, after he won the French Open, you know, had his little trip to Ibiza because he said it's really important for him to let his hair down after, you know, one of the big slams. And he does seem to take things lightly for a major champion. You know, he doesn't seem to, It doesn't seem to weigh heavy on him as it does for some people. He enjoyed that final in spite of losing it. You could tell he enjoyed being in that battle.

8:21And it is really important, isn't it, how you treat the twin imposters, because you are going to lose as well as win.

8:28Gabby:And I think, look, there are lots of things that went on with Rory after Rory won the Masters and completed the Grand Slam there. But I do think one of those was, well, I've completed everything. I've fulfilled my dream and I've won the Masters and I've done the Grand Slam. What's next? And there's an element of what's next. There's an element of making sure you go and celebrate it because you should celebrate it. And for a couple of months, I think he's been in a sort of little bit of a whirlwind, really, partly through other things going on and a relationship with the media that sort of went a bit downhill, particularly stateside.

9:01Gabby:But as you say, how they deal, all these people, with victory and defeat takes a lot out of them. It does. It really does. And on the Lions, we of course have a special episode, which you can go back and listen to. We spent a day at Sales Sharks and chatted to Tom Curry, who gets his place in the starting line for the British and Irish Lions first test against Australia. But it is as a Welsh woman, half Welsh heritage, it's a painful thing to say that first time since 1896, there is no Welshman in a Lions test match squad against Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. and obviously the one player that everybody was hanging there their hopes on was Jack Morgan but unfortunately he's not made the cut but he's in probably the most competitive area of the squad isn't he yeah he is and and also and we are special on his ascendancy um Henry Pollock has been incredible and so perhaps not such a huge surprise he doesn't make the 23 but I reckon he would would have been right there in the conversation until the very end because he's had some great displays through the tour so far his time I'm sure will come he's 20 years old I I mean, you know, it's not the end of his career.

10:07But yeah, it'll be interesting. That Australia squad, obviously, about a year ago, I think everybody expected it to be a complete whitewash, but they've obviously improved their form over the last year, beat England at Twickenham last autumn as well. But they are missing their first choice fly half after neck surgery. So, you know, we'll see.

10:24Gabby:We will, and I'm sure we will have reaction to that on Sports Agents next week. You can catch up with all of our episodes on YouTube, Global Player, or wherever you get your pods. With pre-season matches all starting this weekend, And Manchester United still have five big players in limbo. Not part of their pre-season plans, but waiting to be sold. To figure out what's going on, we're going to chat with former Premier League footballer Nader Manua and the Athletics Manchester United correspondent Laurie Whitwell next. The Sports Agents. Best thing that's ever happened to you financially. Go. Easy.

10:56Sold by car on Carvana. Amazing offer. Really? I hit 200 on a scratcher. Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check? No. How many scratchers did you hit to get that? I hit a button on Carvana.com once. Okay, that's fair. It's like the lottery, except you always win. Not like the lottery at all, actually. Exactly! Inexplicably good. Offers worth bragging about. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pickup fees may apply. The Sports Agents. With Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman.

11:32Gabby:So let's delve more into the struggle then of Manchester United trying to sell players. I mean, there's also a struggle in trying to buy players, but let's deal with the selling players. Laurie Whitwell, United correspondent from The Athletic at Nader Manua, are with us. They've got themselves, not for the first time, Laurie, in all of our discussions over the years. They've managed to get themselves in a right mess. Yes, Chappers, a sense of deja vu from conversations we've had previously on this topic. It feels actually perhaps even more accentuated than in the past because you've got five players currently exiled from first team training, even as my colleague Mark Critchley reported this week, sort of told not to report to Carrington until five o 'clock after Ruben Amren and his first team squad have left.

12:15So they're obviously players that they are making the message clear to their futures lie elsewhere. And OK, maybe it's a practical decision on one level, but also I think it's very clear that they are saying to them, this is the future for you if you don't actively search for a new club. But that, I think, lessens their transfer value and clubs can look at this and think, well, I could maybe wait and see how long this goes on for and we'll put a lower bid in later in the window. So clearly United feel that the message being sent to the rest of the group and the kind of authority that Ruben Amarin has is more important at this stage than the bottom line of what they can actually get in in terms of transfer fees.

12:55I guess, Nadam, as a player, it kind of depends how motivated you are individually to go find yourself a new club, whether you just want to take the wages that Manchester United are offering, whether you care at all about where your future trajectory lies, whether you think you can kind of lay low for six months and take the cash or how much fitness you do, all of that is going to be down to the individual, isn't it, if the club has decided that you're outside of their room in that? Yeah, I would agree. And to be honest, there's a lot more to this from every sort of individual's perspective. Because say, for example, when you do get that sort of like tap on the shoulder, text message, email saying you're going to be coming in at five o 'clock, you're not really at peace with that.

13:37Because I think I've not really come across many players who don't believe that they should be able to train or play for a first team. Like the players we're talking about at United here, they'll believe they're good enough to be starting. And as a consequence, when they're not doing so, you could argue there's some level of friction between themselves and the manager. That's one thing. To be on the bench is one thing. To be not in a squad is one thing. But to be told you have to train by yourself, that's a completely other thing. Because this happened to me in 2011. And from my side of things, this was at Man City under Roberto Mancini.

14:05and I'd been on loan at Sunderland the year before and I enjoyed the year. It was a great year. We finished top 10. Sunderland did. You know, seems like it's ancient history now, but that definitely happened. And just before the end of the season, I was told to go back to speak to Mancini and say that I want to be a part of the plans if this is what I want to do. So I did that. And I said, you know, I want to try and fight for a place in the team for the next year. And then as I was getting ready for the season to start, I was at Centre Parcs on a Saturday before training was supposed to start on the Monday.

14:35and I got a message saying, don't come in on the Monday, come in on the following Saturday. So initially, the young person in me is like, oh, incredible, more time off. Best thing ever. And then I thought, hold on a second. Let me send some messages out here. And I think it was Sean Wright Phillips I spoke to, maybe Michael Richards, and they said, no, no, they're training on Monday. But they're training Monday to Friday, then traveling to America on the Friday. And then myself, Craig Bellamy, Emmanuel Adabayor, Wayne Bridge, Roque Santa Cruz, and possibly a couple others, we're going to come in and start training on the following Saturday.

15:03There's no discussion about this because as I spoke with the manager at the end of last season, the thought was I was going to come back in and try and see what could happen. No discussion. No, no. Coming on Saturday, you figure out your situation. Now we're training with the under 18s. So now I'm in a position where, for me, this is my football club. You know, I'd been a supporter from a child. I'd been going to games at Main Road. You know, I was a ball boy. I'd come through the academy. Like, that was the only place I wanted to be. But in fairness, I was around other people who kind of wanted to be there, but they didn't have the same sort of like pull to remain there.

15:35So they're going to war with, not with the club, but with a manager who they believe is incredibly wrong and is putting them in a position which they don't feel they deserve. So from there, the conversations I'm having, some people saying, well, I'm just going to stay here. I'm going to take my money. Some people saying this is wrong. I need to try and get in with the team. And some people are like just confused like myself, like how did this happen? And I think that's the reality because from a player perspective, and this is solely from a player perspective, the contract that you sign is one that the club gave to you, which they felt was worthwhile and one which they believe they can afford.

16:04And all of a sudden, you're the bad guy for deciding to try and be paid the money which they gave to you. Except now you've got to make a decision to force yourself to leave, even though you believe you're good enough to stay. And that, when you mix it in with some of the other people's perceptions and perspectives, can make it a very, very tricky time for those people who are going to come in later in the day. What activity were you doing at Centre Parks when you got that call? I was actually in one of the cabins and we were just about to start a barbecue. you obviously not inside the cabin and uh then there things just went west but i forgot to keep part of the story so we did that for the pre-season and this was the pre-season where balotelli does the backheel and so on so it's like i pin it to that moment and when they came back i think the manager mancini was still stunned that some of us were still there it's like i mean what type of market do you think this is so when we came back we were training with on one of the pitches we basically the under 18s and they were training the team and what i hate is the fact that in that time now in my mind.

16:58I said, when our session was finished, I said, let me go and watch the first team. These were my peers and my former teammates here. Let's go and watch the first team. So we went over to watch them, sat down on some balls watching. And after that session finished that evening, got another message to say, you can no longer train at the same time as the first team. You have to be in at three o 'clock, which is when everybody finishes.

17:19Gabby:Why? I never understand this on all sorts of different levels. You know, fines for a mobile phone going off for example is another why are football clubs so childish what would you and those group of players done if you were still training that meant you that you just actually couldn't have been around just add it to that as well chappers it doesn't make economic sense no because you want your asset to be as physically fit and performing as well as you can to get maximum price for your asset what message does it send to the market that you don't even want those people mixing with the rest of your talent that doesn't make sense 100 % like you get almost put in this sort of like villain category but one thing that comes from it is the messaging comes from the football club so as a consequence you never really have your say and say from my side personally like I would never disrupt anything at city because that's the place that I wanted to be you know this is something that meant a lot to me through my life and to be on that side of it, almost being perceived as a villain was, for me, you know, it was heartbreaking.

18:18It was frustrating. And it's that sense of helplessness because there's nothing you can do about it. Whereas when I was at City, there was a point where we had Patrick Vieira come there. And he told me a story about when he was at Inter, I believe, one time. Mourinho was manager. And Mourinho told him at the start of the season that he wasn't going to be part of his plans. And for Patrick Vieira, you know, that's disappointing. But Mourinho said, I want you to train with the team. And if you do well and things go your way, maybe you'll have an involvement so patrick has a great pre-season and he started the first game of the season because they had the opportunity to train with the team and i think sometimes like when you take out some players from a team you replace them with young players who aren't necessarily ready to be training that group anyway if you tell a player that they want to leave some of them might throw their toys out the pran but others try and prove a manager wrong and in doing so they train at a higher level so why not have that in and around the group as opposed to separate them and have this awkward a position where all of a sudden this group of players who are fine are still friends with people who aren't fine anymore we got to pretend that they don't exist and the point with some of these

19:17Gabby:united players lorry is some of them are disputing the club claiming that they all want to go so if you had some of the ones who don't want to go still training and trying to prove themselves one as Nadim has said you never know what might happen secondly at least they look like they have a chance and therefore their value holds more than well they're unwanted as you said right at the start we'll just go in with a really low offer on August the 30th and boom we'll get them yeah for sure I think that's ultimately though what shows Ruben Amarin's status at the club and how the hierarchy are trying to back him in a way because he's the one that said, I don't want these players around the first team.

20:05Like Roberto Mancini will have done with Nadim and his colleagues, it comes from the manager really. And okay, maybe there's ultimately, the club agree on certain players, certainly Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho. The club have made wider points on those previously. Alejandro Garnaccio feels more a case of Ruben Amarin's personal preference. Tara Malassia was injured for a long period and I think the club, there was some dispute over exactly how he was treated. it took a long time for him to come back so maybe that ship has sailed and then Anthony as well previous manager wanted him in he's done well at Real Betis so let's obviously just get him out but it does feel that then to Gabby's point it reduces the value but United will feel that that means that there's a statement being made to the players and I suppose in a practical sense if you've got players that are looking at their options and they might want to leave having them around the group is certainly a difficult thing for a head coach to deal with when he's trying to, as he said, create the good times coming back, as he said, at the end of last season.

21:06So it doesn't give that sense of freshness, that sense of evolution if they're sort of still there. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had this issue when you had a lot of players in a bloated squad at the end of his time around the place and it kind of dragged the mood down a little bit. So I think that's what Ameren is guarded against. But certainly, to your original point, they're all looking to depart, but they will dispute that they have actively said, I want to leave. So for Garnaccio, for example, he wasn't looking to leave until he was told really by the club in January, you are available.

21:34Gabby:But maybe, Laurie, the mood is low because they keep going around sacking people rather than, you know, what Havta or Molassio behaves. Yeah. And I'm intrigued actually, to Nadim's point, you know, what does this do to the rest of the squad that are there still? They're still friends with these guys to a degree. I know there's different relationships amongst all individuals, but does it actually say to the players, you need to toe the line, and you need to do what the manager wants and show absolute commitment? Or does it create this sense that, well, if they're able to do that to my teammate for several years on that front, could they do that to me in future?

22:06So in terms of the individual and keeping your motivation going, Nadam, you've got, I'm sure, different attitudes towards training from all of these guys. Some will love the fact that they've got to kind of go and do their gym work on their own. Others will be having to get a trainer almost to get them, force them into the gym. I noticed Marcus Rashford posting him in the gym, looking great. It looked like he was in a kind of, you know, one of those pay-as-you-go gyms, didn't he? It looked like he was in some kind of public gym because there were people wandering behind him who definitely didn't look like they could play for Manchester United.

22:34And I guess, you know, that is then also going to feed into how motivated you are to talk to other clubs. Are you literally able to just pick the phone up or your agent pick the phone up and call whoever you want in this situation and put yourself out there? I think everyone's in a slightly different situation. and to be completely honest and transparent, I think the options Marcus Rashford had would probably be different to the ones I had in 2011, with all due respect to myself. But in reality, it is tricky because as well, you can't just say you're going to go to this place because from there, you then enter the world of contracts and what the United want for you, you know, you yourself, what are you willing to accept?

23:10Will the deal be able to happen? And how long is it going to take? Because for some as well, the moment you think you've got a way out of the situation that you're in, if the club then start making it a longer process and it's dragging out that's when some of the frustration comes in that's when you start to see like player action and so on and again that's a very tricky place to be in and in regards to all this i've got to say as well when somebody tells you that they don't want you there that's as clear as messages you could probably ask for you don't need to say this five o 'clock thing and i think for those players coming in i think anybody that's you know existed around the m60 at any point in manchester like that's not a good time to be heading over there you know i mean that'll break you just as much as getting there and seeing that there's nobody there anymore as a footballer you love playing but it's not the individual side of things it's the collective it's being around your peers it's playing five a side six a side ten a eleven a side playing in the arenas so you're taking something very significant away from those players and I personally don't think they need to do that and I personally shocked that you know this is something that's been going on for decades but something like the PFA the players union aren't finding ways to make it so it's harder for clubs to do it because all of a sudden it happens every summer, but does it really need to if a player's been told they need to leave and a player decides that they have to go as well?