270: Finally! DOUBLE Transfer Bid? Semenyo AND Sadiki!

0:00102 miles ago, the oil light came on. 100 miles ago, you noticed. Now, it's time to head to Take 5. This oil change, fall in love with your car all over again. In just 10 minutes, your dream technician will check your tire pressure, top off fluids, change your oil, and verify with Carfax exactly what your car really needs. All while keeping you in the driver's seat. Take 5, the Stay in Your Car 10-Minute Oil Change. Save up to 30 % on your next oil change to Take 5. $15 value, valid to participating locations, terms and conditions apply. Nobody does it better than Regent Seven Seas Cruises. Enjoy all-inclusive, unrivaled luxury with unlimited shore excursions, indulgent cuisine, personalised service and more aboard spacious, all-sweet ships.

0:42Visit rssc.com to experience the unrivaled. Hello, everybody. Good morning. Welcome to the United Stand. I'm Mark Goldbridge. And finally, some transfer news to get excited about. If only Manchester United could do something about it. We'll get into it. It's Siddiqui of Sunderland, Semenyu of Bournemouth, and a hell of a lot more. Merry bloody Christmas. I feel festive today, actually. It's festive Friday. It's festive Friday. We'll have a Christmas jumper day. I know you don't work for me, but I feel like we are a community. We're going to designate a Christmas jumper day where, even though we can't see everybody, we are all wearing a Christmas jumper.

1:17So we'll let somebody in the chat recommend a Christmas jumper day sometime next week. We'll do it. Anyway, we're getting in. We're feeling positive this morning. Look, I want to get into the Semenyu story because I feel that a lot of people in the comments are misinterpreting what I'm saying about Semenyu. I would love us to sign him and it could happen, but there's a reason why I'm quite negative about it. And there's a lot of stuff about it again this morning. And I do agree, it'd be a very good signing and it could happen. But my issue with it, I'll talk about. But the big story this morning coming in is around Noah Siddiqui, who is at Sunderland.

1:53Now, this has got me very excited because I think this is, look, there are potential negatives with this, of course. But we saw Ben Jacobs yesterday talking about Tyler Adams. And we've also got a big update on Manu from Andy Mitton as well, who we know gets stuff from within the club. So very interesting what he had to say about Manu. But let's talk about Siddiqui first of all. We know Man United need to buy midfielders. And we know that we've been linked to probably players that are out of our reach, like Anderson and Wharton and Stiller. So it can't just be Belaber. I mean, if it is Belaber, I'll back him and I hope that he comes good, but it can't just be him.

2:28I think that there are multiple options out there that would be comparable to Belaber. You could argue that Conor Gallagher and Tyler Adams, even though they're a bit older, are they really any worse than Belaber? And worse is a negative tone, I know, but like Belaber's got a lot to prove. So what we basically got this morning is a story coming in from Sky Sports Switzerland, I think it is, that Manchester United are moving for Noah Siddiqui, a player that they've been targeting for quite a while. They're very interested in him, and he fits the profile of the sort of player that they're going to look at.

3:06Look, we get linked players all the time, but I think with this, it's very interesting because it's completely out of the blue. It's coming in from Sky Sports Switzerland. It could be a load of nonsense, but it's the sort of story that everything's... You can't start a fire without a spark and it's a spark that makes sense. When you look at... The reason I'm excited about this is not because I think it will happen, not because I think it should happen, but this is what scouting should be. Like this player has been... Look, Sunderland's recruitment in the summer doesn't get spoken about enough.

3:40Like you've got... Everybody's constantly, quite rightly, praising the likes of Brighton and Brentford and Bournemouth for their recruitment. In the last two seasons, we've seen every team that's come up embarrass themselves and go back down because the gap's too big between the Premier League and the Championship. Sunderland come up, put themselves in the top four. Okay, they've stabilised a little bit now. They're more top half. They're not going to get relegated. How do you do that? Like there should be a book written on that because of amazing recruitment. And if you're somebody like Brighton, then you have that already in place.

4:17Sunderland have come up as a newly promoted team. Nobody really fancied them. And suddenly, they've got this really exciting side and they've bought really, really well. And what I would say about Siddiqui is that when I'm talking about Man United going for Belaba or Anderson or Wharton, with all due respect, I could get Seb and his cousin to do that over an hour go and get go and find me some midfielders that man united should sign because they just get their sticker album out or they just go on you know very very basic you know stats and go yeah these are really good players we should be scouting better than that because what if anderson goes to man city what if the labor is shit and we don't sign him and what if still goes to real madrid and warton goes to chelsea where do you go next and i think for me this is why sadiki is very interesting because at 20 years of age, I think he is 20, he's played like 15 games for Sunderland this season.

5:18And although he's classed as a defensive midfielder, just running through some of the stuff. I mean, I'll put my hands up. I've only seen him play probably two times. It's not enough for me to say he is the player. I'm not going to pretend that. But what I like about it is that Premier League proven, played a lot of games for a very good Sunderland side, doing very very well very very consistent and and and also fits that profile that whilst i'm not totally on board with it would be perfect for united in this whole by them young sort of scenario and also you just don't know what the fee would be because he only signed for sunderland in the summer from union sent galese and it was an undisclosed fee so you know sometimes with an undisclosed fee that means there's some sort of you know there's something going on contractually maybe a release clause is in there or something like that but look if you don't know much about him this is basically a scout report on him young versatile midfielder who obviously has recently signed for Sunderland primary primary position centre mid but can play as fullback centre back demonstrating high tactical flexibility which I think is very important in an Amrim system the fact that he could play out wide I wouldn't be playing him at centre back I think he's only about 5 '10", or might be smaller than that.

6:33But certainly, you could utilise him as a wing player. I think more and more at Man United, we need to recruit players that can play multiple positions. Look, at the end of the day, whether I like it or not, Bruno Fernandes is a 10, playing as an 8. Whether I like it or not, Deleuze is a right-back, playing as a left wing-back. I don't think that's what I mean by tactical versatility, but if this lad can play midfield and wing-back, and he can do them both really well, I'm thinking like Fabinho at Liverpool. He was somebody that could play centre-back, right-back and centre-midfield. So that would be really good.

7:06He's a high-energy ball carrier and disruptor, known for covering a lot of ground and helping to turn defensive situations into offensive progression. His playing style suggests he's well-suited to a high-intensity system, often playing as the legs or the box-to-box presence alongside a deeper playmaker midfield. Right-footed, strengths, ball progression, carrying, defensive engagement disruption versatility and stamina weaknesses aerial jewels because obviously he's not particularly tall goals and assists not really his job passing volume variety while his pass completion rate is respectable his overall passes attempted and progressive passes are not in the highest percentile for his position suggesting he might not be the primary deep line playmaker but rather a transitional or box-to-box midfielder well in united system we play with two pivots.

7:54So look, I don't know what your thoughts are, but that's the sort of thing that when I'm preparing for the morning show and I see it and it's from a reasonable source, I sort of go, well, that's scouting. That's scouting. And already I'm not Scott, Siddiqui is the next Kante. Look, that's the sort of deal we should be doing. We need to buy three midfielders. If one of them is going to be Elliot Anderson, great, but one of them should be somebody like Siddiqui. You know, it makes sense to bring in a player like that. Nationality, I believe he's, let me just double check. I think it's, yeah, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

8:34So another African player, it's going to be, you know, AFCON, isn't it? If they're in it. But, you know, ultimately, we have three players that are going off to the AFCON next week. Would you want them at the club or would you rather have inferior players? You know, I like the look of this. Whether it develops into anything, I don't know, but I like the look of it. And, you know, sometimes you just get a good feeling and there's not a lot I feel good about around Man United. Surprise, surprise at the moment. And I'm very honest about that. But also I'll be very, very honest. And I would like to think people know this.

9:07When I'm excited or interested or, you know, encouraging or, you know, on board, I like to think that comes across as well. and whether this is true or not, I am on board with that. I think it's an interesting profile of player. The age thing, I sort of, it depends. The trouble is like when people talk about age and there's a few stories I want to talk about in a moment that we've been linked to young players, I think it's about the league they're in and how many games they've had. Like the next Kaiseido who's coming in from South America and is 17 is very different to a 20-year-old who's played 15 games for Sunderland and is doing really well already.

9:47That's established. Then you've got to look at their mentality, etc. But, you know, you can have a 20-year-old who is a better leader and more experienced than a 25-year-old. You can have that. It's about scouting. It's about profile. So, interesting player. Let's see what happens with it. Can we really say Sadiq is Premier League proven? We've seen so many young players like Balaba labelled as Prem proven and disappointed the next season, says Jack. Jack. Yeah. And this is a great point, Jack. I mean, you've sort of popped my balloon a little bit, but you have to as you progress a conversation.

10:21Absolutely. I think that it probably wouldn't be a deal we could do in January. If I'm being completely honest, I think this is a summer deal. So let's be clear, this would not be a January deal, by which time you'd have a greater pool of evidence. I'm not suggesting, I mean, this would be this would be a shock if we went for him in january and i don't know whether we could considering you're only signed in the summer um but yeah you know you'd want him to be honest you'd want him to this is not about january you know january conversation for me we can go back to that this is about that's about conor gallagher that's about that's about conor gallagher at the moment you know or somebody else that's not about sadiki sadiki for me is this is good scouting if it's true.

11:06Let's see how he does in the second half of the season. And then let's assess the price and look at it because Belaber had a good season, but Brighton wanted £100 million. If Siddiqui has a good season and Sunderland want£40, it's a very different story, isn't it? A very, very different story. So yeah, I do agree with you on that. Did you see the official Man United app added Rashford to the legend sector in the app, says PX? Yeah, but I think, mate, do you really care what Man United official app does? Do you really think the admins and social media posts of Manchester United's website or app are the oracle of Manchester United.

11:38I don't think some of them know their arse from their elbow. I don't think they'd know what a legend was if it shook hands with them. I mean, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, you've got... I actually defend them on this, but Manchester United's legends, we haven't had one in over 10 years. You have a young fan base, you have shirts to sell, you have a story to promote. You have to stick Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes in that legend category simply because if you don't, you're basically admitting the club's on its arse for the last 10 years. You have to put them in there from a marketing point of view.

12:13I mean, it's not even a debate point. Do I think Marcus Rashford's a legend? No. Do I think Bruno Fernandes is a legend? No. But I understand why they're there because you've got to try and make the club relevant in 2025. So you've got to put players that are alive, you know, their careers are alive. You have to do it. It's just, it's marketing. Simple as that. Morning all don't want us anywhere near Belaber for£115 million with the way he's playing if we're bidding then work must start now not mid end of January thank you Tom good point thank you very much to Jack great point I think the question is could he play next to Bruno says Jacob I don't think anybody can play next to Bruno to be honest other teams seem to be able to recruit players cheap, young and able to adapt quickly to the Premier League somehow we can't you're right Mark a club our side should be expecting way more from our scouting Tom Grant welcome to Members Club Thank you very much for getting your badge in this morning.

13:02Great show this morning. I'm feeling the energy. I'm feeling the positivity. And that's that's not something we can always say, unfortunately. So well done, everybody this morning. Just going back to Patrick's point. Yeah, look, I don't know whether we're going to sign this, Siddiqui. I hope we do. You know, I quite like the look of it. Let's see how it develops across the season. I don't think it will be a January deal. But, you know, not everything can be a January deal. However, I think that, you know, Patrick's right. And I was right at the start. The reason I'm encouraged by this is because I think it's proper scouting.

13:32I don't think Anderson, Warton, Belaber is proper scouting. I think it's, you know, is Cunha's proper scouting? Embermo, Sesko, you know, Lemend was, to be fair. Yoro a little bit. When have we bought a player that was well scouted? Like, we go for obvious targets. We take a long time to do it. And then we pat ourselves on the back. There's nothing wrong with that. You know, I'm very happy with Kunia and Embermo and Dillit and Masraoui and Sesko. I'm very happy with these signings, but they're not what I call scouting. Scouting is going, that's a good price. He's an interesting player. He's going to be worth a lot more and he's a hidden gem.

14:11And that's where Man United should be looking at that. Dorgue, I agree, but I think that's a bit too controversial. Arizen gaming on a Friday morning where everybody's quite positive. But I do agree Dorgou was well scouted, but it's a controversial topic. I think he's a good player. I think the issue with Dorgou compared to Siddiqui is that Siddiqui is playing in the Premier League and knows what it's all about. Dorgou isn't. And that's what I was talking about a few minutes ago. I think we do need to have, if we're going to bring young players in, I think there needs to be an element of hitting the ground running.

14:45And, you know, Dorgu, half a season in a relegation Italian side, straight into a Premier League starter in a shit side. There's not going to be a lot of upside in the short term. You know, how do we look after these prospects? And I think sometimes we need a little bit of help from the scouts with regards to who we're looking at. Let's talk about Semenyu because we'll come back to that because there was a great point last night calling me a hypocrite. Which I'm happy to respond to. But first of all, I want to talk about Semenyu. So a lot of people this morning talking about Semenyu and Man United should make a bid for him.

15:17He's there. It's£65 million. It's available in the first 10 days of January. There's that release clause. People are going to be humming and ahhing about it. We could buy him in the first 10 days of January. We can stick him on the left-hand side. You've got Ahmad, Semenyu. Away you go. Happy days. United are sorted. I don't disagree with that. I don't disagree with it. I think a midfielder needs to come in first. But if you can't get a midfielder, but you really want Semenyu, then sometimes it's like, you know, it's like you don't always the player you buy in a summer transfer window isn't necessarily your priority.

15:54Sometimes it's about what can be done. And if United can't find the midfielder they want, then but the money's there for Semenyu, then you should do it. I'd still say, why didn't we get a midfielder? A lot of people were commenting last night sort of arguing as if I didn't want Semenyu. That's never been the case. I think he's a very talented player and I think he's also a player that, like Ahmad, could play wing-back and number 10 and potentially even a striker. Maybe Ahmad could do false nine, but you know what I mean. So it'd be a very interesting signing for Manchester United. But my negativity comes from we've been used by Poundland journalists for about 12 months trying to make out that we were in advanced talks with Semenyu last summer when we weren't.

16:41so I have always been quite consistent around Semenyu and we got told this from the person who told us about Gallagher and Inanna and everything else that United were never in advance with talks with Semenyu he was on a list but it never progressed because they wanted Cunha and Embermo and they got Cunha and Embermo and they were never buying three tens they were never going to do that so whilst Semenyu's really appreciated they were never going to do that so when I heard from last April until the end of the summer transfer window. Oh, United are in for Smenu and people kept pushing it. I was like, it's getting irritating because I know we're not.

17:17But as a player, I do like him. Now, we're in a bit of a different situation now. We have Kunja, we have Mbemo, we're still being linked to him. He's available for£65 million exclusively in the first 10 days of the January transfer window. If United go and do that deal, I'm not going to get up and go, oh, I can't believe it. I'm quitting. I'm off to Australia to backpack across the outback, I'd be like, wow, you know, that's a very interesting signing, isn't it? I mean, that's a first teamer straight in down the left-hand side. It changes the profile of how we play because like Ahmad, he's an attacker.

17:56So, wow, this is very interesting. And that would be my reaction. So, look, I would be on board with it. I would be on board with it. Two problems. one, we won't do that deal. We just flat won't do that deal. All I'm hearing from even the credible journalists is Man United admire Semenyu. Of course, they'd like to sign Semenyu. All that is is playing the positive game. Of course, we'd love a player like Semenyu. Yeah, we're not dismissing it, but we can't do it. We can't do it. We haven't got the money for it. £65 million release clause means you've got to pay the£65 million or you've got to negotiate very favourable terms to Bournemouth.

18:38We won't have that in January. Also, as I said last night, if you watch football, in my opinion, we're not ready for that. We're not ready for that. And this is where people were arguing in the comments last night. And this is why I wanted to clarify my situation. We can sign Semenu for£65 million in January. It's there to be done. You can put him as a left wing back. But when in the last year or even in the last six weeks, have you seen Man United look like a team that's capable of using two wide players and leaving three centre backs on their own? We don't do it. We don't do it. We don't have the ball.

19:20We go compact. We go to a back five and then we counter. If you're going to play with wide players who are wingers, you need to progress your way up the pitch. You need to go from 50 % possession to 65 % possession. You need to control the ball and get your wingers up the pitch so that they're not having to run so far from being a bloody fullback. When would that be a good time for Man United? When we've got two midfielders that allow us to get hold of the ball and keep the ball. And we don't have that at the moment. So I feel that with Semenyu, it's like running before you can walk. He does suit the system really, really well.

19:57But why would it suit the system right now when we know, because we watch Ahmad a lot of the time, ends up being a right wing back in his own six yard box, defending. Imagine having Semenyu and Ahmad doing that for more than half of the game. So it is part of the evolution, hopefully, but we're not ready for it until we get a midfield that boosts that possession. Because without possession, says Savage, if we go all attack, then we'll get cooked. We've got to be a better possession team. And, you know, people say follow the data. We're a better team if you follow the data. I do follow the data.

20:34And our possession stats are crap this season. It's very rarely above 50%. So Semenyu makes a lot of sense, but not at the moment. And also, we haven't got the money, so we won't do it. But I'd be pleasantly surprised if we did it. He's a really good player. But I think there's two big reasons we won't do it. The first reason is they won't write that check. They won't. Didn't Amrim say he wanted a player like Ahmad on the left, says D? He did. He did. And look, this is what I mean. that would be good but it would be suicidal from Amirim to do that at the moment absolutely I mean if you put Semenyu in our team at the moment a team that doesn't have possession and look having him doesn't give us possession the problem the reason we don't have possession is because of Kazimera and Bruno we don't keep possession we're transitioning too quick but look I could be proven wrong on that that's just my theory however the big problem is The big problem is because we can argue about that all day.

21:36You know, maybe Semenyu comes in. Suddenly we're on the halfway line. We're dominating possession. We're swamping teams with Ahmad and Semenyu and Kunyur and Mbemo and Sesko's getting the ball. And it looks brilliant and it sounds brilliant and it would be great. And I'd love to see it. And maybe I'm wrong about what I'm saying. But I'll tell you what I'm not wrong about. There ain't no way United are writing a check for 65 million in the first 10 days of the January transfer window. In fact, subtly, we've already been told it's not happening because three journalists this week have said, don't expect Man United to do anything at the start of the window, maybe later on.

22:10Well, Semenyu's release clause is at the start of the window. So, you know, read the room. We won't have the money to do anything about it. Alex says, just wait for the last days of the January window. United offer 45 for Semenyu, get rejected and again say, well, we tried. he's um yeah it's only active until 11th of january and then it doesn't activate again until the summer apparently um amram is not going to change regarding bruno's position but i don't understand why he isn't pushing a sense back into the cdm position when we have the ball maybe that will happen more with martinez um luke shaw's a left back he doesn't know what he's doing to do that um yoro's obviously not even in the team at the moment uh maguire's never going to do it.

22:53Masraoui's probably not able to do it. I don't think it's De Ligt's game. I mean, look, a lot of people get confused why we need to buy a centre-back. Case in point, we play three centre-backs and only one of them really knows how to step into the midfield. You need about three. Not all three of them, but if you've got six centre-backs, three of them need to be able to step into the midfield. We've got one at the moment. Luke Shaw tries it. I'll give him credit. He does try it, but he's not very good at it. Martinez is brilliant at it. He can do it when he's in it too. So we probably need another centre-back who can step into the midfield, to be honest.

23:30Seth, hope you're doing well this morning. Loving the show this morning. I don't know whether it's because it's Friday. Seth says, United exposes how desperate they are for one area of the pitch. Last season, attack, season before, defence, now midfield. Everyone up the price because they can smell our desperation. Well, I always think about this. I always think about this, Seth, and I don't know what your thoughts are, but you're absolutely right. We always know what Man United's problem is for at least two years. Like, I know Sancho didn't work, but we needed a right winger for a long time. We didn't even use him on the right wing, which is hilarious.

24:03And he's actually a left winger. But, you know, we needed a right winger for a long time. We needed a striker for a long time. We needed a goalkeeper for a long time. Everybody always knows what we need. And at the moment, we don't need one midfielder. We need two. So the whole world of football knows that Man United need a midfielder. The way I operate, and a lot of business people I've come into contact with over my lifetime operate, the good ones don't let people know what they need. They've already solved it before you know. If you're buying a house, you don't walk around going, I want that house, I want that house, E-I-I-D-O, I want that house, I'm bidding next week.

24:43That's not how people work. They go, I want that house, put the bid in now, move quick, let's do it. And if I can't do it, I'll move on. It's a great point by Seth, and it really makes sense that we need midfielders. The longer we wait, the more obvious it is. We should have got one in the summer. We should have had one lined up in the summer. By not doing that, it's very frustrating. But we also signposted that we went for Belaber and Gallagher and didn't get them. So the whole world knows we're desperate for midfielders now. We would be a lot better. And it is Glazenomics, unfortunately, because everything has to go through them.

25:20But imagine what would happen if we were quick. Chelsea, Enzo Fernandes, two years ago, in on a player that people thought was going in the summer. Do you think the huge Bruno Glaze stats toppers online is a good thing in the sense that when we move him to Saudi in the summer, we can get 100 million, says Rajaf. bruno fernandez will never lose will never lose on bruno like he will always be the saudis have wanted him for years statistically he's massively sellable you know even if even if even if everybody in the fan base thinks he's shit which they don't he's still massively sellable because he's never injured he's massively enthusiastic and his stats whether you like them or not speak for themselves So he's always going to retain value.

26:08Thank you very much for that. Done that. Morning, Mark. What do you think about United being linked to Ecuadorian Edison Castillo? It seems that Ecuador is a talent mine. Really interesting. Let me have a quick look on this because there is a player I was going to talk about and I don't know whether it's him. No, no. Well, I don't know about him, but we have been linked to Ecuador wingback Nilsson Angulo, who is 22 year old at Anderlecht. We've been linked to him this morning. Price tag around 26 million pounds. We've also been linked to a striker from Strasbourg called Joaquin Panicelli, Argentinian forward who has got 10 goals in 20 appearances for Strasbourg.

26:56But obviously Chelsea have a big link with Strasbourg. So I think they'll probably have a better look at him. So look, we're constantly being linked at young players. There's no doubt about it. I spoke about Sadiq earlier, but I do have a problem with it because my big problem at the moment, and I don't think anybody can call it negativity, it's a concern, is that, you know, follow the data if you want or use your eyes if you want. when was the last player we developed with talent to being talent we haven't Rashford's probably the closest one to it um but development isn't just about giving them opportunity on the pitch it's about molding them and you know making them grow into respectful players that are committed to the club and for whatever reason we failed with Rashford on that didn't we it's not it's been a bumpy ride the last couple of years so we fail it's not just about on the pitch, it's off the pitch as well.

27:51We fail. And it worries me that I'm very cynical about the Glazers, of course, and I don't think Sir Jim Radcliffe's any better. I just think they've seen what Chelsea are doing in relation to mass recruitment of young players and selling them for profit. And they look at the debt and they look at ways to make money and they think, let's just buy a load of young, talented players that we can loan out and then sell them. Man City do it very well. Man City picked£20 million for a player that never touches their first team because they buy them they bring them they promote them they put them on loan in the championship they do really really well and they sell them for 15 20 million quid never touch the first team so i think that you know that's what worries me about this because on the one hand it's great if you've got six or seven or eight um players that are coming through over the next three or four years but we don't we've shown no evidence that we can develop players i think So Cesco, Dorgou and Yoro are my great hopes.

28:54Because if those three players can turn into good first team players for Man United, then all these other players that are coming through, there's big hope. So it's not a flat, this is a mistake. It's just a concern that we're buying all these young players and we're crap at nurturing and promoting them. And maybe that can change. But, you know, it is a concern. which reminds me, love the way you replied, Mark. Happy holidays, says Seth. No worries. You too, pal. Archer says, we have players to create the chances, but they don't take risks because our midfield lacks control. Imagine if Kunya and Mbemo, Ahmad or our striker could take more risks.

29:33We need more control. In relation to Kunya, get the ball into his feet because I'm already starting to see, even after the Wolves game, I mean, I don't have the direct quotes in front of me, so I'm not Amirim's comments about Kunya after the Wolves game quite negative and it's happened before it's not like what he said about Dorgu or you know what he's done with Yoro but it was almost a little bit like I can't remember what he said after the Wolves game and I'm not going to speculate because it's not fair but I definitely perceived it in a slightly negative way almost like he's trying too hard you know almost like it's not clicking and I felt like going well I I didn't because I didn't ask the question.

30:16But I do feel with Kunja that if you watch the channel a lot, there are recurring conversations. And we have been saying about Kunja for three months now, he's not getting the ball into feet. And when I was watching Wolves last season, this was a guy that clearly kept Wolves up last year. Like, they're so bad. How did they stay up last year? Well, Kunja was a massive part of that. So, you know, I know there's been a little bit of change, but they are one of the worst teams I've ever seen. I mean, take the three points and we'll take them again just before New Year. But they're absolutely terrible.

30:51So imagine how good Kunya was last year to keep that team up. But what they were doing is getting the ball in. And you look at the way Wolves played on Monday night. They weren't hitting long balls. They were trying to play through and get the ball into people's feet. Get the ball into Kunya's feet. He's got amazing close control. He can spin and turn. I don't see us doing that. So you can be critical of Cunha, but it's a little bit like being critical of a goalkeeper when you tie one arm behind their back. You know, you've got to feed him, you know. I think that's something that I definitely would say.

31:31I'm going to remind you all a bit earlier today. Please do smash a like on the video. We're doing crap for likes on videos at the moment. We have at least 8 ,000 people watching here. 7 ,500, sorry. 500 likes. please do smash a like on the video every day that you watch. Morning, Mark. What do you think about it? I've done that one as well. Right. I'm a hypocrite. I'm a hypocrite. Well, I'm a hypocrite anyway, because Jack says, I think you skipped my super chat. Jack said, yeah, it was rubbish, Jack. That's why I did it. I didn't really. Here it is. He said, is that£65 million not better off being invested into the midfield?

32:05A player like Anderson needs to be in our midfield if we want to challenge for the top four. Look, all I'm saying is I like Semenyu. We won't do the deal. And I don't think it's the right time to buy a left wing back before you buy midfielders who can give you possession. So I completely agree with you. But if we signed Semenyu in the first five days of January, I wouldn't be sat there going, what are we doing? I'd go, bloody hell, that's exciting. Even though I have misconceptions about whether it's the right signing right now, it would be amazing, but we won't do it. Just wait for the last days I've done that one as well.

32:34Okay. Do you think that could imply us selling Amas, says Jacob? Oh, I don't want to bring the mood down. I don't want to bring the mood down this morning, but I'm telling you now, Harry Amas leaving Man United. I'll give you the percentage in a minute because it fits in about what Andy Mitten said about Manu. I'll come back to that. Right. Last night in the comments, somebody said, you're a hypocrite Mark because you've been going on about United signing Gallagher this morning and why you think it's a good thing and then you've just said Tyler Adams isn't the sort of player that is going to strike fear into the opposition there's no difference between Adams and Connor Gallagher so why are you pro Gallagher but opposed to Adams you're hypocrite and I thought you know what they're not a moron they've just not listened they've not they've not thought because on the face of it, I thought fair play, very fair play, because I'm going to bring it into the show now.

33:34But if you listen to what I said, I'm not a hypocrite, right? Because what I said is that Man United have held talks with Conor Gallagher about a move in January. That was yesterday's morning show. And then I said, of course, I would take Conor Gallagher over nothing. And if he's the only option in the midfield in January, let's do it. Of course, you want a little bit of a kickback that maybe a loan with an obligation to buy that if it doesn't work, we pay Atletico Madrid a couple of million and they take him back and then they sell him somewhere else. I'm comfortable with that. Actually signing him in January is a little bit risky, but the loan with an obligation to buy, let's do it.

34:15He's 25. He's Premier League proven. I think he's a good player and he's got a lot to prove. I don't see the negatives in doing that deal at all in those circumstances. Tyler Adams is double the price and a summer signing. That's what I'm talking about. You've got to take the context of half the price in January with the potential to send him back if it doesn't work against double the price permanent deal in the summer. So it's not hypocritical. I agree with you that maybe there's not a lot between Conor Gallagher and Tyler Adams, but the circumstances are night and day. We need a midfielder in January.

34:58We're not going to be signing Tyler Adams unless we want to play three times the price. But we can sign Conor Gallagher, potentially on a loan with an obligation to buy, straight away comes into the team. Tyler Adams, six months down the line, double the price, doesn't come in in January. So that's why I'm positive about Connor Gallagher and reluctant about Tyler Adams, because in the summer, that's where we're meant to be going for the likes of the big signings. So that's what I meant by that. with regards to either player if tyler adams was available on a loan to loan obligation to buy in january i'll run a poll which one do you want i don't really might because if it's tyler adams or nobody in january i think he's a bad player i just don't think he's a summer signing the summer signing can't be connor gallagher or tyler adams the summer signing needs to be significant but in january we need a midfielder and you you go and get the best that you can get and i think there's a real opportunity there with Connor Gallagher.

35:57Robert McCormack says he won't bench Casemiro for either. Robert, sometimes you're right and sometimes you're wrong, just like me. I don't think we can... I think if Amrim gets the player he wants, Casemiro will go to the bench. I don't think he's totally obsessed with Casemiro. I really don't. He didn't pick him for the first two months and then he realised Casemiro is better than Agate and now he picks him all the time. I don't think he's locked in on Casemiro. I think he sees Casemiro's weaknesses. I mean, he took him off against West Ham, didn't he, quite early? So I think the problem is he thinks Casemiro is better than Agate.

36:37And he may well be right. And he doesn't want to play Mainu there. So I think if you had a player that he wanted, whether that's Conor Gallagher or Manu Kone or whatever, I think we'd see Casemiro playing less. I do. Um, talk about our mass, Mark. Um, okay. Well, look, this, the context of this, I only saw this last night after I'd finished the show. So this was Andy Mitten talking about, um, what he thinks going to happen with Maynou. And look, there's a lot of things these journalists say that I think is fed from the club and you can take it with a pinch of salt. But this I found quite interesting because I think a lot of us are sort of skirting around the issue here.

37:28And look, what I will say about Andy Mitton is that, you know, he's been around the club for a very long time and especially around this sort of thing. You know, I know how it works. We had our little bit of information yesterday. We've had little bits. I know how it works and he's been at it a lot longer. So I wouldn't dispute this being true at all. He said, on Maynews' future in the summer, Unfortunately, I don't think it looks good for him. Manchester United looking for two midfielders and that will not be a good thing for Maynou. I'm pretty bleak about the future for him as a Manchester United player.

38:02So it's not just what's going to happen in January. There is this feeling in the club quite clearly that even if he stays in January, he'll be gone in the summer. And even if he goes on loan in January, he'll be gone in the summer. and that's a different mindset to get your head into because I think there are people out there probably myself included who think if he goes on loan and he does really well that proves Amrim wrong he comes back in the summer and he gets back in the team seems to be a train of thought if he goes out on loan and does well that's a pathway to selling him much the same as what we did with Anthony much the same of what we did to Rashford so this whatever's going to happen feels like it's going to be a pathway to an exit.

38:50I think the only thing that's going to save Amrim, save Maynou, is if Man United don't qualify for... Look, let me map it out for you. Maynou goes out on loan in January. There's three scenarios. Maynou is not allowed to go in January and leaves in the summer totally pissed off. Maynou goes out on loan in January, does well, but Man United qualify for Europe, comes back, Amram doesn't want him, he gets sold. Maynou goes out on loan in January, does well. Amram gets sacked because he doesn't get Europe. Maynou plays under the new manager. I think there's three options, scenarios there. Two of them end with Maynou being sold in the summer.

39:31And let's not forget who our owners are. Let's not forget who our loyalty should be to. The club, not the owners, not the manager, not the player. The way the owners operate, that's pure profit. pure profit. They can put him out on loan in January, knowing Amram wants to sell him. He can go out and prove himself, increase his value, cash in in the summer. He just made 30, 40, 50 million pounds profit. So look, that's coming in from the club, clearly that there is a general feeling that Manu is going to not be a Man United player next season, which I think is very sad. And also to bring in Harry Amas, because I was asked about what do you think is going to happen with Amas.

40:14Honestly, I would like to think he's going to come back to Manchester United and be utilised as a left wing back. However, if you're asking me what I think is going to happen, I think you've got a player there that's doing really well at a club that's not doing really well in the Championship. He's shining every week. They love him at Sheffield Wednesday. In the summer, is he going to be ready to be Man United's left wing back? Is he going to be ready to be sold for£5-10 million with a sell-on clause? And I think this is the road we're heading down. I'm not 100 % sure on that and I hope I'm going to be wrong.

40:53But the way I think this club is heading, I think we're going to see a lot of this. This cashing in on young players where it's pure profit. Because I don't think Amas will be ready next season to start for Man United as much as I would like it. So you'll have a player that's had a really good season in the championship that wants to keep playing. Do you loan him to a championship club again? Do you loan him to a lower Premier League club or do you cash in? And I think they might cash in at some point because I think that's the sort of way that we might be heading. um but i hope i'm i really do hope i'm wrong on that but we've got you know what about the um what about the young lad from uh paraguay leon um i heard his agent talking yesterday about how they don't think he's going to go on loan anymore and he's going to continue to develop in the under 21s and i'm like and he was trying to talk as trying to make it out it was a positive he's trying to talk about it like it's a positive you know it's better for his development to continue in the in the under 21s and i'm like it's definitely not mate it's 100 better for you to be playing professional men's football in the championship than playing under 21s football but doesn't look like he's heading out on loan now which means he's six months behind um obi isn't out playing first team football he's in the under 21s i think as well so look there's nothing wrong with training with the first team and playing with the under 21s but what our mass is doing that's the step up that's playing first team football against proper teams and we're not doing he's the only one really doing it at the moment the guy podcast says I like the idea of Tyler Adams I feel like the hate he's getting from fans being looked at is because he's American I've not seen any hate mate and hopefully there isn't any hate because I don't think he's a bad player I just was like I think it got maybe a little bit misinterpreted last night that he's...

43:00As a summer signing, that's not the signing I would look to do. That's basically what I was saying. As a summer signing, I want better than that, you know? And that's all I was saying. As a summer signing, I want better than that. If he was coming in in January, then, you know, maybe I would look at that, but not as a summer signing. I think we need better than that. Old United could call this a throwaway season and focus on the summer, but a throwaway season used to be third place. We need Europe and we need it now, so Slazy. Look, I did see something. Nearly 8 ,000 watching and we've still not hit 1 ,000 likes, you lazy shits.

43:38I can't believe it. I can't believe that. I've got 8 ,000 people watching and we've got 924 likes. How hard is it to click a like button? I thought we were having a good stream. Don't you like... What are you doing? Having a crap? and you don't even like it. It's just there in the background. Come on. But no, seriously, 8 ,000 watching. Very, very good. Remember, we've got the Ameren press conference at lunchtime as well. We're reacting to that as well. We've got Bundesliga match tonight on That's Football. But we do have an eight o 'clock show with Terry as well. He's not been on this week. So I'd be very interested to see what he's got to say too.

44:14And then obviously United play on a Monday night. Got a preview coming up tomorrow. I think I'm going to put that up tomorrow. Maybe later on today. depends when I get a chance to work on that but in terms of United failing talents as Simply Red can we acknowledge Mason Greenwood going on to be top 4 goals assisting Europe only behind Kane, Erling and Mbappe speaks volumes as Simply Red I think Mason Greenwood is such a difficult conversation to have I've seen a lot of it look we reacted to that when it happened we reacted to it when he was not killed when it didn't go to court we reacted to it when they sold him so i'm never going to go well we're not going to talk about it it's contentious um i saw some people this week saying he should get called up for england and the backlash was massive you know pictures of what happened or allegedly happened uh the audio clips were out there again people were going absolutely crazy about it and all i would say about mason greenwood is unfortunately whether we like it or not, the minute it didn't go to court and got dropped, it goes into the court of public opinion.

45:24And once you're in the court of public opinion, it's a nasty place. And it doesn't even matter whether it's right, fair or wrong, or justice or whatever you want to call it. He will always be associated with that. So I find it very difficult to talk about because it's like the chat goes away from what we're meant to be which is a football community what i will say and i i don't care what anybody says about this what i will say is before that incident i used to call him a generational talent we had mason greenwood anthony martiel and marcus rashford as a front three that scored over 50 premier league goals and i think it all feeds into the same and i know for a fact as well in relation to that player and certain other players i think we've seen it with brandon williams as well the club failed them in other areas in relation to keeping them on the straight and narrow there was a lot of things going on at man united during covid that shouldn't have been going on um and man united have been ridiculously bad at dealing with young players in their off-field activities for a very long time and certain players that have recently left certain players that are still here it's it's been going on for a very long time now comparable to sir alex ferguson who would turn up at house parties if he heard one of his young players was there, who knew all the landlords, if one of his players went in, to how Man United's run now.

46:51The question is, why are we so bad at something we used to be ridiculously good at? You know, just because it's 2025 doesn't make it acceptable to be in a nightclub at three o 'clock in the morning doing whatever, you know? And, you know, Toon says it's not a prison. No, mate, it's a competitive sport where elite footballers win prizes. And we've got 8 ,000 people watching the United fan community. It matters. You know, it's not Sunday morning with your mates playing pub football. You know, if I was the manager of the dog and duck and you turned up and you said, I've been out last night doing this, that, and the other, I wouldn't go, well, you know, you're not playing.

47:32I'd say, can you play? But this is Manchester United and we've been running, run badly for a very long time. And it's not just recruitment. It's not just wages. It's the way we do not nurture our players off the field in the right way. We don't set the standards. We don't set professionalism. Some of these young players should have had their contracts ripped up. Don't care whether you think you're good or not. You're out. That's below the standards we want. Go and play for Leighton Orient. I'm not slagging Leighton Orient off, but if you know a player is out drink driving or breaking curfew, going to parties, this, that, and the other.

48:08I'm not saying those things have happened. And even if it did, you don't know who I'm talking about. United should be dealing with that. But they didn't. They didn't deal with it. And they haven't been dealing with it. We haven't set the standards that need to happen. Old United, I've done that one. Look, I want to just mention this because we're coming towards the end of the show. This made me laugh today. And this is just, you know, this is the mainstream in a clip, right? Sky Sports News put it out last night. Peter Stevenson, Insight at Manchester United's training ground. Positive mood around Man United training.

48:48There's a very good chance that Man United will go into 2026 in the top four. I'm just laughing at it like that's not a direct quote from Bruno Fernandes or Ruben Amrim or anybody associated with Man United that's Sky Sports doing a clip at the training ground saying there's a very good chance that Man United will be in the top four in 2026 and you think you know these are the same outlets that only a few weeks ago were talking about what manager's going to replace Ruben Amrim and will Amrim be sacked by Christmas and it's like you know sometimes the media can be very useful, but sometimes they're an absolute head loss.

49:27Like, Ned Stark FC, what are you talking about? Like, you've been trying to sack our manager for weeks, and now you're hypothetically putting us into the top four for New Year's Day. And I'm like, hold on a minute. How does that work then? Because one, we've taken one point from six against Everton and West Ham in our last two league games. How the hell are you putting us hypothetically into the top four? You know, serious. I mean, look, look. And also, last time I checked, we've got to go to Aston Villa and we've got to play Newcastle after Bournemouth. I just don't, I don't know. I don't know.

50:06It's laughable how funny they are because before New New Year, our easiest game is Wolves. We don't play Leeds and Burnley until after New Year. So our next four games, Bournemouth at home, which I think is winnable. Villa away, which I think we will win, but only because we've got a good record against them. They're actually a very good team. Newcastle at home, I think will be difficult. And then Wolves at home, I think we'll win. So, you know, we'd have to win to be in the top four. You'd need Chelsea and Palace and Villa. Well, we won't catch Villa. They're on 30 unless we beat Villa. But you know what I mean?

50:46It's not easy to put us in the top four. And yet there's a very good chance Man United will be in top four in early. What was it? Early 2026 or going into 26. I don't remember. It was early or going into 26. No, there's a very good chance that Man United will go into 2026 in the top four. What are you talking about? And this is what I mean. You've got to call it out because what it is, is subconsciously dropping in an incredible achievement like it's expected. So while that works is you go, there's a very good chance that Man United will go into the new season, into the new, sorry, there's a very good chance Man United will go into the new year in the top four.

51:29People listen to that and go, Man United are going to be in the top four on New Year's Day. New Year's Day comes along, Man United are eighth. Oh God, it was so easy for them to be in the top four and they're eighth. Get him out. Get him out. And it's like, look, I don't care where we are on New Year's Day. If we're in the top four, I don't think we'll necessarily be there at the end of the season. And if we're eighth, I don't think it doesn't mean we won't be in the top five at the end of the season. We, as Amrim has said, I want him to be here till the end of the season, but I think it's going to be a rocky ride, a roller coaster.

52:00And who knows? We've been very unpredictable this season. We had very good home form before we played Everton and West Ham. let's hope we can pick it up again on Monday night. Away from home, you never know what you're going to get. We're very erratic. We've got a January transfer window. I would hope, actually, just to clarify, I hope we're not in the top four on January the 1st. I hope we are seventh within touching distance because I think if we're in the top four in January, the club will go, we don't need to spend. We don't need to spend. We're already there. We're right. We obviously are a top four team because we're top four.

52:39I think it might be a bad thing about that. What's the Skulls comment? I know he said at the start of the week that Mania should go and sign for Chelsea, but let me have a quick look. I probably should be able to find it for you.

53:08I can't see anything...

53:16about us. That's my clip about Siddiqui.

53:26Oh, here we go. Manchester United is about risk and entertainment more than anything. Having fans on the edge of their seat, ready to go. Wingers who beat people, shots on goal, bits of skill. There's nothing there that's from the club. We talk about this as a different club. They've got Omar Barada, Jason Wilcox, who are probably brilliant at their job and what they do, but they're not Man United. They don't have a clue what it's like to be by a Man United player. Mate, it's almost like an echo. I literally said this myself. Literally said this last weekend. Like, I can't argue with that. Like, I've literally said it myself.

53:59And I don't, I'll be honest, when it's the ex-players, I do try to sort of pick holes in what they're saying because I don't think they always speak correctly. But I think that's absolutely spot on. I mean, Manchester United is about risk and entertainment more than anything. You know, for me, it always has been about wingers who, you know, beat people and, you know, bits of skill. And I don't recognise Man United and I haven't recognised this for 10 years, but I do agree with them about Barada and Wilcox. Sure, they are very good at their job, but they're not Man United people. They don't know what a Man United player is.

54:33And I think for some people, it's not important. For some of it's really important. Who we are, what we stand for is really important. You know, some of us in our lives as well. You know, my granddad's no longer here. He got me into Manchester United. But also as a person, there's so much about him that I admired that you want to bring, you know, you want to, you know, pass that on. it's the same with your football club I wouldn't like to support a football club that changes its identity every 10 years and you know this is why it's so important to us and you know I don't see anybody in that football club that knows what it's all about I certainly do not respect Sir Jim Radcliffe as a lifelong fan because he doesn't actually behave like one they're glazes forget it Amram's come in from Portugal you know I don't mind he's a manager that's fine you learn you know Sir Alex came from Aberdeen but CEO and Wilcox and Favell, what have they got to do with Man United?

55:27It's almost like they're coming in with a playbook going, this is what I think we should do. This is what we should do. But they're not Man United people. But look, that's not important for some people. It's not. But I think it's a great point. I'm waiting for the end of the season to see what we really are. There'll be up and downs along the way. And if I'm in top four at the end, well done, says Ray. Absolutely, bloody exactly, Ray. And I hope you're doing well. I completely agree. hopefully we can... Well, if we're going to be successful, we've got to build a new Man United, haven't we? That's what we've got to do.

55:59We've got to start playing well. We've got to start winning. We've got to show a vision and we've got to build something new, which is obviously their strategy. United, we already know this. United's plan is to rip up the past and build something new. They're turning their back on Man United people. they're not interested in man united people um we've had that feedback personally they're not interested in fans opinion or previous players or what united used to be they're very blinkered they're very stubborn and they're very much we're doing it our way if it works they'll reap the benefits can we just appreciate rasmus right now for being available every game shouldn't have been treated the way he did.

56:45He played alongside rubbish, says the real red stand. Yeah, but he has been injured, definitely. Rajaf, Greenwood strike in the Leicester game was fire. John United says, we can't keep everyone. The pathway from the academy to the first team needs to be tougher. Players shouldn't be making the bench just to protect a record. Thank you very much. Okay. Well, thanks everyone for watching this morning. Really appreciate it. Fantastic show majority very very positive really enjoyed it don't forget we've got amrin's press conference at half past one reaction will be about 20 to 2 uh we'll go live straight away after that be very interesting to see what he's got to say around injuries and i'm sure he'll get some questions look even i would say is there any point asking him a question about meinu but we know what these journalists alike.

57:35I'm sure he will get that. Speak to you all a little bit later. Take care. Remember, we've got Bundesliga tonight at half past seven as well. So if you want to join us on That's Football for That, you can do. We're going to be in the studio for that one actually today. Leipzig Union Berlin. Some good young players to keep an eye on there. Hopefully United will have some scouts watching that because, as I said, Siddiqui is an interesting player. Take care, everyone. Thanks, everybody, who liked the video. Thank you to all 1 ,500 of the 7 ,700 do smash the like button. Thank you very much, legends.

58:04But thank you to all of you who watched and everybody who's watching Not Live. I'll speak to you in a bit. Take care.