The Manchester United Thread X

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/aug/05/cristiano-ronaldo-contract-real-madrid

£25m+ add-ons that take it to £30m BBC are reporting.

Fabio was considered more talented than Rafael when they arrived, but he isn't left footed and I think he could suffer like Phil Neville did now Rafael has got the RB slot locked down. Evra's not getting any younger so Fabio should get a decent amount of games to prove himself. It's not going to be Buttner, he's not good enough, so I guess we will buy next summer if Fabio doesn't look up to it.

At least we have seemingly given up on Baines, not that I don't think he's a quality player, but he would be an expensive and short term fix, and he wouldn't sit on the bench for Evra, our vice captain and an important figure in the dressing room. We don't want to be getting rid of those kind of players with Fergie fresh out of the door.

Rooney is going to miss the final game of the tour due to a shoulder injury sustained at the weekend.

I call bull****

Rooney is going to miss the final game of the tour due to a shoulder injury sustained at the weekend.

I call bull****

Rooney trending. Someone, somewhere has said Chelsea bid £30m, I haven't bothered to look into where that came from. I wouldn't be surprised if it's true though, Jose did say he wanted him. That £50m they paid for Torres shouldn't be so easily forgotten, especially considering the form he was in at the time. I'd expect a lot more for Rooney before I'd even consider it, and even then we'd need replacements sorted first.

£25m is a complete joke when you consider that's what we paid for him 9 years ago. It's obviously been done to try and unsettle him but it doesn't matter what they offer, selling him to a domestic rival is title suicide. He'll still be a Manchester United player when the transfer window closes. What possible situation does selling him to Chelsea benefit the club? There isn't one.

If Chelsea hit £35m I take that for Rooney. I've already said I don't think he's a good prospect in his later years, and not for the money he's wanting. Getting 8 seasons out of him and then shifting him at a profit at his peak is pretty good business. Perhaps he's hoping to play Rooney up top but with Lukaku seemingly set to star as the forward, someone in that front 3 isn't going to get much playing time with Schürrle arriving too. Perhaps negotiating a deal for one the amigos as has been said, one of them has to be surplus if Rooney and Lukaku are to play major roles.

Just a little question to you all, how much do you think Lukaku is worth on the current market?

Hypothetically, would you accept a straight swap Rooney for Lukaku (even though it won't happen ha)

I'd value him around £20m and no.

Rooney would be played as a striker for us the majority of the time, with Lukaku as 2nd choice, as although he's already looking very good we'd be a lot better off with an established striker as our first choice rather than relying on a 20-year old with Torres and Ba as backups.

How often does Rooney play as a true striker for United? He played to the side in the front 3 in the Ronaldo era, played as a forward in 09/10, behind Hernandez in 2011, behind Welbeck in 2012, and behind RVP in 2013. He hasn't lead the United line for a while. A lot of money to get a player who you are then going to play out of position.

Doesn't he want to be played as a striker though and consider it his best position? There's no way we'd be buying him to play behind a striker as we don't need him there at all. I'm not entirely convinced by us going after Rooney, Falcao/Cavani would have been excellent but obviously they were too expensive, although if Mourinho thinks he's worth chasing then I'm fine with that.