The fact that there are no rumours about him leaving now can simply be him changing his mind NOW, or wanting to play now that Mourinho is in charge, rather than LvG. That doesn't change the past, it doesn't change that he wanted to go, or that he was minutes away from leaving.

It could just that he has changed his mind since then. You should know all about changing your opinion on something.

No, what I'm saying is different to what you are saying, and you know it.

You're effectively claiming that De Gea signed that contract because he wanted to stay all along, because he loves the club, because he wants to have a statue outside the ground, because he's suddenly fallen in love with Manchester.

I'm saying that he signed that contract because his move had fallen through, he fancied a pay rise, and he knew that he had to sign it in order to play.


Yes, they are. The Munch has already pointed out that you're being patronising.

Your apologies are meaningless, as you have to make them so frequently, and never actually demonstrate any remorse.

It is not a fantasy about him wanting to stay, players don't sign long-term deals if they do no want to stay long-term.

If they want to leave, they push for a shorter contractual length, they don't agree to spend a large part of their career at one club, if they are unhappy at being there and want out asap.

Did Real Madrid come in for him last summer, yes undoubtedly so, did they come close to signing him, again, yes, but did he end up signing for them? No, he didn't, and in the end he ended up signing a new long-term deal.

For whatever reason, (fax machine error, Real not really wanting him after seeing a poll in the latest newspaper about how popular Navas was within their fanbase) you pick as to why he stayed, the fact is,he stayed, and agreed to sign a new long-term deal.

Again, do you think players sign long-term deals because they want out of a club, or because they want to stay, and are happy where they are?

If players want to leave a club, then they will make it perfectly clear to that club that they have no intention of signing any new deal, that has happened time after time, after time, at various clubs over time, yet was that the case here? No, it wasn't, De Gea was more than happy to sign his new deal (seemingly without any kind of realease clause either) and stay here.

That is not as you put it a fantasy, that is actually what happened.

He signed because he needed a job and to play in the Euros. We all went through this a million times.

Imagine you were leaving a job then the new company went bump. You have two options - sit at home on your arse all day watching TV and bringing nothing to society or you stick where you are and carry on getting £££ in your bank.

Staying wouldn't mean you'd changed your mind - just that you realised it was the lesser of two evils.

As for the length of the deal the longer the contract the more money he'd be getting per week. You commit to a long term deal then the company will reward you accordingly. He's not stupid - if he was planning to go in 2 years he may as get as much money as he can in the meantime.

If Real Madrid wanted him, and there was this supposed release clause that at the time people were saying was definitely in his new contract, wouldn't they be triggering that now?

At the time I said that I was very highly sceptical about such a figure being into his new deal, as why would we do such a thing, and make it easier for someone to come and possibly sign him, it made no sense at the time.

As for changing ones own mind, yes that does happen, and he very well could have done so here, and said actually, you know what, I am happy here, and I will sign a new long-term deal.



I am not saying he wants a statue of himself at the ground or anywhere else, all I am saying is that he signed a new long-term deal with us, which shows that he was happy enough where he was, and was happy enough with the idea of spending a good few more years of his career with us.
A new contract was always going to include a pay rise, that is generally the idea of them for anyone not just De Gea.

I am not patronising anyone, that is not how I do things.

Yeah, unless Giggs has a new club lined up i'm not really getting any vibes that there's a future outside of Old Trafford.

He's supposedly working for ITV until the end of the Euro's as a pundit so with pre season starting next week he doesn't look to be a part of that either.

As for Corbyn, you've got to admire his determined effort to stay put whilst everyone else has more or less buggered off.

Whatever the actual reason for his signing, the fact is, he was happy enough to do so, unhappy player or people don't sign contracts with their current employers.
If he had wanted to leave, he could have made it very difficult for us, but the fact is, at the first opportunity to sign a new deal, he signed it.

Yes you are, and yes it is.

You do it quite often. Then you deny it of course, but the denial means nothing.

Perhaps they could do a job swap with him and Corbyn?!
That would be fun to see!

Yeah it does seem as if Giggs doesn't want to leave unless he has a job lined up, and since there doesn't appear to be one at the moment, then he seems in a bit of limbo.

I honestly don't, I try sometimes to put my message across as plainly as I can, but that doesn't mean that I am trying deliberately to be patronising.

We've been over this so many times I don't know how many more times we have to explain this to you.

He stayed BECAUSE OF AN ERROR. That's it. He didn't stay because he wanted to stay. He stayed because an error forced him to. That's it. You saying he wanted to stay IS a fantasy.

Signing a contract doesn't mean he wanted to stay. I'm not talking about a release clause, I don't know if there was one or not, I don't know the details of his contract, nor do I really care.


You've questioned the reason the deal fell through before. It fell through because of an admin error. How can they go minutes away from signing him then fail in the last minute because they changed their mind because of some poll? It was an admin error that resulted in them missing the deadline, that's it.

He signed a contract because it suited both his and Man United's interests. If he refused to sign a contract and run it down he risks being dropped by the manager and damaging his chances of playing in the upcoming Euros, as well as ruining his chances of moving in the following January or summer, if he thought Real Madrid were going to come in for him again. Instead he signs a contract, gets a pay rise, gets to play, and keeps the fans on side. He might want to stay NOW but he didn't THEN. Maybe it turns out he wasn't too upset over missing out on his big move, but the fact is he DID want to go.

You act like he wanted to stay all along, or that he refused to go. That's where people are taking issue with you. He didn't want to stay. He did want to go. The reasons for his contracts fall down to speculation, but the fact that he was going to Real Madrid is purely a fact that can't be argued. He was going, and if he was going then he will have wanted to go. Give Real Madrid another five minutes and he'd have been a Real Madrid player, which he wanted.

You argued that if Pogba came you wouldn't have to worry about Real Madrid because they didn't get the last Man United player they came in for. The whole point is they didn't get him because of a mistake, that's it. They didn't fail because he refused to go. If you signed Pogba and they came in for him the fact that De Gea didn't go because of a problem with a fax machine won't protect you. It will mean nothing.

If Real Madrid want a player, they tend to get the player. Please note the word "tend" in that statement before coming back to me with examples of exceptions.

I used to think Batdude got unwarranted stick and jumped on at times but recently the tone of his posts are of someone who thinks he has some sort of superior authority on here, maybe due to amount of posters he's seen off, be it left or banned.

Couldn't agree more.

In other news, the Daily Star (via Mundo Deportivo) are reporting that United are 'prepared to meet' Neymar's £157m buy-out clause.

This is DEFINITELY happening.

Can't beat stories like that above.

Reckon he's staying though.

FC Barcelona ‏@FCBarcelona 1h1 hour ago
🔊 Bartomeu: "@neymarjr want to stay here. In the next few days we will finalise his contract extension" #FCBlive

Yeah, it's clearly guff. I'm sure that we would be interested, if there was any realistic possibility of him leaving, but that 'story' just smacks of the Star hustling for clicks.

By the way, do you know anything about this Aaron Mooy guy that you've signed from Melbourne?

Likely to feature in the first team?

He's probably so wrapped up in his love of wrestling, he thinks this some sort of last man standing contest.

Soon enough he'll be posting and replying to his own posts.

I don't know how you United fans cope. Glad he's one of yours.

Most have given up, sadly. No idea why someone who has more or less nothing of relevance to add to the discussions would dedicate his entire existence to disrupting the thread but there you go, the net is a strange place.

I'm a Liverpool fan and I have to put up with him, too.

FFS BD, give it a rest. We are discussing two different points in time here.

In the transfer window, he wanted to go and damned nearly went.

Not long after, he then wanted to stay and signed a new contract. We don't for definite know why but it doesn't matter anyway.

It's as simple as that.

Hadn't heard of him until last night!

One of the Melbourne fans on the City forum said he's too good for the A League over there but unlikely to be good enough for our 1st team. Assume he'll get loaned out somewhere, maybe the transfer was just to make that easier to happen?

That's how bad it - we're recruiting out of towners who are the enemy to pad the numbers out.

Put it much better than I could!


Well not all heroes wear capes.

Your level of dedication in the face of daily shite spouted on here is admirable. We all truly appreciate your efforts. I wish you well in the future you deserve it.

I try to retire from it. But like Michael Corleone, just when I thought I was out, they keep pulling me back in.