The Battle to Keep Fellaini | Fellaini signs new contract until 2020

Translation: Marouane Fellaini has been proposed to the PSG by a great friend of Antero Henrique.

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Had to google who he is, PSG sporting director who used to work at Porto.

I know he’s got certain qualities but really don’t see why they’d be interested in him even on a free he’ll be looking for massive wages as a result so not like you can flip him easily for a profit. Maybe they’re thinking he’ll attract a certain Portuguese manager ha!
 
The Sun reporting he’s told the club he’s leaving.

Utd offered him 2 year deal with a 1 year option on £120k a week which is his current salary in September which the player rejected and Utd have left the offer on the table if he changes his mind but it’s take it or leave it.

The report suggest he’s told the club he’s looking for a new challenge.

Mourinho will use the trip to Dubai to try and convince him to stay but the club won’t increase their offer.

He’s 30 years old so can see why Utd have offered him a 2+1 deal as he’s only ever going to be a squad player but with him and carrick leaving for nothing in the summer that’s probably going to be a costly position to reinforce this summer.
 
Yet more bad management from Woody and his crew. Policy should be if your not going to sign a new contract when your coming to the last 12 months of the contract your gonna be sold to recoup funds.
 
Yet more bad management from Woody and his crew. Policy should be if your not going to sign a new contract when your coming to the last 12 months of the contract your gonna be sold to recoup funds.

I think the issue with Fellaini is he's been on the market to sell for 3 years now but no one has come in with offers that are acceptable to Utd and more importantly the player hasn't really been motivated to leave as he's on a good contract, playing for a big club and despite not being popular with fans he's had managers who seem to like him. Moyes, LVG & Mourinho have all been very supportive of him through his career. My guess he was hoping that if he did enough on the pitch the club would improve the offer they've said they won't do that so now he wants to move on.

Utd apparently have had lots of interest in him at various points but they've generally been loan deals with options to buy and with Utd short on numbers in central midfield for what feels like a decade that sort of deal doesn't work for us as we'd need to buy a replacement without having received the money for him. Also, there's no guarantee the loan deal gets made permanent.

I will always maintain the mistake was buying the guy in the first place he was not good enough to play in a top side and he only reason he looks good sometimes at Utd is because we're not a top side anymore. It's not his fault but rather than Fellaini step up to Utd's level, Utd have dropped down to Fellaini's level which was a good player in a side chasing top 4. I think for the level Utd want to get back to a guy like Fellaini is a luxury option as maybe your 5th choice CM which means you can't really stretch the budget to pay him top money.

Contracts are 2 way things if the player isn't interested in leaving you can't force him to leave we could've done what we did with Valdes & Schweni and frozen him out to force them to leave but that's kind of cutting your nose off to spite your face given he's actually an important player in the squad.

If he leaves on a free I'm not bothered he's not a high value player anyway so for the £10-15m we might have got last summer if we'd forced him out somehow it was probably worth keeping him.
 
Yeah zero interest in this, if he goes then he goes if he stays then he can sit on the bench on come on for the last 10 minutes when we need a goal, either way really not bothered what he does. He has been better over the last 12 months but lets be honest, he is not what any of us want as a CM at United, think that's fair to say.

Happily take a hit on him, let him leave and then replace him with a Saul or Kovacic or someone, major upgrade
 
yeah, I can't believe the coverage, if he wants to go see ya later mate. Enjoy China or whatever team you end up at. There is no way he's going to end up in a top club. We should never have signed him in the first place, another piece of joy from Moyes.
 
Mourinho on Fellaini: "I think a player that grabs the crest after scoring is telling clearly that he wants to stay. I want him to stay, the club wants him to stay, I think he will stay, it is nearly there."
 
I'm confused with Fellaini! We were all sure he's leaving cos he wont sign a new contract then JM drops that in yday and say he think he will stay.

The fans clearly don't want him, why does Jose?
 
He's the manager he gets to pick his players and he obviously feels he can contribute it could be as simple as he wants him as his 5th choice option in central midfield and if Fellaini & Herrera both sign new deals to stay he only needs to buy 1 centre mid this summer rather than 2.

The man has his uses but he's not good enough to be starting games for Utd but chucking him on as a nuisance factor late in games can be effective even if it isn't always pretty.

My guess is if he's now happy to stay the sort of offers he was hoping for didn't arrive so being a squad player at Utd is his best option.
 
As far as I understood it he wanted more regular football. Surely he'd only be a bit part player for the rest of his days at Utd!
 
I think his motives were a mixture of football and finance this is his last big contract. My guess is the offers that he's had from other leagues haven't been that lucrative and the offers from clubs in England would probably be those middle tier clubs who'll never get into Europe but also could easily get relegated. He's had a tough year this year with injury so he knows at Utd if he is injured he will be properly looked after and he knows he's got a manager who's 100% behind him even if the fans are split on him and give him grief.

I don't know much about his life off the pitch as far as I know he doesn't have kids but he's been living in the north west for about 10 years now so he could just be really settled there and doesn't want to move if he doesn't have to.

If in 12 months he did decide he wanted to go I doubt Utd would hold out for a massive fee and stand in his way.

I think the fact the manager has been so vocal about wanting him to stay is a big thing that might have swayed his decision and both thier comments post game suggest it's done and dusted that they're staying it's just picking the time to announce it all.
 
He's in the Herrera bracket for me Fellani, he will come on and score the odd goal or two, same as Herrera will make a nuisance of himself in big games but for every good game he has he has 3/4 very poor games. He has his uses and I suppose if him and Herrera stay this summer he only needs 1 CM so he can concentrate on other positions this summer and maybe go and buy another top CM next summer.

In a perfect world (imo anyway) Fellani Herrera Carrick would be replaced by two of Fred, Jorginho, Savic, Vidal, Seri but if he goes and buys Fred then our starting three are looking pretty powerful.

RB, LB, CB, CM, RW this summer then by the looks of it.
 
@Edgy1968 I usually agree with everything you say mate but Herrera in same bracket as Fellaini?? Seriously? They are leagues apart. I know Herrera was poor for a lot of this season but it looks like this 3 really works now and Herrera is bringing the best out of Pogba and Matic.

I'd rather see Fellaini go and replace him with a really decent midfileder. Just my opinion tho mate :)
 
I agree with @Edgy1968 Herrera for me is a good but not great player I think he can be upgraded quite easily in terms of a starting player but both Herrera/Fellaini are useful squad players because they are pretty flexible in the role they can play in midfield. Herrera for example could easily slot in the centre for Matic or play one of the attacking roles on the sides of the 3 and to be fair in a 3 man midfield Fellaini has had some good games for Utd.

If Utd stick with the 4-3-3 I think they need 5 good centre midfield options to do that we probably need to get 2 in this summer but with full backs in desperate need if we can get one in to replace Carrick who's hardly been able to contribute this season then upgrade either Fellaini or Herrera next summer it helps us out.

Herrera I see as a bit of a Fletcher type important for the big games but not someone you need in every game.
 
Herrera is very under rated for us. Since the signing of Pogba, Herrera has been the better player for us out of the two.
 
I like Herrera, cracking little player, should definitely get a new deal.

But I know there are plenty of players out there who could be an improvement.

Fellaini, I will never see the point, ok he scored yesterday, but I hate the fact that is our plan B.
 
Not really having that if I'm honest Pogba is clearly the man who makes us tick and brings the best out of the team and despite the criticism he's had this season he is our most important outfield player over the last 2 years.

It is hard to measure Herrera's contribution as he does a lot of the dirty work in midfield but Pogba has 6 goals and 12 assists this season in the league in 24 games he has played. I doubt Herrera is anywhere near those numbers even though when he's played in a 3 he's an attacking player.

I'd say our team seems to be at it's best when both are in the team currently but to get us to the next level I think we should be looking for a better player than Herrera as a starting XI player. I actually think we might see Herrera rotate a bit for Matic next season.
 
Not sure you can compare the two Pogba and Herrera, they are different midfielders. I do like both and really think Herrera is captain material, I said the same this time last year too. He 'gets' how Utd work where many don't.

I have to say 6 goals is a very poor return from a player like Pogba. If he wants to be in the 'world class' bracket he needs to be scoring 12 to 15 league goals a season.
 
@jsp you can disagree all you want but last season Pogba and Herrera were the midfield two and Pogba was definitely the one with license to roam out of the two and Anders assist numbers were better.

Pogba needs to put a consistent run together.
 
I don't buy into this he gets it thing I think Herrera is very clever in what he says and he's open about being a complete football obssesive so it doesn't surprise me that he's gone away and looked into the history but I don't think he gets it anymore than Pogba who technically came through the academy.

On Pogba's goals I agree he needs to get more at his current rate of 1 every 4 games in a 38 game season he'd get 9-10 which isn't bad for a guy who doesn't take free kicks or penalties which I personally think he should be taking if he did then he could easily add another 5 a season on to that.
 
@jsp you can disagree all you want but last season Pogba and Herrera were the midfield two and Pogba was definitely the one with license to roam out of the two and Anders assist numbers were better.

Pogba needs to put a consistent run together.

Herrera had a good season last year not denying that but it was a good season where we finished 6th in the league and the manager spent £40m on an upgrade for him possibly because while he was a bit of an all action fire fighter he didn't sit in midfield in the disciplined way Matic now does.

Pogba had an ok season last year bit no thrills but this season apart from a dodgy month/six weeks after Xmas he's been very good, Herrera this season has been very stop start with injuries and he really struggled to play alongside Matic when Pogba was out injured.

I think our best team currently contains the pair of them but I would be looking for an upgrade on Herrera this summer but he'd be my first sub in the rotation next season and I'd even consider using him in the centre of the 3 against the weaker sides because the one thing he does do is move the ball a bit quicker than Matic who keeps the ball really well but he doesn't always get turned quickly and release it.

That said having watched most of the games over the last 2 seasons I know which one I think has contributed more and it's not Herrera.
 
You’ve got a short term memory then. There’s no doubt which one was head and shoulders above the other last season.
 
Not going to get involved in exchanging insults I know you’re a big fan of Herrera I’m on the fence with him feel he needs to be more consistent but in the 4-3-3 we might have found the perfect role for him.

I think it’s a shame he didn’t show the form from last season again this season until a few weeks back but I accept there’s mitigating factors in that as he’s had quite a few niggling injuries.

The reason I think he can be useful even if we sign a better player than him is I think he can play as the 6 or 8 in midfield to a pretty decent level which the other midfielders can’t really do.
 
Herrera gets Utd simply because of his playing style I think. It's what we expect from Utd players. It's 110% effort every time he steps on that pitch no matter if he plays good or bad. If we had 10 of him we'd do a lot better with consistency. Look at the likes of Martial, Lingard and Pogba who sometimes you don't even know if they are on the pitch or not. You certainly know when Herrera is.

I still maintain if Herrera hadn't gone off injured against Sevilla we would have been a different team during that game. Right from the off he was at them. He puts confidence into the team. It's why he should be captain.
 
A Utd player isn't all about graft there has always been space for flair in a Utd side and many people have different definitions of what a Utd player should be some lean more towards the tough and hard player and some more towards the skillful mercurial talent, the reality is there's no such thing as a Utd player it's like the west ham way it's a bit of a myth.

Who knows what would've happened against Sevilla I mean Fellaini starting the second leg after months out injured felt more critical than Herrera going off after 10 minutes but at that time we had problem with Pogba's fitness/form/attitude whatever it was.

I'm not totally against Herrera being the captain but if he wants that he needs to sign the new contract my guess would be it'll probably end up being Valencia, Young or Matic ahead of Herrera.
 
Not going to get involved in exchanging insults I know you’re a big fan of Herrera

Apologies didn’t mean to come across as so rude.

I feel that Herrera is under rated in the prem. Not so much by United fans but the abuse he gets from others. I’ve heard people compare him to Eric Dier. Last season everyone was waxing lyrical about Kante yet every single measurement you could find to compare him and Herrera it’s Herrera who comes out on top.

He can frustrate me because he’s got all of the tools in his locker and like Pogba doesn’t put it together often enough. I’ve been a massive fan of his since we played Bilbao in 2012 and I don’t think we’ve seen enough of that player in his time at United.
 
Anyway, moving on to Fellaini again...

The way I see it if Fellaini signs this new contract it say a lot about how we could play next year.

Fellaini is all about the long ball, eg how we played against Arsenal at home when he came on at the weekend. He will surely want assurances as well on how many games he will start a season. I'm actually frightened at how Jose might want to fit him into midfield. Jose had the chance to get shot of him and buy a decent new midfielder that was actually useful and he's publicly come out and begged Fellaini to stay, 4 times!!! I know it's good to have a plan B but surely this isn't plan B for Manchester United???

We will never win a league title with Fellaini in our team. Or Lingard.
 
He can frustrate me because he’s got all of the tools in his locker and like Pogba doesn’t put it together often enough. I’ve been a massive fan of his since we played Bilbao in 2012 and I don’t think we’ve seen enough of that player in his time at United.

Completely agree. I'm not sure he's been used enough in that role like when he tore us apart at Bilbao.
 
From what I read, Fellaini's problem isn't how many games he plays. He's entering the zone for his last big contract and we are only offering 1 year. He wants a longer contract. If he only gets a year and we don't renew suddenly it's harder for him to get a half decent club.

I can't see him getting near the starting 11 next year, if he does then we haven't moved forward and Jose needs to go.
 
Fellaini is a useful tool to have in the tool box sometimes you need the sledge hammer but you don't use it to for a nail to hang a painting just like you wouldn't use Mata if you feel the way to beat a team is to go direct.

Nothing wrong with going direct if you do it well and against teams who want to press you high it's the easy way out a lot of the time and even City have used it to beat teams who want to press them.

Mourinho is a tactically flexible coach he's not a guy who says we play one way and one way only and live and die by the results which is probably why he's ahead of Klopp & Pochetinno when it comes to current league position and also winning leagues he is not afraid to change his tactics to get a result.

Fellaini gives him that extra weapon and if he can improve our crossing from wide positions next season then Fellaini is a hell of a guy to have to get on the end of these crosses if that is the best way to exploit an opposition weakness.

The issue I have with Fellaini is he makes our plan A way of playing worse because he can't move the ball quickly so he makes us a bit stodgy in midfield especially with Matic but if we played Herrera as the central midfield player you could have Fellaini alongside him as his enforcer.
 
From what I read, Fellaini's problem isn't how many games he plays. He's entering the zone for his last big contract and we are only offering 1 year. He wants a longer contract. If he only gets a year and we don't renew suddenly it's harder for him to get a half decent club.

I can't see him getting near the starting 11 next year, if he does then we haven't moved forward and Jose needs to go.

This is my problem, he won't sign a one year contract will he! He's gonna get a 2 or 3 year whoppa and we're stuck with him again. If they are stupid enough to give him a 2 or 3 year contract at £150k a week and he is a squad player it doesn't bother me, what bothers me is if he has conditions attached eg plays 25 PL games a season and he is a main part of our starting XI. I'd rather Liverpool win the CL lol
 
There's no way his contract will include conditions about number of games he has to play and all that stuff.

You have to look at it this way if he goes this summer to replace him Utd will have to spend £40m at least to get a centre mid of similar quality plus they'll end up paying him £100-150k a week in wages probably over a 4 year contract, because they're the going rates now so including wages that deal costs the club £70m. If we keep Fellaini even on a 3 year deal on £150k a week that's going to cost us £25m in wages but if we did decided to sell him in 12 months we might get £10m for him which would go to the new signing.

I think the logic of keeping him as a squad player makes sense if he's happy to stay and accept that role and fight for his place, one thing about him he's never chucked the towel in he's stepped up to every challenge that's been put in front of him by Utd.
 

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