Just watched the highlights and shoutout to Diego Leon who managed to get an assist while falling down after he was tackled by a blade of grass.

Dre_00 said:

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Just watched the highlights and shoutout to Diego Leon who managed to get an assist while falling down after he was tackled by a blade of grass.

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Wasn't the prettiest goal.

Dre_00 said:

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Just watched the highlights and shoutout to Diego Leon who managed to get an assist while falling down after he was tackled by a blade of grass.

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Hey. Turf monsters are real!

Dre_00 said:

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Preseason doesn't mean a thing but I would much rather win the games than lose them...especially after last season.

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Especially against teams that have been thorns in our side over the past few seasons

I imagine we'll find out very soon if United have a shot at Sesko. Sounds like if Isak leaves, it will be soon or it won't happen. Newcastle could reconsider their stance in the next few days and pull the trigger on Sesko knowing they have 110m+ offer for Isak they can turn to. But every day they hold firm exponentially increases the likelihood that they don't sell him. I can't see them changing their mind in say...mid-August...and leaving it late to find a replacement as well as disrupting the start of their season.

Hey sometimes I get lucky...

Newcastle have made an offer of 80m EUR for Sesko. That's right in the area of what Leipzig were asking for. This likely gets done unless Sesko vetoes it and I highly doubt that happens.

I saw a report last night that Sesko had finally decided on Newcastle.

I believe this was one of those rare moments where the player hadn't decided yet and neither club wanted to bother submitting a formal offer until they reached terms with the player. I think both clubs had basically reached a verbal agreement with Leipzig and were just waiting for Sesko to decide, and it sounds like UCL won the day.

Assuming y'all can get someone else, I think you're better off watching him go there.

I don't know, all the reliable sources like Fabrizio and Ornstein have been saying neither club has gotten any indication or preference from Sesko, including today.

But I hope he picks Newcastle. lol. This feels like a flop to me. (Which probably means he wins the Ballon d'Or).

Leipzig rejected Newcastle's deal. I don't care if we include a sell on clause because we sell players for a profit about once a decade, so that's worth zero. Everything else…. Already pretty expensive.

🚨 RB Leipzig view Newcastle offer for Benjamin Sesko as insufficient. #NUFC proposal €75m + €5m after #RBLeipzig asked interested clubs for ~€75m + add-ons + sell-on. #MUFC pursuit also continues but no bid yet. 22yo undecided. W/ @SebSB @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/Jc6WsyixbF

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 2, 2025

So Newcastle's bid is pretty much what Leipzig asked for minus the sell-on. Doesn't seem like agreeing with Leipzig will be the problem. That's an easy thing to overcome.

Athletic writer seems to allude that United have some cash available after the Rashford loan (saving 15m in salary) and the sell on fees from three aforementioned players. But still seems the have to sell someone to offer 80m EUR for Sesko. Which would put them way behind Newcastle in terms of agreeing with the club.

As for the player…he won't have a choice to make if United take forever or can't come up with the transfer fee. Or rather the choice will be Newcastle or stay. Players choice is a moot point until there's an indication that United can offer Leipzig a fee comparable to Newcastle's.

I'm not seeing the stuff about us needing money. I've seen some claiming we are fine under PSR but our problem is cash flow on the first year cash payment. How true that is, I don't know, but since we are referencing stuff that apparently is outside the article, there you go.

CAN we do this? I tend to think we can. SHOULD we do this? I don't know about that. If you buy a 50M striker and they flop, you can probably get most of your money back. If you buy an 80M striker and they flop… good f'ing luck.

Someone smarter than me will have to explain Sesko being that much better than Hojlund.

I guess I just don't get the differential improvement for the differential spending.

Mathguy64 said:

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Someone smarter than me will have to explain Sesko being that much better than Hojlund.

I guess I just don't get the differential improvement for the differential spending.

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That's basically where I am with this whole fiasco. It's a huge risk on another relatively unproven player

Per Laurie Whitwell, Mbuemo warming up at 9, Cunha and Bruno 10s.

Both Bryan and Matheus are in our XI to face the Toffees 🤩

Watch the game against Everton LIVE on #MUTV 📺

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 3, 2025

Lucky to not be down. Everton had a nice FK that Bayindir did well to save but didn't make a great parry and the follow up shot hit the far post. I still think CM and GK need to be addressed

We've been living in Everton's penalty area for a lot of the half though

Ugarte has been awful so far. Gave away the early FK chance and just lost possession directly leading to their equalizer

Mount scores on a nice turn and shot in the box. Bruno with a neat little assist that split 2 defenders

Yeah not a great play by Bruno, but… we need a keeper.

Edit: not that there wasn't a lot of blame to go around, but…

More unlucky than anything there

Mount at 86' with an amazing pass. No goal but a perfectly weighted pass.

Hojlund was rightfully pissed there. De Ligt taken off with a knock

So I only watched the 2nd and 3rd games but two good things.

The one touch passing was miles better than last year. Much faster and much more accurate. That means their spacing to make them is much better.

The fitness looks miles better.

Ugarte's ability to progress the ball is still comically bad so of course he tried to a half dozen times. United looked most dangerous when the played quickly and got the ball from one end to the other in 3-4 passes (or one long ball over the top). It was a **** show anytime they tried to play through their central midfielders.

Dre_00 said:

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Ugarte's ability to progress the ball is still comically bad so of course he tried to a half dozen times. United looked most dangerous when the played quickly and got the ball from one end to the other in 3-4 passes (or one long ball over the top). It was a **** show anytime they tried to play through their central midfielders.

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We really need to address the pivot roles in this system. Casemiro and Ugarte both have several shortcomings and neither Mainoo or Bruno are especially suited to the role either.

Starting to sound like Sesko may be giving good signs to Newcastle (or they feel good enough about "positive talks" to up their bid by about 5M euros anyway).

🚨 EXCL: Newcastle United make improved bid to RB Leipzig for Benjamin Sesko. New offer worth at least €80m after positive talks between clubs & with 22yo striker. Nothing agreed but #RBLeipzig currently favour #NUFC + no #MUFC proposal yet @TheAthleticFC https://t.co/Ih9G9qNhZF

— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 4, 2025

There seems to be two wild cards though… Christopher Vivell (ManU head of recruitment) was at Salzburg with Sesko, and then moved to Leipzig when he went there. I suspect he really wants Sesko, and I suspect Leipzig are willing to give him a chance to make something happen.

The other wildcard is Hojlund, who supposedly Leipzig want - and at first glance I thought "there's no way he'll leave ManU, they've gotta be paying too much for him." But if the Capology salary numbers are correct, Sesko actually makes a little more at Leipzig than Hojlund does at ManU. Yet it seems Hojlund doesn't want to leave. A player + cash deal means ManU could afford to pay Sesko more to sway his choice. But that can't happen without Hojlund agreeing.

This is guesswork of course but I suspect Leipzig and Sesko would rather have the ManU deal if it includes the Hojlund offset, but he's holding the deal hostage.

I mean, Ornstein's tweet literally says Leipzig currently favors Newcastle. Even if the key word there is "currently" I think it's wishful thinking to interpret his tweet as Leipzig secretly preferring United.

Showstopper said:

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I mean, Ornstein's tweet literally says Leipzig currently favors Newcastle. Even if the key word there is "currently" I think it's wishful thinking to interpret his tweet as Leipzig secretly preferring United.

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Well they may currently favor it because there is "no man united offer yet."

Yeah I wasn't interpreting his tweet at all. I was commenting on the situation as a whole and making a barely educated guess about what's happening behind the scenes to cause Leipzig to drag their feet to accept this.

But who really knows? Supposedly Sesko's people have told both clubs that they are the favorite, yet they aren't accepting terms with either. They're clearly playing games and dragging this out to maximize his salary.

Well, Sesko has verbally agreed to both clubs' terms now and MUFC has made a formal offer. Ball is in Leipzig's court theoretically, but also evidently Sesko had a release clause for a certain list of clubs… I suspect MUFC is on that list and Newcastle isn't… combine that with speculation that MUFC wasn't going to make an offer until they knew Sesko would accept and this may well be a done deal.

I don't know that verbal agreement on player side means that he's picked both. I think it's just a communication with both as to what he wants financially, and it isn't a problem for either.

But the real answer is I can't imagine a player actually saying "I don't care where I go" and letting Leipzig auction him off like he's a 4H animal or something. I mean, if he actually can't decide…

Surely he has to pick.

All of this sounds like a player and agent who is playing both teams to bid against each other.

Run away. Do not walk. Run. Let someone else overpay for him.

apparently, we have officially bid 85mm euros.

75+10. United feel like Sesko wants to play for them over Newcastle. Why is anyone's guess. The insinuation is that this is their fair valuation of the player and that they won't go higher than this but I doubt that.

Will reiterate that this still makes no sense to me. Maybe if they keep Hojlund, it makes a little more sense. Two 22 yr old strikers with high risk is less risky than one 22 yr old striker with high risk. If United are making this move with the intent of moving Hojlund, they've likely just undercut themselves. Market was thin to begin with but it will be even tougher if teams feel like United will be desperate to move Hojlund after acquiring a striker.

Random question...is Zirkzee injured? I haven't seen him mentioned once in preseason. I like him, but he has no natural fit in Amorim's system. Why would he not be a higher potential for sale than Hojlund?